Abstract: A scroll saw has a base including integral walls forming a gear casing, a frame assembly mounted on the base, and lower and upper oscillating arm members pivotally mounted on the frame assembly. The gear casing houses gear and counterweight assemblies for driving and counterbalancing the oscillating motion of the lower and upper arm members. A saw blade is removably mounted between corresponding free ends of the lower and upper arm members. The ends of the saw blade are prepositioned between a pair of blade holders, and the entire assembly of blade and blade holders is then attached as a unit to the free ends of the arm members. Blade tension is adjusted by means of a tensioning system that indexes blade tension to rotation of a tension knob. The saw further includes a nonflexible tube which functions as a combination airblaster and blade guard for directing an air stream into a cutting area to remove sawdust and other debris while preventing accidental contact with the saw blade.

Abstract: A locking device for attachment to the male electric plug on the power supply line to an electric appliance, for the purpose of preventing use of the appliance, comprises a maximum of four separately molded plastic parts, two of which are identical and are secured together to form a housing containing one of the other two components, which is a unitary molded plastic spring locking member. The housing is provided with a pair of slots for receiving the prongs on the electric plug to be locked, and insertion of the prongs into the housing automatically effects the locking action. The device can be unlocked only by a key which is separate from the device, and which is the fourth component and is inserted through an opening into the interior of the housing to release the locking action.

Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing and storing a food product is provided. This apparatus includes a container comprising a cup portion having a cup insert removably detachable from an insulative shell which has cylindrical sidewall, a top edge, and a bottom planar portion. The cup portion has a heat conductive portion positioned between the insulative shell and the cup insert. The apparatus also includes a thermoelectric chip with means for supplying power for the thermoelectric chip with the chip positioned between a heat sink and the heat conductive portion. In one embodiment of the invention, the heat sink includes fins which depend downwardly from the bottom of the cup portion, while in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the fins extend outwardly from a main wall parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cup portion.

Abstract: A mailbox for receiving delivered mail includes a housing and a post for mounting the box to the ground. A door is connected to a shaft rotatably secured to the bottom edge of a door opening, and the door extends beyond the opening into a tail portion. A part of the housing floor is formed from a resilient material so that the door is normally stopped thereby upon opening. Should the door be forced further, the material will yield to allow the door to swing below the box to prevent damage. A security latch, hidden beneath the housing, includes a leaf spring normally positioned behind the door tail portion to prevent its opening. The spring may be moved into a slot in the door shaft, where the spring cooperates with a notch in the door to permit its opening. Upon closing of the door, the spring is released to its normal position, whereupon the door is again held shut. The flag target is carried at the end of a flag shaft that is rotatably and slidably secured to the housing interior.

Abstract: In froth flotation apparatus for separating solid particle impurities from a liquid suspension stock in a flotation cell, provision is made for aerating the stock flowing through the inlet conduit leading to the cell by positioning a drum-shaped rotor having an irregular outer surface in the conduit on an axis extending transversely of the conduit, directing a supply of air against the rotor surface on the upstream side of its rotational axis, and causing the rotor to rotate at a linear speed of its outer surface which is substantially higher than the linear flow rate of the stock in the conduit so that the rotor surface breaks up the air impinging thereon into bubbles and distributes those bubbles in the stock flowing therepast to create foam within the cell.

Abstract: Apparatus for separating contaminant particles from liquid suspension stock, e.g. in the de-inking of used news print, is characterized by one or more of a plurality of features which contribute to increasing the capacity and effectiveness of the apparatus, including the provision of a cell comprising inner and outer annular chambers of substantially equal depth with the inlet and outlet connections for the stock being located adjacent the bottoms of the two chambers to force the stock to travel through the full depth of each chamber, and also the provision of a baffle of substantial width on the top of the wall between the two chambers to spread the stock overflowing that wall into a thin film.

Abstract: A marine exhaust system is provided for separating the gas from the water of gas/water mixture produced by a marine engine, and expelling the gas a sufficient distance from the hull of a boat to place it outside of the turbulent boundary layer surrounding the hull and the low pressure area following behind the boat. A nozzle having a variable outlet area is mounted anidship on the hull for maintaining a predetermined pressure within the exhaust system in order to expel the gases a maximum distance from the boat. In addition, apparatus are provided for removing the water from the exhaust system prior to the gases reaching an acoustical chamber for attenuating exhaust gas noises.

Abstract: In apparatus for thickening a suspension of pulp material which includes an endless foraminous belt wrapping two spaced horizontally supported rolls, a special doctor mechanism is provided for transferring thickened pulp from the bare surface of the second roll into a trough mounted in the space bounded by the two rolls and the upper and lower runs of the belt. More specifically, the doctor mechanism includes a rigid doctor blade mounted with its working edge in close but spaced relation with the bare surface of the roll to remove pulp therefrom without contact with the roll surface. Provision is also made for periodically oscillating the blade about a horizontal axis to move its working edge away from and back to its closely spaced working relation with the roll.

Abstract: An aquatic exercise device is provided having a housing with a convex front wall and a concave rear wall, a top surface and a bottom surface. The front wall and rear wall have attached thereto preferably a harness to permit the towing of the device. The housing has a first interior cavity, a second interior cavity, and a water inlet valve, with both the second interior cavity and the water inlet valve having closures. The water inlet valve depends downwardly from the bottom of the housing. The second interior cavity has a compartment having a wall with an aperture therethrough, through which aperture is inserted a hose member having two ends. One end extends through the aperture into the first interior cavity while the other end has air passage therethrough regulated from an air flow control valve. The top of the housing has fixed thereto a flag pole with a preferably brightly colored flag.

Abstract: A binder is provided having a cover featuring a three-dimensional design produced by depressing plastic cover sheets into an opening in an underlying cover panel. The cover sheets are heat sealed together around the perimeter of the cover panel and in the regional of the depression. A plurality of such openings may be provided, all so shaped and positioned as to avoid substantially impairing the structural integrity of the cover.

Abstract: A litter bag is provided for isolating a casualty from a contaminated environment. The litter bag includes a collapsible access chamber mounted over an aperture in the bag whereby personnel may have immediate and direct access to the casualty. The access chamber is formed with tubular passages which may be filled with a gas to expand the chamber from a collapsed position to form a semi-rigid structure.

Abstract: A washer arrangement is provided for a windscreen wiper which comprises a wind screen wiper blade B, a windscreen wiper arm (22) for driving the windscreen wiper blade and a connector element (1) for connecting the windscreen wiper arm (22) to the windscreen wiper blade. The arrangement comprises a connector element (1) carrying one or more washing nozzles (17, 18).

Abstract: This invention relates to a convertible road/rail power vehicle including a tractor unit provided with retractable wheel sets and rail equipment that enable it to be operated on either highways or railway tracks and when on rail to pull a multiplicity of loaded or unloaded railway cars.

Abstract: A speed reducing device is provided for use with a multi-purpose woodworking tool such that faceplate turning operations may be performed on large diameter workpieces. The device includes a housing which partially supports input and output shafts passing through opposite sides of the housing. An end of the input shaft located within the housing is formed with a hole for receiving an end of the output shaft within the housing such that the input and output shafts coact with one another to support each other and prevent one another from pivoting about the points at which they are supported by the housing. The input and output shafts rotate relative to one another and are both connected to a sheave by a pair of belts such that the input shaft may be driven by the output spindle of a woodworking tool at a first speed and the output shaft will be driven by the belts and sheave at a slower speed which is acceptable for turning large diameter workpieces.

Abstract: In a winder for continuously winding a web material into rolls on successive cores, roll changing apparatus for cutting and transferring the web material from a full roll to an empty core includes two sets of water jet nozzles mounted for reciprocating movement in opposite directions lengthwise of the core to which the web is to be transferred. During the momentary interval of roll changing, the oppositely moving jets cut the web along a generally saw tooth pattern, and at the same time, the water which cuts the web also wets its cut leading end and the adjacent surface of the core, thereby causing adhesion of the end of the web to the core for a sufficient interval for this end of the web to be covered by the next wrap on the core.

Abstract: A binder having an observation window characterized by a bubble structure. The window is constructed inside an aperture which is die cut into a support board. Transparent cover sheets are depressed into the aperture and heat-sealed together along a relatively narrow track adjacent the edge of the panel aperture. A bubble is defined by an air pocket formed interiorly of the sealing boundary.

Abstract: A cartridge or cassette of web-type media material for delivery to utilization apparatus, such as a photocopier system, incorporates a filter which is integrated into the cartridge for filtering or absorbing fumes or gasses generated by the processing of the media material. The filter is automatically replaced and changed with the replacement of the cartridge.

Abstract: An assist chair is provided for assisting persons in rising from a sitting to a standing position. The chair includes a frame for pivotally mounting a seat. A pair of springs attached to the seat bias the seat upwardly to assist the user to a standing position. A movable attachment point for an end of the springs distal from the seat attachment point allows the upward biasing force applied to the seat to be varied from the force which would result from a fixed attachment point for the springs.

Abstract: A fork extension and retraction system for use with stockpickers automatically extends and retracts hydraulically extendable forks of a stockpicker when the load handler carrying the forks has moved to its extended position on the load side of the vehicle, and it also automatically retracts the forks if they have drifted from a home position before performing other fork related activities. Switches in the fork carriage assembly sense when the extendable forks are in the home position and near the home position. Other switches sense when the load handler assembly has reached its extreme positions on either side of the operator's platform. Still other switches are used to slow the traverse movement of the load handler assembly as it approaches its extreme positions, thus to cushion the shock of the load handler stopping. A control circuit senses the condition of these switches and controls the operation of both the load handle and the fork extension hydraulic system.