Abstract: A sports ball retrieval and dispensing device includes a ball retrieving and dispensing receptacle and a handle constructed of respective pluralities of separate parts having respective assembled conditions in which the receptacle parts are mounted to one another and the handle parts are mounted to one another and coupled to the assembled receptacle so as to enable use of the device in ball retrieving and dispensing modes of operation. The receptacle and/or handle also are convertible to respective disassembled conditions in which at least some receptacle parts are taken apart from one another and/or at least some handle parts are taken apart from one another such that the device occupies a reduced volume of space so as to enable packaging and shipping of the device.

Abstract: A livestock weighing and sorting apparatus includes a frame, a weighing station supported by the frame and defining inlet and outlet openings and a passageway extending therebetween for permitting an animal to go through the weighing station and be weighed while therein, dual inlet gates mounted to the frame side-by-side one another adjacent to the inlet opening and movable toward and away from each other between opened and closed positions, a first actuator mechanism actuatable to move the dual inlet gates between the opened and closed positions, an outlet sort gate mounted to the frame adjacent to the outlet opening and movable between a centered closed position and either a first opened position or a second opened position, and a second actuator mechanism actuatable to move the outlet sort gate between the centered closed position and either the first or second opened positions.

Abstract: An adjustable base unit includes a pair of upper and lower frameworks, a connection sleeve attached to the lower framework and having opposite end portions for extending into and providing flow communication through the unit and between an upper fill tube and a lower blower pipe of a silo filling apparatus, and elements for adjustably interconnecting and spacing apart the upper and lower frameworks with respect to one another. When the unit is interposed between the fill tube and blower pipe and the upper and lower frameworks are respectively detachably attached to the fill tube, connection sleeve and blower pipe, the upper framework can be angularly tilted by adjusting selected ones of the interconnecting elements in any one of several different orientations relative to the lower framework so as to correspondingly angularly adjust the mounting disposition of the fill tube on the blower pipe and thereby the position of the fill tube within the silo.

Abstract: An enhanced fishing line has a unique combination of breaking strength and elongation properties to provide a high level of flexibility, a high ultimate knot breaking strength, and a high level of breaking toughness that is defined as the actual work per unit volume of material required to break the material. The line is a monofilament construction made of a synthetic polymeric material such as a polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, or fluropolymer and manufactured by an extrusion process followed by a drawing process where the extruded diameter is between 1.1 and 1.4 times the diameter of the finished line after drawing.

Abstract: A gutter hanging bracket device includes an elongated body portion adapted to span an open top of a gutter between front and rear sides thereof, a forward attachment portion merging from a front end of the body portion for engaging the front side of the gutter, a rearward attachment portion merging from a rear end of the body portion and adapted to cooperate with a fastener for securing the rear side of the gutter to an adjacent external structure so as to hang the gutter in a cantilevered fashion adjacent to the external structure, and a fastener retaining guide structure integrally formed in a rearward section of the body portion extending between a middle section and rear end thereof.

Abstract: A vacuum attachment mountable on a forward end of a hair grooming clipper includes a conduit body enclosing an internal air flow passage between inlet and outlet ends thereof such that flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper via the inlet end through the passage to an external hose coupled to the outlet end, and mounting wings integrally and externally formed on the conduit body and extending from opposite sides thereof such that the conduit body and mounting wings define a replacement cover that can substitute for and replace the original equipment cover removed from the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose the opening in the forward end of the casing of the clipper.

Abstract: A spring-loaded wedge dead end connector includes a connector body having a base and a pair of opposite jaw guides formed on and protruding outwardly from the base and defining a guide channel therewith, a pair of jaws mounted between the jaw guides and on the base of the connector body for undergoing slidable movement within the guide channel thereof along converging paths from an open position for receiving a segment of an electrical conductor therebetween to a closed position in which the jaws provide a clamping wedging engagement with the electrical conductor segment disposed therebetween, a plurality of complementary elements formed on the jaws such that the complementary elements directly and slidably interfit with one another so as to ensure that the jaws are coupled to one another to undergo their slidable movement together, and a plurality of retention elements for preventing removal of the jaws from the connector body.

Abstract: An end fitting for an insulator includes a main cast body for securement to an external structure and a non-machined annular flange rigidly attached at an end of the main cast body and defining a hole for receiving an end of a fiberglass rod to secure the annular flange to the fiberglass rod in assembling the insulator. At least a portion of the annular flange is formed of a preformed annular member defining at least an interior diameter of the annular flange. The use of the preformed annular member eliminates the need for two costly secondary machining operations to prepare the annular flange for receiving and crimping on the fiberglass rod of the insulator.

Abstract: A sports ball retrieval and storage device includes a receptacle, a pair of support members and a lid. The receptacle is in the form of a molded one-piece body made of substantially rigid material and having a plurality of side walls and a bottom grate integrally connected together so as to define an open top and an interior chamber of the receptacle. The side walls and bottom grate are formed of respective upper and lower annular perimeter members and laterally spaced apart elongated members extending between and integrally connected at opposite ends with opposite portions of the upper and lower annular perimeter members. The side walls converge toward one another from the open top to the bottom grate of the receptacle and thereby provide the molded one-piece body of the receptacle with a tapered configuration permitting receptacles of multiple devices to nest with one another.

Abstract: An enhanced modular jack assembly includes a contact array subassembly having a circuit board, a plurality of long and short contacts, an intermediate contact and a seat structure. The long and short contacts are attached to and extend forwardly from the circuit board and are arranged in pairs of the long and short contacts situated in spaced-apart substantially parallel front and back rows in which the long contacts of the back row are aligned with one another and the short contacts of the front row are aligned with one another but are offset relative to the long contacts of the back row. The intermediate contact is attached to and extends forwardly from the circuit board and has a length substantially the same as the length of the short contacts and a non-parallel orientation relative to the long and short contacts of the back and front rows.

Abstract: A method and arrangement for sewage pre-treatment in a sewer pipeline infrastructure upstream of a sewage treatment facility of a sewage treatment system includes selecting a site in the sewer pipeline infrastructure between a source of untreated sewage and the sewage treatment facility of the system, providing a source of a biological activity enhancing agent at the preselected site, and introducing the agent from the source thereof into a flow of untreated sewage at the selected site so as to convert the sewage from an untreated state to a pre-treated state in the pipeline infrastructure upstream of the sewage treatment facility.

Abstract: A chewable pet toy has an outer sheath defining an interior cavity and made of a flexible liquid permeable material and an inner body made of a material capable of soaking up a liquid and being disposed within the interior cavity of the outer sheath. The inner body is captured within the outer sheath and the liquid may pass into and from the inner body through the outer sheath and the liquid soaked up by the inner body may become frozen and melt so that the outer sheath and the inner body will remain wet while and after the liquid melts and while the toy is being chewed on by a pet. The inner body further is made of a material capable of assuming a semi-rigid and semi-flexible condition when the liquid therein becomes frozen and a substantially flexible condition when the liquid therein is melted. The water soaked toy is stored in a resealable bag made of a liquid impermeable material during freezing of the toy.

Abstract: An injection molding apparatus for producing formed or molded millwork products includes a workstation supported on a support surface, a lower composite mold/press unit mounted upon the workstation and defining a lower portion of a mold cavity, and upper composite mold/press unit defining an upper portion of the mold cavity, and support members spaced apart from one another along the lower composite unit, movably mounted to the workstation, and extending above the lower composite unit where the support members mount the upper composite unit generally above and for movement toward and away from the lower composite unit. Either of the lower and upper mold/press units can have replaceable plates for different shaped products. The apparatus also includes actuators for the support members and releasable locking mechanisms for the upper composite unit.

Abstract: A torque limiting slip clutch apparatus for a cable reel drive assembly includes an elongated input drive shaft, annular rotary drive member, annular drive plate, friction generating disc element and biasing force generating spring mechanism. The drive shaft is mounted to undergo rotational movement. The drive member is mounted about the shaft to undergo rotational movement relative to the drive shaft and translational movement along the shaft. The drive plate is fixedly mounted about the drive shaft adjacent to the drive member to undergo rotational movement with the shaft and relative to the drive member. The disc element is mounted between and engagable with the drive member and drive plate to generate friction therebetween that causes rotational movement of the drive member with the drive plate and drive shaft in response to translational movement of the drive member along the shaft toward the drive plate.

Abstract: A load break interrupter includes a case, an arc-suppressing tube mounted on and projecting outwardly from the case, a shunt circuit rod slidably supported in the tube with the rod and tube having electrical contacts mounted thereto and convertible between make and break conditions upon sliding of the rod into and from the tube, and a shunt circuit break actuating mechanism disposed in the case and coupled with a leading end of the rod extending into the case such that upon tripping of the actuating mechanism from a shunt circuit-defining position to a shunt circuit-breaking position the rod is pulled partially into the case from the tube thereby breaking the shunt circuit through the rod and between the electrical contacts such that any arcing that occurs upon breaking of the shunt circuit is confined and suppressed inside the tube.

Abstract: A ceiling feed assembly is adaptable to fit with any one of three prior art raceways having different cross-sectional configurations. The ceiling feed assembly includes a ceiling fitting having a base and a cover on the base. The base is mountable to a wall and the cover is removably interfittable with the base. The cover has a front panel including a first opening and first and second removable portions. The first portion is removable from the front panel for defining a second opening in the front panel of a different configuration from and overlapping a portion of the first opening. The second portion is removable from the front panel for defining a third opening in the front panel of a different configuration from the second opening and of a different configuration from and overlapping at least a portion of the first opening. The first, second and third openings are for respectively receiving first, second and third raceways having different first, second and third cross-sectional configurations.

Abstract: A receptacle assembly includes a housing having an interior chamber, a switch mechanism movably mounted to the housing and having a portion extending into the interior chamber with the switch mechanism capable of being moved relative to the housing and switched between OFF and ON positions, a receptacle body spaced from the switch mechanism and mounted to the housing with receptacle body having an interior cavity in which a plug can be inserted into the receptacle body, and an internal interlock mechanism supported within the interior chamber of the housing and extending between the interior cavity of the receptacle body and the portion of the switch mechanism extending into the interior chamber of the housing.

Abstract: A gutter hanging bracket device includes an elongated body portion adapted to span an open top of a gutter between front and rear sides of the gutter and having a generally U-shaped cross-sectional channel construction, a forward attachment portion merging from a front end of the body portion and adapted to engage with the front side of the gutter, and a rearward attachment portion merging from a rear end of the body portion and adapted for attaching the rear side of the gutter to an adjacent external structure so as to support the body portion in a cantilevered fashion from the external structure and thereby hang the gutter adjacent to the external structure. The forward and rearward attachment portions form extensions of the body member such that the forward and rearward attachment portions both have generally U-shaped cross-sectional channel constructions continuous with that of the body portion.