Abstract: A bottle assembly has a bottle and a removable cap. The cap includes a nozzle and a vent arrangement. The vent arrangement can include a vent conduit that extends into an air cavity present at the bottom of the bottle assembly when the bottle assembly is inverted. The vent arrangement allows for pressure equalization within the bottom assembly in response to liquid being dispensed from the bottle assembly to permit high flow rates of the dispensed liquid without squeezing of the bottle.

Abstract: A method for restriping a striped disk array in a computer system without requiring the removal of the system from normal operation provides an efficient method to expand the disk array and incorporate the new storage into the striping scheme. When the operating system is not requesting access to the hard disk subsystem, the data is repositioned. The data on the array need not be backed-up onto alternate media before the array is expanded. Once new storage space is installed, the data is repositioned from disk to disk under the control of a disk controller until a stripe of the new array is expanded. Pointers stored in non-volatile memory maintain the location of the next free location and the next data block to be repositioned. The pointers are also used by the disk controller to locate the files during the array expansion process. The process is repeated until all of the data is relocated in the expanded array. After the relocation is complete, empty storage at the end of each disk remains.

Abstract: A data log for use with conventional hard disk subsystems or other data storage subsystems provides a system to minimize delays caused in a computer system due to the input/output systems, such as hard disks. The data log is preferably one or more hard disks, or any other non-volatile data storage device. Preferably, when the operating system requests a write to the hard disk subsystem, a hard disk controller directs the data to the data log rather than the hard disks. Then, when I/O requests are at a lull, the hard disk controller moves the data from the data log to the hard disk subsystem. Because the data is written to the data log sequentially, the hard disk controller completes the write operation quickly. This minimizes any bottleneck created while the system waits for the completion of the write operation.

Abstract: An auxiliary loading dock ramp is provided which can be securely locked to a conventional ramp so as to increase the overall length of the ramp surfaces thereby lessening the degree of incline of the ramps between a loading dock and a truck or railroad car. The auxiliary loading dock ramp includes legs on the forward end thereof and support means on the rearward end thereof to maintain the ramp in an elevated position above the surface of the loading dock, and channel members on the underside of the deck of the ramp to receive the forks of a pallet jack employed in moving the auxiliary ramp into position. A pair of ears on each side of the auxiliary ramp adjacent the rearward end thereof are received in slots in the forward end of a conventional ramp such that the forward end of the conventional ramp overlappingly engages the rearward end of the auxiliary ramp to provide an elongated deck surface over which loads may be transported between the loading dock and the truck or railroad car.