Abstract: A machine or apparatus for installing resilient or elastomeric strip seals of indefinite length in expansion joints in, for example, highways and bridges. The machine includes an open, upper frame connected to a lower frame supported at its four corners by four freely rotating wheels. A pair of clamping pistons on the lower frame includes rollers which are adjusted to engage one face of the expansion joint. A toothed wheel or blade rotates about an inclined axis and is powered by a motor through a speed reducing gearbox. The toothed wheel engages the seal and forces it into a channel on the side of the expansion joint opposite to the side engaged by the rollers.

Abstract: A pull out drawer system for vehicles and trailers includes a stationary mounting frame having a set of rails parallel with one another, which has a first set of rollers mounted thereon, the rails adapted for receiving a second set of rollers; a movable frame having the second set of rollers mounted thereon; and a load-bearing surface mounted to the movable frame—the movable frame and load-bearing surface subcombination mounted to the stationary mounting frame with rolling contact both between the first set of rollers and the movable frame and load-bearing surface subcombination and between the set of rails and the second set of rollers. The system or another pull out drawer system may be ramped so as to be higher on the pull out end than on the opposing end.

Abstract: A roofing membrane heat seal indicator provides a positive, visually perceptible indication that a joint or seam has been raised to a sufficiently high temperature to achieve a proper seal. The heat seal indicator is applied adjacent and parallel to an edge of a roofing membrane which will be arranged on a roof to form the upper (exposed) surface of an overlapping membrane seam. As the adjacent surfaces of the overlapped membranes are heated, heat passes through the membrane to the heat seal indicator. The heat seal indicator may be a temperature sensitive ink pigmented with material that changes color upon being subjected to a temperature indicating that the membrane surface has been subjected to a sufficiently high temperature to achieve an appropriate seal. Alternatively, the indicator may be an adhered layer of a ground or flaked polymer, such as polyethylene, which is initially opaque but melts to become translucent, thereby indicating obtainment of a proper sealing temperature.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a glass panel and gasket assembly includes providing a glass panel and a mold defining a correspondingly shaped mold cavity to create a gasket for disposition about the periphery of the glass panel, filling the mold with a gasket material, allowing the gasket material to partially cure, removing the gasket from the mold and installing the gasket on the glass panel, allowing the gasket to continue to cool, shrink and cross-link so that the gasket is in tension and therefore intimately and tightly retained about the periphery of the glass. Metal shaping and reinforcing strips may also be molded into the gasket.

Abstract: A bushing for an automotive torque strut is described as having a resilient, elastomeric insert which is bonded to a rigid, inner sleeve, and provided with a plurality of resilient, elastomeric fingers which are flexible and not bonded to an outer sleeve or housing of the bushing. The fingers are specially located in the insert. In one embodiment, there are aligned pairs of oppositely disposed fingers which extend into large pie-shaped voids which are spaced on opposite sides of the inner sleeve. In the other embodiment, the insert is provided with radially oriented grooves and fingers which are alternately disposed around the inner sleeve.

Abstract: A package winder for a plurality of multiple-filament strands or bundles includes a fixed strand shoe for forming strands, a movable strand shoe for separating the strands into an array of distinctly spaced and oriented bundles and a strand array guide which reciprocates along an axis parallel to the axis of a rotating collet. The guide includes an obliquiely oriented slot which maintains the arrangement of the strands of filaments as they are wound onto the collet. A pair of obliquely oriented parallel guide pins are disposed proximate the transverse limits of the reciprocating guide. The pins engage one or more of the strands, limiting the axial width of the package and greatly improving the edges of the package. The movable strand shoe, strand array guide and pins may be utilized in pairs to produce a pair of packages on a single elongated collet.

Abstract: A strand deflector widens the band of fibers from a continuous strand mat pull wheel. The strand deflector defines a plate having a surface with discontinuities such as a pattern of transverse parallel grooves or oblique intersecting grooves. The plate is disposed below the pull wheel and is coupled to and oscillates with the spoked wheel disposed within the pull wheel. The band of fibers impinges upon the plate at a acute angle and is deflected, broadening the width of the band, typically from four to five inches to ten to twenty inches. Higher throughputs and faster line speeds are thus possible for continuous strand mat production lines.

Abstract: A trailer having a plurality of sliding side doors as well as conventional rear doors permits side access to the trailer interior, enhancing cargo loading and unloading speed and flexibility. At least one side of the trailer includes full length upper and lower tracks, each upper and lower track slidably receiving a set of trolleys which support and guide an individual door. The trolleys are coupled to the doors by pivoting arms which move between two positions. In the first, closed position, the door is in substantial vertical alignment with the tracks and may be latched to the trailer proper such that it functions as a portion of the sidewall; in the second, open position, the door is spaced laterally from the tracks and the other doors such that it may be slid along the full length of the trailer.

Abstract: A complexly curved mold and method of fabricating same provides a highly accurate form for producing complexly curved panels such as automobile lights and the like. The mold comprises a lattice-work support or grid having one surface which conforms to the desired contour of the product. The lattice-work comprises and is assembled from a plurality of strips of a material such as stainless steel or similarly relatively high strength material which are arranged in two parallel arrays disposed normal to one another and secured together to form the lattice-work support. A plurality of plates which have been shaped by rolling, bending, or other forming means to conform to areas of the mold define the face of the mold. They are secured to the lattice-work support by suitable means such as welding. The face of the mold may also include a plurality of apertures arranged in a grid through which a vacuum may be drawn to ensure intimate contact between the product and the mold face.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for vacuum cooling produce and similar foodstuffs includes a vacuum cooling chamber, a vacuum pump, refrigeration equipment and data processing equipment which is provided with various data by the operator, weight and pressure sensors within the cooling chamber and appropriately controls and terminates the operating cycle of the equipment. The method generally includes determining the initial weight and average temperature of the produce, calculating the amount of heat removal necessary to lower the temperature of the produce to a predetermined final temperature, calculating the amount of water to be removed to accomplish the desired heat removal and subjecting such produce to a vacuum to vaporize the quantity of water from such produce, such quantity of water having a heat of vaporization sufficient to achieve the previously calculated heat removal.

Abstract: An integral tire and rim assembly includes a flanged annulus having an uninterrupted, substantially constant diameter outer surface, a centrally disposed spider and a tire having inextensible beads of a diameter smaller than the diameter of the rim flanges. A method for fabricating the integral tire and rim comprises the steps of forming an annulus having a substantially uniform diameter and a first generally radially extending flange, forming a spider, securing the spider within the flange, mounting a tire on the rim and forming a second generally radially extending flange in the annulus, thereby securing the tire on the rim between the two flanges.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a dispensing system for supplying and administering a metered dose of a material to an animal subject wherein the amount of the material supplied is a function of the weight of the subject. The delivery system includes a scale for determining the weight of the subject and for generating a weight control signal representing the weight of the subject. A microcomputer is responsive to the weight control signal and a preprogrammed weight conversion factor for generating a delivery control signal to a delivery unit. The delivery unit is responsive to the delivery control signal for supplying a predetermined amount of the material to the subject. The predetermined amount represents an amount which is a function of the weight of the subject of the weight conversion factor.

Abstract: A light switch extension for use with a conventional toggle type wall switch permits ready on and off operation of the switch by children, handicapped individuals and others. The extension includes a flexible component which engages the light switch toggle at least on the upper and lower surfaces thereof and is secured there by a pin passing through the toggle or by alternate devices such as cooperating bosses and recesses. The flexible component is secured to a vertically depending operator assembly by a suitable fastener such as a screw or by other agencies such as an adhesive. A first portion of the operator assembly is a rigid rod and the second portion is a flexible element such as a helical spring which is capable of axially transmitting sufficient force to the flexible component and switch toggle to turn it on and off but which is radially or laterally flexible such that radially or laterally applied forces will harmlessly deflect it.

Abstract: A three-sided, rectilinear bridge or culvert structure comprises a pair of vertical sidewalls set in preformed or cast in place footers or existing supports and an integral, planar, horizontal span. The footers preferably include a sidewall receiving channel on their upper surfaces. There is no lower or bottom portion of the structure such as is found in conventional box culverts and thus, that region between the footers and sidewalls is open and readily permits water flow through the structure in its natural watercourse, lessening the likelihood of debris collection within the structure. The structure is cast concrete reinforced with conventional reinforcing bar or welded wire mesh. A wide range of rise/span (height/width) proportions may be accommodated in structures having spans up to about thirty feet.

Abstract: A transmission range selection device for use with a vehicle transmission having a main gear box and auxiliary two-speed gear box provides control over both with a single, conventional shift lever. The shift lever is pivotally mounted in the tower of the main transmission which is fitted with a switch. Shift forks associated with the main gear box shift rails are conventional except for that fork associated with the highest speed gears which has an extended throat, permitting shift lever movement into positions adjacent and beyond the positions associated with the highest gears of the standard shift pattern. When moved to these additional shift positions, the shift lever selects the highest gears of the transmission and activates the switch which in turn shifts the auxiliary gear box from its lower range to its higher range.

Abstract: A check valve particularly useful for water well applications. The valve components are positioned at the low pressure, downstream side of a flexible poppet. A flexible guide, shaped generally as an inverted top hat, snaps into place in an annular groove and responds to longitudinally directed forces from the water flow and a biasing spring to forcibly retain the guide in the groove. A stem affixed to the poppet slides within an aperture of the guide and restricts the poppet to generally longitudinal motion.

Abstract: A trailer apparatus includes movable and demountable structures which adapt the trailer for use with large planar sheets of material as well as more conventional loads such as cartons, drums and palletized articles. The trailer includes a plurality of parallel A-frame supports spaced longitudinally along the central portion of the trailer for receiving the planar material. Transversely oriented bars longitudinally restrain the material and straps extending downwardly from the top of the support laterally restrain it. The upper portion of the A-frame supports, as well as the bars and straps are removable. A pair of hinged panels selectively form a trailer floor in the central portion thereof. The sidewalls of the trailer are fixed. The roof is movable to permit loading and unloading of the planar material from above and conventional rear trailer doors provide access therethrough for loading and unloading conventional cargo such as palletized material, cartons, and drums.

Abstract: A door assembly for providing access to a chamber for processing food products includes a door supported at its midpoint and pivoted about a first axis. A pair of crank arms receive and support the door on the axis and are pivotally secured to the sidewalls of the chamber along a second axis parallel to the first axis. The opposite ends of the crank arms are secured together by a bar or beam preferably disposed along a third axis parallel to the first axis of pivot. A hydraulic cylinder extends between the beam and a pivoted support disposed on the top portion of the chamber. A pair of strut assemblies are pivotally secured to the door generally above the first axis and extend generally toward the second axis where they are likewise pivotally secured. Pivotal disposition of the door at four points on a pair of parallel axes ensures that all door motion is controlled and further provides a compact opening arc which permits placement of the chamber and door proximate loading docks and similar structures.

Abstract: An apparatus for serially imprinting and cutting a tape such as an award ribbon includes a pneumatically actuated, heated imprinter and sequentially operated, pneumatically actuated cutter and trimmer. A stepping motor provides incremental movement of the ribbon and a ratchet drive mechanism coupled to the imprinter provides advancement of the foil or printing tape. The entire operation of the apparatus is under the control of a microprocessor which accepts information from the operator regarding ribbon length, imprint position and quantity and sequentially activates the various elements of the imprinting apparatus.