Abstract: A railing component has a tubular metal body with a non-uniform cross section. The body is formed by hydroforming and has a coating applied to the exterior. A pattern is applied to the coating to simulate a wood grain. The interior of the tubular body is filled with foam and plugs are provided at opposite ends for connection to other railing components.

Abstract: When rolling steel sheet and other rolled stock, rattling occurs in certain operating states. This results in reduced quality of the rolled stock and rejects as well as damage to the rolling mill. No improvement was achieved by placing brakes on the cylinders. Electronic monitoring is not a satisfying solution. Given that rattling is a self-starting oscillation, resistance sensors are coupled to the cylinders and/or the rolled stock in order to stabilize the self-starting oscillation modes, modes with negative damping, by means of additional damping. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, cylinder-shaped, rotating dampers are coupled to the working cylinders. Concentric or disc-shaped layers made of steel and plastic such as those found in layered oscillation absorbers are most effective and adaptable. The arrangement of the working cylinder and the damper illustrated in FIG.

Abstract: A fibrous core material is disposed between and bonded to metal skins to form a structural laminate having comparable strength to steel sheets of greater weight.

Abstract: A structural panel comprises a metal and paper composite in which the metal outer skins have a minimum thickness of 0.005 in. exceeding foils and a maximum thickness of 0.012 in. while the paper core ranges between 0.01 in. and 0.05 in. The panel is a stiff, lightweight substitute for thicker metals and may replace light metal sheets such as aluminum with a composite in which the metal skins comprise sheets from heavier metals such as steel. The paper core is a web which is adhesively bonded to the metal skins and which may have openings to create paths for adhesive bridges between the metal skins to minimize failure caused by buckling.

Abstract: A process for coating the walls of a steelmaking vessel with slag between heats to protect the refractory liming of the vessel uses coolant in the form of recycled slag as a substitute for fluxes such as lime and dolime to cool and thicken slags which are otherwise too fluid to produce an acceptable slag coat.

Abstract: A railway truck has a unitary cast steel frame with a primary wheel-set-to-frame suspension formed by chevron shaped metal/elastomeric pads between the journals and the frame pedestals, a secondary frame-to-bolster suspension formed by rectangular elastomeric pads in rectangular configuration, and a tertiary suspension between the bolster and the car. The primary suspension units are mounted by L-shaped members permitting ready vertical adjustment. An anti-roll torsion bar is provided between the bolster and the car body despite the limited available space by disposing it inside the bolster. Closer clearances are possible between the truck components by providing a cam and cam follower between the car body and the truck frame, in this embodiment between the bolster and the truck frame, that limits the possible lateral displacement of the car body as the steering angle of the car body on the truck frame increases.

Abstract: The invention provides a control system for a vehicle fluid spring suspension system consisting of four fluid springs which support the vehicle body from two longitudinally-spaced trucks. Typically such a vehicle is a rail car employing air springs. The two air springs on each truck are disposed on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the vehicle, corresponding to its direction of travel. Three of the springs are provided with levelling valves which keep them at a constant height. A measuring device, either mechanical or electrical, measures the difference in internal spring pressure in the two springs on one truck that both have levelling valves; it also measures the difference in internal spring pressures in the two springs on the other truck and then adjusts the pressure in the spring without a levelling valve until the pressure difference is the same as for the two springs on the other truck.

Abstract: The invention provides a loading system for the charge of an annealing furnace of the kind intended for the treatment of a stack of coils mounted one on top of the other with their central cores in register with one another, a protective heat exchange gas atmosphere being circulated around the stack within a cylindrical bell-shaped muffle cover to heat and subsequently cool the charge. The system comprises a diffuser member having a gas impeller at its center that receives gas passing downwards through the coil cores and discharges it radially into the annular space between the stack and the muffle cover in a preferred helical path. The stack rests on a load member placed on the diffuser member, a convector plate is interposed between each pair of superimposed coils and the stack is completed by a top member and a plug member.

Abstract: A safety device for a banking vehicle includes a pair of cylinders which extend to hold the superstructure in an upright position. The cylinders are hydraulically connected to an accumulator which provides a pressurized fluid reservoir. A valve controls flow from the accumulator to the cylinders. Upon detection of a failure in one of the vehicle systems the valve moves to a position in which fluid flows from the accumulator to extend the cylinders. A pilot operated check valve is positioned between the accumulator and the cylinders to hold the cylinders in the extended position until the failure is rectified.

Abstract: A new fluxed pellet for use in iron-making is obtained by mixing and indurating about 1 to about 20%, by weight of the pellet, of ground melt shop slag fines with similarly ground iron ore concentrate, so as to achieve particular ranges of silica content, CaO/SiO.sub.2 ratio, and MgO content. The melt shop slag fines have been considered a waste material, but contain significant slag and metal values. The slag is already in calcined form for an energy saving as compared to the use of limestone and dolomite, and is already somewhat divided for a saving in grinding energy. The resultant basic pellets have better furnace properties than the acid pellet produced without slag addition.

Abstract: Apparatus for the fastening together of two or more sheets of material by means of an integral fastener consists of a longitudinally-movable pierce and extrusion punch, a cooperating longitudinally-movable pierce and curl die, and a segmented extrusion die surround the pierce and curl die. The pierce and extrusion punch and the pierce and curl die cooperate to pierce a hole through the sheets, and the punch and the segmented extrusion die then cooperate to push the material of one sheet through the other to form two coaxial tubes; thereafter the pierce and curl die curls the pushed-through material of the coaxial tubes back to effect the fastening, the apparatus providing a stationary anvil to cooperate with the pierce and curl die. The punch and the curl die are engaged by the ends of respective pivoted levers by which they are moved, and other ends of the levers being connected together; the ratio provided by the two levers differs so that the punch moves further and faster than the curl die.

Abstract: A method of testing a product for the detection of the presence therein of a defect such as a void or an inclusion, comprises cutting the product and examining the resultant noise for the presence therein of an acoustic component representative of the presence of the inclusion. The method is applied to the processing of metal into slabs, bars, rods, wire strip etc., where the ends must be cropped to remove defective material, specifically to the continuous processing of strip metal where metal strips are joined continuously end-to-end, and where the ends of each strip as rolled may include undesired inclusions such as slag. A leading end piece is cropped by a shear, and the cropping of such pieces is continued until the testing method shows that the material at the place of the cut is free of the undesired inclusions.