Abstract: A fitted blanket has a generally rectangular pocket member attached at its foot end to fit over the foot of the bed mattress. The pocket member is formed of a fabric, e.g., flannel, and has top, side, bottom and back panels, with the top panel having a length dimension of about twelve to twenty-four inches. The side panels have forward edges that extend diagonally from the bottom panel to the top panel Elastic extends around the pocket member is joined to the blanket portion at a seam sewn across the front edge of the top panel. The deep pocket member of this design accommodates in comfort the feet of a sleeper in the bed and also resists being pulled or kicked off the bed.

Abstract: A pasteurization/homogenization arrangement with regeneration brings raw milk or other liquid food product up to a few degrees below a UHT pasteurizing temperature. The product is denaturized at 175° F. so that proteins do not deposit out. The product proceeds through a product-product regenerative heat exchanger where it emerges at about 260°. Here a homogenizer serves a timing pump and avoids the need for an additional pump or flow meter for the UHT stage. The homogenized product proceeds to a water-product heater to heat the product to 280° F. The temperature differential at any reference point in the heater and the regenerative heat exchanger is below 20°, and the ratio of rate of water flow to product flow in the heater is below about 3:1. More efficient homogenization is achieved than at the conventional temperature (175° F.).

Abstract: A line cutter in the form of an apertured disk or plate mounts onto the housing of a propeller drive or screw drive. The line cutter mounts over the propeller shaft, and covers the propeller shaft seal. The line cutter opening has a small clearance over the shaft which is smaller than a standard fish line gauge, i.e., about 0.002 inches. Fishline or other debris encountered by the screw drive winds around the shaft and winds back until it is torn, ground, or cut when it encounters the circular cutting edge at the small clearance. This line cutter is useful on a trash skimmer work boat.

Abstract: A vibratory conveyor has a bed or trough that carries the workpieces, and supported above a base plate. A vibratory motor employs linear bearing to provide vibratory that is kept in the plane of the conveyor bed. A directional fabric material lying on the trough is smooth or slippery in one direction but grips the workpieces in the opposite direction. The vibratory motor keeps the motion in the back and forth direction, with almost no vertical component, for quieter operation and without shaking that can damage delicate workpieces. The direction of motion can be selected by orienting the fabric.

Abstract: A riding floor sander for large hardwood floor surfaces, such as gymnasiums and dance floors, has a powered cart with one or more sanding machines connected to it. A blower picks up the process waste in a stream of air and and moves it to a cyclone separator that is mounted on the riding sanding machine. There the dust is separated from the air stream, leaving clean air to be returned to the ambient. The dust that falls from the cyclone into a dust collection drum or bag on the cart. There can be are primary cyclonic separators on the sanding machines, and a cyclonic separator on the back of the riding cart. Alternatively, the cyclone and drum may be located remote from the riding sander, and can have an in-line auxiliary pump or impeller.

Abstract: An improved illuminated airfield guidance sign of the type used for marking ground traffic routes on runways and taxiways has a curved face. The sign is capable of withstanding the prescribed wind load tests and at the same time has even illumination across each of its legend panels. The curved legend panels are preferably formed of sheets of acrylic or equivalent substrate with a thickness of about 0.354 inches except at the edges where the edge portion is about 0.220 inches. The edge portion i.e. peripheral flange fits into the grooves or channels along the base and end panels of the frame.

Abstract: A hand-held, compact fixed mounted or mobile optical symbol scanner assembly has a powered socket into which an active or passive illumination module can be installed. The socket has a recess centered at the optic axis, and the illumination attachment module has a male projection that plugs into this recess. Probe type electrodes on the attachment module fit into female socket electrodes on the socket member, so that power can be derived from the scanner for LEDs in the module. The module may convert the voltage to a level suitable for higher wavelengths, and may provide added control of the external LEDs to extend battery life.

Abstract: A modular fiber optic light line unit has a housing in which distal portions of one or more fiber optic bundles fan out such that termini of the fibers are arrayed in a continuous fiber row. The proximal ends of the bundles are held in respective sleeves, and light source modules are removably attached over the sleeves to generate light that is incident on the proximal end of the bundle. The light source modules are removably installed by pushing on, without requiring tools. The light source modules have a canister housing containing a solid-state light source, e.g., five watts. Heat management is achieved using fins on the modular housing. Different color wavelength light sources can be employed, and the fibers from the various bundles can be interleaved.

Abstract: A hand-held, compact fixed mounted or mobile optical symbol scanner assembly that employs black-light emitting diodes to illuminate luminescent or fluorescent bar code symbols that are invisibly printed or formed the surface of an article. The scanner employs an array of far blue or UV LEDs or laser diodes. An optional nosepiece or shroud on the distal face of the scanner device limits glare from ambient light and also protects against stray UV light. A filter disposed in advance of the imager device blocks the illuminating wavelength but transmits the luminescent light from the target. With proper selection of optical filters and illumination LED wavelengths, the scanner can be used with inks or dyes that fluoresce when exposed to light in the visible spectrum.

Abstract: Self-help or do-it-yourself productions of collegiate athletic contests are generated by the originating institution, and the recorded production is sent by overnight courier to a central digital clearing house. At the clearing house the contents of the recording are loaded onto a computer processor and the video and audio channels are digitally processing to prepare the program for digital storage and retransmission. A web transmitter processor transmits the video recordings of these events to subscribers on demand over wide-band, high-speed Internet connections. The content may be edited at the clearing house. The clearing house provides a custom video player or viewer for each recorded production. The games or meets can be selected by the subscriber, which are indexed in categories including originating institution, type of event, and date of event. The events may also be webcast live or near-real-time, as well as archived.

Abstract: A truck or trailer for hauling landscape materials or other bulk products, has separate independent side-by-side dump boxes or compartments, each with a hydraulic ram to elevate the respective dump box. The compartments may have segmented removable center walls, which can be taken off when the truck or trailer is used for hauling equipment or non-bulk loads.

Abstract: An auxiliary dust collection system can be interposed between a sander or other dust producing tool and a vacuum source, e.g., shop vacuum. This auxiliary system has a cyclonic separator connected by a flexible hose to the tool and by another hose to the vacuum source. The cone of the separator is mounted onto the lid of a drum into which the dust precipitates. For a tool that has its own blower, the vacuum source can be omitted, and the air leaving the outlet duct of the separator can be filtered and returned to the ambient. A drop in silencer formed of a sleeve or tube of acoustic foam can be positioned into the inlet side of a filter cartridge following a cyclonic separator. The silencer absorbs a significant fraction of the process noise.

Abstract: An auxiliary dust collection system can be interposed between a sander or other dust producing tool and a vacuum source, e.g., shop vacuum. A cyclonic separator is connected by a flexible hose to the tool and by another hose to the vacuum source. The cone of the separator is mounted onto the lid of a drum into which the dust precipitates. For a tool that has its own blower, the vacuum source can be omitted, and the air leaving the outlet duct of the separator can be filtered and returned to the ambient. A drop in silencer formed of a sleeve or tube of acoustic foam can be positioned into the inlet side of a filter cartridge following a cyclonic separator. The silencer absorbs a significant fraction of the process noise. The acoustic foam can have a textured surface on the sound-facing side.

Abstract: A relay situated in series between an AC line source and an AC load has a core conductor connected with the fixed N.O. contact, so that load current flows axially through the core of the actuator coil. Alternatively, the fixed N.C. contact may be connected with the core conductor. A plate armature with leaf springs can achieve linear axial action. A sensor connected to leads of a winding of the actuator coil picks up a an induced voltage that is representative of the current supplied to the load. This provides a simple arrangement for monitoring for current level and can be used for measuring power factor or ?? at the load device. In a three phase embodiment, phase imbalance can be detected.

Abstract: A prescription drug storage and dispensing arrangement allows prescriptions stored, as they are filled, in a cabinet for customer pickup. The prescriptions are placed into receptacles such as pharmacy envelopes and placed on carriers, e.g., hanger bars, that are transported on a conveyor within the cabinet. The conveyor brings one carrier at a time to an access opening for loading or retrieving of a pharmacy envelope. In one embodiment the hanger bars are rods with spaced annular recesses defining bag positions. Scissors-action arms may be used to suspend the hanger rods from the conveyor webs. The identity of each pharmacy envelope and the location of the respective bar on said conveyor and the bag position are stored in a computer, with information identifying the customer order. When the customer arrives to pick up the prescription, the customer data is entered and the conveyor automatically moves to position the respective hanger bar at the access opening.

Abstract: A standard industrial pressure gauge is adapted for a sanitary conduit that has been provided with a tubular stub for mounting the gauge. A cylinder has a disk flange that mates with an upper flange of the tubular stub. A cap closes off the top of the cylinder, and a female threaded nipple is affixed on the cap over an aperture through the cap. A piston has one or a pair of O-ring seals seated on the circumferential surface of the piston, with the piston having at least a limited range of motion within the cylinder. The gauge is fitted into the threads of the nipple, and the space above the piston and through the aperture and the nipple is filled with an incompressible fluid. In one embodiment, there is a leak detector hole in the cylinder wall aligned with the space between the two O-rings.

Abstract: A dust collection system for portable sanding or grinding equipment employs a cyclone separator mounted directly on the tool or machine, with a dust outlet duct at the narrow lower end of the cyclone, and a cartridge air filter mounted on the top of the cyclone. The filter returns the air flow from the machine to the ambient air in the vicinity of the tool. The dust is concentrated in the cyclone, and a small volume air flow then moves the dust through an elongated flexible hose or duct to a remote dust collection station. An air pump at the remote dust collection station provides sufficient air flow to draw the small volume of air plus entrained dust from the tool-mounted cyclonic separator. A cyclonic separator at the remote station separates this dust from the air flow and deposits it in a collection tank or drum.