Abstract: An automatic can opener having a motor-driven cutter wheel which cooperates with two stabilizing wheels or runners for performing a can-opening or cutting operation on two cans simultaneously. The single cutting wheel is directly inline with the motor armature axis and acts as the sole driving element for both rotating and cutting into the two cans that are held in rotational stability by the respective stabilizing wheels acting on opposite sides of the cans from the cutting wheel.

Abstract: A splash bar for use in cooling towers in which a plastic strand material having an irregular surface is formed to provide a tubular network of similarly-shaped interstices that effect a maximum splash-effect and prevent water-film build up on the splash bar. The individual strand portions forming the interstices of the tubular splash bar cooperate with support rods in a cooling tower for securing the splash bar into a fixed horizontal position without the aid of auxiliary clamping members or additional structure other than the splash bar itself.

Abstract: A high speed container placement machine in which stationary units consisting of one feeder guide, one load cell and one discharge guide are placed in a spaced-apart relationship along the side of a supply conveyer traveling at a constant speed and carrying at least one row of spaced apart containers. The feeder guides of a particular group of such units simultaneously pick up a plural number of containers from the supply conveyer and place them on their respective load cells. After processing, the discharge guides of the units simultaneously remove the processed containers from the load cells and place them back on the same conveyer again between the arriving containers. The guides are driven by a simple cam and cam-follower variable speed drive mechanism which prevents any unintended interference between the guides and any of the containers.

Abstract: The invention provides an easily assembled connector for handle sections of a wheeled appliance in which the connector is formed from a plastic having an agressive memory for enabling a pair of opposed tab members thereon formed from the same material to cooperate with respective apertures in the handle members to be joined or connected. The handle members are slip-fitted the one onto the other with the connector occupying a reinforcing position on the inside surface of the end of the innermost handle member in one embodiment and, according to another embodiment in which the connector housing comprises two half portions, joins the handle members in an abutting relationship.

Abstract: An egg transfer device having an active rotator assembly and a passive rotator assembly pivoted about a common axis above a support table. An automatic clamping device associated with the active rotator assembly is in an unlocked or open position to allow the active rotator to be loaded with a tray of setter egg flats. A hatcher receiver tray in which the eggs from the setter egg flats are to be transferred is disposed on top of the egg flats and, as well, in the passive rotator once it is rotated into an operative position. The two rotator assemblies are then rotated together as a unit about their common axis 180 degrees to their opposite position on the table support.

Abstract: A rotatable locking device composed of a flexible plastic material is disposed adjacent the end portions of each pair of legs for barricade structure for streets and highways. The locking device can be rotated into an operating position where it bears against the tips of the end portions of the legs when extended and so locks them into place to thereby keep the legs extended during harsh weather conditions and when the barricade is subjected to repeated gusts of winds from passing trucks. When the barricade is suddenly impacted, however, the end portions of the leg members will spring free from the locking devices owing to elastic deformation or "forgiveness" of the flexible plastic material that comprises both locks and legs to thereby allow the leg members of the barricade to fold or collapse to a safe position.

Abstract: A thumbnut for use with a convex surface is provided with a plastic sheath in which the bottom face thereof has a series of projections arranged in a circumferential manner like the numerals on a clock face. Once the thumbnut is threadedly engaged with a bolt extending from the convex surface, these projections react in a ratchet-like manner with that surface. As the thumb nut is tightened the projections cause it to move alternatively from unstable "override" positions to stable "straddle" positions which effectively lock the thumbnut with respect to the convex surface, regardless of the amount of torque applied to the thumbnut.

Abstract: A tool for removing seal plugs from a carburetor baseplate having a shaft and collet arrangement in which the shaft is formed at one end by a drill bit. The members are concentrically aligned within an outer holder member which also functions as a drill guide when the shaft-drill member is connected to a drill chuck and the drill bit end of the shaft is presented to the face cap of the seal plug. Once the end cap is removed by the drill bit end of the shaft member, the tool is then inserted as a unit through the cylindrical space defining the seal plug, and the seal plug is then removed in the conventional manner from the borehole without damaging the borehole or the baseplate.

Abstract: A hand cart or wheelbarrow is provided with a tub member having slanted walls, one with respect to another, together with suitably designed auxiliary members, such as a handle, wheels, axle and hardware. At the factory site the auxiliary members and hardware are placed within the tub and enveloped as a unit with a packaging material so that the resultant package is of the same general shape and configuration as the tub and contains all the elements of the complete product. In this way each package can be nested in another like package, and a plurality of such packages, so nested together, can form a compact shipping unit, storage unit or sales unit that affords maximum protection to each product and that virtually eliminates wasted space between the stacked products.

Abstract: A plurality of generally rectangular PCM (phase-change material) containers for use in a TES (thermal energy storage) system wherein each container is shaped to lock-support at least one pair of superimposed adjacent containers so that each row of containers is offset from each other. In one embodiment each container is cross-sectioned in the general shape of a bow tie or an hour glass so that there is a recessed or depressed portion in the top and the bottom of the container running the full length thereof. Further, the top and bottom surface material of each container is shaped in the form of an undulating wave pattern that extends in the longitudinal direction parallel to the long axes of the aforementioned depressed portions, and the node portions of which are provided with grooves or flow channels which extend in a lateral dimension, normal to the long axes, so as to circumscribe the container.

Abstract: A visual display device having two helices each wound from a single tubular-like material about a common axis and one of the helices being within the peripheral confines of the other and the coils of the one helix being wound in the same direction as the wound direction of the coils in the other helix, so that when the device as a whole is rotated the two helices appear to perpetually move in simultaneously opposite directions, thus offering to the viewer of the rotating display device an aesthetically interesting sight.

Abstract: What is provided is a utility cart of a one-piece rectilinear design supported by two coaxial wheels, the cart having a lipped or beveled portion at the top of its sidewalls and a U-shaped handle pivoted through respective lipped portions at one end of the cart so that the handle may be easily swung down from an operable position to a folded position within the confines of the overall dimension of the cart. When the handle is in its operable position, the free ends thereof are easily secured under the respective lipped portions to thereby give the entire structure the strength and leverage required for proper load-bearing use.

Abstract: A portable case or bag for transporting computer storage materials such as computer tapes and printout sheets in which the case defines an interior space which is substantially the size and shape of the material to be transported and in which a pair of parallel loop-like straps, each of which extend in a single plane, substantially surround and support the case and provide a handle means where they leave the case; a closure means is disposed between the loop-like straps. Also, a marker sheet is provided as an integral part of that embodiment of the case which is used for transporting computer printout sheets; the marker sheet is provided with a relatively inflexible straight edge as a reading guide for the printout sheets.

Abstract: A wall mounted plate for a hand-operated fire extinguisher in which the plate has markings thereon to signal to the prospective user its location. The plate is composed of a fiberglass reinforced plastic, the markings thereon being of a striped pattern and integral with the plastic, and the plate further having a planar extension beyond the periphery of the fire extinguisher for effecting maximum visibility.

Abstract: A lightweight vertical panel barricade for use on streets and highways in which a first vertical panel is supported and rigidly locked into place by the clamping effect of respective ends of leg support members acting against a wall support of a housing structure disposed at each end of the panel member. The leg support members are rectangular in cross-section and are virtually gripped on three side faces thereof by the housing structures in which they are pivoted, both in their extended, panel support position and their closed, storage position. A second panel member depending from and coplanar with the first panel member is surrounded by the leg members and provides a doubling of the reflective surface of the barricade.

Abstract: An actuator system for positioning a flight control surface on an aircraft in which a primary braking device provides a continuous braking action to the actuator screw shaft by means of a load bearing disc brake wheel and a pair of rachet wheels contiguous therewith, the torque between the disc brake wheel and the rachet wheel (which ever wheel is being racheted by the load bearing disc) is proportional to the load on the screw shaft (and hence the actuator for the flight control surface). A Hall-effect device is mounted above the pawls associated with the rachet wheels for measuring the movement of the pawls in a closed loop circuit for the purpose of determining not only a faultlessly running braking condition but also to indicate whether a faulty condition exists, as well as what kind of fault is being detected.

Abstract: What is proposed is an electro-impulse de-icing device for use in an airfoil of an aircraft that includes a system having an energy storage device connected via a triggering device to a set of coils each embodying a coil construction in the form of a spirally wound ribbon coil member whose planar dimension is pressed against an interior surface in the leading edge of the airfoil, and wherein the coil sets are arranged in a linear manner along the long axis of the airfoil and are energized simultaneously and sequentially via an interlocking pattern from the wing tips or from the fuselage of the aircraft with each coil set being triggered twice from about three to five seconds apart.

Abstract: A decoupling device for gear motors used in cargo conveyor belt systems in which a coupler member is free to move axially on the output shaft of the gear motor to cooperate with the final gear of the gear train in the motor housing. A spring member maintains the coupler in engagement with the final gear via the corresponding jaw structures. Disengagement of the respective jaw structures is accomplished by axially moving the coupler member along the output shaft by means of a self-securing pivotally mounted yoke which engages the coupler for transmitting axial motion thereto. The yoke is pivoted by means of a cam follower device mounted for pivotal movement exteriorly of the gear housing to thereby rotate to one of two positions, thus connecting or disconnecting the aforementioned respective jaw structures on the output shaft.

Abstract: What is proposed is an apparatus for a shielded terminal connector that eliminates EMI leakage from coaxial cables in which a resilient bushing of a conductive material is inserted between exposed shield portions of the coaxial cable and the interior surface of a backshell housing, the latter being compressed onto a connector housing for the cable and the resilient bushing itself so that the bushing is gripped tightly by the backshell housing and thus completely fills the space between the exposed shield portions of the cable and the surrounding interior surface of the backshell housing.