Abstract: An arrangement for improving the detection of drops in a drip chamber has a mirror element configured to focus light from a source to a detector in such a manner that a falling drop occludes a significant portion of the light reflected to the detector. In a preferred embodiment the mirror is located slightly below the drop forming orifice of the drip chamber and is shaped like an arcuate band of a curved surface. In a further preferred embodiment, a rotary motor with an eccentric weight is briefly energized to vibrationally clear any accumulation of droplets from the chamber wall. Other embodiments utilize a plurality of mirror elements to define an optical path from the source to detector which traverses the region throught which a drop falls 3 or more times.

Abstract: Insecticide is administered to ectoparasites of rodents by filling a container with insecticide-impregnated fibrous nesting material and fixing it in a desired location. The container has an aperture permitting entry by rodents. Rodents incorporate the insecticide-impregnated fibrous material into their nests, thus exposing ectoparasites and their nymphs and larvae attached to these hosts, as well as those otherwise dwelling in the rodent's nest, to the insecticide.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for disabling valve cusps within a vein. A flexible guide tube of a diameter substantially smaller than that of a vein has at least one retractable wire hook for ensnaring a valve cusp within the vein. The wire hook may be continuously moved from a retracted position against the tube end to an extended position toward a vein wall. Valve cusps are trapped by a narrow gap at the end of the hook, and are disabled by pulling the sharp point of the hook through them.

Abstract: A brushless DC fan with a winding supply circuit having an internal voltage regulator can afford current limiting and thermal protection and provide various desired fan speeds without alteration of the basic fan circuit, the windings, or other manufacturing items. A voltage setting circuit element can set fan speed externally and can be used to establish various fan speeds. An internal voltage establishing circuit element sets the maximum speed. The regulator replaces the fan's protective thermistor to shut down the voltage to the windings when locked rotor occurs. Bringing out a lead for the purpose of connecting a speed controlling resistor, thermistor, or active programming means to the internal circuitry enables the fan's end user to alter operation as needed.

Abstract: A device for detecting changes in surface tension of eluant from a liquid chromatography column has in a preferred embodiment an arrangement for suspending a droplet of liquid eluting from a liquid chromatography column, a pair of electrodes in contact with the droplet, and a meter for measuring a quantity related to the resistance of the droplet of liquid.A method for measuring the surface tension of a liquid includes forming a droplet of the liquid, causing the droplet to be supported by support elements, causing each of a pair of electrodes to come into contact with a different region of the droplet, and measuring a quantity related to the resistance of the droplet.

Abstract: An infusion pump has a removable reservoir including a piston and drive member. The drive member is an internally threaded elongated portion of the piston. A motor rotates a short drive screw, which engages the threads of the drive member to displace the piston in the reservoir. In one embodiment the piston is attached to the drive member by a severable central stem which breaks away to allow engagement with the drive screw. With the stem severed, the piston cannot be retracted, or the reservoir refilled. Other safety features are shown for locking the displaced piston in the reservoir. A digital metering system has a safety circuit to prevent dangerous failure modes of the rotation sensor and motor drive systems.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for removing spot welds from a sheet metal structure is shown. A fluid powered hand punch has a handpiece and an L-shaped extension forming a punch die. An elongated rod extends from a fluid piston within the handpiece to a punch bit, allowing the punch to be conveniently positioned over spot welds in diverse structures. An extension of the handpiece body guides and stabilizes the rod. Spot welds are removed by positioning the punch bit over the weld and entirely punching it out. A tapered punch bit engaging the metal along a partial perimeter of its front face is also shown.

Abstract: A modular clamp system in one embodiment has a case having an inlet and an outlet port, forming a housing for a resilient flow tube. Attached to the housing is a clamping member having two arms between which the flow tube passes. One end of the pair of arms fits within and is engaged by the hollow bore of threaded adjuster which is guided by the case. Turning the adjuster advances it, causing the arms to be pushed closer together, so as to progressively constrict the flow tube at a controllable rate. The arms may be tapered and the bore a right cylindrical bore, or the bore may be tapered and the arms untapered, in which case the tips of the arms contact with the interior face of the bore. The fineness of the screw threads and the degree of taper of the adjuster contacting surfaces may be so chosen that a full rotation of the adjuster causes a very small adjustment in flow rate.

Abstract: In an athletic shoe, an external counter and cushion assembly includes a substantially rigid external counter extending medially to approximately the front flex line, and a rearfoot cushion member is mounted within the rigid counter. This assembly mounts externally to the heel and counter region of a lasted upper. The floor of the cushion member also extends forwardly toward the front-flex region of the shoe and is preferably wedge-shaped to serve as a heel-lift layer. The cushion walls are generally coextensive with the counter walls, insulating the upper from the rigid counter in this region. The external counter construction includes a base flange which mounts atop the midsole periphery on a plane substantially below the bottom surface of the foot.

Abstract: A method for generating an aerosol powder from a melt includes an atomization die having an orifice through which the melt passes to create the powder. In a preferred embodiment, the orifice has a dimension less than 5 millimeters, and may include a heater to prevent freeze-off. The die may be included in a high-temperature probe suitable for immersion on the melt, so that accumulated accretions of powder on the walls of the probe may be melted off by heating the probe.

Abstract: An intravenous flow control system includes a programmed microprocessor which receives information from a drop sensor and varies the adjustment of a clamp to control the infusion rate. The system accepts total dose and infusion duration, or dose rate and time information keyed in by the user, and periodically develops a target rate, based on the amount of infusate already delivered, such target rate being calculated to correct the actual delivered dose to that determined by the user keyed data. The target rate differs from the programmed rate by an amount equal to the programmed rate times an adjustment factor. In a preferred embodiment a series of tolerance bands corresponding to delivered volume errors are defined, with the adjustment factor a constant in each tolerance band. For high rate discrepancies, slewing is used to correct the clamp adjustment. Inability to attain the target rate before the delivery of a threshold volume of fluid triggers an alarm.

Abstract: A combination receptacle opener including a plate member having at least one aperture with serrations for gripping for twisting off a twist-cap inserted into the aperture. The aperture also includes a segment for engagement beneath the lip of a crown cap for prying the cap off its bottle, this second function being performed from the same face of the plate member as the twisting function. Further embodiments include tang members extending from one face of the plate member around an aperture, which serve as insertion depth regulations for twist-cap inserted into the aperture, and a baffle extending from one face of the opener around an aperture for adjusting the operative diameter of the aperture for use with smaller twist-caps.

Abstract: Soluble gas is introduced in a melt material which is then atomized and rapidly cooled. The cooling drives the gas from solution, further disintegrating the atomized material to an ultra-fine powder. In one embodiment the atomization and rapid cooling are effected using a gas atomization die. Introduction of the soluble gas may be effected by addition of reactive constituents to the melt, for reactively forming such gas. Finer powders with desirable metallurgical properties are formed using a metallic melt.

Abstract: A sheet with inlet and outlet ports forms a housing, with a flow tube disposed between the ports. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of arms affixed at one end to the housing are adjustably spaced by a threaded tapered nut which mates with the other end of the arms. The flow tube passes between the arms and is constricted by the arms as the nut is advanced. The thread pitch, the degree of taper, and the point where the tube crosses the arms all determine the rate of constriction. In a further preferred embodiment the tube passes through a transverse indentation in the arms and is bonded thereto. In another preferred embodiment the housing is adapted to removably mount on an automatic flow sensing and adjusting module, which engages the tapered nut to adjust the flow rate through the tube.

Abstract: A shoe has an upper having a lateral lacing system and a band structure over the central longitudinal axis of the foot, so that the foot is retained conformally and the shoe fastening system is located over relatively planar regions of the wearer's foot. The upper has a slot disposed along a path commencing proximately to the connection of the phalanges with the metatarsus of the wearer's foot and continuing along the lateral side of the metatarsus to the top of the upper, so that the slot defines asymmetric lateral and medial panels of the upper. The medial panel overlies the central longitudinal axis of the foot and includes a plurality of bands disposed transverse to the axis. A fastening arrangement bridges the slot.

Abstract: A preferred embodiment of the invention provides a system for the dynamic encoding of a stream of characters. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes an input for receiving a stream of characters, and an output for providing encoded data. The system also includes a provision for storing, accessing, and updating a table (what I call a "followset" table) for each of a plurality of characters, listing candidates for the character which may follow, in the stream, the character with which the table is associated. The system also includes a provision for furnishing at the output, for a given character in the stream at the input, a signal indicative of the position, occupied by the given character, in the followset character which immediately precedes the given character in the stream of the input. A preferred embodiment of the invention also provides a system for decoding the encoded data, wherein the decoder utilizes a followset table.

Abstract: An outsole for an athletic shoe includes a central traction portion having a plurality of transverse grooves, each groove including forward facing and rearward facing groove walls. Forward facing and rearward facing traction elements are located on the respective groove walls. In a preferred embodiment the traction elements are each tapered along a central axis. In a further embodiment a peripheral region of the sole includes a second plurality of larger traction elements. The larger elements each taper along a central axis sloping outward from the central portion. The central portion is raised with respect to the peripheral region, so that its traction elements may contact the ground despite the greater height of the larger traction elements of the peripheral region.