Abstract: A power assembly for dispensing product from a container includes a pump mechanism and an energy storage mechanism. The pump mechanism includes a rotatable actuating collar connected through an escapement mechanism with a drive screw with an externally threaded shaft engaged with internal threads in a piston. Rotation of the collar reciprocates the piston to store energy in the energy storage mechanism and to draw product into a pump chamber from which the product is dispensed. An actuator is connected with a stem valve to open it when the actuator is depressed, enabling the energy storage mechanism to push the piston back to its at-rest position to force product from the pump chamber and ready it for another dispensing cycle. Disengagement of the escapement mechanism when the actuator is depressed prevents rotation of the actuating collar. Different energy storage mechanisms can be interchangeably attached to the pump mechanism.

Abstract: An adjustable plumbing fitting has a piston rotatably and telescopically engaged in a housing, with one end of the housing adapted to be connected to a first plumbing part, and a cylindrical extension on the piston projecting from an opposite end of the housing and adapted to be connected to a second plumbing part. In one embodiment, two housings and associated pistons are integrally joined together to form a T-fitting for connecting the overflow and drain of a bathtub. In another embodiment, the housing is integrally formed with a J-shaped drain trap, and in another embodiment the housing and/or piston is integrally formed with a water closet flange.

Abstract: An adjustable plumbing fitting has a piston rotatably and telescopically engaged in a housing, with one end of the housing adapted to be connected to a first plumbing part, and a cylindrical extension on the piston projecting from an opposite end of the housing and adapted to be connected to a second plumbing part. In one embodiment, two housings and associated pistons are integrally joined together to form a T-fitting for connecting the overflow and drain of a bathtub. In another embodiment, the housing is integrally formed with a J-shaped drain trap, and in another embodiment the housing and/or piston is integrally formed with a water closet flange.

Abstract: A toilet utensil holder for holding toilet utensils such as a toilet brush and a plunger is shaped as a ship. The holder has a base section forming a hull of the ship, with basins for receiving the utensils, and in a preferred embodiment covers are pivoted to the base section for covering an operative end of the utensils and forming a superstructure of the ship. Handles of the utensils extend above the base portion, and in the preferred embodiment above the covers, and simulate masts or other parts of a ship. A handle may be affixed to the holder to lift and carry it.

Abstract: A surgical magnetic retrieval tool for retrieving objects attractable by a magnet lost in a surgical cavity during a surgical procedure. The tool is a permanent magnet having a size and shape adapted to be placed in and moved through a surgical cavity to attract and hold the objects for retrieval of them from the cavity, and a flexible tether is attached to the magnet for supporting the magnet, pulling it through the cavity, and retrieving the magnet and objects attracted thereto from the cavity. In one form of the invention the magnet is a flexible magnetic sheet; in another form it is a sphere; in another form it is an oblate spheroid; and in another form it is a disc. The tool is disposable following use.

Abstract: A method and system for making computer-aided drawings of an object directly in 3D. The object or its parts are bounded by m-dimensional enclosing subspaces whose boundaries are shrunk to intersect the topographical features of the enclosed object or its parts. The resulting boundary-boundary intersections define a set of key bounding dots which can be connected with mathematical entities such as lines, surfaces or solids to complete the drawing of the object or its parts. The entire drawing process is conducted directly in 3D on the display device with the user in control to view, freely rotate, move, pan, zoom, create, change or review the object anytime, akin to holding the object in hands in front, and looking over it while creating it. Drawings created by the invention can be grouped to represent assembled components, sub-assemblies, or entire systems. All or part of a drawing, if applicable, can also be grouped for structural modeling and analysis.

Abstract: According to a first aspect of the invention a can manufacturer completes manufacture of a can and then ships it to a filler, who needs only to fill the can with product. In a preferred embodiment the manufacturer pre-charges the container with a propellant. In accordance with a second aspect of the invention a desired quantity of gaseous propellant is first charged into a container, and a desired quantity of product is then injected into the container. A container filled in accordance with the invention maintains a predetermined pressure in the container as product is depleted from the container, and unacceptable pressure spikes are avoided as the container is being filled.

Abstract: A facial support cushion for supporting the face of a person lying in a prone position, wherein the cushion is an annular, generally torus shaped body having a hollow interior with a plurality of generally radially extending partitions extending across the interior of the body, dividing it into a plurality of individual chambers spaced sequentially around the body. Apparatus is connected with the chambers to sequentially expand and contract them in an alternating pattern so that some of the chambers are expanded to contact and support the face while other chambers are contracted to relieve the pressure exerted against the face by the other chambers, whereby the formation of pressure sores and other deleterious effects are avoided by periodically and temporarily relieving pressure exerted by the chambers against different areas of the face.

Abstract: A therapeutic seat cushion for supporting a person remaining in a sitting position for a prolonged period of time, wherein the cushion is a generally rectangular body having a hollow interior with a plurality of generally radially extending partitions extending across the interior of the body, dividing it into a plurality of individual chambers spaced sequentially around the body. Apparatus is connected with the chambers to sequentially expand and contract them in an alternating pattern so that some of the chambers are expanded to contact and support the person while other chambers are contracted to relieve the pressure exerted against the person by the other chambers, whereby the formation of pressure sores and other harmful effects are avoided by periodically and temporarily relieving pressure exerted by the chambers against different areas of the person.

Abstract: A nursing apron that covers an infant being breastfed to thereby afford privacy to the nursing mother, and that also provides at least partial support to the nursing infant. The apron is made from a piece of material having a top end, a bottom end, and opposite side edges, and is adapted to cover the chest area of a nursing mother, with the top end lying beneath the chin of the mother, the bottom end lying at about midsection of the mother, and the opposite side edges partially wrapping around the sides of the mother. A tie or belt is on the bottom end for securing the bottom end about the midsection of the mother to form a support pouch for supporting a nursing infant in position to be breastfed.

Abstract: A gas adsorption material containing a desired quantity of gas is placed in a pressurized container along with a product to be dispensed, and as pressure in the container is depleted during use, stored gas is released into the container to maintain pressure in the container within a predetermined range. The material may be in contact with the product, or it may be isolated from the product, and is known as a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system, wherein adsorption of gas into the material occurs at a high pressure, and desorption of gas from the material occurs at a low pressure. Such devices are capable of storing under pressure a volume of gas 18 to 20 times the volume of the material. A preferred adsorbent gas storage material is granular activated carbon, or a carbon fiber composite molecular sieve (CFCMS).

Abstract: A shirt collar having a stretchable neckband made of a woven fabric with at least some of the threads on a bias so that in the event the length of the threads shrinks there is only a negligible reduction in the circumferential size of the collar, and the collar is circumferentially stretchable. In one form of the invention the neckband is made of a non-elastomeric material with a plurality of holes in it which elongate when a circumferential force is applied, resulting in elongation of the neckband. In another form, the threads forming the neckband are kinked so that they are resiliently yieldable in a lengthwise direction. The stitching attaching the neckband to the collar and to the shirt body may be applied in a pattern, e.g., zig-zag or skip stitching, that enables the seams to stretch.

Abstract: A beverage tray has a floor with peripheral, upstanding side and end walls for holding a plurality of containers of beverage, for example in six-packs. The floor has a plurality of downwardly projecting detents on its bottom surface for cooperation with the tops of beverage containers in a sub-adjacent tray to impede free sliding movement of an upper tray over the beverage containers in a sub-adjacent tray to enable stable stacking of the trays, while at the same time enabling the upper tray to be slid over the cans in the lower tray to remove the upper tray from a stack of trays. The detents are rectilinear and present spaced, opposed, parallel, straight detents that define detent sets surrounding bottle top receiving areas. The upper edge of the side wall is smoothly sinusoidally curved to define spaced, alternating upper side wall sections and recessed areas.

Abstract: A substantially flat, generally circular coaster made of a material that can absorb and/or prevent transmission of moisture is designed to receive the enlarged base of stemware and to be carried with the stemware, so that the coaster is always in position and ready for use without any handling of the coaster being required by the user after the coaster is initially placed in position on the base of the stemware. The coaster has a bottom portion and a top portion joined at their periphery to define a hollow cavity in which the base of the stemware is received. The top portion is provided with shaped slots or cuts so that the base of the stemware can be inserted through the top portion and into the hollow cavity. In a preferred embodiment, the coaster is made of an attractive fabric material.

Abstract: An endoscopic pedicle probe for use during spinal surgery to form a hole in a pedicle for reception of a pedicle screw. The probe has an enlarged proximal end for cooperation with the hand of the surgeon so that the probe can be pushed through the pedicle in a controlled manner, and an elongate hollow shaft terminating in a distal tip end. A fiber optic cable or endoscope is placed in the hollow shaft and connected with a monitor to enable the surgeon to visually observe the structure adjacent the tip end of the probe during surgery, whereby the probe may be accurately placed in the pedicle for subsequent accurate placement of the pedicle screw in the hole formed with the probe.

Abstract: An octagonal bulk bin of corrugated paperboard has opposed parallel side walls spaced a predetermined distance apart and opposed parallel end walls spaced a predetermined distance apart. The side and end walls are joined by diagonal corner panels. The diagonal corner panels are made wider than the corner panels in a conventional bin, and the side and end walls are narrower, with the corner panels and the end walls having approximately the same width, while maintaining the predetermined spacing. This configuration reduces the bulge experienced when product is loaded into the bin. In addition to the wider corner panels, or in lieu thereof, scores may be placed in at least one of the side and end panels to define a line along which controlled and predetermined buckling will take place, if buckling occurs.

Abstract: A container for carrying produce is reinforced with at least one cross beam extending longitudinally across the upper side of the container and supported by the container's side walls. The cross beam is supported by die cut recesses in the upper edge of opposing side walls or by extensions extending from the sides of the cross beam.