Abstract: The tool is an instrument including a filament which is brought into contact with an individual to test sensory perception of the individual. When the filament resiliently buckles a standard force is applied to the individual. The filament is retractable within a housing. The filament is mounted upon a shuttle which moves relative to the housing to position the filament either in a stored position within an interior chamber of the housing or in a deployed position outside of the housing. The filament both translates and rotates to move from the stored position to the deployed position. The instrument is configured to securely hold the filament in both the stored position, where the filament is kept safe when not in use, and a deployed position, where the filament is held firm during use of the filament for sensory perception testing.

Abstract: A pitcher is provided as a preferred form of apparatus for use in a fishbowl cleaning procedure. The pitcher has a side wall extending from a floor to a rim. Holes are formed in the side wall spaced above a floor and below the rim. Water and fish can be poured from a fishbowl into the pitcher. The fish and residual water remain within the pitcher below lowermost holes in the side wall. Excess water drains through the holes in the side wall. The fishbowl can then be cleaned or otherwise reconfigured. Finally, the pitcher can be tilted to pour the residual water and the fish from the pitcher back into the fishbowl.

Abstract: The lift is attachable to a foot end of a bed beneath a mattress. Elongate arms extend up from a base portion of the lift. Sheets or other bed covers are supported above an upper end of the elongate arms to define a clearance space beneath the upper ends of the elongate arms. The elongate arms are preferably provided as a pair of first arms and a pair of second arms which can be moved from a lowered position to a raised position by action of a driver. When the arms are raised the clearance space keeps the bed covers off of feet of a user resting on the bed.

Abstract: A shoe is provided with a writing surface so that temporary expressive indicia can be applied to the shoe. The writing surface is preferably in the form of a side surface of the shoe extending between a tread and a foot contacting surface of the shoe. The side surface is preferably formed of patent leather compatible with a dry erase marker provided as a writing implement. In a most preferred form of the invention, the shoe includes a bore which acts as a housing for the marker or other writing implement to conveniently store the writing implement when not in use. The bore or other housing also keeps the writing implement fresh by sealing the writing implement within the bore when not in use, especially when the writing implement is a dry erase marker.

Abstract: The short belt has a free end and fixed end with a buckle or other fastener adjacent the fixed end. The belt is formed of an elongate body of flexible material which can be secured to the buckle or other fastener to cause the belt to have a fixed circumference less than a diameter of a garment with which the belt is to be used. The short belt is routed through at least two loops on a garment with the short belt first being routed under the loops and then being routed over the loops and fastened into a circuit utilizing the buckle or other fastener. The circuit thus passes both under the loops and over the loops with a single circuit having a circumference less than a circumference of the garment adjacent the loops on the garment.

Abstract: A container is provided for storing items in a vacuum state. The container includes a receptacle with associated lid. A lever and clamp act together as a toggle to exert a relatively high closure force on the lid. The container includes a vacuum pump, preferably within a base of the container. A switch is provided to activate and deactivate the pump which is activated by the lever when the lever is pivoted to a closed position. A sensor is optionally also provided to shut off the pump when a sufficiently low pressure is reached. The lid includes a bleed port which is closed by the clamp when the lid is closed. When the lever and clamp are pivoted to an open position, this bleed port is opened so that pressure equalization occurs and the lid can be easily opened without fighting atmospheric pressure forces acting on the lid.

Abstract: A bipolar plate is provided which is constructed of a composite material including at least thirty percent carbon and up to seventy percent of a flowable resin. The material is flowed into a mold and hardened, preferably by heat or catalyst, to form the bipolar plate. The resin is preferably a polyester resin which, along with the carbon, can function effectively within a bipolar plate of a fuel cell. A method for forming bipolar plates from a composite material including carbon and a flowable resin, by flowing the material into a mold, is also provided. Specific compositions for the composite material are also provided.

Abstract: A beverage container lid separator and dispenser is provided which allows individual beverage container lids to be dispensed in a neat and sanitary manner. The invention generally includes a vessel and an actuator, wherein a stack of lids is maintained in the vessel optionally within a housing. The vessel has an aperture at its lower end for dispensing the lids therefrom. The actuator is positioned below the vessel and extending up through a horizontal floor below the vessel, the floor supporting the lids thereon. In operation, the vessel preferably pivots to allow a bottom-most lid within the vessel to be pulled from underneath the vessel by the actuator. The vessel catches and maintains the remaining stack of lids for later dispensing by a subsequent user.

Abstract: The invention relates to a spinal implant to be inserted between two vertebra to support and stabilize adjacent vertebra and allow for physiological motion. One embodiment of the implant includes an upper assembly and a lower assembly, where the assemblies are adapted to articulate relative to one another. This implant also includes elongate elements that are deployable between a closed position and an open position. Portions of the implant can interlock to form various shapes. The invention includes an implantable device to support the vertebrae, and a minimally invasive method for inserting and deploying the device within the intervertebral space.

Abstract: A fuel combustion power generation system is provided operating as a closed loop Rankine cycle and with zero atmospheric emissions. The fuel is combusted with oxygen in a combustor to generate high temperature products of combustion. The products of combustion are routed to a first side of a heat exchanger. A second side of the heat exchanger has a working fluid of the closed loop Rankine cycle passed therethrough to boil the working fluid into a gas. The working fluid is then expanded, condensed back to a liquid and pumped back to high pressure for return to the heat exchanger the products of combustion enter a condenser, where gases are collected and liquids recirculated or released. The products of combustion can be expanded upstream of the heat exchanger. The fuel can be a gaseous fuel or a solid or liquid fuel, such as coal or biomass, with gasification before combustion.

Abstract: A sleeve is provided which is attachable to a back of a quilt or other object to be suspended from a rod or other elongate object. The sleeve is of generally tubular form including a front panel extending from a bottom up to a top pleat. The forward panel is coupled to the back of the quilt through top stitching adjacent the top pleat and bottom stitching adjacent the bottom. Preferably, a rear panel similar in form to the forward panel extends up from the bottom to an upper pleat. A gusset is also preferably provided between the forward panel and the rear panel with the gusset itself formed of a first panel and second panel spaced from each other by a center pleat. The forward panel has a length between the top pleat and the bottom which is less than half of an entire circumferential length of the sleeve.

Abstract: A tip is provided for a liquid dropper which facilitates formation of a mini drop, a mini drop being a drop smaller than a standard typical drop. A conduit is provided extending from a reservoir of liquid to a tip. The tip provides a location for release of the mini drop. The tip includes a rim surrounding a port with the rim having a particularly thin wall and with the port being particularly narrow. The dimensions of the rim and port facilitate formation of the mini drop. The material forming the tip is flexible and resilient so that should the tip come into contact with sensitive structures, such as an eye of a patient, a potential for injury is minimized. Dispensers featuring the unique tip are disclosed in multiple different embodiments for attachment to a bottle of liquid to be dispensed, or to fit over an existing outlet.

Abstract: A gun sight system featuring point-to-point visual alignment is provided. A front sight coupled to a forward end of a gun includes a top sighting point and optionally lateral sighting points. A rear sight coupled to a rearward end of the gun includes a pair of spaced apart rear lateral sighting points each visually alignable with and visually touching one of the front lateral sighting points or the top sighting point for visually touching the top sighting point with a target while simultaneously visually aligning at least one of the rear lateral sighting points with a point on the front sight.

Abstract: The power plant combusts a hydrocarbon fuel with oxygen to produce high temperature high pressure products of combustion. These products of combustion are routed through an expander to generate power. The products of combustion are substantially free of oxides of nitrogen because the oxidizer is oxygen rather than air. To achieve fast starting, oxygen, fuel and water diluent are preferably stored in quantities sufficient to allow the power plant to operate from these stored consumables. The fuel can be a gaseous or liquid fuel. The oxygen is preferably stored as liquid and routed through a vaporizer before combustion in a gas generator along with the hydrocarbon fuel. In one embodiment, the vaporizer gasifies the oxygen by absorption of heat from air before the air is routed into a separate heat engine, such as a gas turbine. The gas turbine thus operates on cooled air and has its power output increased.

Abstract: A window covering includes an at least partially light occluding layer that can be attached to a lintel at an upper end and with a bottom rail at a lower end that can be moved to selectively cover the window. Cords are fixed to the upper end of the layer and extend past the bottom rail. The bottom rail includes a friction module which applies sufficient friction to the cords to keep the bottom rail fixed to the cords unless additional forces are applied to the bottom rail to move the rail. A pair of engagement surfaces are spring biased against the cords to apply friction forces. A lever acts on the springs to adjust for variations in friction forces so that the bottom rail remains horizontal. The bottom rail is formed of a closable structure with a cap hinged to a base for ease in forming the bottom rail.

Abstract: Shielding of a particular material and geometry is interposed between a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) antenna transceiver and a zone to be monitored by the antenna. The shielding has an aperture therein that to some extent defines a degree of focusing of the radio frequency (“RF”) field associated with the antenna. RFID tags having appropriate RFID circuitry are only detected by the antenna when they pass within the focused RF field. The shielding is formed of a thin metalized plastic material, such as film used in forming anti-static material for storage of sensitive electronics. One particular formulation is primarily polyethylene film with an aluminum coating or layer thereon.

Abstract: A portable game hoist supports game in the field without requiring attachment to a tree, vehicle or other separate structure. The hoist includes free-standing legs in pairs at opposite ends of a crossbeam. The crossbeam has a pulley mounted thereto, preferably upon a bracket with a hook on the bracket and below the pulley. A hanger is provided to which a game animal is attached. A cable is routed over the pulley and also over an end pulley adjacent one of the ends of the crossbeam. The cable is then routed down to a winch so that when the hanger is coupled to the cable, the hanger and game can be elevated. Once fully elevated, the hanger can be shifted to the hook adjacent the pulley and the cable removed for reuse on a second game animal, routing of the cable over a separate pulley suspended below the crossbeam.