Abstract: For use with a waste bin containing at least one bag for receiving a particular type of waste material, a bag engagement system for opening and closing the bag which includes an axially rotatable elongated gripper element for releasably gripping an edge portion of the bag, the bag being opened and closed by moving the gripper element back and forth over the opening of the bin, the gripper element capable of being locked to prevent its rotation so that the weight of the bag contents increases the grip of the gripper element on the bag edge portion.

Abstract: In a vapor compression refrigeration system an improvement for isolating the compressor from work on a substantial component of refrigerant flashing to vapor upstream of the evaporator, wherein refrigerant liquid from the condenser is collected in a holding vessel from which it is intermittently emptied into an expansion device thereby generating flash vapor in the holding vessel which is prevented from passing through the expansion device and evaporator for return to the compressor.

Abstract: A photovoltaic module capable of being oriented by hand with respect to the sun including an electrically activated liquid crystal display device for generating a visual informational display which indicates at least the power generating effectiveness of the module for its instantaneous orientation with respect to the sun, and an array of photovoltaic cells for generating a first power output for a load and a second power output for activating the liquid crystal display device and a third power output signal for the liquid crystal display device indicating the power generating effectiveness of the module.

Abstract: There is disclosed a recliner having back and seat portions connected by a hinge and supported on a base for progressive relative adjustment between a bed configuration in which back and seat portions are substantially aligned and horizontal and a chair configuration in which the back is raised and the hinge drops during the progressive adjustment so as to maintain the centre of gravity of recliner and occupant substantially at constant height whereby to facilitate adjustment by an occupant, the back being pivoted on the base at a pivot position spaced from the hinge, the pivot position being adjustable towards and away from the hinge to adjust the recliner to accomodate occupants of different body weights.

Abstract: A laser sighting system mounted entirely in a fore handgrip assembly of a firearm also having a pistol handgrip rearward of the fore handgrip assembly, the fore handgrip assembly including a frame removably secured relative to a barrel of the firearm and a hollow grip element extending from the frame transverse to the barrel axis, the laser sighting system including a battery inside the hollow grip element, a laser diode on the frame forward of the grip element connected by electrical circuitry to the battery and a switch on the grip element for selectively energizing the laser diode.

Abstract: For the shaft of a window pivoting device, a retractable crank which includes a socket, a turning arm and a rotatable knob articulated together so that the turning arm can be pivoted between operating and retracted positions with the knob always on the side of the turning arm opposite the socket in the operating position and the same side as the socket in the retracted position, and in the retracted position the knob projects inwardly or downwardly but not outwardly away from the window.

Abstract: For an eyeglass hinge having a pin-receiving bore formed in intermeshed pivotable lug sets, a hinge pin with longitudinal tabs on that end of the pin first inserted in the bore which are squeezed together to pass through the bore and which spring resiliently apart after insertion so that detents on the respective tab extremities hold the pin in place while permitting ready withdrawal by again squeezing the tabs together, and a manipulable insertion tool removably attached to a head of the pin to be broken away after insertion.

Abstract: A positioning stage wherein encoder pair means on a table which is movable on a frame by a drive and transmission system generate a signal independent of lost motion in that system so that a microprocessor can fix the position of the table in a predetermined position with respect to the frame irrespective of that lost motion.

Abstract: A method of forming cellular rigid pavement utilizing a planar orthogonal matrix of upwardly convex domed forms over which concrete is poured to create a corresponding matrix of voids within the concrete around which downward loads are distributed and which minimizes pavement warpage and concrete volume, and a panel of such domed forms used in practicing the method.

Abstract: In a refrigeration or air-conditioning process, a method applicable to the replacement of potentially ozone-depleting oil-miscible refrigerants such as R-12 with non-ozone-depleting oil-immiscible refrigerants such as R-134a, wherein a conventional expansion device is replaced by a self-regulating pulsed nozzling device for pulsed circulation of the immiscible oil in the new refrigerant to create accelerated intermittent high velocity bursts of substantially unrestricted refrigerant flow imparting sufficient momentum to move the oil with the refrigerant through all stages of the process.

Abstract: A therapeutic ankle orthosis including overlapping lateral and foot shells pivotally interconnected to permit pivotal foot movement about the talocrual joint with the overlapping portions of the lateral and foot shells secured together to protect against ankle ligament injury from rotation of the foot and leg in opposite directions in the horizontal plane.

Abstract: A method of making a python in which a bundle of tubes is disposed coaxially within a close-fitting elongated sheath having a resiliently expandable inside diameter wherein the inside diameter is expandable by creating a pressure differential between the inside and the outside of the sheath to expand the sheath and inserting the tube bundle without substantial resistance from sliding contact with the expanded inside surface of the sheath, a pig being provided on the lead end of the bundle to assist passage through the sheath.

Abstract: Removal and mounting apparatus for a snowplow assembly wherein wheel assemblies are removably clamped to the blade lower edge so that the plow assembly may be easily manually wheeled about and maneuvered for positioning during removal and mounting.

Abstract: A reversible and returnable envelope blank of generally cross-shape wherein opposed flaps have non-permanent reusable releasable low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive at selected places thereon to allow the blank to be folded securely into an envelope by the sender with no adhesive exposed and after unfolding by the receiver reversed and refolded securely into a new envelope still with no adhesive exposed.

Abstract: A multi-cornered flexible toy particularly suitable for infants wherein at least four tubes are held together end-to-end to define at least four corners by means of a closed loop cord extending through all of the tubes with an equal plurality of runs of the cord in each tube, including protective caps and ornamental slidable elements on the tubes.

Abstract: A stack and dispenser of repositionable adhesive sheets wherein the adhesive is confined to alternate opposite corner areas of successive sheets in the stack so that as each successive sheet is peeled away from the next an advancing line of separation between its adhesive-coated corner area and the next sheet becomes progressively shorter until reducing to a point upon complete separation.

Abstract: A reusable positive locking device having a nut threaded onto a bolt shank to a certain closure position wherein a locking element is screwed onto the bolt shank against the nut and a crown element cupped over the end of the bolt shank is screwed onto the bolt shank to engage the locking element and is then given an additional increment of turning so as to elastically deform biasing means between the crown element and its threaded engagement with the bolt shank, thus closing up play among the bolt shank and the locking element and the crown and the nut, the threaded connections between the locking element and the bolt shank and between the the crown element and the bolt shank being of a different direction, and the locking and crown elements being held together against relative rotation by releasable detent means.

Abstract: A nucleator assembly for snowmaking apparatus wherein body elements or vanes are disposed in a tubular housing, preferably radially, downstream from an air displacement mechanism and define mixing chambers in which air and water are mixed and then ejected from nozzles on the body elements or vanes radially spaced from the housing axis directly in the air stream flow, and portions of the body elements or vanes are heated to prevent freezing of the water in and adjacent to the mixing chambers and nozzles.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling temperature and humidity of an air stream by chilling a cold storage material and warming a heat storage material by evaporation and condensation respectively from a fixed capacity refrigeration cycle, and selectively cooling and warming the air stream by controlled heat transfer from the cold and heat storage materials.