Abstract: A fluid manifold and a direction control valve are disclosed. The manifold of the present invention comprises a substantially spherical body with an inner space, an inlet port and a plurality of outlet ports. The inlet port and the outlet ports are connected to the inner space of the body. The direction control valve of the present invention further comprises a switching member rotatably disposed in the inner space with a channel for connecting the inlet port with one of the outlet ports.

Abstract: A greywater recycling system for receiving, storing and recycling household waste influent, comprising: (a) a pre-filtration system comprising an open-ended transversal manifold placed in an elevated position, a series of micron-sized filters for collecting the influent, (b) a reservoir's storage system comprising: (i) a water level sensor for detecting the accumulated influent water level in a predetermined height, (ii) a pump, wherein the pump and the water level sensor are electrically connected together to automatically detect water level and activate or deactivate the pump, (c) the media housing filtration system comprising a series of filtration media for filtering out the effluent odor and contaminants, (d) an ultra-filtration system comprising the sub-micron sized filter, for sanitizing and purifying the outcome effluent, and (e) a check valve for adjusting effluent water pressure and directing the effluent flow direction.

Abstract: A method is described by which a growth medium is exposed to an electric field of sufficient magnitude to kill competing microorganisms and insufficient magnitude to cause flocculation to an algae population.

Abstract: A method and system for accurate detection and removal of pestware is described. One embodiment identifies a first indicator, the first indicator being associated with both a particular type of pestware and with at least one non-pestware software application; searches the computer for at least one additional indicator that the particular type of pestware is present on the computer; and confirms detection of the particular type of pestware on the computer when the at least one additional indicator is found.

Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing, a printed circuit board (PCB), and a plurality of contacts. The housing includes a mating end and a wire receiving end. The PCB is mounted within the housing and has an opening formed therethrough. The plurality of contacts is configured to extend from the PCB. The opening is configured to receive a second electrical connector configured to mate with the electrical connector.

Abstract: An apparatus for measuring a thickness of a substrate having an upper surface, without contacting the upper surface of the substrate. A platen having a base surface receives the substrate, and a reference surface is disposed at a known first height from the platen surface. A non contact sensor senses the known first height of the reference surface without making physical contact with the reference surface. The non contact sensor further senses a relative difference between the known first height of the reference surface and a second height of the upper surface of the substrate without making physical contact with the upper surface of the substrate. A controller controls the sensor and determines the thickness of the substrate based at least in part on the known first height of the reference surface and the relative difference between the known first height of the reference surface and the second height of the upper surface of the substrate.

Abstract: A car seat safety belt system used with a car seat for an infant or toddler has an adjustable shield for permitting adjustable placement of the shield relative to a buckle tongue secured to the seat belts. The ends of the upper seat belts attached to the tongue are captured in a buckle tongue housing having an elongated aperture on the outer surface. Mounted within the aperture is an adjustment mechanism having a button portion and a pair of oppositely extending tab portions engageable with individual pairs of a plurality of stop channels arranged along the direction of the elongated aperture. The tongue buckle housing assembly is movably received within a second housing having openings at opposite ends for the buckle tongue and the seat belts, as well as an opening in the outer surface in which the button portion is engaged. A cover member is molded about the second housing, the cover member having openings for accommodating the buckle tongue and the seat belts, as well as an opening for the button portion.

Abstract: An overhead safety shield for an infant's car seat is rotatably coupled to the arms connecting the shield to the sides of the car seat. A detent mechanism provides positive locking engagement for the shield relative to the arms so that the shield can be fixed at one of several different angular positions about the pivot axis. The attitude of the shield can be set at the most convenient position for the occupant of the seat.

Abstract: An enclosure (10) having a pair of covers (12,14) fastenable together to close about and seal a cable splice (200,300) between end portions of a pair of multiconductor shielded cables (202,204;302,304) in either a butt-splice or in-line arrangement. A pair of routing channels (24,26) are provided at a first end (20) and a single routing channel (28) at the second end (22), with a splice-receiving region (90) provided adjacent inner ends (44,46,50) of the routing channels. A grounding region (100) between inner ends of the routing channels (24,26,28) includes a ground contact (102) having two pairs of cable-receiving slots (110,112;114,116) each pair being aligned with a respective routing channel for ends of respective cables to be received thereinto with at least one of the slots engaging an exposed shield portion of the cable.

Abstract: An improved roofing handroller for both press-welding and/or sealing overlapping edges of roofing material sheets together. The present invention provides a roofing handroller comprising a body defining a handle, two extended L-shaped roller bearing sections, each attached at an end of the handle, and two rollers, each rotatably mounted on a roller bearing section.

Abstract: A modular wheel assembly for use with apparatus having a weight-bearing frame, such as a baby stroller, includes a mounting unit consisting of a cylindrical tubular member having an open upper end and a closed lower end wall. The tubular member is dimensioned to receive the lower end of a tubular frame member of the apparatus. A wheel supporting unit includes a cylindrical sleeve portion dimensioned to receive the tubular member of the mounting unit in close tolerance, freely rotating fashion. The sleeve portion and mounting unit are dimensioned so that the weight supported by the frame member is transferred through the bearing flange of the mounting unit to the cylindrical sleeve portion of the wheel supporting unit. An axle tube extends perpendicularly through lower end portions of the web members to be supported thereby. The axle tube is adapted to receive an axle therethrough, with a pair of wheels secured to opposed ends of the axle.

Abstract: An adjustable height mechanism for use in devices employing a collapsible scissors frame supporting an object is disclosed having a pair of pawls secured to the sliding leg of the scissors frame and slidably mounted onto a pair of guide rails. A central channel is positioned between the guide rails and receives a guide member extending from the leg to provide additional tracking and lateral stability during movement of the leg. A pair of spring biased, pivoting ratchet arms are mounted to the supported object and include a series of ratchet stops and a finger grip. The ratchet arms engage the pawls to restrict movement of the leg of the scissors frame in one direction while allowing ratcheting free movement in the opposite direction. The finger grips can be used by the user to squeeze the free ends of the arms together and release the ratcheting engagement with the pawls to provide height adjustment of the object supported by the scissors frame.

Abstract: Apparatus for manufacturing ribbon cable having a plurality of filamentous elements comprises a wheel having a circumferential surface interrupted by a plurality of parallel grooves in which the elements are seated over a common arc. Elements are supplied tangentially toward the wheel as the wheel is rotated and plastic is extruded at a point on the common arc to form a ribbon cable with elements exposed where they lay in the grooves. Elements are entrapped in cable by plastic bridges formed in lateral channels or recesses which interrupt the grooves and permit plastic to flow around elements, by fiber mat which the plastic impregnates, by melt-bonding to plastic insulated wire, by adhesive, or by nearly complete entrapment of elements resulting from a shallow groove profile. An additional layer of plastic may be extruded onto the cable so produced to yield a conventional fully insulated ribbon cable, or for some cable profiles the cable may be mated to like cable for a close centerline spacing of elements.

Abstract: Wire connector comprises a terminal of wound spring wire which is received in a cavity in a plastic base and contained therein by a plastic cover. The terminal comprises a first conical helix wound from a wire receiving end to a constricted end then back upon itself to form a shorter second helix ending at a shoulder. Conductors are twisted into the terminal causing it to expand and grip the conductors resiliently while a finger of spring metal prevents rotation relative to the housing. The first helix is nested in U-shaped recesses in partitions in the cavity so that the shoulder bears against a partition when the wires are pulled.