Abstract: A blood pump for assisting a heart is provided having a stator and a rotor. The rotor is magnetically radially supported creating a suspension gap between the stator and the rotor. The rotor can be supported axially by a Lorentz force bearing and can be magnetically rotated. The stator can have a single or double volute pump chamber and the rotor can have an impeller portion for pumping blood. The rotor can have a center bore as a primary blood flowpath. The suspension gap can be a secondary blood flowpath. The blood pump can also have an axial position controller and a flow rate controller. The axial position controller can cause the axial bearing to adjust the position of the rotor. The flow rate controller can have a member for measuring a dimension of a heart ventricle to control the flow rate to avoid overly distending or contracting the ventricle. A method of operating the flow rate controller to create a pulsatile flow rate is also provided.

Abstract: A holder device for holding containers of different sizes and shapes including, but not limited to, cups, plates, dishes and cookware. The holder device includes a base for supporting containers of different sizes and shapes, the base including a plurality of slots formed therein. A plurality of pegs are provided which are slidably received, one each, in the plurality of slots. Each of the plurality of pegs are independently securable against sliding movement in a plurality of positions along the lengths of the plurality of slots to accommodate containers of various sizes and shapes. The plurality of pegs are laterally engageable with a side periphery of a particular container when the container is supported on the base. Upon engagement with the container side periphery, the plurality of pegs are secured from sliding movement to secure the particular container against lateral movement while supported on the base.

Abstract: A medical device for physical therapy treatment to enable patients confined to a bed to increase upper and lower extremity strength and promote a quicker return to standing and walking activities. The medical device can be a generally wedge-shaped article constructed of a resiliently compressible material designed to consistently return to its original shape after repeatedly being compressed. The medical device can have an expansive front support base, an expansive, taller rear support base, a generally flat bottom surface, left and right sides and a top surface which slopes from the expansive front support base to the taller rear support base at an angle designed to provide a proper range of motion for a patient's legs when performing a certain therapeutic exercise. The left and right sides can be provided with opposing indentations therein at about the mid portion of the medical device.

Abstract: A wall spine assembly for a modular office system comprises a plurality of individual panel assemblies. Each of the panel assemblies includes a vertical support structure and mechanically affixed lower panels in a rigid box-beam structure. Facing panels are removably attached to support brackets mounted on the vertical supports. A cavity exists between the facing panels and vertical supports to permit the lay-in of cabling through the office system. A crown member is provided on the top of the vertical support and is adapted to receive brackets for the mounting of accessories above a desk or other work surface attached to the panel. The panels, and especially the crown, permit the mounting of office components such as shelves, storage cabinets, lighting fixtures and the like anywhere along the horizontal length of the wall. A horizontally telescoping vertical end post is also provided.

Abstract: A method for reducing acid gas emissions from a carbonaceous fuel burning power plant. An aqueous potassium hydroxide dry scrubber method is used to reduce the formation of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrogen chlorides and hydrogen fluoride from plant flue gases. For those plants utilizing an electrostatic precipitator to remove particulate matter from the flue gas, the performance of this component is also enhanced by the injection of potassium hydroxide upstream of the component. As an added advantage, the final product has beneficial commercial utility as a fertilizer product, rather than having to be disposed in a landfill.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for using vaporized liquid cryogen to cool articles, particularly extrusions, utilizing dispersion of liquid cryogen into a chamber wherein it is substantially vaporized and then circulated through cooling circuits in a tool for cooling the tool, or an article such as an extrusion which is to be cooled by the tool. Additionally, the tool may itself be disposed in a cooling chamber in which vaporized cryogen is circulated to cool the tool and the article.

Abstract: A Christmas tree outdoor ornament has an elongated hook member with one end having a spiral hook and the other end having a hook sized to receive at least one string of decorative lights. A star fits over the body of the hook member. The spiral hook attached to a gutter or a suction cup and decorative light strings are routed from the hook member to anchors creating a triangular tree shape. The anchors may be stakes in the ground or suction cups attached to any flat surface such as a window or window sill.

Abstract: A method is provided for controlling the operation of a furnace. A furnace generally includes a boiler having a combustion zone, a plurality of burners burning a mixture of fuel and air in the combustion zone producing a gaseous by-product, and an electrostatic precipitator in fluid communication with the boiler removing particulates from the gaseous by-products. The method includes the steps of monitoring operating conditions of the electrostatic precipitator on a section-by-section basis, and controlling a select one or more of the burners based upon the section-by-section monitored operating conditions.

Abstract: A cord wrap with integrally molded light holders and mold and method of making same is disclosed. The light holders are molded in cavities connected by runners. The runners are shaped and positioned to form a cord wrap. After the light holders are broken away from the runners, the runner can be used as a cord wrap to store strings of decorative lights such as those which were held by the light holders.

Abstract: A blood pump for assisting a heart is provided having a stator and a rotor. The rotor is magnetically radially supported creating a suspension gap between the stator and the rotor. The rotor can be supported axially by a Lorentz force bearing and can be magnetically rotated. The stator can have a single or double volute pump chamber and the rotor can have an impeller portion for pumping blood. The rotor can have a center bore as a primary blood flowpath. The suspension gap can be a secondary blood flowpath. The blood pump can also have an axial position controller and a flow rate controller. The axial position controller can cause the axial bearing to adjust the position of the rotor. The flow rate controller can have a member for measuring a dimension of a heart ventricle to control the flow rate to avoid overly distending or contracting the ventricle. A method of operating the flow rate controller to create a pulsatile flow rate is also provided.

Abstract: In an improved method for reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from a furnace wherein at least one injector is attached to the furnace above the primary combustion zone a biomass or biowaste and water slurry is injected into the flue gas through the injectors. The biowaste or a biomass material can be supplemented with a fixed nitrogen source.

Abstract: The bandwidth of a two-way broadband signal transmission system is expanded by frequency stacking shared band signals. The up conversion (stacking) and down conversion (destacking) systems utilize matched filters, preferably in a multiplexer configuration, which are directly connected, without a combiner, to output the stacked frequency signal in the case of the up conversion system, and without a splitter to separate the frequency stacked signals in the down conversion system. A single base local oscillator signal is used to generate all of the local oscillator signals needed in the system for up and down conversion.

Abstract: A spring clip has a base member attached by a flexible connector to a clip member which has a body portion and a flexible tail portion. The base member preferably includes magnets for holding the spring clip against a metal surface. The flexible tail portion has a distal end which is normally biased toward the base member for holding an object therebetween. A gap can be created between the distal end and the base member by pushing on the body portion to cause the clip member to pivot about the flexible connector such that the flexible tail portion moves away from the base member. The gap can also be created by pulling on the distal end which causes the flexible tail to flex away from the base member. Further, the body portion can be pushed to create the gap and the flexible tail portion also flexed to make the gap wider such that thicker objects can be held in the gap. The distal end can be hook shaped to hold a writing instrument or other object.

Abstract: A grade speed control system and method for a railway freight vehicle can include a microprocessor receiving input from, for example, the dynamic and independent brakes on the locomotive, and the brakes on each rail car. The microprocessor can store values for desired train speed and actual train speed as well as constants and equations for converting raw data to derive brake cylinder pressure adjustments for implementing train speed control functions. The grade speed control system can also include communicate with brake cylinder control devices on articulated rail cars to increase or decrease the brake cylinder pressures to control the train speed. If actual speed differs from target speed by more than a predetermined amount, a target acceleration can be calculated and brake cylinder pressures adjustments can be derived to achieve the target acceleration to bring the actual speed of the train to the target speed in a reasonably brief time period.

Abstract: An intermittently tabbed pleated shade in which alternate pleats are tabbed at spaced apart locations along their length, giving the pleats a textured appearance when the shade is extended in the lowered position. An intermittently tabbed pleated shade device has a headrail and a bottomrail, to which the top and bottom of the pleated shade, respectively, are connected. Preferably there is a set of vertically aligned tabs for each lift cord, each tab having at least one cord hole through which a lift cord may pass. In this shade pleated material is intermittently secured together at each of adjacent back projecting pleats to form intermittent tabs at spaced apart locations along the width of the pleated material at a rear portion of each back projecting pleat such that when the shade is lowered each of the intermittently tabbed pleats has a textured appearance. Optionally, a spacer device can be used to maintain a desired vertical spacing between tabs.

Abstract: A method for producing depressed center railcars involves a combination of casting and fabrication. Transition members of the railcar can be casted, preferably with interlocking ledges on the ends of the transition members. The center section can be fabricated from, preferably precambered, longitudinal stringers which can then be connected between the casted transition members via the interlocking ledges. Standard steel warehouse plates can be attached to the fabricated framework of longitudinal stringers to form the surface of the center section. The transition members can be cast with integral provision to accept a center plate member. The fabricated framework of stringers can include reinforcement members for added strength. The framework can also be constructed to allow for the placement of the parts of the brake system and other components on the underside of the railcar.

Abstract: A holder for holding decorative lights and other objects having a generally cylindrical portion has a holding segment containing two curvilinear arms and a mounting segment to attach the holder to a mounting surface. The holding segment has a first curvilinear portion and a second curvilinear portion extending from the mounting. The first curvilinear portion is sized and shaped to define a generally cylindrical opening having a first selected diameter. The second curvilinear portion is sized and shaped to define a second generally cylindrical opening having a second selected diameter that is larger than the first selected diameter. Additionally, the end of the second curvilinear portion is adjacent the end of the first curvilinear portion.

Abstract: The present invention provides a friction management brake shoe adapted to engage the tread and the flange of a wheel of a railway vehicle via which the railway vehicle is guidably supported on a railed track. The friction management brake shoe comprises a brake lining affixed which has a braking surface engageable with the wheel tread of a wheel of a railway vehicle. The brake lining includes a first friction composition material formed with at least one of a solid high positive friction modifier and a solid very high positive friction modifier which establish a required friction level between the wheel tread and the railed track.

Abstract: A method for reducing NOx emissions from the combustion of carbonaceous fuels using three stages of oxidation and second stage in-situ furnace flue gas recirculation. In the first stage, a partial oxidation combustor is used to partially combust the fuel in the presence of preheated combustion air. The fuel gas produced in the partial oxidation process is passed to a second stage partial oxidation combustor while molten slag is removed and disposed of. Preheated combustion air also is introduced into the second stage of combustion to produce a slightly reducing flue gas and is injected into the furnace in such a way as to create the desired in-situ furnace flue gas recirculation. In the upper part of the furnace a third combustion air is mixed with the flue gas in a third stage of combustion to substantially complete the combustion process. Preheated steam may be added to the first or second stages of combustion.

Abstract: A method for reducing NOx emissions from the combustion of carbonaceous fuels using two sequential stages of partial oxidation followed by a final oxidation stage. In the first stage, substoichiometric air condition of about 0.55 to 0.75 is used in a plug flow fashion, while second stage combustion is performed at a stoichiometric ratio of about 0.80 to 0.99. As the second stage combustion products are cooled by radiant heat transfer to the boiler furnace walls, overfire air is added to produce an stoichiometric ratio of about 1.05 to 1.25 to complete the combustion process. In this manner, the formation of thermal NOx is reduced.