Abstract: A disposable sterile cover, for the control lever of an instrument, comes packaged into a disposable sterile envelope. A central raised area of the cover fits loosely over the control lever while the remaining peripheral flat area of the cover remains in contact with the surrounding control panel portion, allowing the control lever to be manipulated during a surgical procedure by the surgeon without compromising the sterility of her hands.

Abstract: A billfold and credit card carrier engineered for minimum thickness has a pair of nested pockets shaped and dimensioned to hold adjacent stacks of banknotes, and series of credit card-sized pockets for holding credit cards, driver's license, and other similarly sized documents in side-by-side arrangements.

Abstract: An orbital implant motility peg capable of being placed in vivo in an orbital implant, wherein the peg is configured to permit rotation about a longitudinal axis of the peg during or following insertion of the peg into the implant, and wherein the peg comprises a means for removable attachment to an artificial eye. The means for removable attachment can comprise a convex surface capable of articulating with a concave surface on the artificial eye. The means for removable attachment can comprise a ball capable of providing a ball of a ball-and-socket articulation. The peg can contain a means for removable attachment that comprises a positive or a negative magnetic pole. The peg can define a cavity capable of containing a stint for attachment to an artificial eye. Also disclosed is a stint capable of being placed in such a peg cavity. The stint can comprise a means for removable attachment to an artificial eye such as a ball of a ball-and-socket articulation.

Abstract: In a hot and cold water plumbing installation, a volume of hot water is first drawn from the hot water line and stored in an insulated reservoir. When the temperature of the water near the most distal location of the hot water line falls below a predetermined level, the contents of the insulated reservoir are reinjected back into that line to flush the cooled down water back into the water heater. A second reservoir is used between the water heater inlet and the cold water source to absorb the excess water resulting from the aforesaid reinjection and prevent hot water from being injected into the cold water line.

Abstract: A removable pocket is formed over a flat surface such as the front of a shirt by adhesively securing to the fabric a treated and embossed label-type applique made of two plies of paper permanently bonded about their peripheries and in which a slit along a top edge allows access to the pouch thus formed between plies. The pouch may be filled with merchandise and temporarily sealed with a removable strip. A postcard format printed in the back of the removable pocket allows its use as a mailer. A type of pouch having a transparent front may be conveniently used as a document display. The above-described various devices are preferably manufactured using label printing presses that print a glue pattern that binds the edges of the plies.

Abstract: A container which can be held and opened by one hand has a dome-shaped cap formed by a series of adjacent, contiguous and ogee-shaped segments resiliently held together by an elastic ring. When the cap is forced down over the opening rim of the vessel, the ogee-shaped segment separate to expose the vessel opening.

Abstract: In a hot and cold water distribution system wherein the hot water is delivered from a water heater to a distant hot water tap adjacent to a cold water tap, a hot water recirculation pump assembly purges the hot water line of any cooled-down water in order to assure instant hot water delivery when the hot water tap is opened. The volume of water drawn from the hot water line is, in a first embodiment of the invention, cooled down through a radiator before being recirculated through the cold water line faucet. In a second embodiment, the volume of cooled down water is flushed back through the hot water line by admission of an equal volume of cold water in that line. That volume of cold water is immediately pumped back into the cold water line, and automatically replaced by hot water drawn from the water heater. Each embodiments prevent any drawing of lukewarm water from the cold water tap. The pump assembly includes a pressure-sensitive check-valve in the pressure region of each pump.

Abstract: An apparatus for extracting a bone from a cut of meat comprises a frusto-conical blade against which the cut of meat is pushed in the axial direction of, and in line with the bone. The apical opening edge of the blade cuts and spreads the meat around the bone, allowing the bone to pass through the blade while the meat is crunched against the wall of the blade and its backing plate. The bone is grabbed by a pair of jaws terminated by barbed cylinders that rotate in opposite directions to further extract the bone from the cut of meat. The movements of the jaw and of a lever that pushes the cut of meat towards the blade are synchronized by a single camshaft mounting eccentric wheels acting on both the jaws and the pushing lever. These movements are driven for safety by the pull of coil springs. Electrical motors only return the jaws and lever to their rest position.

Abstract: High density heatsinks for microcircuit packages are formed by first mold-pressing a composite powder of free-flowing spray-dried particles of an inexpensive high thermal conductivity material having a high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) such as copper and at least one other low CTE material such as tungsten, the proportions of which are adjusted to match the CTE of the microcircuit material. The pressed compacts are sintered in order to achieve an homogeneous distribution of the melting copper throughout the structure. A multilevel embodiment of the heatsink comprises two bonded layers of metals or composites having their coefficients of thermal expansion adjusted to match those of the semiconductor material and of any supporting structures respectively, wherein the second layer in contact with the supporting structure has a high CTE and the other has a lower CTE.

Abstract: A device for releasably fastening a cover slab to the opening of a crypt or niche extending back from a vertical support wall. Each device is positioned at a common point of adjacency of a plurality of slabs. Each device has a rotatively mounted locking plate for engaging slots in the sides of each of the slabs. The plate has a cutaway sized and dimensioned to allow for the passage of one of the slabs through the cutaway when the cutaway is rotated into proper alignment. Keyed tool means for turning the plate indicated the positioning of the cutaway.

Abstract: In a banner display device where a plurality of banners are mounted end-to-end upon a carrier web to form a scroll which is wound on a pair of parallel and spaced-apart rollers, means carried on the scroll for stretching or decompressing a medial section of a displayed banner sufficiently to eliminate wrinkles and small distortions. One embodiment uses means for propelling the medial section away from the web comprising resiliently flexible banner end sections or resiliently flexible strips framing the banner which, when partially wound over the rollers, resiliently assume a more planar tangential position in relation to the rollers, thereby allowing the medial section to jut anteriorly away from the carrier.An embodiment further comprises two independent lateral support members capable of being mounted within enclosures having widely different widths. Components such as motors, transmissions, roller mounting spindles, control sensors and circuitry are mounted directly on the support members.

Abstract: A non-lethal weapon for disabling an engine such as that of a fleeing car by means of a high voltage discharge that perturbs or destroys the electrical circuits. The transmission of the disabling voltage to the distant target is via two channels of electrically conductive air. The conductive channels are created by multi-photon and collisional ionization within the paths of two beams of coherent (laser) or collimated incoherent ultraviolet radiation directed to the target. A single beam may be used when the high voltage source and the target are grounded. The high-voltage current flows from electrodes at the origin of the beams along the channels of free electrons within them.

Abstract: A drilling template for carving into the lateral edge or the jamb of a door, a cavity shaped and dimensioned to receive either a flanged lock or its strikeplate has a series of drill bit bores at regular spaced-apart intervals along a central line, a pair of lateral legs with sharp ends, and mounting holes corresponding to those of the lock or strikeplate. The template is designed to be hammered into the door edge or jamb until the sharp edge-ended edges define the outline of the lock flange or of the strikeplate as well as the amount of wood to be removed to form the mortise necessary to nest those elements. The template can be screwed in place through mounting holes that correspond to those of the lock or strikeplate. A drill is used to rout the cavity through the drill bit bores. Guides in either side of the bores prevent lateral movement of the bit, but allow slight longitudinal swing to remove material that may remain between holes.

Abstract: A hot water distribution system incorporating a pump positioned close to, and between each set of hot and cold water taps to which periodically move the cooled-down water content of the hot water distribution line through the cold water distribution line back to the hot water tank until the total content of the hot water line has a predetermined temperature. The pump is provided with a valve responsive to pump-generated pressure to prevent backflow when the pump is not in use and the pressure in the cold water distribution line is lower than the pressure in the hot water distribution line, such as when water is drawn through a cold water tap.

Abstract: A compact, rugged, long-lasting, battery-powered light fixture suitable for use as an emergency signal, marker, or flashlight has a lighting element made from a phosphorous-based luminescent film section curled into a cylindrical shape and packaged within a transparent tubular enclosure. The AC power supply and batteries are held in the center of the enclosure inside the lighting element.

Abstract: In the manufacture of molded or laminated articles from composite materials such as fiber-reinforced and carbon or metal-loaded resins, the vacuum plastic bag or other air-tight barrier commonly used during the pressing, heating and curing phases is eliminated. Instead the various process cycles are conducted in one or more fluid-tight pressurizable chamber under various types of atmospheres to eliminate air pockets, vaporize and evacuate moisture and residual solvents, and suppress surface bubbling and frothing of pressed out fluids.