Abstract: A hand held and portable device used for communicating between blind-deaf persons and between blind-deaf and nonhandicapped persons who know the Braille system. The transmitter person presses one or a number of the six keys in combinations producing raised projections representing a six unit Braille cell to be felt and read by a receiving person through tactile finger sensation.

Abstract: An EDM apparatus for cutting a groove in the wall of a recess in an electrode workpiece by means of an electrode tool. One of the electrodes is mounted on a movable support displaceable along the feed axis and along a path in the plane perpendicular to the feed axis, the other electrode being mounted on a movable support displaceable on the feed axis from a pre-determined reference position.

Abstract: A reaction-type turbine provided with an output shaft coupled to a power generator, such as an electric generator, and having a plurality of variable-pitch flexible impeller blades, or sails, mounted between the periphery of the output shaft and a concentric tubular shroud rotatable in unison with the output shaft. The pitch of the flexible impeller blades or sails is varied by a centrifugally-actuated pitch controlling unit such that the output shaft has a constant angular velocity irrespective of variations in the velocity of the fluid flowing through the turbine. For actuation by wind, the turbine is mounted on a rotatable platform which is automatically oriented in the direction of the prevalent wind by a servo system controlled by a wind direction detecting device. The mass of air flowing through the turbine is automatically controlled as a function of the wind velocity by an appropriate throttling mechanism controlled by a wind velocity detector.

Abstract: Each blade comprises a recess into which enters a part fixed to a brace washer, said part ensuring a correct locking of the blade with respect to the washer, which permits, after piling up of the blades and washers on a shaft rotating either directly or with interposition of a sheath, the locking of the unit by means of conventional tightening means such as nuts or counter-nuts screwed on the threaded end portion of the driving shaft of the blades.

Abstract: A hand tool in the form of a support plate having a handle for grasping by a person's hand and provided with a removable interchangeable working blade in the form of a three-sided frame removably mounted such as to fit over three consecutive edges of the plate. Diverse working edge frames or blades such as a felt-covered blade, a serrated blade, a squeegee blade, a brush blade, a cutting blade, and the like, are provided for interchangeable mounting on the support plate.

Abstract: A removable and disposable back and head cloth or sheet attachable by an edge to the top of a chair or seat back and draping over the front of the seat back for engagement with the back of the head of a person sitting in the chair or seat. The head and back sheet of the invention may be used singly or in combination with an additional back and head sheet of a conventional design, and is arranged for use in combination with removable disposable headrests which are attached to the head and back sheet by means of adhesive or by being placed in a pocket provided in or formed by the head and back sheet of the invention.

Abstract: Multi-core box apparatus for producing hollow foundry cores made from sand mixed with a binder that is curable either by gaseous catalytic action or by elevated temperature comprises a plurality of core boxes mounted on a housing that is rotatable in a vertical plane. The core boxes are presented sequentially by an index mechanism at various positions where treatment of material in the core boxes is carried out and at a last position a finished hollow foundry core is removed automatically from a core box.The automatic apparatus for removing the finished core from the core box, and for depositing the finished core on a conveyor comprises an elongated rod that can be inserted into the hollow core and that supports the core when the core box half portions separate. The elongated rod is carried by a spindle on a movable carriage so that the spindle and rod rotate and reciprocate thereby removing the hollow core for further treatment.

Abstract: A waterway cleaner comprising a hull supporting an extendable and swingable ladder mounted at one end, or bow, of the hull, a power driven endless chain of spaced scoops mounted on the ladder for scraping and excavating material from the bottom of a waterway and a belt conveyor on the deck of the hull extending beyond the stern of the hull for moving material dumped from the scoops to a dump scow. A pair of cables wound on power-driven winches, mounted one on each side of the hull, are used to displace the hull to a selected location on the waterway. A scraper is mounted vertically swingable around a pivot proximate the stern from a raised position to a submerged position in engagement with the waterway bottom. A pair of vertically movable legs positioned one on each side of the hull are adapted to engage the waterway bottom to stabilize the hull and maintain it in a fixed position. The scoops, conveyor and winches are operated by hydraulic motors.

Abstract: An adjustable seal member for effecting a leak-proof junction between a conduit and an opening in the sidewall of a manhole well in an underground sewer installation. The seal member, made of elastomeric material, is in the form of a flanged sleeve which is disposed about the periphery of the conduit and which is clamped over the conduit by means of a steel strap clamp. The flange is embedded in the concrete or cement of the manhole well structure in the edge of the opening in the manhole. The sleeve is adjustable to diverse conduit sizes within a range by having a plurality of increasing internal diameter portions for fitting conduits of different outer diameters within the range to insure relatively close fit between the internal surface of the sleeve and the external surface of the conduit.

Abstract: A support and connecting member permanently attached or, in the alternative, removably mounted on the internal surface of panels lining an excavation. The support and connecting members are in the form of a profiled liner beam or tie defining at least one slide channel allowing easy and quick positioning or removing of complementary profiled members providing a connection with cross-bars or struts, and which act as reinforcement and stiffening members which, when mounted in accordance with the work to be effected in the lined trench or excavation, reinforce the strength of the liners supporting the walls of the trench or excavation. The invention provides a modular-like system which, by the rational use of a few like components, permits to achieve by quick and simple means a trench lining adapted to either the requirement of the work to be effected in the trench or to the nature of the shored surrounding ground.

Abstract: A portable bed for a small animal has an elongated center section of rectangular configuration. A rounded end section is hinged to each elongated side of the center section. Rigid sidewalls extending in the same direction perpendicularly from the short edges of the center section and rounded edges of the end sections define an enclosed area. The rounded end sections are dimensioned to give a nesting relationship between the sections when they are folded toward each other. The sides of the bed opposite the sidewalls may be equipped with resting knobs to maintain the bed a short distance from the floor when it is in use. A handle connected to the outer sidewall (when the bed is in folded position) enables the bed to be carried readily. A cushion substantially coextensive with the surface provided by the center and end sections completes the assembly.

Abstract: A tool set for replacing the fishing line wound around the spool of a fishing reel consisting of a reel-de-lining tool comprising a shank driven by a power drill and supporting a spool concentric with and constrained to rotate with the shank, the spool having a frusto-conical winding surface and a removable end wall for retrieving old fishing line from a fishing reel and a re-loading tool comprising a support shaft accepting the spool of the fishing reel for power winding a fishing line thereon.

Abstract: A radiator air inlet for an armored car providing unobstructed flow of cooling air to the radiator and armored plate protection for the radiator's relatively fragile structure. The air inlet system comprises a baffle disposed in front of the radiator and made of two plates of armor steel disposed generally at 90.degree. to each other, and each disposed at about 45.degree. to the plane of the radiator. The two plates of armor steel each form one of the walls of an air induction manifold, one of which has an inlet directed at an angle upwardly and the other an inlet directed at an angle downwardly. Sheet metal panels and armored plate panels form the remaining walls of the pair of manifolds ducting cooling air onto the radiator, the sides of the air induction manifolds being made of armor plate panels.

Abstract: A foldable chair made of four separate frame members mounted hingeable around a common axis. One of the frame members is provided with a length of stretched fabric, such as canvas, and forms the seat of the chair. Another of the frame members is similarly provided with a length of stretched fabric, such as canvas, and forms the back of the chair. The other frame members form the feet of the chair. When the chair is in normal use, the four frame members are held in angular position relative to each other about their common hinging axis by means of tension cables. The chair is folded by rotating the diverse frame members around their common hinging axis to a position wherein the diverse frame members nest substantially within each other and are disposed substantially coplanar with each other.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for controlling the retraction of the electrode tool of an EDM machine such as to maintain the material removal rate to a value approaching the maximum theoretical value. The control system comprises monitoring the machining rate for providing an average value of the material removal rate during at least a time interval corresponding to a single retraction period of the electrode, and varying the frequency of subsequent retractions of the electrode as a function of that average value such as to consistently maintain a material removal rate which is self-adaptive and tends to reach a maximum theoretical value.

Abstract: A quick connect and disconnect coupling for connecting the free ends of chains, wires or cables and more particularly for connecting the free ends of pieces of jewelry such as bracelets, chain bracelets, neck chains, necklaces and the like. The coupling of the invention comprises a male member having a T-shaped element which is adapted to be introduced into a slotted aperture in the end plate of a female member. A pair of flat springs disposed in the female member engages the branches of the T-shaped element and resiliently rotate the male member such that the projecting lateral ears of the T-shaped element are engaged behind the end plate of the female member. For disconnecting the coupling, the male and female members are rotated relative to each other, against the torque exerted by the springs, until the laterally projecting ears of the T-shaped element registers with the slot in the female member end plate and the male member may be removed from the female member.

Abstract: A practice net for tennis that can be attached to a garage door and stored in a plane co-planar with the plane of the garage door in a first condition of operation and be operable in a position substantially perpendicular to the garage door in a second condition of operation for rebounding tennis balls.

Abstract: A flame-retarding additive for foamed polystyrene is composed of 40 to 56 weight percent of halogenated hydrocarbon, 9 to 15 weight percent of antimony oxide, 14 to 22 weight percent of zinc borate, and 16 to 28 weight percent of hydrated alumina.

Abstract: A guide for a portable power tool such as a circular saw, a saber saw, a router, or the like, for effecting a straight cut in a work. The guide is clampable upon the work, such as a wood plank, and is provided with an angularly adjustable bracket forming a straight edge for guiding the power tool. An adjustable and clampable gage is supported by the bracket, the gage having a reference edge surface adjustably movable away or towards the straight edge of the bracket to define a distance from the bracket edge equal to the distance separating the guiding edge of the power tool support platform from the cutting path of the power tool. When it is desired to effectuate a cut along a scribed line on the work, the straight edge of the bracket is located along the scribed line, and a second line is marked at the location of the reference edge surface of the gage.