Abstract: A welding fixture mounts a self-clearing workpiece clamp having an arm that is pivotally mounted on the fixture and carries over-center toggle linkage for a clamp jaw. A trigger connected to the linkage is engaged by a moving welding head for releasing the clamp jaw, whereupon a spring swings the clamp arm clear of the welding head.

Abstract: A wheel alignment process using manually operable alignment apparatus wherein all four wheels of a vehicle having a front steerable wheel pair and a rear nonsteerable wheel pair may be set in toe without turning the vehicle around part way through the process. The process provides for setting both front and rear toe relative to the chassis centerline in one aspect of the disclosure and for setting rear toe as close as practical to the chassis centerline and the front toe relative to the rear wheel rolling direction in another aspect of the disclosure. A lock is also disclosed which assures stability of the reference for the front and rear toe settings during the practice of the toe setting process.

Abstract: A wing nut with a threaded axial passage is adapted to engage the threads on the horizontal balancing shaft of a wheel balancer having an abutment thereon. A wheel to be balanced is placed on the shaft and is arranged to be held in tight engagement with the abutment when the wing nut is threaded on the shaft. The surface of the wing nut which forces the wheel against the abutment is recessed with a cylindrical recess. A plastic insert is adapted to be retained within the cylindrical recess and has a central bore which is aligned with the threaded passage in the nut to permit the balancing shaft to pass therethrough. The insert projects axially from the nut body so that the insert, rather than the nut body, will engage the member which is holding the wheel against the abutment.

Abstract: An ammunition magazine stowing belted rounds for rapid fire guns has generally horizontal, laterally spaced side rails for slidably supporting a file of uppermost rounds from which depend loops of rounds. In order to restrain forward sliding motion of an uppermost forward round into a gap at the forward ends of the round supporting rails, a resiliently mounted restrainer roller is mounted above the forward round while it is suspended on the rails. The roller prevents the forward round from sliding off the rails in case the magazine box is tilted forwardly or jarred, thereby preventing entanglement, hand up or jamming as a string of rounds is fed upwardly to the gun breech.

Abstract: In a method of and apparatus for harvesting a row of grapevines, a pair of opposed parallel striker bars are pivoted back and forth transversely of the row of grapevines about an axis that is situated over the plants and that extends parallel to the direction of travel of the harvester. The front ends of the striker bars are supported by a front shaker frame, and the rear ends of the striker bars are supported by a rear shaker frame that is free to pivot independently of the front shaker frame. Dual-eccentric-weight oscillatory drives are mounted to the front and rear shaker frames. Various drive arrangements are disclosed for rotating the eccentric weights on the front and rear shaker frames at different frequencies, amplitudes or phase relationships, as desired. Due to the different motions of the front and rear ends of the opposed striker bars, the bars impart a varying shaking action on the grapevines as the bars are translated forwardly relative to the grapevines.

Abstract: A steerable drive axle is disclosed having a cramp angle of about 45.degree. for providing a short radius of turn for a vehicle. A trunnion assembly for each wheel includes upper and lower bearing units each having a spherical bearing and a king pin with a longitudinal axis. Axial misalignment of the king pins is corrected by the spherical bearings for enabling the upper and lower roller bearings to rotate about a common axis thereby minimizing bearing wear.

Abstract: The hatch of a military vehicle is hermetically fitted with a crewman's shelter formed of flexible material for receiving the upper portion of a crewman's body, including his head, shoulders and arms. The head-receiving portion has a vision plate and is connected to the crewman's head for rotation of the vision plate with his head. The shelter has gloved sleeves for receiving the crewman's arms and the entire shelter is collapsible inside the hatch when the hatch door is closed.

Abstract: A steel ladle is provided with a burn resistant liner generally conforming to the inner contour of the ladel but spaced therefrom. A layer of sand is placed within the space between the ladle and liner to support the liner when loaded with a non-ferrous melt. The sand and the liner are retained within the ladle by a refractory cap extending between the upper edges of the liner and the ladle on top of the sand layer. A method of preparing a ladle to receive a non-ferrous melt involves lining the ladle interior with a burn resistant lining, supporting the lining on a sand layer disposed between the ladle interior and the lining, and retaining the sand and the liner within the ladle so they will not separate therefrom during pouring.

Abstract: A multi-purpose harvester for plants such as grapes or the like is disclosed and utilizes front and rear force balanced shaker units for minimizing the weight and expense of the harvester. Depending upon the type and varieties of crops being harvested, the harvester may be easily modified to operate as a foliage shaker alone with the front and rear shakers being driven either by a single motor or by separate motors; or the harvester may be easily modified to operate as a combination foliage and trunk shaker which is powered by a single motor or by front and rear motors selectively driven at speeds found to be most effective to dislodge the crop from the plants.

Abstract: A projector is disclosed which is constructed as an integral part of a wheel alignment head for use in an alignment system for the wheels supporting a vehicle chassis. The projector causes a beam to be emitted from the "back" of the alignment head toward the supporting wheels at the opposite end of the chassis. The projector is configured so that the direction of the projected beam relative to a reference direction may be adjusted within about plus or minus 5.degree. of arc by turning a manually accessible adjustment knob. The adjustment knob also causes a corresponding adjustment to a signal generator so that a signal output is obtained therefrom which is indicative of the angular departure of the beam from the referenced direction.

Abstract: Apparatus and method are disclosed by which toe is measured relative to a vehicle centerline or a nonsteerable wheel rolling direction for all four wheels on a vehicle having a pair of front steerable wheels and a pair of rear nonsteerable wheels. An alignment head is placed on one of the front wheels and another alignment head is placed on one of the rear wheels, both wheels being on the same side of the vehicle. The alignment heads project a beam pattern across the vehicle at the front and the rear. Reflectors are mounted on the other wheels at the front and the rear to intercept and reflect the beams back toward detectors included in the alignment heads. A beam pattern is also projected rearwardly along the length of the vehicle chassis from the alignment head mounted on the front wheel. A rear wheel mounted reflector intercepts the rearwardly projected beam pattern and reflects it back toward a detector in the front wheel mounted alignment head.

Abstract: An identification circuit for use in conjunction with an automobile engine analyzer system having a plurality of external probes is disclosed. The various probes and other external devices associated with the automobile engine analyzer each include a passive circuit element, typically a resistor. When the probe or other external device is connected to the analyzer, the passive circuit element completes the identification circuit within the analyzer. By applying a predetermined signal to the circuit, the particular probe or device connected may be identified by examining a particular circuit characteristic, such as the voltage drop across a second resistor of known resistance within the circuit.

Abstract: A gun mount having a gun cover or shield contains a gun which may be directed in both azimuth and elevation. An ammunition storage space is disposed below the gun mount. Ammunition components are combined in the storage space to provide an ammunition round with the long axis of the round substantially vertical. The barrel of the gun is elevated to the 90.degree. or vertical position and when the breech block is opened the vertically disposed ammunition round is hoisted directed into the open breech. The round is latched in the breech while the hoisting mechanism is withdrawn and the breech is closed. Thereafter the gun may be depressed to a desired firing elevation and the round fired. The gun is then positioned at a predetermined intermediate elevation angle so that the gun breech is adjacent to a door in the gun cover which is controlled between open and closed positions. The breech is opened, the door is opened and the empty propellant case from the fired round is ejected through the open door.

Abstract: A conventional cooker or retort for heat processing sealed containers, such as sealed pouches, jars or cans, has an evaporator associated therewith. A source of water is coupled to the evaporator through a valve and a source of a liquid having a higher vapor pressure than water, such as ethyl alcohol, is connected to the evaporator through a metering pump. Pressure and temperature within the retort are monitored and signals indicative thereof are connected to controllers for metering the heat supplied to the evaporator and for metering the ethyl alcohol and water delivered to the evaporator. One controller is configured to operate so that as pressure rises, proportions of ethyl alcohol introduced into the evaporator is reduced while the proportion of water introduced is increased. Another controller functions to restrict the amount of heating medium, such as steam, delivered to the evaporator as the retort temperature increases.

Abstract: A circuit for linearizing the meter movement of an analog meter provides a correction signal which is effective only in a predetermined portion of the meter movement range and which is adjustable to compensate for the specific linearity error in any given meter. Several of such circuits may be used wherein each of such circuits produces its primary effect in a portion of the meter range which is unaffected by adjustment in any of the other range portions. While the circuit finds its primary utility in providing correction signals to compensate for undesirable characteristics in display devices, analog or digital (with appropriate analog to digital conversion components) it may also be used to compensate for undesirable characteristics in display drive signals where that appears necessary.

Abstract: An internal combustion engine analyzer provides both data acquisition and data processing and includes an analog waveform analysis subsystem together with a general purpose background system wherein appropriate power distribution is provided for the system as a whole and peripheral equipment such as a printer, keyboard and an analog/digital CRT is also provided. The input signals to be analyzed are waveforms generally associated with internal combustion engines and peripheral equipment. Exemplary waveforms are the primary and secondary ignition waveforms. The waveforms are attenuated to reasonable levels and multiplexed to analog circuitry which serves to measure waveform magnitude at one or more sampling points along the length of the wave and to also measure the manner in which the characteristics of the waveform change. The analog measurements are digitized and coupled to a processor which in turn controls the operation of the analog circuitry.

Abstract: A rotatable member, such as a turret at a weapons station, is controllable about an azimuth axis. A weapon is carried in the turret with the weapon being controllable therewithin about an elevation axis. The moments of inertia of the turret and weapon about the azimuth axis and of the weapon about the elevation axis are relatively high. The disclosed system provides for elevation and azimuth control through elevation and azimuth drive trains having reflected drive train inertias which are at least two orders of magnitude smaller than the inertia of the turret and weapon about the azimuth axis and at least one order of magnitude smaller than the inertia of the weapon about the elevation axis. Further, the system senses spurious torque applied about either axis, as for example due to the recoil of the fixed weapon, and provides automatic repositioning of the controlled members about either axis to compensate for angular displacement caused by the spurious torque.

Abstract: A wheel clamp is disclosed for supporting a wheel aligning tool in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the wheel. The wheel clamp comprises two assemblies. The first assembly is a clamping frame which grasps the tire at three points along its periphery to provide firm attachment of the clamp to the wheel. The second assembly is a floating frame which actually supports the wheel aligning tool. Three pins extend inward from the floating frame and contact the wheel rim to ensure that the floating frame lies parallel to the plane of the wheel rim. A thumb screw is provided to secure the floating frame to the clamping frame.

Abstract: A method is disclosed by which, through the use of known wheel alignment equipment including wheel mounted alignment heads and targets, the off-track condition between the rear and front wheel pairs of a vehicle and the rear wheel total toe is initially measured to determine if it is within specifications for the specific vehicle. Following adjustment of the rear wheels, if necessary, to place these characteristics within the specifications, the wheel alignment equipment on each side of the vehicle is adjusted to assume an orientation dictated by the remaining off-track condition and the rear wheel average rolling direction. The alignment equipment is then fixed in such orientations. The wheel mounted alignment heads and targets are thereafter transferred, with adjustments intact, to diagonally opposite wheels. The front wheels are then moved through a steering excursion sufficient to provide an indication on the targets that the total front wheel toe is split about the rear wheel average toe direction.

Abstract: This invention concerns the heating of a liquid, such as milk, by steam infusion and involves the formation of the liquid into a descending curtain that is initially generally frusto-conical in configuration and later is generally cylindrical as it passes through an atmosphere of steam. The curtain is of relatively small diameter at its upper end and continually increases its diameter as it moves downwardly, thus, not only causing the thickness of the film to progressively decrease but also causing the surface area of the film to be greatly enlarged.