Abstract: A facsimile system for scanning a graphic image to produce a stream of output bits representative of an m.times.n array of picture elements of the image, each output bit being corrected to compensate for the average tone of a subarray of surrounding picture elements. The average tone is measured by a count of those gray levels, representative of the picture elements of the subarray, that exceed a nominal threshold. Thus the tone of the subarray dynamically adjusts the threshold of the gray level to output bit conversion of each picture element.

Abstract: A vacuum assisted toilet is described, of the type wherein the toilet bowl outlet has a lower trap that is open to the passage of air therethrough except during each flushing when a vacuum is applied, which uses the vacuum more effectively. A vacuum source (46, FIG. 3) includes a first container portion (107) that holds water between flushings, with the water released during a flushing and creating a vacuum in a second portion (106) of the container that is coupled through a vacuum conduit (48) to the toilet bowl outlet. Instead of constantly coupling the second portion of the container to the bowl outlet, the second portion of the container is allowed to progressively expand but remain substantially unconnected to the bowl outlet until a predetermined amount of expansion (to 108) when the second portion is suddenly connected through the vacuum conduit (48) to the bowl outlet.

Abstract: A fluid swivel is described, of the type that carries oil, water or natural gas at high pressure between an undersea well and a weathervaning ship, which has a seal device of increased lifetime. The seal device (56, FIG. 2 ) lies in a cavity of a first swivel part (12) and includes a rigid seal ring (62) that is slidable toward and away from a sealed surface (66). A deformable seal (60) can be backed up by the seal ring, with the seal ring sliding to close the extrusion gap (70) into which the seal could extrude when high pressure fluid enters the swivel. A pressure source (80) coupled to the cavity urges the backup part to deform radially and slide toward the sealed surface with a force that increases as the pressure of fluid in the swivel increases.

Abstract: A vacuum assisted toilet wherein a vacuum is applied between upper and lower traps (40,44 in FIG. 2) of a toilet bowl outlet during a flushing, wherein the lower trap is constructed to more reliably assure that an air passage (64) above a pool of water (52) of the lower trap will quickly close near the beginning of a flushing and will remain open between flushings. The lower trap has a lower wall (50) that holds a pool of water (52) with a pool top (62) of predetermined height (A) between flushings, and has an upper wall (60) spaced above the pool top to form an air passage. The upper wall forms a narrow but tall vent (100, FIG. 4) of the air passage, which assures that the air passage will always be open between flushings, and with the narrow but tall vent being quickly closed by water rapidly flowing therethrough at the beginning of a flushing.

Abstract: A water saver toilet is provided, of the type that applies a vacuum to the toilet bowl outlet to assist flushing, which effectively uses the vacuum. The toilet bowl outlet includes upper and lower trap devices (44, 50 in FIG. 2) connected by a trapway (46), with the lower trap device being initially unobstructed. At the beginning of flushing, the initial water flow causes obstruction of the lower trap device to air flow, and a vacuum is then applied to the trapway to pull out water and debris from the toilet bowl. One toilet (FIG. 5) is of the urinal type, and includes a container (214) lying within a water tank, with the lower end (218) of the container opening to the water tank, and with the upper end (219) of the container connected by a vertical vacuum pipe (221) to the trapway.

Abstract: A vessel with a rotatable turret thereon is moored in a manner that minimizes turret tilt while avoiding the need to maintain precisely concentric upper and lower turret bearings. A mooring structure (152, FIG. 7) is formed by a group of mooring lines (162, 164) such as chains, with the upper ends of the lines coupled to the vessel through a connecting apparatus (154) that comprises a group of arms (166) each connected to a corresponding one of the lines. Each arm is pivotally mounted (at 170) on the turret to hang therefrom, so the arm transmits primarily vertical forces to the turret and the turret bearing (185) has to support primarily vertical forces. Each arm carries a bearing pad (174) that presses horizontally against a vessel lower bearing ring (182) mounted directly on the vessel hull independently of the turret.

Abstract: A system is provided for treating water to reduce calcium carbonate deposits. At least three or four pairs of magnets (30a-30d and 32a-32d in FIG. 2) form a group of magnets that are mounted around a water-carrying pipe (12), with the magnets spaced apart parallel to the length of the pipe, and with the magnets of each pair lying on opposite sides of the pipe. Each pair of magnets (e.g. 30a, 32a) and a frame (34) that holds them, forms a unit which clamps individually around the pipe, to facilitate changing of the spacing between adjacent magnets. Two different groups of magnets (16, 18) can be employed, with the spacing of magnets in a first group being nonharmonic to the spacing in a second group.

Abstract: A container is described which can hold multiple small articles such as earplugs, and which can be inserted into a dispenser where the contents can be readily released. The container includes a box (30, FIG. 3) whose bottom wall includes a pair of flaps (50, 52) having inner ends (54, 56) pivotally connected to the bottoms of opposite side walls, and having outer portions (64, 66) that lie adjacent to each other. A release device (34) holds the outer portions of the flaps together to prevent them from pivoting down until the release device is pulled out, when the flaps pivot down and the articles fall out. The outer portion of each flap includes an upstanding tab (76, 78, FIG. 5) with a horizontal slot (82), and the release device includes a cardboard plate which is received in the slot.

Abstract: A combination shoelace and joining device is provided for use by young children or the handicapped, to aid in tying a bow in a shoelace that is mounted on a shoe. The joining device (16, FIG. 2 ) has a pair of permanently connected shoelace holding portions (40, 46), with a first portion (46) substantially permanently mounted on a shoelace part (32) and a second portion (40) which is child-mountable on a second shoelace part (34) to hold a shoelace end portion in a loop configuration which aids in tying a bow. Each shoelace holding portion forms a passage part (70, 72, FIG. 4 ) through which one of the shoelace parts extends. One joining device includes a pair of clamp parts (42, 44) that can be clamped around the second shoelace part, and that forms the second joining portion. The device includes a flexible strip (46) that holds the clamp parts together and that forms the first holding portion. A teaching kit (100, FIG.

Abstract: A rope friction exercise device is described which is in the form of a member 12 (FIG. 2) having multiple bars (51-62) about which a rope (30) can extend in multiple wrappings to provide frictional resistance against pulling of the rope. The member has an elongated longitudinally-extending first side (42) and has a first plurality of bars (51-54) spaced along the first side, with each bar having a first end (80) mounted on the side and a second end (74) which is free, so a rope can be wrapped and unwrapped from a bar by merely installing and removing it from the free end, to thereby change resistance to rope pulling. A plurality of parallel bars enables a rope section to extend over and under the bars in a small angle of wrap to enable a small change in rope pulled resistance, in an arrangement that makes it easy to understand how to change rope pulling resistance. A handle 36 (FIG. 6) allows easy adjustment of rope length.

Abstract: A flush valve device is described for use in a toilet that includes a pressured water source, which can drain away water in the event of excess pressure with minimal modification to the toilet and which facilitates initial operation of the flush valve device. The flush valve device includes a valve member (16, FIG. 2 ) which lifts off a valve seat (22) at the beginning of a flushing, the valve member carrying a pressure operated relief valve (50) which dumps water at excess pressure through the opening (52) within the valve seat, to avoid the need for additional fluid-tight couplings in the water source. The valve member includes a sealing portion (60) which normally lies against the valve seat and which is lifted completely away from the valve seat during a flushing.

Abstract: A chart recorder is described, of the type which includes a strip of pressure-markable chart paper (12, FIG. 1) that is slowly moved downpath past a marking station (30) where at least one stylus (32) presses against the chart strip to mark it, which is compact, reliable, and accurate. The marking station includes a first wide but thin belt (52) extending in a loop between a pair of rollers, with the stylus coupled to the belt so as the output of a temperature sensor turns the belt, the stylus moves across the width of the chart strip. A slider (82, FIG. 3 ) coupled to the stylus and belt, can slide along a lateral guide (90) that resists tilting of the slider, to thereby enable it to keep the stylus pressed against the chart strip. Where two styluses are used, a second independently driven belt is coupled to a second stylus with the second belt lying below the first one. A supply roll (20, FIG.

Abstract: An apparatus is described which can receive a large number of earplugs from a box and dispense one or two of them at a time to a worker. The apparatus includes a wheel (22, FIG. 1) which is rotatable on a frame (12) and which has holes (24) that move in a circular path and that can each receive a single earplug (16). As each hole moves over a dispense passage 18, the earplug in the hole can fall out, and be dispensed. A barrier (42, FIG. 2) lying above the wheel, prevents an earplug from falling into a hole that lies at the passage. The barrier covers only one side (52) of the path (32) of the holes, to allow a deformed earplug to move along the other, uncovered side (54) of the path. The wheel has a narrow slot (80) extending from each hole to the periphery, so a tool can be projected through a frame opening (84) and through the slot to dislodge an earplug stuck in a wheel hole.

Abstract: A fluid swivel is described, of the type which includes a ring-shaped outer structure (12, FIG. 2 ) that rotates about a ring-shaped inner structure (14), and which form an annular chamber (18) between them and a pair of gap passages (24, 26) between them which are sealed by pressure seals (30, 32). The outer structure includes a body (70) forming part of the annular chamber and a seal ring (72) mounted on an end of the body and abutting one side of the pressure seal. The seal ring is axially shiftable on the end of the body, so that when the body expands radially as a result of high pressure fluid being introduced into the annular chamber, the seal ring does not have to expand a similar amount and therefore does not have to cause a large increase in the width of the extrusion gap (62) at the downstream end of the pressure seal.

Abstract: A snack food container (12, FIG. 2) is described, which can be coupled to an ordinary beverage container (14) such as a standard soda can, to enable both containers to be held with one hand when drinking the beverage, without spilling the solid snack food pieces. The snack container has a vertically-extending passage (22) which opens in an upward direction and which closely receives the beverage container, preferably in a resilient interference fit. The snack container has a chamber (24) that holds pieces of snack food, and has a door (32) that can be opened to remove snack food when the combination of containers is vertical and which can be closed to prevent spillage when the combination is raised and tipped for drinking the beverage.

Abstract: A machining apparatus is described, of the type that includes a metal cutting insert which is held by an insert holder apparatus, wherein the insert can be installed in a plurality of different positions to use different ones of the cutting edges, which facilitates mounting of the insert. The holder apparatus includes a holder bar (16, FIG. 1) and a pocket member (14) that mounts on the bar and that holds an insert (12) with cutting edges (22). The pocket member has a first precision flat surface (90) that mounts facewise against a flat surface on the bar, and the pocket member has a second precision flat surface (92) that mounts facewise against a surface on the insert. The first and second flat surfaces on the pocket member can be parallel, or can be angled slightly from each other, to control orientation of the insert. The insert has a mount portion (32, FIG.

Abstract: A floatation separation method is described for separating pieces of fruit or vegetable of the same type, but wherein desirable pieces have a slightly different specific gravity from the undesirable ones, and all have a specific gravity about the same as that of water. The pieces (12, FIG. 3 ) are placed near the surface of a body of water, and a cloud (40) of tiny air bubbles is maintained in the water. As the bubbles float to the surface they encounter the articles and slightly increase their buoyancy. The increase in buoyancy is slight and uniform, so those articles having a density slightly greater than that of the water will remain at the water surface, while those of a slightly greater density cannot be floated by the air bubbles and will sink to the bottom. The cloud of air bubbles is created by allowing air at about atmospheric pressure, to emerge from apertures in a rapidly spinning rotor that open in a direction primarily opposite to the spin direction.

Abstract: A band earplug apparatus is described, of the type which includes a pair of earplug devices (20, 22) lying on the ends of a band (12) that fits halfway about a person's head, which avoids soiling of the earplug devices when the band is laid on a dirty surface. The band is designed so its middle portion (24) rests stably on a horizontal surface (5), and with the end portions then extending at an incline (A) away from the horizontal surface to hold the ends (14, 16) of the band and the earplug devices (20, 22) thereon spaced from the horizontal surface.