Abstract: A garment hanger shoulder guard has an elongate rectangular overall configuration with a generally tubular coupling member at each end of the shoulder guard, the tubular coupling members each having a polygonal cross-sectional configuration by virtue of fold scores which enable the coupling members to be flattened for shipping and storage and erected in the field for assembly with a garment hanger, the fold scores facilitating retention of the coupling members securely coupled with the garment hanger when the coupling members are erect. The elongate rectangular configuration allows a plurality of shoulder guards or shoulder guard blanks to be integrated into a single sheet of card stock material for shipping and storage as a unit, and subsequent separation of the shoulder guards or blanks in the field without waste card stock between contiguous shoulder guards or blanks in the unit.

Abstract: A fuel tank assembly contains a supply of volatile fuel in a collapsible container having a highly compliant wall movable between an expanded configuration and a collapsed configuration so as to follow and conform closely to the supply of volatile fuel within the container as the fuel is withdrawn from and replenished in the supply, the wall having a composite construction including a fluid filler material contained within a highly flexible envelope such that the composite construction of the wall enables expansion of the container toward the expanded configuration in response to the replenishment of fuel in the container to conform to and contain the supply of volatile fuel, and enables collapse of the container in response to the withdrawal of fuel from the container, toward the collapsed configuration, with the wall continuously and closely conforming to the supply of fuel within the container as fuel is withdrawn from and replenished within the container, thereby deterring the formation of fuel vapor with

Abstract: A three layer effervescent tablet includes a first layer carrying a first effervescent reactant, and a second layer carrying a second effervescent reactant, with the first and second layers, separated by an interposed layer of a material which does not react with either effervescent reactant. This provides an effervescent tablet that does not require any of the special material, handling, or packaging considerations normally needed for effervescent tablets.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for displaying information along an extended area of compliant ground, such as along a sandy beach, the method and apparatus temporarily displaying a series of repetitive messages upon the extended area by impressing the messages into the compliant ground at regularly spaced intervals along the extended area.

Abstract: A method for reducing the desire of a person to smoke tobacco includes orally administering to the person an aqueous solution containing a polyvalent cation derived from a metal selected from the group consisting of palladium, copper, zinc, aluminum, tin, and bismuth. The method includes smoking tobacco by the person to whom the solution is administered, subsequent to the oral administration of the solution.

Abstract: A disposable wireless telephone and a method of using a disposable wireless telephone capable of use for telephonic communications only for a limited period, within which limited period the sum of the durations of the telephonic communications reach the duration of the limited period, after which limited period the telephone is rendered inoperative and is discarded.

Abstract: Biocompatible titanium base alloys for medical devices which are intended to remain on or in a living human being for an extended period of time, such as surgical and medical implants. The alloys are free from toxic elements such as Al, Ni, Co, Fe, Cr, Mo, and W. They are quaternary alloys of Ti with between about 2.5% up to 13% Zr, about 20% to about 40% Nb, about 4.5% to about 25% Ta, all percentages being by weight, the balance being Ti and the total of Ta plus Nb being between about 35% and 52% by weight. The ration of Nb/Ta is between 2 and 13. These alloys may also contain limited amounts of non-toxic interstitial elements, such as C, N, and O. The relative proportions of Ti, Zr, Ta, and Nb are such that the modulus of elasticity is below 65 GPa.

Abstract: A patellar component of a prosthetic knee joint includes a domed portion having a peak offset from the center of the patellar component for effecting compensation for the displacement of the mechanical joint line upon implant of the prosthetic knee joint so as to enable affixation of the patellar component within the natural patella with sufficient bone coverage while attaining appropriate sliding engagement of the patellar component with a patellar groove in the femoral component of the prosthetic knee joint during articulation of the knee.

Abstract: An improvement in ultrasonic cleaning in which articles to be cleaned are immersed in a bath subjected to ultrasonic energy emanating from ultrasonic transducers coupled to a vibratory diaphragm contiguous with the bath, the ultrasonic transducers being in multiple sets for providing ultrasonic energy at multiple ultrasonic frequencies at interspersed locations spaced apart a distance enabling the multiple sets of transducers simultaneously to transmit to the bath ultrasonic energy at the multiple ultrasonic frequencies without deleterious interference arising out of the simultaneous presence of the multiple ultrasonic frequencies.

Abstract: A method for making an edible, full-dimensional toy figure constructed of prepared cereal for consumption with an edible liquid, such as milk and the like, wherein a multiplicity of discrete, individual prepared cereal elemental members are arranged in the form of the full-dimensional toy figure and are bound together with a binding medium which retains the multiplicity of cereal elemental members self-sustaining in the form of the full-dimensional toy figure and is responsive to exposure to the edible liquid for relatively rapid dissolution and essentially immediate release of the retention of the self-sustaining arrangement into a mixture of the discrete individual prepared cereal elemental members in the edible liquid suitable for consumption.

Abstract: A portable toothbrush case, suitable for use away from home, contains separate compartments for storage of a toothbrush and toothpaste. The compartments are separated by a central partition with a hole that allows toothpaste to flow from its storage space onto the bristles of the toothbrush. Pressing on a portion of the wall of the toothpaste storage compartment squeezes the toothpaste through the hole, onto the toothbrush. Another hole on the outside wall of the toothpaste storage compartment allows refilling from a conventionally designed tube of toothpaste.

Abstract: A card cage shielding contactor for being interposed between a circuit card bracket and a computer chassis to enhance an electrical shielding connection between the circuit card bracket and the computer chassis when the card cage bracket is juxtaposed with the computer chassis, the card cage shielding contactor including a relatively thin, flexible sheet of electrically conductive material having a multiplicity of contactors in the form of resiliently deflectable fingers located along bands in the sheet and projecting from the bands to establish contact forces enhancing electrical shielding contact between the circuit card bracket and the computer chassis through the card cage shielding contactor.

Abstract: A pet animal mobility aid for four-legged pet animals includes central strap extending longitudinally between a forward end and a rearward end for placement along the back of the animal, a forward strap assembly for affixing the forward end of the central strap to the animal adjacent the forelegs of the animal, a rearward strap assembly for affixing the rearward end of the central strap to the animal adjacent the hind legs, the rearward strap assembly including a relatively flexible first rearward strap extending transverse to the central strap and attached to the central strap adjacent the rearward end of the central strap for establishing a first rearward loop extending from the central strap between one of the hind legs and the abdomen of the animal, a relatively flexible second rearward strap extending transverse to the central strap and attached to the central strap adjacent the rearward end of the central strap for establishing a second rearward loop extending from the central strap between the other of

Abstract: An air-driven dental scaler has a scaling tool vibrated at a high frequency and low amplitude by a vibratory transducer having a ball within a chamber, a race in the chamber, and air inlets and air outlets arranged for admitting air under pressure into the chamber and directing the air toward the ball adjacent one of the opposite poles of the ball, the relative dimensions of the chamber and the ball providing a relatively small clearance between the ball and the chamber for enabling relatively high speed rotation of the ball within the race in the chamber, in response to the passage of the air under pressure through the inlets into the chamber and through the outlets out of the chamber, and the concomitant transmission of relatively high frequency, low amplitude vibrational energy from the rotating ball to the scaling tool.

Abstract: A disposable wireless telephone and a method of using a disposable wireless telephone capable of use for telephonic communications only during a predetermined limited period, after which period the telephone is rendered inoperative and is discarded.

Abstract: An anti-theft door lock for vehicles includes a base plate for straddling the vehicle door and the door frame when the vehicle door is closed, a cover plate for securement over the base plate, a slender locking cable for fitting between the vehicle door and the door frame and including a loop for reception over the striker which holds the vehicle door closed, a portion of the locking cable being captured between the base plate and the cover plate when the cover plate is closed over the base plate, with the locking cable securing the base plate to the vehicle, and a lock for locking the cover plate in place over the base plate and precluding unauthorized access to the captured portion of the locking cable.

Abstract: An article of manufacture illustrated in the form of an impeller having a rotor extending in radial directions from a central axis to an outer periphery and a plurality of vanes unitary with the rotor and extending from the rotor in axial directions essentially parallel to the central axis, each vane having a length along an axial direction, is constructed of a structural composite including a plurality of layers of reinforcing fibers in a matrix of synthetic polymeric material, each layer extending essentially parallel to the radial directions, the layers being juxtaposed with one another along the axial direction, the reinforcing fibers of each layer being woven in a pattern essentially perpendicular to the central axis, and further reinforcing fibers extending in the axial directions and stitched through the juxtaposed layers, the further reinforcing fibers extending within each vane, along the length of each vane, essentially parallel to the length of the vanes.