Abstract: A container package for shipping and storing handling-sensitive items. The container package is constructed of clear flexible plastic sheet material and includes a matingly engageable pair of top and bottom half container half portions. Each container half portion includes a plurality of reversible snap domes disposed along the outer surfaces thereof which are movable between a first convex outward position and a second concave inward position upon depression. When depressed into the container package, the snap domes engage underlying portions of an enclosed article or occupy vacant space and thereby restrain the enclosed article from movement in the vertical and lateral directions. In one embodiment, the container half portions are formed as support tray members connected together in clam shell fashion for containing a printed circuit board. The plastic material is provided with additional electrostatic dissipation protection in accordance with known techniques.

Abstract: A microlens of any designed configuration is formed as a replica in a photoresist material, and the photoresist material replica is used to reproduce the replica directly in a substrate material.

Abstract: A pelt puller apparatus and method utilizing hydraulic power means for stripping a pelt from an animal carcass suspended by both fore and hind legs in an upside down cradle position. The pelt puller apparatus includes a puller assembly and a kick bar assembly. The puller assembly is generally defined as an L-shaped frame structure and includes a pair of hydraulically operated clamp assemblies for holding the worked up sock portions of the animal pelt. The vertical frame portion of the L-shape framework includes a pair of telescopingly adjustable frame members and a hydraulic power means for providing vertical height adjustment of the clamp assemblies with respect to the animal carcass. The puller assembly framework is connected to an overhead rail system via a wheeled carriage assembly and includes hydraulic power means for providing fore/aft (push/pull) movement to the puller assembly.

Abstract: An adaptive control includes a digital error correction system (DECS) to reduce control system error to near zero by anticipating a problem and feeding forward in time a correction to deal with the problem before it happens. The adaptive control is used in a controlled system of the kind which is cyclical in operation and which operates in response to repetitive cycle commands so that the operation of the system is substantially predictable for a significant number of cycles of operation. The adaptive control is incorporated in a refrigerator system in which two Stirling cycle refrigerators are mounted in opposition to one another. The adaptive control permits accurate control of the command waveform frequency and shape, enables the refrigerator system to be more thermodynamically efficient, and enables the two refrigerators to exactly cancel each other's vibration.

Abstract: A device for preventing folding of a lower joint for a one touch type dome shaped tent is disclosed. If the upper joint is locked or released, the lower joint is also locked or released automatically. A connecting portion of the lower joint is provided with a round projection and with an elongate slot, and the middle segment is provided with a socket and a supporting step, in such a manner that the round projection can be mounted upon the supporting step. Further a coil spring is installed on the neck portion of the lower segment so that the leading end of the coil spring should able to push the tip of the socket.

Abstract: A fastening device and method for securely attaching objects, which objects can be relatively large in size, to a front side of a panel having the other side closed or hidden, which panel can be relatively thin in thickness, uses an elongated auxiliary member which is insertable lengthwise through an insertion hole formed in the panel. The auxiliary member is positionable on the back side of the panel to extend along a significant linear distance on the back side of the panel. The object is attached to the panel and the auxiliary member by a plurality of fasteners. Each fastener extends through aligned openings formed in the object, the panel, and the auxiliary member. Each of the set of aligned openings is separate and spaced from the insertion hole to thereby provide a plurality of attachment forces. Each attachment force is separate and spaced from the location of the insertion hole.

Abstract: A self-extinguishing blanket comprises an insulating layer of glass fiber strands which include air spaces within the layer. Each surface of the layer has a bi-directional strand reinforced plastic film which extends continuously along the surface for keeping moisture out of the layer. Each plastic film is attached to the associated surface of the insulation layer by non-contiguous, longitudinally and laterally spaced apart areas of a thermoplastic adhesive. The adhesive areas provide attachment between the strand reinforcement and the layer of glass fiber strands. Each area of adhesive attachment provides sufficient retention to prevent shifting of the film during the sewing together of peripheral edge portions of the sandwiched plastic films and inner insulation layer as required to produce a selected, peripheral configuration of a blanket package.

Abstract: A tent frame folding device is disclosed which is constituted such that a locking cap is provided to the central fastening section in such a manner that the locking cap should be pressed down or lifted up, according as a lever is switched to the vertical or horizontal position, thereby making it possible to lock up or release the unfolded state of the tent only through the manipulation of the lever. According to the present invention, the folding and unfolding of a tent can be carried out in a simple manner, and the unfolded state of a tent can be securely maintained.

Abstract: A special kind of fastening device is disclosed. The fastening device of the present invention comprises several divided washer sections and a guide wire which are to be used in conjuction with a blind rivet or a bolt. This fastening device is used in order to place the washer on the back of a wall for fastening a bolt, etc., in the case where the said back of the wall is inaccessible in usual manner. Generally the divided washer sections are of the shape of a parallel-elliptical form or a parallelogram, and therefore, they can be passed easily through a small hole. After passing through the small hole, they can be assembled into a form of a nut, if the guide wire is pulled forward which is connecting through all the divided washer sections.

Abstract: A method and system for stabilizing the output frequencies of a multimode laser of the type which operates in at least three optical cavity modes includes detecting the intermodulation product frequency, using a suitable photodetector. The optical cavity modes may be either purely longitudinal for a single transverse mode, or may include radiation from multiple transverse cavity excitations, also with possible longitudinal plurality. The detector output is monitored for the intermodulation product beat signal which is contained in the detector current at the differences of the primary difference frequencies of the optical modes. A signal derived from the frequency of the intermodulation product term is compared with a reference signal, and the resulting error signal is driven to zero by varying the optical length of the laser oscillator cavity in response to the error signal, thereby causing the operating modes of the laser to be stabilized.

Abstract: A tent cover retaining device is disclosed for tents having an exterior frame supporting a tent fabric. A hook extends integrally from each frame member, adjacent to a folding joint, and a rubber string secured to the tent cover is connected to the hook. This prevents the tent cover from slipping down when the frame members adjacent to the joint are folded with the joint upward. The tent cover of the folded tent is stabilized in position and is not permitted to slide loosely on the tubular tent frame component. This is particularly important when the tent is re-erected and the frame is unfolded.

Abstract: A card housing attachment for adding industry standard add-on cards to a portable computer includes a card housing which is positioned on the top of the computer behind a tiltable display. A battery compartment slide-in structure slides into and out of a battery tray compartment opening in the back side of the computer and contains interconnect-card structure for developing the power and any clock required for the add-in card and for transmitting all necessary control signals and data lines between the add-on card and the computer bus.

Abstract: An instrument and system precisely positions a selected cranial implant site for X-ray tomography. The system and method involve first positioning the patient accurately in a straight-ahead reference position using a cephalostat, with the ears positioned in the vertical plane containing all X-ray axes and at a particular reference level which may be the level of horizontal X-ray projection. The apparatus includes a pointer system which pivots on the cephalostat vertical center of rotation to measure the angle to a site of interest on the mandible or maxilla, with an adjustable pointer for measuring the height and radial distance of the site from reference positions. The pointer may be extended to directly contact the site of interest on the patient. The information thus obtained gives polar coordinates of the site.

Abstract: A fastening bolt set is disclosed which is used for attaching an object to a structure, and which comprises an ordinary bolt with a hexagonal or circular head, an internal washer having a long shape and having an annular projection, an external washer having an annular projection, and an ordinary nut for final tightening, all of the above components being connected by a string. This device is used where the back side of the structure is unreachable by hand or by means of a tool, and the working method is such that the bolt and the internal washer are sequentially inserted through the fastening hole, and the string connected to the bolt and the washer is pulled out of the fastening hole. Then the head of the bolt and the internal washer are combined together, the body of the bolt is passed through the fastening hole, and the head of the bolt and the internal washer are halted at the back side of the fastening hole.

Abstract: A container of the kind used for supplying water and/or nutrients directly into the soil adjacent the plant comprises a bottle for holding the supply of water and a cap structure which encloses one end of the bottle. The cap structure is effective to both support the bottle upright on the soil adjacent the plant and to transfer liquid downwardly from the bottle into the soil. The cap structure includes a spike which extends from an outer, flat surface of the cap so that the spike structure can be inserted into the soil until the outer, flat surface of the cap is engaged with the upper surface of the soil. The spike and the flat surface of the cap thus hold the bottle in a stable, upright position. A wick extends through an opening in the cap. The wick has an inner end immersed in the liquid within the bottle and has an outer end which is inserted into the soil.

Abstract: A gas valve which is particularly useful in a laser gas fill system requiring repeated fillings includes a conduit positioned between high and low pressure gas regions. Within the conduit is a restriction, and this restriction is closed by a meltable solid material. When the valve is to be opened, heat is applied to the meltable solid material, either internally or externally, causing at least some of the material to flow and allow the passage of gas from the higher pressure region to the lower pressure region. When the pressure between the two regions has substantially equalized, or at least the pressure differential has greatly diminished, surface tension associated with the restriction in the conduit pulls the liquified material back into place to close and reseal the valve, at which point heat application is dicontinued so that the material again becomes solid.

Abstract: A point of sale bar code scanner, such as a grocery store check-out label scanner, that is attendant-free and completely automated in providing a listing or a total pricing of a customer's selected items. At each automated check-out, the customer initiates the process, places items on a conveyor, which carries each item separately through a scanner. The scanner reads all sides of each package, including the bottom of the package, since the bar code label could be located on any surface. Serial conveyors are used, and gates preferably control the advancement of items onto a conveyor which will carry the item through the scanning area, such that only one item can be scanned at a time. The conveyor in the scanning area includes a series of belt strips through which an upwardly scanned beam can read the package bottom. Various methods and systems are disclosed for handling "no reads". The customer signifies termination of the process at the appropriate time.

Abstract: A bar code scanner which preferably generates an asterisk-like scan pattern has a scanner head at the end of a flexible mount enabling operator personnel to orient the scanner head in virtually any position and direction. The scan pattern generator is compact in size, utilizing a laser diode as a source, so that the scan head is easily manipulated to the desired position. In preferred embodiments the scanning mechanism generates the asterisk scan pattern with a rotating mirror or mirrors and a series of peripheral mirrors or lenses, one for each scan line, in an efficient and compact arrangement. The entire asterisk scan pattern may be constantly rotated at a relatively slow rate, so that bar code labels are more likely to be read without deliberate orientation by the operator, particularly in the case of bar codes of high aspect ratio.

Abstract: Three dimensional objects or models, such as three dimensional images or shapes stored in a computer, are generated as real models by addition of material to a base, such as with photo-hardenable liquid, or by removal of material from an initially oversized mass. Optical feedback is employed to monotor the actual condition of the model being formed, at each work site. The condition of the model at the work site, e.g. the presence or absence of material, is fed back to the machine or building tool, or to a computer controlling the tool. On the basis of such monitoring and feedback, decisions are made whether or not to perform more work at any particular work site. In this way, the actual three dimensional model being constructed is made to conform substantially to stored information relative to the desired dimensions of the model. In a preferred embodiment, models are produced by ablating a mass of small spheres held together by a relatively weak wax or cement.