Abstract: A pair of tool beams with support hitches for ground working implements, the support hitches being placeable at desired positions along the tool beams. By placement of hitches at desired positions, old and new implements for working different numbers of rows may be pulled by a large tractor. The tool beams are connected through linkages or hinges to a forward draft beam such that the tool beams can be turned from a transverse working position to a longitudinal, trailing position for transportation. In the position for transportation, the implements are positioned toward a center line between the tool beams. The hitches for the implements are connected to the tool beams through power lift supports for raising the implements, and the implements are held in a raised position while being transported and while the tool beams are being folded and unfolded.

Abstract: Components suitable to be sold in kits can be readily applied to cultivators of different makes to be able to raise and to lower independently the ground-working tools on either side of the cultivators. A typical kit contains an upper supporting member, two crossbars, and fastening means for readily attaching the components to a typical cultivator of any make. After installation, the upper support extends upwardly and rearward from the front drawbar to provide a point of support above carriers of a cultivator that are to be ganged for lifting. A crossbar is connected to the rear portion of each of the carriers to be ganged, and then a hydraulic cylinder positioned substantially vertically is connected between each crossbar and the upper support.

Abstract: A preferred tower of a lookout is triangular in cross section and tapers inwardly from the bottom to top. The tower has an upper and a lower section of about equal lengths, and the tower can be easily and quickly disassembled, and then the sections nested for easy transportation and storage. When the sections are nested, wheels that extended outward from a side near the bottom of the tower become wheels of a dolly to help transport the components of the tower and any load tied upon the nested sections. An extending platform as a stand or a footrest is removable from near the top of the tower and readily stowed within the nested sections.

Abstract: A flexible sewer hose is supported in a trough made of rigid sections. Pairs of supporting members are tied together by resilient means to provide an upper diverging clamping portion and a lower pair of diverging legs. The upper clamping portion securely fastens the legs to the trough and when the clamping portion is positioned about overlapping sections of trough, securely holds the sections together to function as a single trough. The supporting members are easily attached by snapping upper inwardly turned ends over upper edges of the trough, are easily disassembled, and fit together for compact storage.

Abstract: A pair of tool beams with support hitches for ground working implements, the support hitches being placeable at desired positions along the tool beams. By placement of hitches at desired positions, old and new implements for working different numbers of rows may be pulled by a large tractor. The tool beams are connected through linkages or hinges to a forward draft beam such that the tool beams can be turned from a transverse working position to a longitudinal, trailing position for transportation. In the position for transportation, the implements are positioned toward a center line between the tool beams. The hitches for the implements are connected to the tool beams through power lift supports for raising the implements, and the implements are held in a raised position while being transported and while the tool beams are being folded and unfolded.

Abstract: The tester has a probe to be inserted into granular or fluid materials for measuring instantly permittivity and temperature. The characteristics of materials are measured according to permittivity, the characteristics of moisture of grains being used as an example in the present embodiment.

Abstract: A spiral gyrator to be driven unidirectionally at a rate within the normal range for drying by spinning has a spiral strip about a base and upwardly on a central, upright post. The direction of the spiral is reversed for a turn near the top of the post. The first part of the spiral strip farthest from the center on the base has a plurality of spaced slots through it for creating radial jets of washing fluid to move wash rapidly in a pulsating manner. The rotative driving apparatus for the gyrator is simplified, and the reverse turn of the spiral strip near the top of the post prevents wash from being forced over the top of the post while the rotation of the gyrator is reversed and the tub of the washing machine is accelerating to a spinning rate.

Abstract: The load of a trailer is applied to lower members of shackles that have upper members rigidly attached to axle housings of tandem axle assemblies. Linkages and levers are connected between a lower pivotal member of a swivel assembly supporting the load and the ends of the axle assemblies. Rotation of the main frame of the trailer on the swivel arrangement during turning actuates the linkages and levers for displacing both axle assemblies in the desired directions to facilitate turning. The upper and lower members of each shackle move in a relative arcuate direction for raising the load slightly as the angle of turning is increased. The force of the load tends to return the shackles and the axle assemblies to the normal positions for straight travel and thereby contributes to stability.

Abstract: A marker for an electric fence to warn persons of a long span of bare wire is preferably fabricated from insulating plastic that is stiffly elastic. A groove across a face of a piece of the plastic is somewhat deeper than the diameter of the wire to which the marker is to be attached and is somewhat more narrow so that the wire can be pressed firmly into the groove. The piece of plastic is therefore prevented from sliding along the wire by being gripped within the groove. A streamer is threaded over the plastic piece such that it cannot readily contact the wire.

Abstract: A cage of spaced rods is proportioned to fit a gallon can of paint. A stand of formed rod supports the cage and an electrical, gear-reduction motor. The motor is connected to the cage, and a can of paint to be mixed within the cage is rotated about its axis by operation of the motor. A rotational speed of 25 to 30 revolutions per minute is fast enough to mix paint in a moderate amount of time with this inexpensive mixer.

Abstract: Antifrictional screws are used to permit the resetting of safety brakes of the type used in hoists. As in prior brakes, centrifugally operated dogs connect braking members, but in the present brakes the dogs also engage actuating members of the antifrictional screws, the screws being rotatable independently of their respective braking members. The dogs can be disengaged from the actuating members by merely operating the usual controls to raise cages of the hoists. The antifrictional screws in one embodiment are then free to be turned automatically independent of the rate of rotation of a braking member by force of usual spring washers disposed between the screws and respective braking members until the brakes are normally released. In modified types, dogs or pawls for controlling the amount of braking continue to engage respective actuating members for controlling rate of rotation of the screws until the cages have been raised sufficiently to release the brakes.

Abstract: A piston pump for mixing air into a liquid confectionary mixture uses resilient, duck-bill shaped valves in special valve bodies to provide efficient operation, easy assembly and disassembly, and easy cleaning. In one embodiment, a duck-bill valve in a central outlet passageway of a valve body functions as an outlet check valve and has an integral resilient disk portion that fits over a face of the valve body to function as a check valve for a plurality of spaced inlet passageways. In another embodiment, a duck-bill valve within an end of a cylinder of a pump is placed over a central inlet passageway, and a spool with circumferentially spaced holes is positioned about the duck-bill valve to aid in mixing confectionary mixture and air. A separate duck-bill valve as a check valve is positioned in an outlet passageway. By using only duck-bill valves in this embodiment, fruit pulp and seeds in confectionary mixtures can be readily pumped and mixed simultaneously without plugging the valves.

Abstract: A hollow body is connected by a compression seal and a split collar over a closed end of a first pipe containing fluid under pressure. A lateral screw-type cutter connected to the body has a circular knife edge with one or more scallops, the knife edge being formed and being positioned to cut cleanly a single slug from a first pipe at a point within the body near the seal. An end of the body opposite that end sealed to the first pipe has a nipple to which a second pipe is connected, and a strainer positioned across the nipple retains the slug within the body. Space between the first pipe and the body is sufficient to provide a passgeway for full flow of fluid through the hole of the first pipe to the nipple for the second pipe. The second pipe usually continues in a direction coaxial with the first pipe.

Abstract: A bracket comprises a thin piece of rigid material having two parallel bends to form a bottom or rest on which the lower edge of a board or rail is to be placed, a side generally at a right angle to the rest to extend vertically up the side of the board, and an opposite side slanting upwardly and having an opening through which a steel post is to extend. Positioning a board between the vertical side and lugs of a steel post retains the slanting side in position to cause an edge of the rest to bear against flanges of the post and to be supported on a lug. Before a board is placed in the bracket, the side that is normally vertical is tipped until its upper edge contacts the flanges to place the opening toward a horizontal direction for allowing space for the rest to clear the lugs as the bracket is moved along the post.

Abstract: A device includes a fixed frame over the bed and the cab of a pickup truck, a pair of slanting rails along the sides of the fixed frame, and a folding frame that is detachably connected to the rear portion of the fixed frame. Unfolding the folding frame extends a carrying frame slantingly, rearwardly from the rails to the rear of the folding frame. Folding the frame by operation of a winch moves the front end of the carrying frame up the rails while the rear end of the carrying frame is guided by members of the folding frame to a position over the bed of the pickup truck. After removing locking pins, the winch is again operated to position the folding frame over the fixed frame at the sides of the carrying frame.

Abstract: The pitch of worn chain links is restored to original manufacturers' dimensions by decreasing their overall lengths. Concentrated heat is applied across a selected section at the center area of a link, and force is applied longitudinally to the ends of the link to compress the heated portion. The decrease in length at the heated and compressed section compensates for wear on the inside surfaces of the ends of the links that normally contact the connecting pins.

Abstract: A motor and a propeller for a canoe are mounted to be manually positioned either within a box over an opening through the bottom of the canoe or, for operation, below both the box and the hull of the canoe. The motor is connected to the box by a usual control shaft, the control shaft extending upwardly through a supporting member and a cover of the box. Resilient grommets about the shaft and polyethylene foam insulation of the supporting member dampen noise and vibration. The supporting member moves either upwardly or downwardly with the motor and in a downward position closes the bottom of the box to prevent eddy currents within the box.

Abstract: A paraboloidal mirror collects radiant solar energy and reflects it to a smaller mirror positioned on the directrix of the larger mirror. A fiber-optic cable has one end positioned within an opening in the vertex of the larger mirror, and energy reflected a second time from the smaller mirror is directed to the ends of fibers in the fiber-optical cable. To prevent the formation of destructive hot spots by the focusing of rays that are slanting with respect to the direction of the fibers, the fibers near the end receiving the radiant energy are collected into groups, and an opaque, reflective coating surrounds each of the groups.