Abstract: A water transport system replaces the inverted water bottle on a conventional bottled water cooler of the type with a refrigerated, open top water reservoir. The system automatically transfers water from an upright water bottle below the reservoir into the reservoir whenever water in in the reservoir falls below a predetermined level. A water pipe carries water from the bottle, through a sealed closure in the bottle neck and up into the reservoir whenever air pressure in the bottle is elevated. An air pump in a housing atop the reservoir generates air pressure in an air tube passing through the closure and into the bottle. A water level sensor reduces air pressure in the system when the water in the reservoir reaches a predetermined level to thereby automatically control refilling of the reservoir.

Abstract: An easy open beverage container has a lever tab for breaking open a scored panel portion of the end wall by lifting up the distal lift end. The tab is held rotatably to the end wall by a rivet, which acts as a fulcrum forcing the proximal end of the tab downward to break open the scored panel portion. A plurality of spaced apart, unique indicia are disposed in an arc on the panel wall around the rivet. The distal lift end, after opening the can is lowered to lie against the end wall and is rotated to point to one of said indicia to thereby uniquely identify that opened container so that it will not be inadvertently used by another.

Abstract: A spring operated animal trap in which the bail or striker is held against spring tension by a striker hold down bar engaging a trigger member. A bait holder connected to the trigger may be surface coated with an adhesive so that after the animal touches the adhesive, movement will actuate the trigger and spring the trap before the animal can free itself. A unique tilting trigger mechanism is disclosed in which the bait holder and trigger are arranged to pivot about a horizontal axis above the base. The axis being parallel to the hold down bar, with tilting of the bait holder to either side springing the trap.

Abstract: A pan is provided for baking taco shells in an oven for holding the baked shells while filling and serving. The pan has a plurality of elongate parallel tapered ridges with troughs between the ridges. The inverted shell is placed astride a ridge. As the shell is pushed onto the tapered ridge it is gradually opened up. It is held in this open position during baking and retains this open configuration when turned upright and seated in a trough where it is fully supported during filling and serving. At each end of the trough, a stop element slopes upward from the bottom of the trough. It is high enough to retain any spilled contents in the trough as well as preventing the tacos from sliding off the pan when tilted. The stop element also serves to facilitate grasping of the filled taco from below by gradually lifting up the taco as it is slid along the trough and over the stop element.

Abstract: A rape preventing undergarment is formed from flexible cut-resistant cable and covered with fabric. The cable forms a crotch covering web with very small openings. Each side of the crotch covering web is attached to a leg encircling cable free at one end which can be wrapped around the thigh and then length adjusted and removably locked into a cable clasp at the front end of the crotch covering. A waist encircling cable is attached by cable to the rear of crotch covering and in front descends to also lock into one of the cable clasps. The cable clasps are arranged to both be locked by a single padlock. The device is easily adjusted to fit snugly so that it cannot be pulled aside, yet it is comfortable and easily removed when unlocked.

Abstract: Unit dosage form for delivering drugs into the body in a series of sequential, pulsatile releasing events employs conventional pharmaceutical equipment and processes for optimum economy, reliability, and bioavailability. The system can be used with drugs which cannot be released by diffusion through a porous coating, such as water insoluble drugs. A plurality of populations of pellets is provided within a unit dosage form such as a capsule (8) or tablet. The pellets are composed of a core containing the drug (3) and a swelling agent (4) which expands in volume when exposed to water. The core is enclosed within a membrane or coating which is permeable to water. The membrane is composed of a water insoluble and permeable film forming polymer, a water soluble film forming polymer (11) and a permeability reducing agent (14). When the unit dose releases the pellets into the digestive tract, water diffuses through the coating and into the core.

Abstract: Long flexible members such as hoses, electric cords and cables tend to be springy and elastic. They are not easily coiled and stored. They tend to straighten out when bent into a desired shape. They tend to tangle and interfere with operations. The invention incorporates an elongate wire element running parallel to the long axis of the flexible member. The wire element is encased in the covering of the flexible member. The wire element is a conformable shape-retaining material such as a compliant soft iron or steel. It renders the entire member shape-retaining so that it may be conveniently coiled for storage or positioned for use. An embodiment for retrofitting an existing flexible member provides the wire element encased in a covering which wraps around a flexible member and then seals closed to form a shape retaining sleeve about the member.

Abstract: A circular target type bubble level slides easily onto and off of a standard surveyor's sight rod. When slid into position at any desired elevation on the rod for optimal viewing and released, the device automatically assumes a position such that the indicating plane of the level is exactly at right angles to the long axis of the rod. When the rod is adjusted so that the bubble level indicates the true horizontal, then the rod will be plumb. The rod is received in a through hole of a rod-encircling member. A spring bias element within the hole is forced against the rod. This forces a diametrally opposed support wall portion of the member against the rod with sufficient force to hold the level at any position on the rod without operator adjustment. It also automatically positions the indicating plane of the level orthogonal to the long axis of the rod, because the bubble level element is rigidly mounted with the desired orientation relative to the support wall portion forced against the rod.

Abstract: A swimming pool has a recirculating pump and filter. A drain line from the high pressure side of the pump drains excess water through a hydraulically operated drain valve remote from the pool. A long narrow tube from the high pressure line drains into the pool at a float valve. When the level of water in the pool is too high, the float valve opens, and pressure in the tube drops. Pressure in the tube operates the drain valve, opening the drain valve when the level is high and the pressure is low, and closing the drain valve when the level is not high, the float valve is closed and the pressure is high. The invention may be alternatively practiced with a drain valve that is opened by a high control pressure using a float valve that closes when the pool level is high. A timer controlled valve in the tube prevents opening the drain valve during preselected times when the pool is occupied.

Abstract: A purse or handbag holder has a rigid body with a flat bottom for resting upon the edge of a horizontal support surface. The body has two opposed long sides. A pair of hook members are pivotally attached to, and extend horizontally from, one long side, one at each end of the long side so that they are spaced apart. In operating mode each hook member extends downward to provide a pair of strap hooks beneath the body. When a purse is hung from the holder with one strap in each hook, the purse is held open beneath the table for easy one hand access. The body may be cushioned for carrying plastic grocery bags. In storage mode the hook members pivot to parallel the body and springably engage each other. An alternative embodiment has springably closed strap engaging hooks which may grip a purse strap at any point along its length to adjust purse elevation below the support.

Abstract: Repetitive administrations of cocaine over a period of days causes the animal body to become more sensitive to the drug. A dose of cocaine that was not toxic to a novice user may be toxic or even lethal to an habituated user. These toxic effects include craving, seizures, brain ischemia and death. The mechanism of action of these toxic effects appears to be through the glutamatergic neurotransmitter system as evidenced by blocking with antagonists for N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. However, these antagonists have undersirable side effects. Applicant demonstrates that the toxic effects of repetitive cocaine administrations can be reversed by the administration of inhibitors of the enzyme nitric oxide synthase which is also involved in the neurotransmitter system. The drugs which inhibit the enzyme nitric oxide synthase include N-nitro-L-arginine and N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. The method of treatment with these drugs includes administration in various forms by various routes.

Abstract: A golf ball retriever includes an elongate telescoping handle to which is attached a frame defining a golf ball entrance plane to be positioned over a golf ball. The dimensions of the plane are large relative to the diameter of the ball so that it is easily positioned under adverse conditions of visibility. A U-shaped hoop connected at both ends to the frame defines a ball-retaining chamber having openings large enough to freely pass mud and debris but too small to pass the ball. An elastic member or spring extends at least partly across the entrance plane, thereby dividing the entrance plane into two parts, neither of which is large enough to permit passage of the ball unless the spring is forced aside. The spring is arranged to be readily forced aside when the frame is pushed onto the ball to admit the ball to the ball-retaining chamber. The spring is stiff enough to prevent spontaneous release of the ball from the chamber.

Abstract: A food organizing and protecting insert provides a horizontal shelf with food receptacle receiving apertures which mounts in a portable ice chest. The shelf occludes the upper region of the inner liner of the chest forming a closed chamber to hold ice when the chest lid is open. The food receptacles are held by their upper rims in the apertures so that the body of each receptacle is within the cooled chamber. One or more hinged transparent covers, when closed, cover the receptacles, leaving a space above the receptacle for clearance of a serving utensil while permitting viewing of the contents of the receptacles. Downwardly extending support members hold the shelf fixed position parallel to the bottom of the chest. A closable hatch in the shelf may optionally be provided and the shelf may be transparent to permit selection and retrieval of items such as beverage containers stored with the ice chamber.

Abstract: A collapsible hearing device comprising a base housing and a pair of jointed elongated extension arms constructed and arranged with pivots so located that when said arms are unfolded outward, a pair of earphones fixed to a distal end of each arm engages the ears of a user, and when said arms are folded inward, they essentially hug at least a portion of the perimeter of the base housing and form a structure with the base housing sufficiently small to fit into a storage case whose size approximates that of an eyeglass case. Switch means is provided to automatically disengage a power source when the device is folded for storage and to cause the device to be energized when the device is unfolded for use. Optionally, the base housing may have lower corner portions recessed in outline to receive said earphones when said arms are folded inward.

Abstract: A mattress has a conventional spring core. Top and bottom insulators and padding are held in place by top and bottom cover assemblies. The cover assemblies are completely assembled before application to the core. Each cover assembly includes a horizontal panel with an annular vertical flange around its perimeter. Each flange has a hem in its free edge. Elongate rigid rods are held in the hems. Plastic wire ties on the flanges each enclose an upper rod, a lower rod and a peripheral portion of the core. When the ties are closed down to a reduced diameter, the rods and flanges are drawn together and anchored to the core. One of the cover assemblies has a loop member of a hook and loop fastener secured to the perimeter of the panel. The other cover assembly has an annular border skirt attached to the perimeter of the panel external to the flange with a binding tape covering the seam.

Abstract: A high voltage electrical connector has a mating pair of male and female contacts, each one soldered to an end of conductors that are to be joined to safely carry a high electrical voltage. One of the contacts is mounted in an insulating sleeve with a smooth outer cylindrical surface. The other contact is mounted in a resilient shroud. The shroud has a smooth bore coaxial with the contacts. At least one ring or ridge extends radially inward from the bore. The ring wipes clean the surface of the sleeve as the shroud is stretched over the sleeve during mating of the contacts. When mated, the ring is tightly compressed against the surface of the sleeve, excluding air and foreign matter from the surface. This prevents arcing and escape of current from the contacts to the surroundings. The shroud greatly increases the voltage that the connector can safely carry. Silicone rubber is a preferred material for the shroud.

Abstract: A system for verifying the authenticity of a document that bears a number of fields of strings of variable characters such as a check bearing date of issue field, payee field and numeric and alpha amount fields, includes a computer at the document issuing and printing station that controls the computer. A secret program selects certain characters from the strings, transforms those characters into other characters by various methods to generate a unique string of characters to print on the document as a unique code. Any remote authenticating station can authenticate the document with a computer that contains the same secret program used at the time the document was issued. The strings of variable characters born by the document are read into the computer at the authenticating station. The secret program causes the computer to generate an authenticating code from the data read into the computer from the document. The computer compares the authenticating code to the unique code born by the document.

Abstract: A dust guard fits onto the stationary housing of a portable electric drill with a resilient annular terminal portion. An elongate, axially compressible, elastic cylindrical body portion extends from the terminal portion, surrounding the drill bit and forming a chamber to receive debris and dust from the drilling process. The free end of the body portion is provided with a resilient, non-marring annular end piece for engaging the surface of the workpiece being drilled. As the drill bit penetrates the workpiece, the end piece is forced against the body portion, causing it to elastically shorten. The terminal portion 5 has external screw threads 9, and adapters with mating screw threads are provided. These adapters 6, 12, 13, 14 and 15 have progressively greater inside diameters for engaging drill housings having greater diameters than those that would fit the terminal portion 5.

Abstract: To scrub adjacent parallel grout lines on a tile floor simultaneously, a long handle is attached to a base which is wider than the space between adjacent grout lines. Two or more long narrow scrubbing elements are adjustably mounted on the base with the long sides parallel to one another. They are spaced apart to correspond to the spacing between tiles and locked in position. When they are moved back and forth in a scrubbing motion, they tend to remain in the depressed grout lines so they are self-guiding. All the scrubbing effort is directed to the grout lines which tend to accumulate dirt more than the elevated, impervious tile surface. The scrubbing elements may be bristle brushes, foam or fibrous scrubbing material. An electric motor driven embodiment is shown with rotary brushes adjustably mounted on a rotary shaft.

Abstract: Gripping cutters have either shearing blades or blade-and-anvil cutting members. Attached to one lateral side of each cutting member is a movable jaw arranged to grip the elements being cut when the cutter is closed and to release the elements when open. Each jaw has a pair of elongate parallel pins extending from its rear face. A pair of supports affixed to each lateral side have an aperture for slidably receiving a pin. A compression spring on the pin forces the jaws together and an adjustable stop on the pin limits the extent of the jaw movement so that the relative position of the blades at the moment of release of the cut elements may be adjusted. Resilient jaw faces may be provided for gripping small and large branches simultaneously.