Abstract: A fishing lure of the spinner bait type has a substantially rigid arm having a hook adjacent one end thereof with a lead weight on the substantially rigid arm adjacent its connection to the hook. The substantially rigid arm has a loop formed adjacent its other end to enable a fishing line to be attached thereto. One end of a non-rigid arm is connected to the other end of the substantially rigid arm with the arms diverging from each other and in the same vertical plane when the fishing lure is pulled through the water. The other end of the non-rigid arm has a spinner blade rotatably connected thereto. The non-rigid arm is movable relative to the substantially rigid arm to prevent rotation of the fishing lure when it is pulled through the water due to a torque produced by the spinner blade.

Abstract: A sensing frame is positioned so that a basketball will pass through a rectangular shaped opening in the sensing frame when a free throw shooter shoots the basketball towards a goal. The sensing frame has a beam of light directed across it above the top of the desired path of the basketball for the basketball to enter the goal and a second beam of light directed across it below the desired path of the basketball to enter the goal. If either of these beams of light is broken, different alarm signals indicate to the shooter whether the path of the basketball is high or low. The sensing frame is adjustable both vertically and about a horizontal axis to enable the desired positioning of the sensing frame relative to the shooter.

Abstract: A strip of material is advanced a first selected distance along a feed path past a cutter. Then, the free end of the strip of material is gripped by a gripper and pulled a second selected distance so that the strip of material is disposed across a path of a reciprocating frame. The frame is advanced so that a retainer holds the portion of the strip of material to be cut at the time that it is cut by the cutter. The ends of the cut segment, which is held by the retainer, are folded by two pairs of folding pins supported by the frame to form a folded loop. The folded loop is advanced to a sewing machine, when a sewing machine operator activates a switch, to position the folded loop on a sewing plate with the frame being retracted after the folded loop is clamped to the sewing plate and prior to sewing. The movements of the frame and the gripper are controlled from a single driven cam shaft having three cams thereon with one having a plurality of cam profiles.

Abstract: A cut segment of a strip of material is clamped intermediate its ends, prior to being cut, by two separate clamping elements. In one embodiment, one of the clamping elements is cammed towards the other clamping element as the clamping elements are moved to position the cut segment at a position for attachment to other material by a sewing machine, for example. This forms a loop or slack portion between the clamped portions of the cut segment so that attachment of the free ends of the cut segment produces a large loop when each end of the cut segment is attached to the other material. In another embodiment, one of the ends of the cut segment may be folded to form an overlapped portion for attachment to the other material so that a double thickness of the cut segment is attached to the other material. This embodiment still has one of the separate clamping elements movable towards the other to form a loop or slack portion between the clamped portions of the cut segment.

Abstract: A substantially flat plate is positioned on a rim, which has a large central opening and no lug holes, to enable a tire to be mounted thereon or dismounted therefrom by a tire changer requiring a rim to have lug holes around the central opening to hold the rim. The flat plate has its length selected so that its opposite ends rest on an annular portion of the rim. The opposite ends of the flat plate have substantially the same curve as the annular portion of the rim on which they rest. The flat plate has a central circular opening to receive a threaded shaft of the tire changer supporting the rim. A hollow tube extends downwardly from the bottom surface of the flat plate adjacent the central opening for disposition over a positioning pin of the tire changer on which the rim is supported.

Abstract: A material spreader includes a hopper having an opening in its bottom through which material flows to a rotatable fan, which is driven from one of a pair of support wheels for the hopper during pushing or pulling of the spreader across the ground, for spreading the material. A gate, which is pivotal about the same axis as the axis about which the fan rotates, has an opening, which is smaller than the opening in the hopper, to control the portion of the opening in the hopper through which the material flows to control the spread pattern produced by rotation of the fan. A shutter, which is disposed beneath the gate, has an opening, which is smaller than the opening in the gate, cooperating with the opening in the gate to control the rate of flow from the hopper. The gate has a first arcuate slot therein within which is disposed a bolt supported by the hopper to limit pivoting of the gate. A wing nut cooperates with the bolt to lock the gate in the desired position without affecting movement of the shutter.

Abstract: An article is clamped in a predetermined position on a support, which is movable along a reciprocating path by a stepping motor. This movement of the support positions selected and spaced portions of the article at a fixed location at which a fastener element is attached to an edge of the article. The movement of the stepping motor is controlled by a computer program whereby the selected and spaced portions of the article are spaced from each other as desired.

Abstract: An umbrella support includes a planar support having upper and lower pockets thereon to receive a curved or straight handle of a short or long umbrella shaft, respectively, of an umbrella to be supported. The support is mounted on the front or back of a user's body. When mounted on the back, the angle of the planar support to the user's body can be varied by a pivotally mounted plate at the bottom of the planar support engaging the user's body at various angles. The upper end of the planar support has guide passages to receive a portion of the umbrella shaft and retain it therein. Leather straps secure the umbrella shaft to the planar support between the upper or lower pocket in which the handle end of the shaft is supported and the passages in the guides. The upper end of the planar support has a pivotally mounted plate with slots therein to receive the umbrella shaft when the plate is in a horizontal position.

Abstract: A modular drainage apparatus has a plurality of preformed plastic bodies supported by a header. One of the bodies includes a collection chamber connected to the pleural cavity of a patient and connected to a first passage formed in the header. A second body includes a U-shaped liquid seal chamber having one end connected to the first passage and its other end connected to a second passage formed in the header. The second passage is connected to a vacuum pump, which creates a suction within the collection chamber through the liquid seal chamber. A third body includes a U-shaped chamber to regulate the negative pressure produced by the vacuum pump to a desired negative pressure. The second body also includes a second U-shaped chamber having one end connected to the atmosphere and its other end connected to the liquid seal chamber adjacent its connection to the first passage.

Abstract: A belt, which passes around a pulley on a shaft of an element movable about a pivotal connection to tighten the belt, is tightened by a tool including a body, which rests on the pivotal element, and a handle pivotally mounted to the body. A flexible band has one end attached to the body and is passed around the pivotal element and through guides on the body prior to being releasably connected to the handle. When the handle is pivoted relative to the body with the flexible band tight around the pivotal element, the pivotal element is moved about its pivotal connection to tighten the belt.

Abstract: A pivoting rocking actuator has a first bottom surface, which comprises two spaced portions, resting on an upper surface of a membrane contact switch assembly when the actuator is in its rest position. The actuator has one end of a buckling spring, which is initially buckled in a selected direction, acting against its upper surface with the other end of the spring acting against a key, which is slidably mounted on a frame, of a keyboard. When the key is depressed, the spring catastrophically buckles in the selected direction to cause initial pivoting of the actuator about a forward edge of each of the spaced portions. This causes a curved bottom surface of the actuator to rotate about a pivot point on the bottom curved surface to close a contact switch of the membrane contact switch assembly.

Abstract: A support beam is formed of two wooden members held in spaced relation to each other by spaced blocks to provide openings to receive tobacco sticks with tobacco stalks thereon. Each end of the support beam has a longitudinal slot extending therethrough to enable a cable, which is attached to a rafter in the upper end of the barn, to extend therethrough. The lower end of each cable has a loop for attachment to a drum of a hoist mechanism, which has a portion bearing against the bottom surface of the support beam. The support beam has a depending projection spaced inwardly from each end to limit the outward movement of each of the hoist mechanisms. The drum of each of the hoist mechanisms is rotated separately to enable the support beam to be raised upwardly into the barn at an angle to clear rail supports on which the support beam is supported.

Abstract: A security hand band is formed of a strip of bright colored, waterproof cloth. The strip has a first opening adjacent one end thereof to receive a user's thumb. After the user inserts the thumb in the first opening, the strip is passed around the back of the hand and then wrapped around the palm of the hand so that a second opening in the strip also receives the thumb of the user. The strip has attaching elements on its end beyond the second opening for cooperation with attaching elements on the portion of the strip passed over the back of the hand initially so as to retain the strip on the hand. The two openings are large enough to enable various size hands to use the security hand band. The portion of the strip in the palm of the hand of the user has a Velcro material to attach a canister of tear gas, for example, thereto through the canister having Velcro material for attaching to the Velcro material on the strip. The strip also has reflectors on its end beyond the second opening to reflect light at night.

Abstract: A tine tiller has a frame mounted on traction wheels for movement in either direction. The frame has tines rotatably mounted on each side thereof and driven in either direction irrespective of the direction of movement of the frame by rotation of the traction wheels. The speed of rotation of the traction wheels can be changed without stopping movement of the frame.

Abstract: A modular drainage apparatus has a plurality of preformed plastic bodies supported by a header. One of the bodies includes a collection chamber connected to the pleural cavity of a patient and connected to a first passage formed in the header. A second body includes a U-shaped liquid seal chamber having one end connected to the first passage and its other end connected to a second passage formed in the header. The second passage is connected to a vacuum pump, which creates a suction within the collection chamber through the liquid seal chamber. A third body includes a U-shaped chamber to regulate the negative pressure produced by the vacuum pump to a desired negative pressure. The second body also includes a second U-shaped chamber having one end connected to the atmosphere and its other end connected to the liquid seal chamber adjacent its connection to the first passage.

Abstract: A vertically fed strip of material is cut into segments of selected lengths by a movable cutting knife cooperating with a fixed knife in which both of the knives are mounted in a frame for rotation between first and second cutting positions. When the knives are in the first cutting position, a segment is cut from the strip of material at a first angle other than orthogonal to the feed path. Rotation of the frame positions the cutting plane of the knives at a second angle to the first angle and other than orthogonal to the feed path to cut the segment, which is held prior to being cut at the first angle, to produce a pointed end.

Abstract: A drainage apparatus has a collection chamber connected to the pleural cavity of a patient with a vacuum pump connected through a water seal chamber to the collection chamber. A pressure regulating chamber maintains the negative pressure created by the vacuum pump in the water seal chamber at a desired negative pressure. When there is an increase in negative pressure within the pleural cavity of the patient, atmospheric pressure is transmitted through a liquid at a selected level in an excess negativity chamber to the collection chamber to reduce the negative pressure in the collection chamber and the pleural cavity of the patient connected thereto to a selected maximum above the negative pressure maintained in the collection chamber by the vacuum pump and regulated by the pressure regulating chamber.