Abstract: A tool having a handle and a blade secured to and extending transversely from one end of the handle. The tool is adapted to be manually placed in a conventional paint can with the blade near the inner surface of the bottom of the can when the can is tilted on its side to remove residual paint from the can. The blade has a flexible portion and a flat surface so that it can be moved along the inner surface of the can bottom to scrape the paint thereon toward one side wall portion when the can is tilted on its side. The flexibility of the blade allows its flat surface to remain in substantial surface-to-surface contact with the inner surface of the can bottom even though such inner surface has undulations. The handle is also flexible to permit it to bend to assure proper placement of the blade in the can near the bottom of the can.

Abstract: A prosthesis for a joint of the human body, such as the metacarpophalangeal, knee, or other joint. The prosthesis includes at least a pair of elongated stem members adapted to be inserted into and bonded to two bones which met to form the joint. The adjacent surfaces of the two stem members form an interface with each other to present the prosthetic joint interface. The two members are interconnected by a pivot mechanism comprised of a rotatable element in a slot in a first of the stem members, and a linking pin pivotally coupled to the element and to the second stem member so that the second stem member can pivot relative to the first stem member about three different axes. The mechanism is made so that the pivotal movement of the second stem member relative to the first stem member about any one of the axes can be accomplished without imparting significant torsional or bending loads to the first stem member.

Abstract: For use on the outer end of the antenna shaft of a television set. A protector-receptor having a solid body of soft, plastic foam, yieldable or resilient material, such as polyurethane, for preventing the outer end of the antenna shaft from poking the eye when a person's head is in proximity to the antenna shaft. The body has a metallic material embedded therein to enhance television signal reception. The body has a passage extending into it from its outer periphery and is mounted in an operative position with the outer end of the antenna shaft inserted into the passage. A tubular fastener can be mounted on the portion of the antenna shaft inserted in the passage to provide a more positive coupling to the body. Several embodiments of the fastener are disclosed. The body can be spherical or of another shape. The metal material in the body can be of any shape or size and can be in any suitable position in the body.

Abstract: A fluid valve having a generally cylindrical, hollow body provided with aligned openings in the opposed end walls thereof, one of the openings shiftably receiving a valve member and the other opening adapted to be coupled to a tube leading to a vessel to be pressurized. A coil spring in the body biases the valve member to a closed position against a valve seat carried by the adjacent end wall, and the valve member has a cap provided with a skirt surrounding the sidewall of the body so that the valve member can be opened by manually depressing the cap relative to the body. A second valve is coupled with the body so that a fluid under pressure can be directed into the body and thereby a vessel to be pressurized when the tube leading to the vessel is coupled to the other opening of the body. The body is formed in two parts to facilitate manufacture and assembly.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for generating light designs using a plurality of light emitting diodes on the outer, flat surface of a motor-driven rotor which is rotatably mounted on a base. The diodes are coupled through sliding contacts on the shaft of the rotor to control circuitry carried by the base. The circuitry includes a switching network having a signal input fed by one or more oscillators. The switching network includes comparators for the diodes to compare the voltage of the input signals from the oscillators with a characteristic voltage for each diode, respectively. The diodes are turned on when the input signal voltages have predetermined values with respect to the characteristic voltages, so that diodes can be operated in a sequence and at frequencies to provide distinctive, repeatable designs as the diodes rotate with the rotor. Resistive and capacitive components can be used to change the waveform of the input signals to the switching network.

Abstract: An improved motor assembly including a brushless D.C. motor and an annular member defining a platform for the drive electronics and speed control circuits of the motor. The member is carried on a fixed support within the outer envelope of the motor and includes a thin disk-like body providing a pair of opposed surfaces for mounting the components of the circuits. The fixed support of the motor has a flat annular face surrounding the drive shaft of the motor, and the annular member engages and is secured to the flat face of the support in surrounding relationship to the shaft. In a preferred embodiment, the housing of the motor defines part of the rotor of the motor and is for rotation with the shaft. A flange is secured to the support near the opposite end of the shaft for mounting the motor on a fixed support, such as on the base of a housing forming a part of a disk drive unit.

Abstract: A toy having electronic circuitry for generating different sounds simulating sounds resulting from certain activities such as cooking or running water. The toy is in the form of a toy stove provided with a housing having a simulated water delivery tap, a sink below the tap, and a simulated burner section for supporting one or more toy utensils in locations simulating the heating of the utensils. The electronic circuit is carried by the housing beneath the burner section and includes a white noise generator, an amplifier, and a speaker for providing audible sounds corresponding to the output signals of the white noise generator. A sound effects oscillator is coupled with the white noise generator for changing the sounds produced by the white noise generator as a function of the type of utensil on the burner section.

Abstract: Apparatus for playing a game with a moveable player piece, such as a marble or steel ball, and a game board having a start position and a finish position for the player piece. A maze is mounted on the game board for rotation along the upper surface thereof, the maze including walls which present obstacles for the player piece yet the walls have openings therethrough to permit the player piece to pass through the maze as the player piece is maneuvered toward a finish position on the game board as the game board itself is manually manipulated by tilting it up and down and from side to side. The maze is coupled by a shaft to a mechanical or an electric drive motor mounted below the game board surface and the speed of the motor can be changed to vary the speed of rotation of the maze. The game board has two adjacent recesses for receiving the player piece, one defining the winning location and the other defining a losing location.

Abstract: An improved tool for wrapping wire around an electrical terminal to make an electrical connection. The tool includes a bit and a sleeve for receiving the bit. One end of the bit has a connecting member for coupling the bit to the chuck of a hand-held drive motor. The opposite end of the bit is provided with a tip having a recess axially aligned with an axially extending groove formed in one side of the main body of the bit. A discontinuity between the recess and the groove is defined by a ridge having a pair of relatively convergent edges which extend toward the axis of the bit and terminate at a notch axially aligned with the bottom of the groove in the bit body. A crescent-shaped projection extends axially outwardly from one side of the tip to wrap the end of the wire against the terminal. The sleeve has an enlargement at the end near the tip for receiving one end of a wire and guiding it to the groove and outwardly through a side window in the sleeve before rotating the bit.

Abstract: A dispenser for flowable material, such as liquids or powder, having a container provided with a corrugated sidewall which allows the container to collapse when a downward force is exerted on the upper part thereof. The container has a tubular extension or spout projecting laterally from the upper part thereof and an upper surface free of structure to allow the palm or other part of the hand to readily engage the upper surface and to exert a downward force thereon. The force on the container causes material therein to travel upwardly through an inner tube and laterally through the spout to an outlet at the outer end of the spout. In one embodiment of the dispenser, the upper part of the container has a top opening therethrough to allow filling of the container and a cap removably closes the opening, the cap having a flat or slightly curved upper surface and being press-fitted or threaded onto the upper part to close the opening.

Abstract: A ship lock system having a ship lock interconnecting two bodies of water at different water levels. The system includes one or more underground hydroelectric pumped-storage units connected by one or more penstocks with the ship lock which serves as the upper reservoir to the pumped-storage units so that water can be drained from the ship lock through the penstocks to drive one or more reversible pump-turbines of the pumped-storage units which generates electrical energy, particularly during high demand hours for electrical energy. A lower reservoir adjacent to the pump-turbines is used to store the water which drives the turbines. The lowering of the water in the ship lock permits ships which entered the lock at the upper water level to leave the lock at the lower water level. By a pumping action, the pump-turbines can pump the water from the reservoir upward into the ship lock through the penstocks, particularly during periods of low power demand.

Abstract: The present invention relates to improvements in the support of stringed musical instruments consisting of a specially designed belt, and means of attaching the belt to the instrument.

Abstract: A door lock for attachment to a door which can move into a position adjacent to a jamb having a door strike. The lock includes a support member formed from a pair of spaced, generally parallel sides and an end wall interconnecting the sides. The sides and end wall are adapted to enclose a recess cut in the edge of the door. A shiftable lock bolt is carried between the sides and movable through an opening in the end wall and into locked relationship to the door strike when the door is in a closed position.

Abstract: A holder for a blade of a saber saw unit, wherein the blade is of the type provided with a pair of opposed side marginal edges and a notch in at least one side marginal edge near the rear end of the blade. The holder includes a support having a slot for receiving the blade and projecting means shiftably mounted on the support near one side margin of the slot for movement across the same and into the notch of the blade when the blade is in the slot to releasably hold the blade in the slot. Bias means holds the projection means in an operative position in the notch of the blade in the slot. A number of embodiments of the holder are disclosed.

Abstract: Wood strands are oriented into parallelism with the aid of a number of adjacent, generally parallel spaces defined by relatively thin, elongated guide members having flat sides with the longitudinal axes of the guide members extending substantially parallel to a support surface below the spaces for receiving the parallel, oriented wood strands. Each pair of adjacent guide members are moved in opposite directions to turn strands which span the guide members until the strand falls into the space therebetween. In one form of the invention, certain of the guide members have yielding projections on their upper margins and the other guide members have positive projections on their upper margins, each yielding projection having a pair of inclined end edges and each positive projection having end edges generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the corresponding guide member.

Abstract: A holder of improved construction for mounting a saber saw blade on a drive means for reciprocation. The holder includes means defining a slot for receiving the blade, and means coupled with the support means for retaining the blade in the slot and for preventing movement of the blade relative to the support when the support and blade are reciprocating under the influence of the drive means. The holding means in several embodiments includes cam members which are received in notches in respective blades. Other embodiments relate to the formation of blade-receiving slots by moving wall means into proximity with recesses in side faces of elongated members.