Abstract: A saddle hanger for suspending a horizontal run of plastic pipe from any overhead structure, such as a horizontal I-beam. A U-shaped strap is provided having a longitudinal extent that is large compared to the diameter of the pipe that it supports, thereby substantially reducing droop in the pipe. The strap is formed by bending about a longitudinal axis a flat saddle blank. The saddle blank has two support portions oppositely and symmetrically disposed about a longitudinal axis and joined by a central rectangular portion. A transverse bolt inserted through apertures in the strap attaches the strap to a saddle hanger support bracket. The bracket is suspended by a hanger rod attached to the overhead structure. The saddle blank includes a pair of ears or clamp bases oppositely and symmetrically disposed about a lateral axis, said ears being partially separated from the central portion by a pair of oppositely-directed lateral slits, thereby defining laterally extending tabs.

Abstract: A combination carburetor backing plate and crankcase breather for a motorcycle engine having at least a pair of cylinders, a cylinder head mounted on each cylinder, and a valve for connecting each cylinder head to the crankcase for venting the same through an exit port in the cylinder head. The combination includes a plate having a first side adapted for mounting to a carburetor and to the cylinder heads, and an opposite, second side adapted for mounting an air cleaner. The plate has a centrally disposed first aperture that coaxially aligns with the carburetor throat, and second and third apertures that align with the exit ports on the cylinder heads. Hollow bolts are provided for insertion through the second and third apertures for threaded attachment to the exit ports, whereby the second and third apertures communicate with the exit ports.

Abstract: A piston ring seal having stepped ends with feathered edges to minimize ring expander wear in high pressure hydraulic applications. The ring seal is circumferential and comprises a resilient material surrounding a longitudinal axis having width extending from an inner diameter to an outer diameter, and a depth extending parallel to said axis. The ring seal has a pair of apposed, overlapping, stepped ends. Each stepped end includes a circumferentially-extended portion and a circumferentially-recessed portion, each circumferentially-extended portion of one end being received by the apposed, circumferentially-recessed portion of the opposite end.

Abstract: A rowel for use on a spur during horseback and bull riding. A rubber composition coating is applied to a rigid metal blank comprising a central portion having a screw hole and integral, circumferentially-spaced, radiating arms. The blank is tapered radially outward from a first, maximum thickness at the central portion, to a second, minimum thickness at an outer edge of each arm, such that the thickness of the improved, rubber coated rowel is everywhere uniform. Versions of the improved rowel for saddleback riding and for bull riding have longitudinal serrations in the rubber coating surface. The improved rowel eliminates the risk of lacerating the hide of a horse or bull, especially when ridden in rodeo competition, and reduces the risk of other kinds of rowel-induced injury to the animal.

Abstract: A life safety vest for white water rafting, canoeing and kayaking, with scuba air breathing apparatus. A life safety vest of the conventional kind worn about the torso, having front and rear panels that incorporate sections of flotation material, is modified by creating recesses in the flotation sections of the rear panel to receive and store miniature scuba compressed air tanks. Left and right breast pockets are provided on the front panels for storing a scuba mouthpiece and demand regulator. A flexible air hose has one end attached to the mouthpiece and demand regulator and an opposite end attached to a T-coupling. The T-coupling is also attached by hollow tubing to each of the scuba air tanks. A rigid safety cover is provided to cover the upper portion of each tank, including an air regulator mounted atop each tank, which secures the breathing apparatus from damage due to mechanical stresses and shocks in the event of a white water boating accident.

Abstract: A free-form metal casting that simulates a natural metal nugget, and method of casting the same. Molten metal is poured into a recess in an upper surface of a bed of rock salt. While still molten, portions of the metal variously penetrate downward through the rock salt, thereby forming, as the metal cools, a unique casting having a random pattern of stalagmite extensions. The surfaces of the casting have a pitted, grainy texture impressed by the rock salt, which simulates the appearance of naturally occurring precious metal nuggets. Surface metal oxides are removed from the casting by electrofinishing. Cast nuggets of copper, brass and bronze are preferably electroplated with gold or silver. After polishing, the cast nuggets are suitable for use in jewelry and decorative art objects.

Abstract: A portable, binocular direct ophthalmoscope. A frame carrying a binocular optical system is suspended for rotation about a pivot axis from one end of a support beam; an opposite end of the support beam is attached to a handle. A beam splitter block mounted to the frame carries an illumination source for light emission along an illumination axis and into an eye of a subject. Left and right beam splitting mirrors attached to the block are symmetrically and obliquely disposed on opposite sides of the illumination axis. Light reflected back from the subject's eye is split by the beam splitting mirrors into a left-directed beam and a right-directed beam, which are each reflected rearward by laterally spaced apart deflection mirrors through left and right dioptric disk assemblies and thence into the left and right eyes of an observer, respectively.

Abstract: A device for permanent installation of exterior Christmas lighting. The device includes an elongated channel having top and bottom walls joined by a rear wall, and a front wall that depends from the top wall, and a flexible, rectangular screen cover for insertion and retention between the front wall and the bottom wall. The device, in conjunction with one or more additional devices, can be custom fit and mounted by fasteners to a building exterior, such as along principal architectural features--e.g., attached to the eaves or outlining a pitched roof. With the cover screen removed, a string of decorative Christmas lights can be positioned within and stretched from one end of the channel to an opposite end thereof, electrically connected to similar strings within additional such devices, and connected to a source of electrical power.

Abstract: A golf swing training device for attachment to a golf club. A bell-shaped weight having an axial bore and a slot that communicates with the bore is slidably mountable to the shaft of a golf club. The weight is attached to and suspended from an elastic, expansible cord. The cord is attached to an eyelet inserted into a recess in a top surface of the golf grip. A cord guard comprising a segment of tubing surrounds and protects the cord. The weight has inner and outer pairs of holes disposed on opposite sides of the bore through which opposite ends of the cord are threaded to reversibly attach the weight to the cord. During a downswing of the club, the weight slides under centrifugal force along the shaft toward the golf club head, which the golfer experiences as progressively increasing resistive force. The degree of resistive force is easily and rapidly adjustable by varying the length of cord between the eyelet and the weight when the club is at rest.

Abstract: Apparatus for supporting plastic pipe on or from an I-beam. A pair of oppositely disposed brackets is provided for engaging opposite flanges of the beam. Each of the brackets has a U-shaped base portion that forms a groove adapted to closely engage a flange of the beam, and a lug portion having a recess for receiving and supporting a pipe. The apparatus also includes threaded rods connecting the lug portions of the brackets for moving the brackets towards and apart from one another, thereby reversibly securing the brackets to the flanges. An angle iron is mounted to at least one bracket by the threaded rods. Plastic pipe positioned within the recesses of the brackets is attached to the beam by a U-bolt with threaded ends inserted through apertures in the angle iron and secured by matching nuts.

Abstract: A brush rake for attachment to an excavator arm equipped with a bucket and a thumb having inner and outer pairs of teeth. The brush rake has a parallel array of rake teeth attached to a rake bar, and a mounting plate having one end thereof attached to the rake bar. An opposite end of the mounting plate is adapted to overlie the body of the thumb and to be received between the outer pair of teeth of the thumb. A parallel pair of apertured ears attached to the rake bar is so disposed thereon that when the rake bar is placed adjacent and transversely with respect to the teeth of the thumb, the ears lie adjacent and on opposite sides of the inner teeth of the thumb. Mounting holes are provided in the mounting plate and matching holes are bored through the body of the thumb. The brush rake is attached to the thumb by inserting pins through the ears and through holes bored through the inner teeth of the thumb, and by inserting mounting bolts through the mounting holes and matching holes in the thumb.

Abstract: An attachment for converting a pitchfork into a combination pitchfork and rake. The attachment comprises a rake head having a plurality of apertures to receive the tines of a pitchfork, along which it is movable between a retracted and an extended position, and a linear array of rake prongs that depend from the rake bar. In a preferred embodiment, associated with each prong is a clevis attached to the rake bar to which the prong is pivotally mounted for free rotation about a horizontal axis during forward-directed scooping motions of the pitchfork along a ground surface when the attachment is in an extended position; during rear-directed, raking motions of the pitchfork, however, a lower portion of a front wall of the clevis permits rotation of the prong only up to a vertical position. Accordingly, the attachment provides a single tool capable of rapid and convenient alternation between raking and pitching motions.

Abstract: A method and composition for cleaning and protecting vinyl, rubber and leather surfaces. The composition comprises a water-based emulsion of acrylic copolymer of RHOPLEX.RTM. HA-12, manufactured by Rohm and Haas of Philadelpha, Pa., polyethoxylated alkylphenol, and ammonium hydroxide. The ammonium hydroxide prevents coagulation that otherwise can result from freezing and thawing the composition. Application of the composition to aged and faded vinyl, rubber and leather surfaces cleans and restores the original luster and color without leaving an oily or glossy film.

Abstract: A guard for repelling rats and other animals from entering a toilet bowl fixture installed on a wax sealing ring. The guard comprises a guard tube and a plurality of flexible, resilient wires having their base ends attached to circumferentially-spaced points of the tube and their free ends extending longitudinally and radially inward in a generally truncated, conelike formation. When the toilet is flushed, the wires spread radially outward to permit human waste and wads of toilet paper to easily pass. When an animal attempts to enter a toilet bowl fixture from an attached sewer line, however, pressure by the animal against the wires moves the wires radially inward to obstruct passage of the animal.

Abstract: A Tongue attachment for a portable electric circular saw equipped with a lower retractable or pivoting blade guard in which in a closed position the guard covers most of the blade, to a retracted position in which the cutting edge is exposed to material for cutting. An interior wall of the lower guard of such conventional saws has a quarter-circular leading edge that serves as a point of sliding contact with the work piece as the saw cuts through the piece. An opposite, exterior wall of such conventional guards lacks a similar leading edge. Consequently, the lower guard of such saws of conventional design have a tendency to catch the concave wall of the face of the guard on the material being worked. This stops the saw from proceeding until the handle on the guard is used to lift it from this catching position. The Tongue attachment completely eliminates this problem. In an alternative embodiment, such a tongue is made an integral part of a lower guard.

Abstract: A device for indicating the status of a refrigerant storage tank and its contents. Three indicia bearing disks are separately mounted for rotation to the indicator. Each disk is divided into a plurality of annular sectors such that partial rotations of each disk expose successive sectors to view through windows in the display panel. A first disk bears indicia to display the type of refrigerant in the tank. A second disk bears indicia to display the recycle status of the refrigerant in the tank. A third disk bears indicia to display the intended disposition of the contents of the tank. A shaft is inserted through a central portion of each of the disks. Each shaft extends into apertures on the display panel and the backing plate located on the axes of rotation of the disks. A notch is provided on the periphery of each disk at the juncture of adjacent sectors.

Abstract: A mount for attaching a grapple to an excavator arm equipped with a hydraulic drive, a thumb, and a bucket. A rear portion of the mount is adapted to overlie the thumb to which it is attachable by bolts. A forward portion of the mount is provided with apertured ears that attach by pins to interior fingers of the thumb. The mount includes a second pair of apertured ears that extends forwardly from the thumb and to which a grapple is attachable by a drop link. The hydraulic system of the excavator is modified to permit diversion of the hydraulic drive for the thumb to the grapple when the grapple is mounted on the excavator. The grapple mount significantly reduces the time necessary for mounting and dismounting a grapple to an excavator arm because it eliminates the necessity for mounting and dismounting the thumb and the bucket.

Abstract: An archery target comprising a stack of carpet strips placed upon a base, with the side edges of the strips facing toward the archer. The strips are maintained under compressive force by a pair of flexible bands wrapped around front and rear portions of the stack and the base. The stack preferably includes alternating strips of light weight commercial grade, medium weight plush, and heavy weight plush carpet, which can be waste strips from carpet manufacture or installation. The compressive force is adjusted to permit arrows shot at the target to penetrate at least six inches, but not more than ten inches. The target includes caster wheels attached to the base for rolling the target from one location to another. The target is extremely durable even if it is left exposed to adverse weather conditions. A smaller, portable version of the target is also disclosed. The target presents a minimal hazard to wayward arrows, thereby minimizing damage to arrows.