Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing the contents of a collapsible tube, such as a toothpaste tube. The apparatus includes a housing having side walls, an end wall with an opening therein, and a cover pivotally attached to the housing to provided access to a cavity within the housing. A squeezing device is slidably received in the cavity and includes a threaded surface the cover and a pair of opposing surface that define a though-slot that increases in width toward the housing end wall. A threaded rod is rotatably mounted to the cover and engages the threaded surface of the squeezing device when the cover is closed and disengages the threaded surface when the cover is opened. By rotating the rod, the squeezing device can be caused to move along the rod toward and away from the end wall of the housing.

Abstract: An hydropatterning apparatus conveys a sheet of fabric through a patterning station along a machine direction on a conveyor, preferably a drum, having a support surface formed with a pattern of raised or solid areas and lowered or void areas, and has one or more manifolds of hydrojet nozzles disposed above the conveyor for directing a continuous curtain of fluid downwardly to impact on the fabric so that properties of the fabric become altered in correspondence to the pattern of the support surface. The hydropatterning technique is used to emboss the screen pattern into the nap of napped fabric in order to produce aesthetically pleasing surface textures and patterns in the napped fabric, such as a fur-like surface texture. The technique can also be used for displacement of yarn or fiber to obtain three-dimensional effects such as ribbing, wavy lines, checkering, geometric or floral designs, or lacework.

Abstract: A face mask comprising a pleated laminate having means to secure said laminate over the nose and mouth of the wearer, said laminate comprising a first outer layer of heat sealable facing material, a second inner layer of filtration media, and a third innermost layer of heat sealable facing material, the laminate being folded to create one pleat therein that extends across the entire laminate, each end of the pleat being secured together at the edges of the laminate and the folded edge of the pleat being heat sealed along substantially its entire length securing together the three layers of laminate, and reinforcing the pleat edge such that when the pleat is open, the reinforced pleat edge maintains the laminate away from the mouth and nose of the wearer when worn.