Abstract: A device for regulating the flow of particulate material comprising a first, inlet conduit having an outlet end, and a second, outlet conduit aligned with the first conduit and having an inlet end sufficiently close to the outlet end of the first conduit as to receive at least a portion of a particulate material flow exiting the first conduit. The lateral relationship of the adjacent ends of the two conduits is adjusted to change the area of the inlet end exposed to material leaving the first conduit to adjust the flow of particulate material through the second conduit; material which does not enter the second conduit is recycled. The device is particularly useful for regulating the flow of small quantities of metal powder being fed to a laser consolidation process. The invention also includes the method of regulating by lateral adjustment of the adjacent conduit ends.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system with a redirect functionality that removes the potential of a bottleneck inherent with a central redirect server. In a communications system according to the present invention, the central redirect server is eliminated in favor of a distributed redirect server. This distributed redirect server is distributed to, and hosted on, telephony access nodes (TANs) in the system. This configuration resolves both the problem of a potential bottleneck and provisioning of redundant redirect server capability.

Abstract: The general object of this invention relates to the use of the inner space of the handle of a vacuum cleaner for storing the electrical cord, switch and plug of said appliance.Another object of this method consists in the use of a coiled electrical appliance cord, which can easily be stored inside the handle of a vacuum cleaner.Another object of this method is a specially designed electrical plug, which is used as a closure cap on top of the upper end of the handle of a vacuum cleaner, after that the coiled electrical cord has been stored inside said handle.Still another object of this method is a specially designed electrical switch, which is used as a closure cap on top of the upper end of the handle of a vacuum cleaner, while the appliance is being used and after that the electrical plug has been removed from the top of the handle and said coiled electrical cord has been pulled out of said handle.