Abstract: A method and apparatus for repositioning a patient in a hospital bed after he has slid down towards the foot end of the bed. The apparatus is easily transported and used by a single nurse or attendant. The apparatus consists of two elongated rigid members, one being used to provide a fulcrum and the other being used as a lever.

Abstract: An electroacupuncture instrument is powered by self-contained batteries and is of sufficiently small size to be held in the hand of a user. A probe terminating in a moist wad of cotton is the active electrode which applies an electrical pulse to a selected portion of the skin. The instrument case is the other electrode towards which current flows in a return path through the hand that is holding the instrument.

Abstract: In an underground mine, a machine for drilling upwardly is placed in one tunnel of the mine and is used to drill a vertical shaft communicating with another tunnel at a higher elevation. The machine is operated so as to install a liner or casing in the shaft in a step-by-step fashion, substantially concurrently with the corresponding steps of the drilling operation.

Abstract: A power transmission mechanism for transmitting rotary motion performs two separate functions: It steps down the rate of rotation of an input shaft so that a rotatable member driven through the transmission mechanism rotates at a slower rate; and it also provides resilient energy storage so that the rate of rotation of the rotatable member can vary intermittently in response to load variations that are imposed upon it.A rotatable member that is to be driven has a cylindrical track secured to it. A roller frame carries three separate rollers which engage the track at spaced locations around its circumference so that the rotatable member is rotatable relative to the roller frame. A driven shaft is directly attached to one of the rollers so as to thereby drive the rotatable member. The driven shaft is rotatably supported from an associated housing.

Abstract: A method of cooking food in a package is disclosed. A metal foil container provides two adjacent compartments so that meat can be placed in one and bread in the other. The bread compartment is vented to atmosphere, and there is communication between the two compartments. Cooking of the meat generates cooking gases which flow through the bread compartment, warming and moistening the bread before escaping to atmosphere.

Abstract: An actor portraying a clown, animal or the like wears a costume substructure which simulates the body proportions of a creature larger than he. A particular character costume is slipped on over the costume substructure.The costume substructure includes a garment that is supported from the shoulders of the wearer but occupies an expanded position such that it is spaced away from his body. A frame composed of a plurality of resilient ribs arranged in a crisscrossing relationship maintains the expanded position of the garment.

Abstract: Inner and outer metallic wrappers are applied to the meat patty and the bun halves, respectively, of a meat sandwich before it is cooked, and the wrappers aid in the flow of heat energy as well as restricting the flow of juices during cooking.

Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing of generally cylindrical configuration having a plurality of windows formed in its circumferential wall, a spaced pair of generally ring-shaped distributor conductors disposed within the housing and accessible through the windows, and insulating means supporting the distributor conductors within the housing. The connector is adapted to receive a number of male plugs, each having its insulating base inserted within a corresponding one of the windows while its pair of flat contact blades engage respective ones of the generally ring-shaped conductor members.An insulating spacer which separates the two ring-shaped conductor members is formed in two separate parts. Each conductor ring is attached to a corresponding insulating member, and then the two insulating members are fitted together.

Abstract: The method of cooking a meat patty by first forming it so that its central part is only about half the thickness of its circumferential edge portion, and applying heat only to the circumferential edge.

Abstract: A prepared meat patty is made thin at its radial center and is wrapped in a metal foil wrapper so that heat for cooking the patty may be applied to its circumferential edge through the wrapper. In one form, the wrapper is vented.

Abstract: On a motorcycle handlebar having a handgrip, a control lever pivotally supported on the handlebar normally extends outward in an angular position relative to the handgrip, but may be selectively pivoted toward the handgrip in order to actuate a brake or clutch of the vehicle. The actuating handle of the lever has an intermediate portion of its length which, when the lever is pivoted inwardly, engages the surface of the handgrip. This intermediate portion of the lever handle provides a hook which may be grasped by the forefinger and middle finger of the hand of the rider, while he is keeping the palm of his hand and the two smallest fingers in firm engagement with the handgrip. The rearward extremity of the lever handle is offset in an outwardly direction relative to the hook portion so that, when the lever handle is pivoted inwardly, the two smallest fingers of the rider are not mashed by it.

Abstract: In a building construction having adjacent wall panel sections which are joined together at an exterior angle exceeding 180 degrees, an improved means is provided for supporting and joining the wall sections. A metallic channel member forms a portion of the joining edge of each wall section. Each channel member has one side wall which is bent inwardly towards its base section, and this inwardly bent side wall is secured underneath the exterior panel member so that the base section of the channel member in cooperation with the joining edge of the exterior panel member forms a substantially continuous joining surface.

Abstract: In a driven vehicle having a drive assembly including a drive shaft, a differential, a rear universal joint coupling the drive shaft to the differential, the drive shaft being characterized by an original angle with respect to the horizontal axis of the differential, a rear axle, a rear axle housing, and rear suspension springs in connection therewith, support blocks for differentially displacing the axle and the housing from the suspension means and restoring substantially the original angle of the drive shaft relative to the differential and to the axle housing while elevating the rear body of the vehicle for maintaining increased rear vehicle road clearance and optimum effectiveness of the drive assembly operation. The support blocks, interposed between the suspension spring and the housing, have top and bottom surfaces oppositely congruent to the bottom surface of the suspension means and the upper surface of the housing, respectively.

Abstract: A prepared meat product is contained in a disposable package suitable for transporting, cooking, and serving. One specific form is a meat patty; a second specific form is a hamburger patty together with half a hamburger bun; a third specific form is a hamburger patty together with two half hamburger buns; and a fourth specific form is a wiener together with two half wiener buns.The package of the present invention is disposable and is preferably made primarily of aluminum foil. Some specific features of different forms of the package are a built-in grease trap, filtered vent for cooking gases, removable protective cover for the vent, and removable holder for the meat product for removing the cooked meat product from the package when it is to be served.The invention also makes provision for cooking the meat product faster than the bread when both are enclosed in the same package, and provision for using cooking gases from the meat to warm and moisten the bread.

Abstract: A rocker-type chair is used which is normally unbalanced in a rearwardly reclining direction. A rear support frame has its lower and rearward end in engagement with the floor while its upper and forward end is pivotally secured to the rearward side of the chair. The rear support frame is forcibly pivotally rotated relative to the chair in order to selectively vary the extent to which the chair reclines rearwardly.As the pivoting action takes place, the main part of the chair turns upon its rocker-like members. The lower and rearward end of the rear support frame slides or rolls horizontally along the floor surface. The weight of the occupant of the chair is at all times divided between two forward support points which are provided by the rocker-like members, and a rear support point which is provided by the rear support frame.

Abstract: A vertical thrust boring machine adapted to be positioned in the horizontal drift of a mine and to cut a tunnel extending upwardly from the drift so as to remove ore or other cuttings therefrom. The machine includes a rotary table for lifting a drill string which in turn supports the cutter head, and is characterized by drill stem sections having a spline connection on their lower ends, and a drive coupling ring associated with the rotary platform having a mating spline connection, so that when changing the length of the drill string the lowermost drill stem section can slide or float vertically relative to the rotary platform at the same time that it is being drivingly rotated.

Abstract: A printing tank contains a body of transparent liquid within which a main printing sprocket is totally immersed. Mechanism is provided for feeding one edge of a master strip of film onto the sprocket and in a curved path around a portion of the circumference of the sprocket. A curved support is provided to support the other edge of the master strip of film in a parallel relationship. An illuminated window is positioned between the sprocket and the curved support. A space between the window and the master strip of film is filled with the transparent liquid.In operation, the master strip of film is sprocket-registered while passing the printing aperture effected by the illuminated window. Means are also provided for transporting an unexposed strip of film in sprocket registry with the master strip of film at the aperture.PRIOR ARTContinuously driven printing machines for transferring photographic images from one moving strip of film to another are well-known, one being shown, for example, in the Jeapes Pat. No.

Abstract: Food products are cooked by immersing them in a body of hot liquid contained in a vat, and in order to maintain the liquid at a temperature level suitable for cooking purposes a gas burner underneath the vat is turned on periodically. Gas consumption is conserved, each time the gas burner is turned off, by interrupting the air passageway associated with the burner, to prevent cold air from flowing through the passageway and hence drawing off the heat energy that was previously stored in the body of hot liquid.

Abstract: A drill stem especially adapted for use in a boring machine which drills upwardly, having pin and box joints on its respective ends, having a circumferential collar that is utilized for both vertical and rotational support of the drill stem section, and additionally having a spline connection on its lower end which is utilized for imparting rotating drive.