Abstract: The method for preventing asbestos from freeing airborne particles comprises sequentially heating and the asbestos in the following surrounding temperatures values and maintaining the asbestos in these surrounding temperature values until the asbestos changes to the following corresponding colors: a) between 125° F. (52° C.) and 175° F. (79° C.) until the asbestos changes to a uniform pale russet-red color; b) between 225° F. (107° C.) and 275° F. (135° C.) until the asbestos changes to a uniform dark russet-red color; c) between 325° F. (163° C.) and 375° F. (191° C.) until the asbestos changes to a uniform dark orange color; d) between 425° F. (218° C.) and 475° F. (246° C.) until the asbestos changes to a uniform red color; e) between 525° F. (274° C.) and 575° F. (302° C.) until the asbestos changes to a uniform grey color; and f) between 625° F. (329° C.) and 675° F. (357° C.) until the asbestos changes to a uniform opaque white color.

Abstract: A ground-movable load-lifting vehicle for lifting a load over ground. The vehicle comprises a platform bed, a ground-movable carriage, and an extendible scissor linkage assembly supporting the platform bed spacedly over the carriage. A hydraulic ram system enables power extension of the scissor linkage assembly against the bias of a load supported by said platform bed. The carriage further includes peripheral ground-engageable pivotal casters, rotatably mounted to the carriage in spaced apart fashion, and a pair of ground-engageable drive wheel assemblies, mounted for relative movement to a central portion of the carriage, wherein the drive wheel assemblies provide omnidirectional displacement capability for this load-lifting vehicle. A power unit, controlled by an electronic circuit, powers both the hydraulic rams of the scissor linkage assembly and the drive wheel assemblies.

Abstract: The water valve links a dental handpiece to its tubing. The tubing conventionally has a high-pressure air tube in which air will flow when the handpiece is selectively activated, a cooling water tube for cooling the handpiece head and the patient's tooth during use of the handpiece head, a cooling air tube for converting the cooling water flow into an atomized water spray, and a discharge tube, in which part of the high-pressure air flow are carried away from the dental handpiece. The water circulation device includes a valve which has four inner conduits each operatively linking the respective tubes to the dental handpiece. Furthermore, a bypass channel is formed in the valve, between the valve member water conduit and discharge conduit.

Abstract: The sport implement, more particularly a golf club, has a shaft with a flexible joint dividing the shaft in at least two sections. The joint includes first and second sleeve members receiving and secured to the respective shaft sections. An abutment member defining two flanges normal to each other extends from and is secured to the first sleeve member. The second sleeve member fits into the abutment member when the two shaft sections are aligned and an elastic member interconnects the two sleeve members to allow pivoting of the second sleeve member in any plane away from said two flanges and to bias the two shaft sections into alignment. Flexing is made easier in a plane at 45° to said two flanges than in planes normal to the same. The invention concerns more particularly a golf club with the flexible joint adjacent the hand grip.

Abstract: The nailing tool has a hollow main body including a valve slidable therein. The main body includes a compressed air reservoir, the compressed air keeping the valve closed in a resting position. An anvil is provided at the upper end of the tool, with an empty annular chamber at atmospheric pressure being located under the anvil and over a ring integrally attached to the valve. Thus, if a hammer blow is dealt on the anvil, the latter loosely slides inside the main body, without reaching the ring, with the valve remaining closed and no fastener being expelled from the tool. Upon a trigger being activated on the tool handle, compressed air fills the annular chamber between the anvil and the ring. In this condition, upon a hammer blow being dealt on the anvil, the impact of the blow is transmitted by the compressed air to the underlying ring, consequently opening the valve.

Abstract: A number of ceiling rails are installed under the structural ceiling of a room in a selected array, in a configuration to provide openings between the rails to fit therein ceiling tiles. Brackets are used to support the tiles, the brackets being removably attached to the rails. At least one bracket is used on each side of a tile. The bracket comprises a pair of slots that allow it to be snapped onto the rail, and has a pair of integral laterally projecting load-bearing plates which support a first tile on one side and a pivotable supporting finger which can support a second tile on its opposite side. The pivotable finger pivots between an inoperative position in which is extends along the length of the bracket without laterally projecting therefrom, and an operative position in which it laterally projects beyond the side edge of the bracket. In this operative position, it may support a ceiling tile.

Abstract: The nailer has a horizontal nail magazine and an integral vertical column. The magazine horizontally feeds the nails through an inclined inlet port, into a vertical channel located in the column, and inside which is vertically slidable a selectively powered driver rod which hits and expels the nails through a nail outlet port. The vertical channel has a front and a rear wall adjacent the single nail located in the channel, and lateral walls. The inclined inlet port is located in the channel rear wall. When the driver rod is forcibly downwardly driven along the channel, it hits the upper inclined nail head with its flat lower abutment edge, thus gradually pivoting the nail into a vertical position as the nail is being driven towards the nailer outlet port. This results in the nail being pivoted from a position in which it is in transverse register with the inlet port, to a position in which it is in transverse register with the channel rear wall.

Abstract: The rocking chair comprises a base member, a seat support frame rockably mounted thereon, a seat pivoted at its front end to the support frame for limited up and down movement, the weight of a person seated on the seat lowering the seat to a lower limit position against the bias of a spring, and a two part locking device carried by the base member and by the seat and mutually engageable to lock the chair against rocking when the seat is in its upper position and clearing each other when its lower limit position. Therefore, the chair is automatically locked against rocking when a person leaves the seat.

Abstract: A balloon printing apparatus for printing an image on the outer surface of a number of inflatable elastic balloons of the type defining a main body and a neck opening allowing access into the main body. The apparatus comprises: a conveyor device movable in a closed path in an intermittent manner; a plurality of nozzles spacedly carried by the conveyor device, insertable into a balloon neck opening and for inflating a balloon; as many balloon supporting frames as air nozzles, carried by the conveyor device, each nozzle adjacent to a corresponding frame, each frame sized to partly surround and support the main body of an inflated balloon installed on the adjacent nozzle with a portion of the inflated balloon protruding from the frame. The body remains in a stable position relative to the conveyor device while the inflated balloon is transported by the nozzle and frame through the closed path.

Abstract: A seat and foot rest assembly to convert a surf board or sail board into a kayak type paddling craft. The assembly comprises a chassis, connectors to easily secure said chassis to the top wall of the water buoyant board, a seat secured to the rear portion of the chassis and a foot rest adjustably mounted on the front section of the chassis. The connectors include suction cups and board encircling straps or screws to be screwed within screw inserts carried by the board top wall. The conversion kit can easily be detached to allow the user to use the board in its original configuration. An optional steering mechanism is provided for more precise directional control of the craft. The steering mechanism includes a stern mounted rudder and a control stick operable by the user's feet and connected to the rudder by adjustable cables.

Abstract: The bottom surface of the surfboard has a set of transverse ridges which are bowed away from the front of the surfboard, which are symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis of the board. A channel extends across the edge surface of these ridges and are aligned along the board longitudinal axis. In motion, the moving water not only strikes the rear edge face of the surfboard but also the rear faces of each ridge, thereby increasing its propelling efficiency relative to surfboards devoid of such ridges. A second and a third sets of transverse ridges may be formed in water pockets made on opposite lateral side surfaces of the surfboard. These second and third ridge pockets assist in self-straightening the surfboard should the latter accidentally swerve at least slightly transversely from the general axial direction of displacement.

Abstract: The apparatus performs phase imaging interferometry on a test medium with spatially varying optical length. The apparatus uses a polarization based phase shift element in either the probe or reference arm of the interferometer to simultaneously generate both the conventional in-phase spatial interferogram of the test medium, and a quadrature interferogram which is ninety degrees out of phase with the conventional interferogram at all image positions, allowing a reconstruction of the test medium's interferometric phase image over 0 to 2.pi. radians. In contrast to the prior art, the present invention accomplishes the phase shifting operation in a single interferometer stage, using a polarizing beam splitter which accomplishes polarized seggregation of the interferometer output beam. The apparatus has high resistance to vibrations, instability and misalignment errors.

Abstract: The holding clamp of the invention has a first elongated arm and a second shorter arm both being electrically conducting and interconnected in parallel spaced-apart fashion by a transverse pivotal bracket intermediate their lengths. The first elongated arm is fixedly attached at its upper end to a cathode frame bar and downwardly depends therefrom. A lever pivotally attached to the first arm intermediate the cathode bar and the pivotal bracket engage the upper end of the second arm in clamming fashion to forcibly tilt same between a first limit position, in which the lower ends of the two arms are spaced-apart, and a second limit position, in which the arms lower ends abut one another under the action of coil springs. The lower ends of the arm members form a pair of jaws provided with electrically conducting studs engageable axially to one another, the studs and arms lower ends being otherwise enveloped with a fluid-tight and electrically insulating sleeve, except at the studs outer free ends.

Abstract: The felling head is operatively installed at the front end of a tractor vehicle, and used for debrushing a brush covered terrain. It comprises a rigid framework, from which downwardly depends a pair of flat, spaced-apart elongated skates that slidingly rest on the ground and support the framework over ground. A pair of discoid saw blades are rotatably supported by the frame, with a ground clearance of a few inches relative to the plane of the skates. The framework is hingedly attached to the tractor vehicle by of a pair of linked parallel parallelograms forced into a common pivotal displacement, each having four rigid bars hingedly attached to one another so as to form a parallelogram configuration. A pair of hydraulic cylinders act on the parallelograms and on the frame, so as to allow vertical linear movement of the frame and a distinct vertical pivotal movement thereof.

Abstract: The exit ramp of the invention comprises a flat, discoid base lying flatly on the bottom wall of a conventional pool skimmer screen bucket. An upright post is fixed to the base and vertically extends beyond the bucket upper edge. An inclined platform is pivotally installed upon the post upper end. The platform is selectively pivoted into a position in which it will reach or extend beyond the pool skimmer well upper edge, so as to allow small animals caught in the pool skimmer well to climb onto the platform and exit the pool skimmer well onto the pool deck. Elastic strings are provided on the exit ramp post to allow attachment thereof onto the screen bucket upper edge, for a removable but fixed engagement of the exit ramp with the screen bucket.

Abstract: The water screening apparatus of the invention includes a conduit in which is positioned a discharge pipe opening through which water flowing in the conduit is to be dispatched completely during normal water flow conditions. The discharge pipe opening is positioned adjacent the conduit bottom wall portion so that as long as the water level does not rise above it, the water is completely dispatched therethrough. A bar screen is transversely disposed inside the water conduit and downwardly slopes from the conduit upstream end to the discharge pipe opening and covers the whole conduit width. When the water level rises above the discharge pipe opening, the water flowing above the discharge pipe opening will flow through the bar screen, the latter intercepting any macroparticles beyond a set threshold level carried by the water flow.

Abstract: A hand held device comprising a sample collecting flask having a top mouth closed by a releasable closure cap, and defining a top sample inlet and a bottom air outlet. A first flexible rubber hose is removably plugged on the top inlet and is connected at its other end to a curette. A second flexible rubber hose is removably plugged on the bottom outlet and is serially connected to a vacuum pump assembly via a buffer container. A first rigid tube extends into the sample flask, being connected at one end to the top sample inlet, and opening into the sample flask spacedly proximate the bottom flooring of the sample flask. A second rigid tube also extends into the sample flask, being connected at one end to the bottom air outlet and opening into the sample flask spacedly proximate the closure cap. Therefore, the free extremities of the first and the second interior rigid tubes are vertically spaced apart.