Abstract: Watercraft with dual, in-line flotation are detailed. Front and rear floats may be bridged by a seating assembly and allow both feet-up and feet-down positioning of a user of the craft. The watercraft may be disassembled and then reassembled compactly for transport or storage, with the compactly reassembled craft including wheels or capable of being placed onto a hand trolley if desired to facilitate its carriage. Also detailed are watercraft in which forward flotation is provided by two front floats forming a pontoon configuration.

Abstract: Equipment supports having irregular lower surface disclosed. Ridges protruding from the lower surface of support (if present) displace soil in use, while recesses in the surface (if present) tend to collect or accumulate the soil. The surface features effectively lock the support in position relative to the ground, inhibiting lateral and rotational movement of the base after the equipment is mounted. In some embodiments, ridges of one pad fit within recesses of another when the pair is stacked with their bottom surfaces in contact, thereby reducing the volume needed to transport the pads between locations.

Abstract: A support or pad for equipment, especially electrical transformers, is disclosed. The pad is designed to permit multi-directional access to its underside; consequently, it need not be positioned specially once a transformer is mounted to it, but rather is accessible in almost any upright orientation to the tines of a fork-lift truck. In some embodiments the tine-receiving recesses do not abut an opening for electrical cables attached to the transformer, the opening instead being bordered by sections of the full depth of the pad. The multiple recesses of the pad thus fail to communicate with the opening, blocking any path along the underside from the periphery of the pad to the cable opening itself.

Abstract: A top sheet and a bottom sheet are thermoformed about a foam core which has feet making spaces for the tines of a fork lift truck. The top and bottom sheets meet at a line on the pallet edge to fuse and bond together and may be applied simultaneously to the core while the core is confined in a mold cavity.

Abstract: A block of expanded polystyerene (EPS) foam is encapsulated with one or more plastic strips within a resilient shell of high molecular weight plastic such as polyethylene. The method and process utilizes heat and pressure (e.g., one hundred fifty tons) to seal and bond the foam in a protective cover with the seam fused together with all the strength and integrity of the original material. The units may be used as part of a dock flotation system.

Abstract: A detachable safety frame is constructed from four individual members which are assembled into a rectangular frame detachably attached at each respective adjacent and adjoining end. The frame is assembled into either existing cable openings of installed transformer and mounting pad installations or may be incorporated into new installations during the installation of the transformer on the mounting pad. In the version used for new installation, the individual frame members are of such size as to extend downwardly into the hole in the ground which is dug for the cables. Each end of each member is provided with a projecting tab and slot for engagement and disengagement to assemble or disassemble the frame.

Abstract: Split duct terminator apparatus is provided at the cable entrance of a subterranean manhole for receiving a plurality of cables extending between subterranean manholes along a cable path carrying electrical signal conductors for the transmission of telecommunication messages. A plurality of modules are provided at the cable entrance to the manhole to encircle and immobilize a plurality of conduits or ducts carrying the cables which laterally enter the vault while the cables are maintained in position and in service. The modules are positioned about the plurality of cables at a working distance from a splice case. Split duct sections encircle the cables where the cables appear at the manhole, but the duct sections are terminated at the manhole walls. Once positioned about the duct sections containing the cables, the modules are joined together in a composite structure. A coagulated mass which permeates the structure binds the modules together.

Abstract: Improvements in the method for transporting and positioning thermoplastic sheets in a vacuum-forming machine are disclosed. The vacuum-forming machine has a stationary, lower platen which supports the lower mold half and an upper reciprocating platen which carries the upper mold half. This construction provides for minimal overall height of the press used in the vacuum forming and also achieves a high precision of mating of the lands of the opposed die faces so that a minimal land area is provided, permitting the formation of molded hollow enclosures from the thermoplastic sheets which have tear trims about their outer periphery to facilitate the removal of excess sheet material therefrom. The method of transferring the thermoplastic sheets between the opposed die faces of the vacuum molding apparatus includes the steps of supporting the thermoplastic sheets in upper and lower vertically spaced apart, open frameworks which are moved between heating stations and the molding station.

Abstract: An improved mounting is provided for a residential transformer in which structural support for the load created by the weight of the transformer is provided by a wood and foam core enclosed within a plastic shell. Structural rigidity is provided by lateral and transverse cross braces connected to form a wooden framework. An aperture is formed through the structure and support blocks are provided at the interior boundary of the aperture and fasteners extend through the shell and through the support blocks of the framework to secure the shell to the framework. Reinforcing blocks are provided at the corners of the underside of the structure to prevent damage to the mounting whenever it is necessary to re-align or manipulate the mounting.