Abstract: Dual chambers are suspended from a toilet tank rim with selective height adjustment. The first chamber contains a liquid, water-soluble dye and a plunger pump and or eye dropper to dispense dye into the tank water to test the toilet flapper valve. The second chamber contains a solid, water-soluble dye and a perforated floor to admit water in the event the tank water level rises due to toilet fill valve leakage, whereupon the dye will be evident. Optional first and second baskets hold various chemical products such as disinfecting cleaners.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for enabling users of a network which have computers running several different operating systems to easily access each others files. In order that files may be referenced and accessed by computers utilizing different operating systems, an algorithm is used to create legitimate, meaningful filenames by combining both a filename from a host computer's "native" name space and a unique "inode" number from the host computer's file system assigned for this file. The preliminary information necessary to apply the algorithm is able to be obtained rather easily, since the to host computer's filename and inode number are returned by a well-known UNIX operating system call "getdents(2)".

Abstract: A computer station location method and apparatus is disclosed which is efficient, simple and reliable. The invention utilizes a location code to indicate a physical location of a computer station of interest on a computer network. When users connect to the computer network, the users will specify location codes indicative of the physical locations of the particular computer stations on which the users are operating. The location codes are stored in name tables of the computer stations if those location codes are unique, i.e., not stored in the name tables of any computer station on the computer network. To determine the physical location of a computer station of interest, an interrogation of the name table of the computer station of interest is performed using the hexadecimal address of the computer station of interest.

Abstract: A file change notification method and apparatus is disclosed which is efficient, simple and reliable. The invention utilizes a system call to notify a kernel of file modification events on files of interest. Upon occurrence of any file modification event, a signal is transmitted by a kernel to notify a calling process that such an event occurred. The invention further utilizes the system call to retrieve names of modified files of interest. The names are retrieved and stored in a predetermined buffer. Additionally, the present invention indicates whether each name of the modified files of interest has been retrieve by specifying a predetermined flag value.

Abstract: The invention utilizes expiration events and dependent pointers to indicate when the corresponding memory allocation should be de-allocated. Expiration events are occurrences that indicate corresponding memory allocations should be de-allocated prior to the occurrence of the event. Dependent pointers are pointers to currently allocated blocks of computer memory. These dependent pointers indicate that the corresponding computer memory allocation should be de-allocated prior to the de-allocation of the computer memory allocation referred to by the dependent pointer. Using memory management functions, the expiration events and dependent pointers are stored in a memory allocation table along with filenames and line numbers indicating where the request was made. At given points in the program, the memory allocation table is checked for memory leaks.

Abstract: An artificial olfactory system and associated method for rapidly identifying an object by its aroma. The artificial olfactory system includes a testing chamber in which is disposed an array of gas sensors. The object to be identified is placed in close proximity to the testing chamber. The air pressure within the testing chamber is then lowered below ambient, thereby causing ambient air to flow past the object being identified and into the testing chamber. As air flows past the object being identified, the aroma of the object becomes mixed with the air and is carried into the testing chamber. Once within the testing chamber, the aroma/air mixture is exposed to the array of gas sensors. The gas sensors detect the levels of various gases comprising the aroma/air mixture and produce a sensor pattern capable of being identified using pattern recognition techniques.

Abstract: This invention relates to an electrical caulking gun utilizing a triggering mechanism that controls both the mechanical and electrical operations of a plunger unit that applies axial pressure against a caulking cartridge. The triggering mechanism sits in a grooved channel in a caulking cartridge receptacle and comprises of a trigger rack with a series of wedges on its top and a gear rack, which lies atop the trigger rack, with a series of reciprocating wedges on its bottom that meshes with the wedges on the trigger rack. The wedges on the trigger rack and gear rack cooperate with each other to push the gear rack upward when the trigger rack is moved rearward. The gear rack has a series of gears on its top such that, when pushed upward, they will engage with a drive gear protruding from the plunger unit. The drive gear drives the plunger unit, and is in turn driven by an electrical motor in the plunger unit. The trigger rack, when pulled rearward to its maximum position, will activate the electrical motor.