Abstract: A gambler engaged in casino gambling wagers on a game of chance, either winning or losing. Regardless of outcome, the casino invests the wager for a limited time period in a financial arrangement suited to return a profit. At the end of the limited time, the casino returns the wager to the gambler. If the wager was a winning wager, the casino returns a first bonus or share of the profit to the gambler. If the wager was a losing wager, the casino returns a second bonus or share of the profit to the gambler. The second bonus is in the range from zero to the amount of the first bonus.

Abstract: A user anonymously acquires a first sequence of encryption key material. An encryption server, having a second sequence complementary to the first sequence, receives and forwards encrypted messages and monitors utilization of encryption key material by the user. As the key material is used, the server adjusts user accounts to exhaust the first sequence. Thus, the first sequence provides for secure, anonymous communication and, correspondingly, can serve as a payment media for conducting electronic transactions.

Abstract: A user anonymously acquires a first sequence of encryption key material. An encryption server, having a second sequence complementary to the first sequence, receives and forwards encrypted messages and monitors utilization of encryption key material by the user. As the key material is used, the server adjusts user accounts to exhaust the first sequence. Thus, the first sequence provides for secure, anonymous communication and, correspondingly, can serve as a payment media for conducting electronic transactions.

Abstract: A user anonymously acquires a first sequence of encryption key material. An encryption server, having a second sequence complementary to the first sequence, receives and forwards encrypted messages and monitors utilization of encryption key material by the user. As the key material is used, the server adjusts user accounts to exhaust the first sequence. Thus, the first sequence provides for secure, anonymous communication and, correspondingly, can serve as a payment media for conducting electronic transactions.

Abstract: A processing system manages investments, wherein certain types of investments are represented in two redundant media, the first media being an investment that produces revenue and the second media being a negotiable draft similar to a traveler's check, drawn against an issuer other than the investor. The processing system supervises the issuance of drafts in response to the addition of a first media investment to an investment account, permits issued drafts to be transferred between account holders and to non-holders, and supervises buy and sell orders relating to each account to ensure that an appropriate balance of values is maintained between the first and second media investments in each account such that each outstanding draft is supported by a first media investment.

Abstract: A conveyor having a belt capable of following a curved path is mounted on a carriage having a central attachment to a conveyor chain and lateral attachments to a pair of side stabilizers. The conveyor operates on a track assembly having a central slide surface for contact with the chain and lateral stabilizer operating surfaces for contact with the stabilizers when they are in use. The stabilizers may be slightly elevated from their operating surfaces during normal conveyor operation with a balanced load on the belt, only touching the operating surfaces when the load becomes unbalanced. The track assembly is preferably in the cross-sectional shape of an I-beam with the conveyor operating on the flanges of the beam. Beam sections in regular geometric shapes such as vertical curves, horizontal curves, and straight sections are joined together in approximate alignment to form the desired conveyor path, and the slide surfaces are then shimmed into closer alignment if necessary.

Abstract: A conveyor system employs a belt of the type having load carrying areas and yieldable areas in alternating sequence such that the belt can flex to follow a serpentine path. The belt travels along a path established by a cruciform track containing a pulling chain having alternating horizontal and vertical links, each link being joined to a roller carriage at each of its opposite ends such that each carriage includes both a horizontal and a vertical pivot axis with rollers on each axis for operating in the cruciform track. The axes are substantially coplanar with each other and with the yieldable areas of the belt, and each belt section is connected to a link. The track may be split into longitudinal halves joined to a common web by fasteners alternately removable from opposite track halves for service access to the interior of the track without disassembly of the entire track from the web.

Abstract: An upwash, upflow or downflow, graded sand bed dust collector has a reusable imperforate or slightly porous diaphragm on the top of the graded filter media and an inlet for pressurized gas above the diaphragm for inflating the diaphragm against the media during dust removal stage. The dust collector housing can be flared upwardly and outwardly at selected portions to reduce the velocity of upflowing gas during wash stage for improved grading of the filter media. A natural foraminous layer may be self-grading at the top of the filter media, allowing a circumferential or side outlet for filtrate. A layer of fine, dense filter media may also be used to increase the size range of media particles in the dust collector. Special diaphragms may be composed of individual leaflets that rise above the filter media but not to the level of the gas exit during the wash stage, and which settle on top of the filter media during the filter stage.

Abstract: An upwash sand filter with a diaphragm hold-down for the granular filter media during filter stage is operable with self-graded coarse-to-fine media for upflow filtration, downflow filtration, or combined up and down flow to a central exit filtration. The media is held in place by a diaphragm that may be a perforated plate for allowing liquid to pass through the perforations, and in the downflow embodiment, the media column is supported on another perforated wall or plate to allow a final lower layer of coarser media to be used so that the plate itself is not the finest layer of the filter. In the upflow embodiment, a coarser top layer is employed for this same purpose. The diaphragm serves in all embodiments to prevent loss of media and avoid channeling through the media thereby allowing exceptionally high filter rates.

Abstract: A flexible conveyor track assembly has segmented rails forming upper and lower runs, with the segments having tongues and recesses aligned with respect to the direction of conveyor travel on the respective runs. The individual segments of each upper rail are joined to a segment of a lower rail by connecting plates, and laterally spaced resilient guide rods string together the connecting plates on each lateral side of the assembly and have rubber spring dampers between adjacent connecting plates to damp segment vibration. A series of pivotally connected, elongated links, each longer than a single rail segment, runs the length of the segmented rails to control the curvature of the assembly, each link being attached to a segment of each rail. In an alternative embodiment, the track assembly is hung from a monorail and the series of links is replaced with an external draw bar between monorail hangers at the opposite ends of the assembly.

Abstract: An upwash, upflow, graded sand filter has a reusable imperforate diaphragm on the top of the graded filter media and an inlet for pressurized fluid above the diaphragm for inflating the diaphragm against the media during filter stage. The filter housing is flared upwardly and outwardly at selected portions to reduce the velocity of upflowing liquid during wash stage for improved grading of the filter media. A natural foraminous layer may be self-grading at the top of the filter media, allowing a circumferential outlet for filtrate. A layer of fine, dense filter media may also be used to increase the size range of media particles in the filter. Special diaphragms may be composed of individual leaflets that float above a dirty-liquid outlet during wash stage, but that sink due to a change in density when the filter is pressurized for filter stage.