Abstract: An assembly and method for anchoring a wall frame to the foundation of a building utilizes an anchor member which can be threaded upon a threaded shank which is connected to and extends upwardly from the foundation, a cable, a first cable vice which is connectable to one end of the cable and being anchorable to a top member of the wall frame which is positioned upon the foundation, a second cable vice which is connectable to the other end of the cable, and a cap member. The second cable vice is anchorable to the cap member, and the cap member is connectable to the anchor member so that when the cable is anchored between the top member of the wall frame and the cap member by way of the first and second cable vices, the cap member can be connected to the anchor member to thereby tension the cable between the top member of the wall frame and the foundation.

Abstract: A dehumidifier system having a dehumidifier section within which liquid desiccant absorbs moisture from air flowing therethrough and a dehumidifier section within which the desiccant is regenerated employs a heat exchanger for maintaining a relatively high temperature differential between the desiccant contained within the dehumidifier and regenerator sections. The desiccant which is conducted to either the dehumidifier section or the regenerator section is separated into multiple streams, and the multiple streams are treated differently from one another before being discharged into preselected segments of the air flow moving through the corresponding one of the dehumidifier section and the regenerator section. A control scheme in the system is capable of altering, and thereby improving, the concentration level of desiccant utilized in the system.

Abstract: A planter including a center post and a series of upwardly-opening disc-shaped growing compartments which are arranged in a sequential relationship along the length of the center post and are suspended from the top of the center post. Each of the growing compartments has a center opening through which the center post extends so that the growing compartments are maintained in a centered relationship about the center post. Furthermore, a lowermost growing compartment has a substantially solid bottom for containing dirt or potting soil placed therein, and the remainder of the growing compartments have bottoms within which including relatively large openings are defined to accommodate the passage of relatively large clumps of dirt or potting soil through the bottoms thereof so that each of the growing compartments can be filled with dirt or potting soil placed into the uppermost growing compartment.

Abstract: A stand (20) from which a planter (22) can be suspended includes a hollow center post (28) having one end (48) which opens downwardly when the post is arranged substantially vertically. A plurality of openings (66) are defined about the center post, and a plurality of leg members (72) are arranged about the center post. Each of the leg members includes a foot end (76) and two post-engaging portions (94 and 84) wherein a first (94) of the post-engaging portions is accepted by a corresponding one of the openings defined about the center post and a second (84) of the post-engaging portions is accepted by the downwardly-opening end of the center post. In addition, a retainer assembly (70) cooperates between the center post and the leg members for preventing the withdrawal of the first of the post-engaging portions from the openings defined about the center post and for preventing the withdrawal of the second of the post-engaging portions from the downwardly-opening end of the center post.

Abstract: A system and method utilizes distance-measuring equipment including a laser sensor for controlling the collection instrument-to-surface distance during a sample collection process for use, for example, with mass spectrometric detection. The laser sensor is arranged in a fixed positional relationship with the collection instrument, and a signal is generated by way of the laser sensor which corresponds to the actual distance between the laser sensor and the surface. The actual distance between the laser sensor and the surface is compared to a target distance between the laser sensor and the surface when the collection instrument is arranged at a desired distance from the surface for sample collecting purposes, and adjustments are made, if necessary, so that the actual distance approaches the target distance.

Abstract: A scroll shaping drum useful in the construction of tires and including an internal air cylinder having an inner sleeve member and a roller member positioned about the inner sleeve member includes a plurality of cam follower assemblies anchored within the inner sleeve member. Each cam follower assembly includes a hub and a cam follower member positioned about the hub, and the cam follower member of each assembly is accepted by an appropriately-shaped slot defined in the roller member. The inner sleeve member defines an internally-threaded opening for accepting the hub of each assembly, and each hub includes a mounting portion positioned within a corresponding internally-threaded opening of the inner sleeve member.

Abstract: A system and method utilizes an image analysis approach for controlling the collection instrument-to-surface distance in a sampling system for use, for example, with mass spectrometric detection. Such an approach involves the capturing of an image of the collection instrument or the shadow thereof cast across the surface and the utilization of line average brightness (LAB) techniques to determine the actual distance between the collection instrument and the surface. The actual distance is subsequently compared to a target distance for re-optimization, as necessary, of the collection instrument-to-surface during an automated surface sampling operation.

Abstract: A touch sensor method and device are described that allow one or more simultaneous touches to be sensed and mapped to Cartesian coordinates. The device utilizes closely spaced multiple conducting strips to provide digital location of a touch position according to the position strip and analog location along the length of the strip. When the strips are energized individually and in coordinated ways, multiple touches are individually sensed and their positions are reported.

Abstract: A file folder having front and rear panels, two side panels and a bottom panel which are joined to one another along foldable edges has an arrangement of fold lines which enable the folder to be readily moved between a fully opened condition for use and a collapsed condition for storage. The arrangement of fold lines includes a first fold line which extends across the front panel, and each side panel includes a second fold line which extends downwardly along each of the side panels from the top of the folder toward the bottom panel thereof. Each side panel further includes a third, fourth and fifth fold lines which extend from either an edge of the front panel or from a corresponding corner of the folder to a location at which the third, fourth and fifth fold lines intersect one another.

Abstract: A system for cutting a profile along a linear edge of a wooden workpiece utilizes two spaced-apart rotatable cutting tools which are mounted for rotation in opposite rotational directions and a support surface for supporting the workpiece for movement along each of the two cutting tools. By positioning the workpiece upon the support surface so that the linear edge thereof extends between the two cutting tools, the workpiece can be moved into cutting engagement with a first of the cutting tools and subsequently into cutting engagement with the second of the cutting tools. By subsequently reversing the movement of the workpiece along the first cutting tool before the cutting edges thereof exit a trailing (side) edge of the workpiece, the likelihood that the workpiece will be damaged from the profile-forming process is reduced.

Abstract: A planter for growing a transplantable plant includes a container having a sidewall and a bottom and further includes a retainer member for retaining a plant which has been transplanted within the container through the sidewall or bottom thereof. The retainer member defines an expandable opening which is movable between expanded and normally-collapsed conditions so that by urging a plant root system end-first against the retainer member, the expandable opening is moved to an expanded condition to permit the root system to pass through the expandable opening into the container interior. Upon passage of the root system through the expandable opening, the expandable opening is permitted to return toward its normally-collapsed condition about the stem of the plant to thereby prevent the withdrawal of the root system of the plant from the container interior through the plant retainer.

Abstract: A method for treating a porous item constructed of metal powder, such as a powder made of Series 400 stainless steel, involves a step of preheating the porous item to a temperature of between about 700 and 900° C. degrees in an oxidizing atmosphere and then sintering the body in an inert or reducing atmosphere at a temperature which is slightly below the melting temperature of the metal which comprises the porous item. The thermal stability of the resulting item is enhanced by this method so that the item retains its porosity and metallic characteristics, such as ductility, at higher (e.g. near-melting) temperatures.

Abstract: A tunneling element includes a thin film layer of ferroelectric material and a pair of dissimilar electrically-conductive layers disposed on opposite sides of the ferroelectric layer. Because of the dissimilarity in composition or construction between the electrically-conductive layers, the electron transport behavior of the electrically-conductive layers is polarization dependent when the tunneling element is below the Curie temperature of the layer of ferroelectric material. The element can be used as a basis of compact 1R type non-volatile random access memory (RAM). The advantages include extremely simple architecture, ultimate scalability and fast access times generic for all ferroelectric memories.

Abstract: A planter for growing a transplantable plant includes a container having a sidewall and a bottom and further includes a retainer member for retaining a plant which has been transplanted within the container through the sidewall or bottom thereof. The retainer member defines an expandable opening which is movable between expanded and normally-collapsed conditions so that by urging a plant root system end-first against the retainer member, the expandable opening is moved to an expanded condition to permit the root system to pass through the expandable opening into the container interior. Upon passage of the root system through the expandable opening, the expandable opening is permitted to return toward its normally-collapsed condition about the stem of the plant to thereby prevent the withdrawal of the root system of the plant from the container interior through the plant retainer.

Abstract: An assembly and an associated method for collecting a sample of material desired to be characterized with diagnostic equipment includes or utilizes an elongated member having a proximal end with which the assembly is manipulated by a user and a distal end. In addition, a collection tip which is capable of being placed into contact with the material to be characterized is supported upon the distal end. The collection tip includes a body of chemically-inert porous material for binding a sample of material when the tip is placed into contact with the material and thereby holds the sample of material for subsequent introduction to the diagnostic equipment.

Abstract: A tool and process for flaring an open end of a hollow metal tube utilizes a body having an elongated working surface which is substantially conical in shape so that one end of the working surface is a smaller end and so that the other end of the working surface is a larger end. The working surface further includes at least two outwardly-extending, smooth-surfaced protuberances which are regularly spaced around the working surface and which extend along the length thereof so that by rotating the tool about its longitudinal axis, inserting the smaller end of the working surface into an open end of a hollow metal tubing, and then urging the working surface against the open end of the metal tubing, the open end of the metal tubing is flared by the working surface.