Abstract: A collet-stop assembly for fixing the position of a work-piece or tool ("item") intended to be held immobile by and within a collet during machining operations. The assembly includes a stop-collar for gripping a stop-unit to be placed in direct contact with the item, and a collar-retainer used ensure that the stop-unit is held immobile with respect to the collet. The collar-retainer is screwed into the collet and includes a tapered section into which a tapered section of the stop-collar is drawn. In the Preferred Embodiment of the invention the stop-collar is formed of three separate jaws that when drawn into the collar-retainer by means of cap screws passing through the collar-retainer squeeze against the stop-unit. The basic collar-retainer design permits it to be manufactured so that the distances it extends, respectively, to the outside of the collet and down into the collet are very short; that is, it has small external and internal profiles.

Abstract: A plier-like tool for removing a face mask from a protective sports helmet worn by an athlete in such a way as to minimize the risk of exacerbating an existing spinal injury. The tool has a buttress portion and a blade portion pivotally connected to each other. The blade portion has a sharpened blade which, upon application of pressure to hand grips, slices through the plastic clips that are normally used to attach such face masks to the helmet. The buttress portion includes a cut-out portion and transverse slot that engage the metal bars of the face mask to prevent the tool from slipping off the bars, and the blade portion includes a notch to ensure that the blade portion engages the plastic clips.

Abstract: A stepper for use during aerobic stepping exercises. The invention has modular platforms that allow for one or more platforms to be horizontally attached to a central platform. Side platforms can be attached to the center platform forming steps in every direction surrounding the center so that the user may step from one platform to another in any direction. Non-slip rubber material on opposing surfaces of each platform provide stability during use. In the Preferred Embodiment, the modular platforms are hollow creating a light-weight but high-strength design for ease of transport. The means of attachment of the side platforms to the center platform can be varied from the use of nuts and bolts, through hook-and-loop techniques, to groove-and-protuberance techniques, the latter allowing the side platforms to be snapped onto the center platform for the purpose of repetitive stepping exercise in a park, a gymnasium or the like and then unsnapped for easy transport home.

Abstract: A combination of digital camera design and digital photography technique that allows a single digital camera to be used for both single-shot and multiple-shot color operation. The invention includes a digital camera half of the light-sensing elements of which--the "majority pixels"--are sensitive to a first primary color and the other half of which--the "minority pixels"--are divided about equally between those sensitive to a second primary color and those sensitive to a third primary color. Further, these light-sensitive elements are arranged so that by a simple lateral shift of the array, typically by the width of a single pixel, every one of the majority pixels will be moved into a position previously held by one of the minority pixels. When used in conjunction with known pixel-interpolation methods this camera produces single-shot digital images equal or better in color quality to any existing single-shot digital camera.

Abstract: A method for identifying the boundaries between sequences of rocks laid down in different depositional regimes. The approach used is to search, in well logs or seismic data, for a statistic characteristic of such regimes, and for breaks in that statistic. The preferred statistic used in the method of the present invention is the first moment of the power spectrum of the wavenumber of a suitable physical property as a function of depth. This statistic is calculated rapidly and with excellent depth resolution from the complex-valued autocorrelation function at its zero and unit lag values, respectively, and displayed as a single variable in black-and-white or color. The method of the present invention further includes manipulations that achieve the approximate conversion of the scale (and corresponding display) from its initial dependence on depth to one that is displayed as a function of geologic time.

Abstract: A motor mount device for adjustably positioning the location of a motor on a watercraft. The device includes three rail clamps designed to create three points of contact between the device and the gunwales of the watercraft. Two clamps are positionable on one side of the craft, with one having a motor mount placeable outboard of the watercraft. The third clamp is located across from the clamp that includes the motor mount and the coupling between those two clamps is provided via an incrementally adjustable cross member. The adjustability of the length of the cross member permits the device to be placed at most any boat width. A thruster plate and the arrangement of the clamps ensures maximum transfer of thrust of the motor to movement of the watercraft. An optional safety switch controls power to the motor such that when undesired or unexpected movement of the propeller out of the water occurs, the power to the motor will automatically be cut off.

Abstract: A core-chuck device having reusable parts as well as replaceable interchangeable-fins for use within the field of large-scale paper, film, or foil manufacturing. The reusable core-chuck device provides a versatile and lightweight core-chuck of plastic material, where the outermost diameter of the core-chuck can be modified by replacement of radially spaced interchangeable-fins of varying sizes on the core-chuck. The interchangeable-fins are matingly securable within the central-hub of the core-chuck device. The inner-core of the central-hub contains a metallic element that enables mechanical handling of a paper-roll having one core-chuck device inserted into each end of the paper-roll core. An optional end-cap is also included which secures the interchangeable-fins from longitudinal movement with respect to one another. The core-chuck device results in a cost-effective alternative to prior-art devices.