Abstract: A jackknife-prevention system for a tractor-trailer rig wherein the present invention is operable to engage the front brakes of the tractor-trailer tractor so as to oppose and reverse a jackknife movement upon detection thereof. The present invention includes a lateral-acceleration sensor that is mounted in the cab of a tractor trailer and transmits power from a source to a left-side circuit or right-side circuit if the tractor is skidding leftward or rightward, respectively. A steering direction sensor is configured to transmit power from said left-side circuit to both of two stopcock assemblies when steering is leftward or from said right-side circuit to both of two stopcock assemblies when steering is rightward, the stopcock assemblies responding to power input by decompressing both front-wheel brake chambers. This action, allowing the front wheels to roll when steered in the direction of a sideward skid, helps align the tractor with its trajectory.

Abstract: A jackknife prevention apparatus configured to be mounted intermediate the trailer and cab of a tractor-trailer rig extending bilaterally wing-like from the tractor's frame rails to which it is hinged horizontally. The jackknife prevention apparatus can swing up or down on its hinge between lowest and highest positions by action of a motor which responds to tractor conditions so as to promote safety, maneuverability and convenience. Specifically, when the tractor is parked, the apparatus tilts down near the ground and constitutes a stairway from ground up to the frame-rail tops. When the tractor is unparked, the apparatus swings up to near horizontal, where it is inactive. If tractor speeds exceed perhaps 20 or 30 mph, the apparatus rises to its highest position where it blocks further nearing of a trailer's front corner to the tractor's cab at a tractor-trailer angle of perhaps 15 to 20 degrees, thereby preventing a jackknife accident.

Abstract: The invention is ammunition and ammunition components labeled so that either a projectile or a shell casing found at a crime scene can be associated with all documented handlers from the last documented recipient back to the manufacturer. The likely labeling code is a two-dimensional binary array with at least six cells (digits) in each dimension. Several different methods of imparting the label to a projectile at or near its rear end are described, some of which can be used in combination, including: adding a labeled identification member beneath the projectile's rear surface, embossing the projectile's rear surface, injecting pins through the projectile's rear end, embossing the projectile beneath the projectile's rear surface at a transition between metal layers of different melting temperatures, printing the projectile's rear surface with detectable material, etching the projectile's rear surface.

Abstract: A house-wiring junction box having most conventional properties (compositions, shapes, dimensions, components, abilities) but being unconventional largely in that all side-wall cable ports may be opened both axially and radially by virtue of the box's reversible assembly from bottom and top partial boxes, the bottom partial box having the floor and lower parts of the side walls of the junction box, the top partial box having the upper parts of the side walls and the open top face of the junction box, the assembly seam intercepting all side-wall cable ports.

Abstract: A capo may be used on a guitar or banjo to reduce the operating length of all strings temporarily. The strings of a slide guitar (e.g. Dobro) are suspended approximately 1 cm above its fretboard and so cannot be clamped against a fret by a padded bar as with a Spanish guitar or banjo. In a typical embodiment, the slide-guitar capo is an essentially prismatic bar approximately 7-8 cm long, and made of metal or plastic. The three side faces of the prismatic bar are approximately 15.2, 13.7 and 12 mm wide; so that it has three ridge heights, approximately 10.2, 11.4 and 13 mm (were its edges not rounded) depending on which face is selected as base. A rectangular groove, 3.5 mm wide and 1.2 mm deep, runs the length of each side face of the bar, positioned below the bar's ridge when that face is the base. The side edges of the bar are rounded down approximately 0.2 mm.