Abstract: An improved drop rod latch for use with double-hung gates used with fences of woven wire fabric. Typically one of such gates is secured in position by a vertically reciprocating latch rod carried in tubular guides attached to the inside or central stile of the gate frame and engaging at its lower end a hole or a socket member placed in the ground. The upper end of this latch rod has a short, right-angled extension which serves as a handle by which the latch may be grasped for manipulation. The central stile of the other gate frame carries a fork latch pivoted to extend between a horizontally projecting position in which it embraces the central stile of the gate to which the latch rod is attached and a vertically projecting position in which it does not engage said gate. Thus, when the latch rod is in engagement with the ground socket and the fork latch is embracing the latch rod-carrying stile, the gates cannot be swung to open position.

Abstract: A decorative holder for an implement such as a pen, pencil, or thermometer comprising an interwoven base portion including a series of substantially concentric tiers of loops and supporting means for supporting the implement. The holder is made by a method which substantially conceals the intersections of the strand of pliant material from which the base portion is formed to provide a holder having a neat and decorative appearance.

Abstract: A cover system for an outdoor swimming pool including a light-weight cover member, a composite reel member on which the cover is wound as it is removed from a covering position overlying a swimming pool to a storage condition and a pair of supporting stands to each of which one end of the reel member is journaled. The reel itself is composed of at least two tubular end sections each of which has on one end a hub member having an axle which is received in a bearing carried by each stand. The other ends are connected in abutting relation by internal expanding members disposed within the adjacent ends of the tubular members. One or more intermediate sections may be connected between the end sections by similar internal expanding members. Each stand includes a tubular member bent to substantially inverted U-shape to provide a handle member and having divergent terminals which provide two legs.