Abstract: A three piece rotatable electrical contact component for printed circuit board applications, wherein a rotatable contact of the component engages electrical circuitry on a printed circuit board, is disclosed. The component consists of a generally circular contact element, a contact carrying rotor which is mounted to be rotatable in the printed circuit board, and to which said circular contact element is secured, and a ring-shaped stop member which snaps over the contact carrying rotor and is secured to the printed circuit board so as to be non-rotatable. The rotor, in addition, has a number of arcuate detent grooves formed around its periphery to provide a plurality of detent locations. The stop member has a flexible post that is located in a hole in the printed circuit board which is shaped so that rotational movement of the stop member is prevented, but so that the stop member is free to transversely flex and thereby cooperate with the detent grooves of the rotor to provide the desired detent action.

Abstract: A tray construction for growing plants in which the construction comprises a one-piece substantially rigid tray frame with a plurality of plant frames mounted in the tray frame to define a plurality of plant growing containers interconnected in a unitary assembly. The tray frame may be conveniently molded from a foamed thermoplastic material and essentially comprises a plurality of substantially rigid tubular members vertically aligned and integrally interconnected in a rectangular array of a plurality of adjacent rows. The open spaces between diagonally opposed tubular members permit air to pass between the upper and lower sides of the tray frame. The plant frames are preferably frictionally held within the tubular members, and each plant frame essentially comprises a base section and a plurality of ribs secured to the base section to upstand therefrom.

Abstract: Disclosed is a cylindrical closed strainer molded of a plastic in a unitary structure, which comprises a top plate, a bottom plate disposed opposite said top plate at a fixed interval therefrom and a cylindrical net stretched between the peripheries of said top plate and bottom plate, said top plate being possessed of snap fastening means on the upper surface thereof and provided with a through hole which has a diameter larger than the outside diameter of a suction pipe intended to be connected with the strainer body and is provided on the inner circumference of said through hole with a thin seal member coaxially containing a circular hole of a diameter smaller than said outside diameter of the suction pipe. Said suction pipe is provided with a flange which is adapted to rest stably on the upper surface of said top plate.

Abstract: A temperature-sensitive switching device is provided in a casing having a pair of leads that extend therefrom, by a spiral spring which forms a first electrical contact and a curved conducting member which forms a second electrical contact. The spiral spring is connected to one of the leads and is expanded and fitted over a thermally-fusible pellet which melts at a predetermined temperature. The outer diameter of the pellet is larger than the inner diameter of the spiral spring contact before it is expanded. The end of the spiral spring contact contains a curved connecting projection, which preferably forms a circular arc, that serves as a sliding contact. The other contact element is provided by a matching fixed curved conducting projection which is connected to the other lead.

Abstract: A device for engaging in and disengaging printed circuit cards from the associated card holding frame is provided, which comprises at least an operating lever and at least a card guide element having at each of its ends a head portion, the guide element head portion facing the outside of the card holding frame being provided with means for receiving by snap action said operating lever, said operating lever having a means for engagement with the card so that the rotation of the operating lever causes the card to be engaged in or disengaged from the card guide element.

Abstract: A thermal switch device is constructed with an electrical conductive spring cup contact that fits over a ceramic insulator which surrounds one lead of the device. The center of the spring cup contact has a pattern cut in it so that it is flexible, and a metallic, thin flat disc which is placed against the surface of the spring cup contact which forces the flexible portions of the spring cup contact into contact with the head of the lead that supports the ceramic insulator. A conductive cup-shaped housing that is open at one end encloses the entire structure and is in contact with the spring cup contact. The outer ends of the housing being pinched over the ceramic insulator at the open end. A second conductive lead is attached to the outer surface of the conductive housing.

Abstract: A one-piece plastic retaining clip for securing elongated members relative to a panel surface including a head, means for fastening the head relative to the panel surface and clip means extending from said head in a direction opposite from said fastening means. Said clip including two laterally disposed sections with the first section having a generally semi-circular or C-shaped configuration terminating at its free end in an inwardly directed flange or protuberance. The second section has its concavity facing the first section and terminates in an inwardly directed flap whose free end is generally hook-shaped whereby the elongated element is disposed within said hook-shaped portion of the flap and impinged upon by said flange in the free end of the first section to retain it in supportive relation relative to the panel.

Abstract: This invention relates to a two piece plastic idler pulley formed of identical portions including a hub, a web and a rim with identical fastening means on the two half portions which permit the two portions to be joined together as the idler pulley. The hub of the idler pulley has a through bore which is inversely tapered whereby the hub will flex when subjected to a workload and will capture the lubricant internally of the bore. The rim carries diverging means which extend radially and laterally outwardly from the rim to insure proper seating of power transmission means such as a belt. The diverging means also is capable of engaging the power transmission belt when it is inadvertently seated on the hub to move the belt into seated relationship on the rim for proper operation of the device.

Abstract: A preassembled bolt and washer-like device designed for use in securing an upper, plastic-like workpiece to a lower support structure so that cold flow of the plastic is minimized while applying a relatively high clamp load to the joint. The washer includes a tubular sleeve having radially inwardly directed protuberances at the upper region of the inner wall designed to snap onto the shank of the bolt and be axially retained and free spinning therein. The upper extremity of the shank of the bolt includes a radial outward protuberance cooperating with the protuberance on the sleeve. The threaded region of the shank extends within the confines of the sleeve so the thread runout at the upper extremity of the shank will not prevent the sleeve from clampingly engaging the lower support structure.

Abstract: A plant container for growing plants to a stage suitable for transplanting. The plant container comprises a base having an imperforate upper surface with a rib upstanding from the upper center of the base and a removable sleeve arrangement that is disposed concentrically about the rib. The lower edge of the sleeve arrangement is disposed on or adjacent to the outer upper peripheral surface of the base to provide drainage openings therebetween. The sleeve arrangement is removable to permit the base and root mass and growing medium of the plant grown in the container and disposed about the rib to be transplanted as a unit. The rib functions to hold the root mass and growing medium of the plant on the base and to permit the container, absent the sleeve, to be handled with a minimum loss of growing medium in normal handling and transplanting operations.

Abstract: A package for a plurality of containers having retained pull tab openers. The package creates a primary package for distributing and handling such containers as well as a secondary package permitting the users of the containers to return them when empty. The package incorporates a device with a plurality of slots, equal in number to the number of containers originally packaged, and of a size to accept the retained pull tabs on the containers thereby creating a secondary package for repackaging the containers, with the secondary package having generally the same configuration as the primary package. The package of this invention also incorporates a thermoplastic strip with a plurality of bands to resiliently retain the containers in the primary packaging mode. The slot devices may either be incorporated in a discrete paperboard overlay or in arms which are integral with the bands of the carrier device.

Abstract: An improvement in an injection planting tool of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,832. The improvement is a detent mechanism on the tool that is manually operable to grasp the plant container being injection planted by a person with the tool in the event a rock interfers with the attempted planting, so that the container can be retained in the tool for another attempted planting.

Abstract: A resettable thermal cut-off fuse, under normal temperature condition, keeps the circuit in a closed state by allowing a switch member which is energized by a spring in the circuit-breaking direction to be joined through the medium of a thermal pellet capable of retaining a solid state under the normal temperature condition to a check means which is prevented from rotating in the spring's energizing direction. When the ambient temperature rises to a prescribed level and, consequently, the thermal pellet melts, the fuse allows the switch member to rotate in the spring's energizing direction to open the circuit. When the ambient temperature falls and returns to its normal level, the fuse can be manually reset by rotating in the circuit-making direction until it resumes firm engagement with the check means to close the circuit.

Abstract: In a thermal cut-off fuse of the class wherein electrical continuity of a contact means is maintained through the medium of a thermal pellet which is solid in its normal state and melts into a liquid state when the ambient temperature rises to reach a fixed level and the electrical continuity of the contact means, therefore, is broken by the thermal pellet being liquefied upon elevation of the ambient temperature to the fixed level, the improvement is attained by causing the thermal pellet which is in a solid state under the normal condition to restrain the movement of an actuating means kept pressed forward by an energizing means in such a way that, when the thermal pellet melts into its liquid state upon elevation of the ambient temperature to the fixed level, the thermal pellet releases the actuating means from the aforementioned restraint and enables it to thrust forward by virtue of the pressure constantly exerted by the energizing means to thereby break the electrical continuity of the contact means and

Abstract: A clamp for securing a wall panel to a structural support member. A cantilevered spring arm extends from and is spaced upwardly from an attachment base and includes a rib structure of decreasing height from the base to the free extremity formed on the arm to provide an increasing, variable spring rate.

Abstract: A radial lead thermal cut-off device for opening an electrical circuit when a predetermined temperature is disclosed. Electrical connection between the radial leads is maintained by thin spring contact which is forced against the terminal heads of the leads of the device. The spring contact is forced into contact by a disc against the force of a coiled bias spring that engages the center of the spring contact. The disc is held in place by a temperature-sensing pellet of organic material which melts at a predetermined temperature and which preferably incorporates a multitude of spherical glass beads filling that greatly increase its strength. The pellet has a centrally located cavity so that when the organic material of the pellet melts the material fills a volume having a smaller transverse dimension.

Abstract: A master star gear, or rotor, for testing the dimensions of an internal toothed ring gear, or stator, of a gerotor hydraulic mechanism is provided by truncation of the teeth of a mating star gear rotor so that the center-to-center variation that occurs between the centers of the ring gear and the star gear along a line may be detected and measured in order to measure the magnitude of the manufacturing errors that are present in the ring gear. The ring gear is held in place on a rotating support member by a friction fit against flats on an arbor of the support member.

Abstract: In a thermal cut-off fuse of the type in which a resilient contactor interposed between the electrodes opposed to each other inside a housing is bulged with the pressure resulting from insertion of a thermal pellet inside the housing so as to establish an electric circuit between the electrodes, desired reduction in the contact resistance between the contactor and the electrodes is accomplished by the improvement which comprises having formed on each of the opposite surfaces of the contactor confronting the opposed electrodes a plurality of raised contacts adapted so that all the raised contacts will remain in fast contact with the electrodes so long as the thermal pellet retains its solid state.

Abstract: A machine and a method are disclosed for forming pleated and wound electrical capacitors having a metallized dielectric which is metallized on both sides to form electrodes thereon. The metallized dielectric material is fed from supply rollers and it is pulled tightly over one or more rotatable discs so that it is locked firmly onto the periphery thereof. In one embodiment, three rotatable discs are employed and the center disc projects beyond the other two discs which are aligned at acute angles with respect to the center disc. After the dielectric material leaves these discs, it passes through a low pressure air stream which smooths out the wrinkles in the material. It is then fed under tension around a substantial portion of the periphery of a relatively large winding wheel.