Abstract: A plurality of test tube racks are disposed side by side and coupled together at their opposite sides via clamps to form a modular test tube rack arrangement. A handle or handles engage(s) the clamps to provide a balanced pivot handle arrangement for transporting a modular set of connected racks.

Abstract: A flexible coupling has at least one and more commonly a plurality of diaphragms having a particular profile. The profile has first and second contoured sections. The first contoured section has a radially-inwardly decreasing thickness and extends to near the center of the diaphragm and the second section extends therefrom and has a radially-inwardly increasing thickness such that the bending moment developed by axial deflections is small near the thinnest section or the center of the diaphragm, and the stress levels are minimized throughout the diaphragm. The diaphragm profile as described is analytically optimized to tolerate greater axial deflection and bending before the fatigue and endurance limits of the diaphragm material are reached than has heretofore been the case.

Abstract: An impact system features an integral stored gas inflation source augmented by an ejector which entrains ambient air to rapidly deploy an inflate a safety cushion. The cushion has a plurality of chambers and each chamber is interconnected to an adjacent chamber by valves connected in opposing directions. When a particular cushion chamber is impacted, gas in the impacted chamber is forced via the valve arrangement into an adjacent lower pressure chamber. Upon the impacting object being removed from the cushion, the valve arrangement permits a reverse flow of gas to equilibrate the pressure in the adjacent chambers whereby the system is ready for accepting a subsequent impact without the need for reinflating the cushion. The system is of a size and weight so as to be within the limits of portability by a minimum of using personnel without being otherwise assisted.

Abstract: Apparatus for supporting and resting the wrists and forearms of an operator of a keyboard such as associated with a computer or word processor or the like so as to reduce wrist and arm fatigue and cumulative trauma due to extended operation of the keyboard. An operator's wrists are supported in a position whereby the hands are comfortably free for operating the keyboard and rest on a wrist rest. The operator's forearms rest on forearm rests which overhang a work surface, with said forearm rests being adjustably positioned for the convenience of the operator.

Abstract: A blanket-type member supports weights in either a fixed or variable relation and is disposed on the back of an animal for training and conditioning purposes. The blanket-type member has a cushioned undersurface for the comfort of the animal and is disposed on the animal's back over an undercover to prevent chafing and the like as the animal moves about with the blanket-type member on its back.

Abstract: A squeeze-type bottle of the type containing a liquid, a syphon tube extending within the liquid and a nozzle communicating with the syphon tube includes an anti-syphon device disposed between the syphon tube and the nozzle, whereby expulsion of the liquid due to a pressure differential between the inside and the outside of the bottle when the bottle is not being used is prevented. The anti-syphon device is such that the bottle may be used in an inverted position.

Abstract: A hollow, floatable, hydrodynamically shaped member supports a screen in canopy-like fashion and is secured to a harness for being lowered into and raised from an effluent stream such as in a closed sewage system. The member floats on the stream and floating substances therein are collected by the screen for subsequent analysis or the like, as may be required for pollution control or related purposes. The harness includes a line for tethering the floatable member so that said member rises and falls with the rising and falling of the stream level. The hollow, floatable member has a removable cap, whereby ballast can be added or removed for adjusting the buoyancy thereof.

Abstract: An arrangement which permits installation of an inflatable aircraft evacuation slide in an enclosure disposed in a non-pressurized cavity beneath an aircraft exit. The enclosure is opened when activated by the gas used to inflate the slide and the arrangement provides a more rigid and positive attachment of the inflated slide to the aircraft than has heretofore been the case.

Abstract: A garment retainer includes a saddle member having an open channel which is disposed over a garment folded over the crossbar of a conventional clothes hanger. At least two resilient members have portions which span the open channel and which are urged into said channel by the crossbar when a downward pressure is exerted on the retainer via the compression of a pair of flexible strips which are part of the retainer and which engage a portion of the hanger above the crossbar, whereby a pressure is exerted on the garment so that said garment is retained on the hanger without sliding or wrinkling thereon.

Abstract: A circular collapsible rack for cuvettes and like vessels such as test tubes is disclosed which features a flat base and likewise flat upper and lower vessel support members of a suitable plastic material. The base has a plurality of equally spaced circumferential arms which are bent upward and substantially normal to its bottom via natural hinges. The arms include apertures for receiving tabs on the upper and lower support members, whereby said members are snapped into the base so as to be removably and adjustably supported thereby. With the disclosed arrangement the base and the upper and lower support members may be stored and shipped in the flat state so as to reduce storage space and shipping costs, and the assembled rack may accommodate a variety of vessel quantities and sizes, as is desirable.

Abstract: A system for implanting an acetabular cup prosthesis includes an instrument and a disposable adapter. The disposable adapter engages the prosthesis and is supported on the instrument. The instrument is effective for orienting, inserting and impacting the prosthesis for implantation, after which the adapter is removed from the instrument for disposal. The adapter and the disposable prosthesis may be arranged as a pre-implantation assembly, thereby reducing the overall implantation time as is desirable.

Abstract: A product card dispensing rack includes a plurality of product card dispensers which are flexurally secured at one end to the back of the rack. The front of the rack includes a door having a plurality of ledge members which normally cover the other end of the dispensers when the door is closed. Product cards disposed on the dispensers are removed from the rack by a purchaser or the like grasping a product card and exerting a downward force thereon, whereupon the other end of the dispenser is displaced away from the ledge member and exposed so that the card is displaced along the dispenser and removed therefrom at its other end. The door is opened for reloading the dispensers with product cards. The closed door may be locked for security purposes.

Abstract: An instrument for implanting an acetabular cup prosthesis in a patient's acetabulum. The cup is gripped on the base of the instrument and is aligned and inserted in accordance with a plane normal to the plane in which a patient is positioned and normal to a line between the right and left anterior/superior iliac spines. With the acetabular cup so aligned, the cup is impacted to be retained in a prepared acetabulum. The instrument is actuated for gripping the cup and is locked to maintain the cup gripped for the aforenoted alignment, insertion and impaction, and is thereafter unlocked and actuated for releasing the cup so that the instrument can be removed from the cup without disturbing the position thereof. The alignment of the cup is adjustable to accommodatae various implantation situations as may occur.

Abstract: A raised toilet seat is superimposed upon the bowl of a conventional toilet. A clamp has a section which includes pins that engage holes in a recess on the underside of the seat at the rear thereof to secure the clamp to the seat. The clamp has another section which extends from the rear of and beyond the seat and which fits into a space provided when the lid and the seat of the conventional toilet are lifted. In a modified form the clamp has end sections which extend beyond the sides of the seat at the rear thereof, and which end sections support user support members or the like, for enhancing the use of the seat for those who have need for same.

Abstract: Cards of the type having products encapsulated thereon are supported on a dispenser. A mounting section mounts the dispenser to a mounting surface and the cards are supported on a supporting section of the dispenser via engagement thereof by an aperture in the cards. A connecting section of the dispenser extends from the supporting section to the dispensing section and is shaped so that the dispensing section extends outwardly from and above the supporting section. The geometry of the connecting section and the position of the aperture are such that the product card must be discreetly manipulated from the supporting section to the dispensing section via the connecting section for removal from the dispenser, whereby unauthorized removal or pilfering of product cards from the dispenser is inhibited, as is malicious removal or inadvertent displacement of the cards therefrom.