Abstract: A sofa-bed assembly comprising a rear vertical section, a lower horizontal section, a front vertical section, and an upper horizontal section pivoted to one another in succession for folding movement between a collapsed sofa condition and an extended bed contidion. A mattress folded within the assembly presses upwardly against the upper horizontal section, and a locking linkage arrangement resists the tendency of the folded mattress to swing the upper horizontal section upwardly out of a horizontal plane when the assembly is in its collapsed condition. Release of the locking linkage involves initially compressing the mattress further, thereby increasing the force required to open the bed. Additional links respond to unfolding of the rear leg, which supports the unfolded lower horizontal section for relieving some of the pressure of the mattress on the upper horizontal section, thereby reducing the force required to open the locking linkage to permit unfolding of the upper horizontal section.

Abstract: An electrical cord retractor includes a closed hollow case separate from any apparatus with which an electrical cord will be used. Within the case is a winder, such as a rotatable spool, and the case is openable to permit an electrical cord to be wound upon the spool. The case wall has passageways through which an electrical cord can pass from the spool within the case to the exterior of the case, so that the cord can be connected to an apparatus independent of the case. The passageway may be slots which extend to a free edge of the case wall, so that after an electrical cord is wound on the spool, portions of the electrical cord extending from the spool can be inserted into the slots as the case is closed. The spool has a cord guide, in the form of a slot, extending from the external face of one of the spool flanges into the spool hub. A portion of an electrical cord is held stationary in the slot so that as the spool is rotated the remainder of the cord is wound upon the spool.

Abstract: A protective book covering including a relatively long piece of sheet material and a relatively short piece of sheet material overlaying the long piece, the longitudinal edges of the two sheets being sealed together. A seal and tear line extending transverse to their longitudinal edges joins the two pieces and forms a line of severance along which the pieces can be torn to produce two units, each unit having a pocket adjacent to the seal and tear line for accommodating one of the covers of a book. One of the units has a section, extending from the pocket of that unit, long enough to wrap around the spine of the book, and be secured to the other unit. The sheet material is preferably transparent plastic. The book covering can be made in a continuous manner by providing independent lengths of relatively wide and relatively narrow plastic sheet material, and placing the lengths in face-to-face contact so that their longitudinal axes extend in the same direction.

Abstract: An apparatus for reproducing the appearance of heavenly bodies including a cover having an opaque wall defining a substantially circular opening, and a disc-like or spherical part representative of a heavenly body sized to substantially fill the opening in the cover. The part and cover are relatively rotatable about an axis which passes through the center of the opening in the cover and along a diameter of the part. The opaque wall of the cover may be hemispherical, planar, or tubular. The part may represent the moon or a celestial vault. The apparatus may include a base which supports the cover and part and houses a mechanism for rotating one of the cover and part with respect to the other.

Abstract: A key telephone system comprised of a key service unit connected to a plurality of local sets via four-wire conductors for providing full duplex signal communication between the key service unit and sets. Signals are carried by a first pair of each of the conductors for unidirectional transmission of signals from each set to the key service unit, and the remaining pair of conductors carries signals transmitted by the key service unit for reception by one or more of the sets. Four-to-two wire signal conversion and line impedance balancing is effected by one or more trunk circuits of the key service unit in the event one or more of the local sets are connected via the key service unit for communication between the sets and the outside telephone lines.

Abstract: A lock, particularly adapted for use with the gate of a woven-wire partition, includes a housing having a faceplate, a wall projecting from the faceplate and substantially surrounding the interior of the housing, and a removable cover for closing the housing. A stationary bracket is located within the housing, and a latch is movable with respect to the housing between latched and unlatched positions, in response to operation of manually-manipulable means, such as a key-operable lock cylinder or a hand-operable fingerpiece. A member within the housing is cooperable with the stationary bracket for preventing movement of the latch in a direction transverse to the plane of the faceplate, so as to prevent the latch from accidentally falling out of the housing when the housing cover is removed and the housing is open. A spring within the housing serves two functions, namely, constantly urging the latch toward its unlatched position, and maintaining cooperation between the member and the bracket.

Abstract: A dye-containing porous plastic element, comprising a plastic body having interconnected capillary passageways, and a dry, water-soluble dye located within the passageways. The passageways extend to at least one surface of the body, and the size of the passageways are such that the body, when contacted with water, can absorb the water to wet the dye and make it soluble. The plastic body comprises fused granules of plastic interspersed with dry granules of dye. The plastic granules may have a diameter, prior to fusion, of between about 50 and 800 microns, preferably between about 100 and 300 microns. The dry dye comprises between about 5 percent and 35 percent of the element, by weight, and preferably between about 10 percent and 20 percent.

Abstract: A drive system for a motor vehicle comprising a power train made up of an IC engine with an associated transmission and a brake system, operating elements for control of the power train and control devices for modifying the function of the power train to take into account operational data and characteristic curves of the operating elements, such operating elements being designed to generate output control signals and transmit them to the control devices. The control devices comprise an electronic engine electronic control means, a transmission electronic control means for self-contained automatic control of the engine and the transmission respectively, and a supervising computer which is adapted to coordinate the functions of the engine and transmission electronic control means for optimizing operation of the power train by coordinating the functions of the electronic systems for the engine and the transmission.

Abstract: A carrying and storage case for artist's supplies including a tray-like base and a plurality of rows of receptacles within the base, each row containing a plurality of receptacles. The axes of all the receptacles are at an acute angle to the plane of the back wall of the base, the angle opening toward the top wall of the base. A cover, hinged or otherwise moveable with respect to the base, is used to close the case. The case is ideally suited to carry drawing markers, each receptacle holding one marker, and preferably the case contains at least one hundred receptacles. The length of each receptacle is shorter than the length of the markers to be carried, so that one end of each of the markers extends beyond the receptacles and can be grasped for removal from the case. The receptacles may be defined by intersecting vertical and horizontally-extending partitions, the partitions interengaging by means of a series of slots formed at one edge of each partition.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for synchronizing a local clock signal with a remote clock signal. The local clock signal is divided by a digital counter for generating a phase increment signal. The phase increment signal and the remote clock signal are applied to a further digital counter for counting the number of phase increment signal cycles received during a predetermined number of cycles of the received remote clock signal and generating a count value in response thereto. A microprocessor performs a table look-up for retrieving a predetermined digital correction value using an address characterized by the count value. The correction value is applied to a digital-to-analog converter for generating an analog control voltage in response thereto. The analog control voltage is applied to a master voltage control oscillator for generating the local oscillator signal such that the local oscillator signal frequency is adjusted to be synchronized with the remote clock signal in both phase and frequency.

Abstract: A dye-containing porous plastic element, comprising a plastic body having interconnected capillary passageways, and a dry, water-soluble dye located within the passageways. The passageways extend to at least one surface of the body, and the size of the passageways are such that the body, when contacted with water, can absorb the water to wet the dye and make it soluble. The plastic body comprises fused granules of plastic interspersed with dry granules of dye. The plastic granules may have a diameter, prior to fushion, of between about 50 and 800 microns, preferably between about 100 and 300 microns. The dry dye comprises between about 5 percent and 35 percent of the element, by weight, and preferably between about 10 per cent and 20 percent .

Abstract: A lock cylinder for use with either a deadbolt lock or a key-in-the-knob lock. The lock cylinder includes a hollow cylindrical body having a radially projecting, pin-containing chamber, extending along the length of the body, and a cylinder plug rotatably accommodated within the body. The plug holds a series of pins, which can be brought into alignment with the pins in the chamber, and the plug has a slot for accepting a key. Two tailpieces are provided, either of which may be alternatively secured to the cylinder plug in non-rotatable relationship to the plug. One of the tailpieces is cooperable with the mechanism for operating a deadbolt lock, and the other tailpiece is cooperable with the mechanism for operating a key-in-the-knob lock. One end of the cylinder plug is formed with a transverse slot and an annular slot, an extension at one end of each tailpiece fitting into the transverse slot, and a resilient snap ring fitting into the annular slot to prevent separation of the tailpiece from the plug.

Abstract: A communication switching system for routing digital voice and data signals and message signals between a plurality of peripheral circuits disposed in one or more peripheral subsystems and a main controller. Each peripheral subsystem is comprised of a peripheral switch matrix controlled by a peripheral control processor for switching the voice and data signals between predetermined peripheral circuits and the circuit switch matrix. The voice, data and message signals are transmitted through a circuit switch matrix of the main controller on predetermined time slot channels. The message signals are transmitted via communication controllers associated with the main controller and each of the peripheral subsystems according to a bit oriented data link protocol. The message signals are transmitted asynchronously during a predetermined one or more dynamically allocated time slot channels of the circuit switch matrix. The data link protocol guarantees error-free transmission of a plurality of message signals.

Abstract: A storage battery provided with a cover located over the top wall of the battery casing, the cover being vented so that any gases within the space between the cover and top wall can flow to the atmosphere. An end shield is located alongside each end wall of the battery casing, each end shield being spaced from its respective casing end wall. The cover and end shields may be integrally formed as a single piece of molded plastic, or the end shields may form part of a continuous band surrounding the side and end walls of the casing. Side panels may depend from the sides of the cover and extend alongside the side walls of the battery casing. Each side panel has portions extending beyond the end edges of its respective casing side wall the end shields being supported by the extending portions of the side panels. Legs may extend underneath the battery casing from the lower edges of the side panels so as to secure the cover and end shields to the battery casing.

Abstract: A double-walled container formed of synthetic resinous material, including generally hemispherically-shaped outer and inner walls nested together with a gap between the walls, a flange extending from the outer periphery of the inner wall to the top edge of the outer wall, the flange and outer wall being permanently joined together so as to form the two walls into a unitary structure. Preferably, the walls are joined together by ultrasonic welding. The top edge of the outer wall is formed with a stepped configuration defining a seat which accommodates a sealing portion of the flange, the sealing portion being fused to the seat. The sealing portion of the flange may either be continuous or formed of individual projections spaced apart along the circumference of the flange. The top surface of the flange may either be flush with, or in a plane above, the uppermost surface of the top edge of the outer wall.

Abstract: In order to make possible precisely controlled and reliable operation of the rotors of a neutron chopper each rotor is to be driven by a hysteresis motor, whose rotor is in the form of a hollow cylinder. The attachment of each drive rotor to the one end of the rotor is by way of a non-magnetic disk or ring which is screwed to the lower end of the rotor or the top end thereof in accordance with the design. The drive rotor is only shrunk onto the disk or ring. The stator placed around the drive rotor is embedded within the neutron chopper housing in an electrically insulating cast material which is not affected by high vacuum and radiation.

Abstract: A solenoid actuator including a coil of electrically conductive wire, a yoke of magnetic material surrounding the coil, and a non-electrically and non-magnetically conductive material encapsulating the coil and yoke. A pair of terminals connected to the ends of the coil project outwardly beyond an exterior surface of the encapsulation. Any of a variety of electrical connection modules is adapted to receive the coil terminals and electrically connect them to standard electrical connectors projecting from the module. Different modules have different forms of standard electrical connectors, so that regardless of the type of connector available at the source of electric power, a suitable module can be connected to the encapsulated coil for cooperation with the power source connector. The body of each module is formed of resilient material so that when the module is tightly attached to the coil encapsulation, a seal is formed completely surrounding the coil terminals.

Abstract: A key telephone system comprised of a key service unit connected to a plurality of local sets via four-wire conductors for providing full duplex signal communication between the key service unit and sets. Signals are carried by a first pair of each of the conductors for unidirectional transmission of signals from each set to the key service unit, and the remaining pair of conductors carries signals transmitted by the key service unit for reception by one or more of the sets. Four-to-two wire signal conversion and line impedance balancing is effected by one or more trunk circuits of the key service unit in the event one or more of the local sets are connected via the key service unit for communication between the sets and the outside telephone lines.