Abstract: A liquid carrier having mineral ore in the form of free particles or a salt dissolved therein is contained within a suitable container. A box member which has walls which are pervious to the liquid by virtue of apertures formed therein or the porous nature of such walls is filled with a collection material such as carbon which may be in the form of filaments or particles. This box member is suspended in the liquid carrier. An elastic member which may be a plate of steel has an orbitting mass oscillator attached to the top end thereof. This elastic member is suspended in the liquid in opposing relationship to the box member. The rotor of the oscillator is rotatably driven so as to generate sonic energy in the elastic member. The carbon particles provide an electrode of an electrolytic system such that the mineral in the carrier, e.g. gold migrates to the carbon particles and deposits thereon.

Abstract: A modular frame assembly for a stereo system component such as an amplifier has a pair of rectangular side panels, a rectangular front panel and a rectangular back panel all removably connected to one another to form a rectangular frame structure. Heavy electrical circuit elements such as transformers and large capacitors are attached to the side panels of the frame assembly, while temperature sensitive circuit elements are mounted to an auxiliary structural member connected to the front and back panels thereof. The auxiliary structural member is aligned with air flow apertures in the front panel and the back panel and preferably consists at least in part of heat conductive material in contact with the temperature sensitive circuit elements. The bottom panel and a top panel of the frame assembly are connected to the rectangular assembly by self locking screws.

Abstract: A retractable roller system for handling cargo has a main channel which is mounted on the floor of a vehicle into which cargo is to be loaded. a pneumatically actuated bladder is mounted along the bottom of the channel and a roller tray on which a plurality of roller members are rotatably supported is mounted in the channel above the bladder. Extending outwardly from each of the opposing side walls of the roller tray is a flange member, the flange member of one of the walls being at a lower level therealong than the flange member of the opposing wall. Extending inwardly from each of the side walls of the main channel is a flange member, the flange member of one of the channel walls being at a lower level therealong than the flange member of the other channel wall.

Abstract: A screw shaped rotor is freely mounted for rolling rotation in a mating screw shaped stator which is mounted in a housing. The rotor is rotatably driven by means of a fluid stream to generate sonic energy in the housing with a lateral mode of vibration at a frequency which is the function of the rate of fluid flow. The oscillator housing is coupled to the load which it drives uniformly along the entire length of the oscillator. The drive fluid for the oscillator is coupled thereto through a flexible coupling such as a section of rubber hose so that this coupled end of the oscillator is not substantially constrained against lateral vibration and is free to vibrate laterally along with the rest of the housing. The oscillator housing may be coupled along its entire length to the load to be vibrationally driven or can be suspended in a liquid which is to be vibrationally energized.

Abstract: A close fitting piston of a material such as rubber is attached to the end of a rod string such as a sucker rod which is suspended inside a tubing string installed in an oil well. An orbiting mass oscillator is attached to the upper end of the rod string and is operated at a frequency such as to cause resonant standing wave vibration of the rod string. The piston member attached to the bottom end of the rod string is driven by the vibrational energy to in effect form an acoustical piston which is driven by the vibrational energy. This energy is coupled to the surrounding liquid and thence to the surrounding formation to effectively unclog the well and the casing string of contaminants which may be impeding the flow of effluent from the well. The piston means is made long enough so that it operates as an acoustic monopole with both ends of the piston being vibrationally in phase with the vibrational energy traveling in the surrounding liquid medium.

Abstract: A cylindrical rotor is mounted for rotation in a raceway formed in the inside wall of a housing, the outside diameter of the rotor being only slightly less than the inside diameter of the raceway so that the rotor substantially fills the housing. One or more relatively high mass cylindrical rollers is each contained in a cavity or pocket formed in the outer wall of the rotor, each such roller being free to roll within its pocket and to move radially outwardly by virtue of the centrifugal force generated and to roll around in the raceway with the rotor and roller or rollers filling the housing and riding somewhat closely against the housing wall. This effectively fills all of the space in the housing and prevents the formation of a fluid filled "traveling" space in the housing thereby minimizing roller drag due to fluid turbulence.

Abstract: Material such as a document or picture of which an image is to be reproduced or transmitted, as in a facsimile device, is driven by pinch rollers past a light source in a controlled synchronized manner by means of a stepping motor. As the pinch rollers are driven, successive scan line images of the document are channelled through an elongated slit in a light directing channel and through a lens and a rotatably driven color wheel onto a light sensitive device such a linear array formed by a charge-coupled device (CCD). The color wheel has light filters for the primary colors and is synchronized with the scanning. The images received by the CCD are converted thereby to electrical form and appropriately processed for transmission or local utilization. A mechanism is provided to enable the disengagement of the pinch rollers from the material being scanned to avoid damage to such material should it become jammed in the rollers.

Abstract: A cargo handling system for use in combination with an airplane cargo compartment having a floor structure and a door opening moves cargo placed in the loading area inside the compartment at the door opening to the further recesses of the compartment and returns the cargo to the loading area for unloading. The system generally comprises fore and aft end panels, each attached to its own looped cable and movable from a position adjacent its respective end of the compartment to a position adjacent its respective side of the door opening; a movable main panel attached to a power cable; a drive means, such as a hydraulic cylinder, is attached to the power cable and drives the main panel in the door area between the door positions of the end panels; and indexing plungers which selectively couple the main panel with a cable of an end panel such that, when coupled, the end panel is driven simultaneously with and in the same direction as the main panel.

Abstract: The piston of an internal combustion engine has an odd number of sockets formed in the top surface thereof. With the piston in its top dead center position, a thin slit is formed between the cylinder head and the top of the piston. The sockets form acoustical chambers for detonation waves which may be generated in the cylinder such that with the piston in its top dead center position, these detonation waves travel in random fashion between the acoustical chambers formed by the sockets thereby attenuating such waves and minimizing the effects of detonation.

Abstract: An elastic bar member is clamped to an orbiting mass oscillator and the entire assembly is suspended from a cable or the like such that the bar member has freedom of lateral motion and is nakedly immersed in a leachant having a material contained therein such as a mineral ore from which metal is to be extracted. The rotor of the orbiting mass oscillator is driven at a speed such as to generate cycloidal sonic energy in the bar preferably at a frequency such as to set up resonant standing wave vibration of the bar in a cycloidal nutating pattern. The cycloidal vibrational energy tends to set the surrounding fluid material into a whirling rotation or rotary traveling wave which facilitates the mixing of the ore and leachant and enhances the leaching operation to make for more complete separation of the mineral from the ore.

Abstract: Three or more (preferably an even number) of hollow vibration bars are joined together at one end thereof with the bars spaced from each other and with their longitudinal axes in substantially parallel relationship. Each of the bars has an unbalanced rotor mounted therein which when rotatably driven will generate vibrational energy in the associated bar. The similar rotors of the bars are phased with relationship to each other to generate a combined vibrational force pattern in a liquid in which the bars are immersed which affords optimum agitation of the liquid in an omnidirectional manner. The vibration at the juncture between the multiple bars is kept at a minimum by virtue of the cancellation of the force vectors generated by the bar members at this point.

Abstract: A quick release two piece buckle of economical construction for use in situations where rapid release of a strap is required such as for example a buckle for a strap holding a scuba air tank to a back pack. The buckle has a handle member with a pair of oppositely positioned side arm portions extending therefrom. The arm portions have slots formed on the outer walls thereof, there being a detent at the entry portion of each slot. Detents are further formed on the outer walls of the arms adjacent to the bottoms of each of the slots. One end of the strap is attached to a cross arm extending between the two side arm portions. The other end of the strap is connected to an attachment member which has a pair of opposing arms. Each of the arms has an inwardly extending post member at the end thereof which is adapted to slidably fit into a respective one of the slots of the main body portion.

Abstract: A replaceable water filter unit which can be used with a water pitcher, water bottle, or other such water dispensing device utilizes activated charcoal particles which are sandwiched between a pair of pads which may be fabricated of polyester felt batting material. The pads and charcoal particles sandwiched therebetween are installed in a frusto-conical housing with the pads in tight abutment against the side walls of the housing. The opposite end walls of the housing are apertured and each of the pads is installed directly opposite one of these end wall portions. The housing is removably installed in the outlet portion of the water dispensing device such that the water passes through the pads and the charcoal particles when being dispensed.

Abstract: A free standing foldable panel structure has a plurality of panel sections which are foldably joined together along their edges. One of each pair of adjacent panel sections has a foldable tab at each end thereof these tabs being adapted to fit into slots formed in the adjacent panel in holding engagement therewith to set the adjacent panels in a predetermined angular position relative to each other. The mating panels can be readily assembled and disassembled and can be utilized as a display board, portable enclosure, etc.

Abstract: This invention relates to a so-called "keyless" type button operated combination lock which can be unlocked by a button operation and locked by a handle operation. A number of buttons exposed on the front side of a case can be set in a combination and a key plate that engages with a bolt lock and keeps it in the locked state is unlocked by setting the buttons, and actuator keys to which they are attached, to a combination but prevents unlocking if the unlocking operation is erroneously carried out. These keys are made in the same shape and size, and the set positions for the memory state and the non-memory state can be interchanged by reversing key positions. These keys are loosely inserted into corresponding slits in the key plate and permit the selection of various operating conditions in conjunction with the key plate slits. When the keys are brought into the "ON" state, they are detachably hooked to the lock plate.