Abstract: A process for printing substrates with sublimation dyes comprises coating the substrate with successive polymeric coatings, the first of which include inorganic filler particles contained in a binder polymer that functions as a barrier to the dyes, preventing them from entering the substrate. The second, outer coating, has an affinity for the dyes, facilitating printing on them. The process is particularly useful for printing polymeric foamed and elastomeric substrates.

Abstract: Solutions of triorganotin lithium are described having low residual concentrations (preferably less than 2,000 ppm) of halide. These are produced by a two-step process.Triorganotin halide is reacted with lithium to produce hexaorgano ditin and a precipitate of lithium halide. The lithium halide precipitate is removed by filtration and/or use of highly concentrated reaction conditions. Then the hexaorgano ditin is further reacted with lithium to form the triorgano substituted tin lithium. The lithium halide is less soluble in hot tetrahydrofuran (THF) and/or more concentrated solutions. THF is a preferred solvent for the reaction. The low-temperature reactions described result in low amounts of inactive and/or undesirable byproducts. These triorganotin lithium compounds are useful as anionic initiators that result in polymers with terminal tin compounds, e.g., triorganotin, attached to the terminal end of the polymer where initiation occurred.

Abstract: A mixing head for a molding machine includes a mixing chamber into which reaction materials are injected from nozzles communicating therewith, toward a closed end of the chamber and at acute angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the chamber, the angles' apexes lying toward the closed end. The streams of injected material impact and mix, before entering an area of turbulence between the closed end of the specifically dimensioned chamber, and the points of communication where they are preliminarily reacted. Subsequently the material leaves the chamber by passing back through the point of impact, effecting further mixing. The doubly mixed material thereafter proceeds to a discharge passageway prior to entering a mold.

Abstract: A spinal implant assembly is provided having a top loading anchor which is fixed to a spinal member by means of a hook or screw. The anchor includes a seat having a channel to receive a stabilizer rod and a sliding interconnecting closure member which slides in a longitudinal direction relative to the anchor seat to form an integral closed anchor seat assembly. The closure member includes retaining flanges which dove tail relative to undercut retaining flanges of the seat member so as to prohibit the sliding closure member from being dislodged from the closure from the seat channel, as well as inhibit the splaying of the seat member in response to forces which may be imposed upon the seat member during derotation of the spine. In addition, the seat member includes a boss and/or hollow to form a biased lock and compression screw to lock the rod in position relative to the anchor. An instrument is provided which holds the slide for assembly in a spring loaded ball plunger.

Abstract: Polyimides serve as reinforcing rigid-backbone segments in nylon 6 copolymers. In a first embodiment, the copolymers are prepared from polyimides containing acylated caprolactam moieties pendant therefrom which provide sites for polycaprolactam grafts. In a second embodiment, polyimide oligomers end-capped with acyl-activated caprolactam rings permit the formation of block caprolactam copolymers that include polyimide reinforcing segments. The polyimide/nylon 6 copolymers have properties superior to those of nylon 6 and can also serve as compatibilizing agents.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for the internal fixation of the spine. The apparatus comprises an assembly having at least two anchors and an elongated stabilizer. The anchors each have means to hold the anchor to the bone, and include receiving means which receive the stabilizer as well as securing means which cooperate with the receiving means by means of the interaction of mating threads to cause the application of compression on the stabilizer into the receiving means.

Abstract: A bone interface anchor is provided for use with a stabilizer rod for the internal fixation of a spine. The anchor has a seat which accommodates the stabilizer rod and which receives a bone screw for the fixation of the seat to the bone. A compression member cooperates with the seat external to the stabilizer rod and can be tightened to cause a compressive force on the stabilizer rod. The stabilizer rod bears on a rounded surface of the bone screw so as to cause a mating interface between the seat and the bone screw. Subsequently, the position of the seat relative to the bone screw can be locked.

Abstract: A working roller for applying pressure to a web of material interposed between the working roller and an opposing working surface includes a generally tubular roll-shell with bearings at each end thereof, a pair of stationary journals for supporting the roll-shell for rotation about its longitudinal axis, a stationary internal support structure, and a plurality of internal rollers which bear upon the inner wall of the roll-shell and are mounted to the internal support structure by a plurality of individually adjustable thrust-supports for controlling the outer contours of the roll-shell. The invention allows greater control of the outer contours of the roll-shell to compensate for localized, longitudinally asymmetrical deviations from the desired pressure distribution or spacing between the working roller and an opposing working surface or to permit predetermined, non-uniform pressure distributions or spacings between the working roller and an opposing working surface.

Abstract: A plurality of substituted styrene monomers, for example, urea substituted, is disclosed as well as polymers and copolymers made therefrom. Various thermoset plastic components can be reacted with the monomers, polymers, or copolymers of these substituted styrenes, as for example epoxy, which form a crosslinked system useful as an adhesive or a fiber reinforced substrate for circuit boards. The monomers are made by reacting aminostyrene type monomers with isocyanate containing molecules.

Abstract: An apparatus for facilitating sexual intercourse between a female partner lying in an inclined supine position and a male partner in a standing position includes a platform mounted on a frame, such that the platform is inclined at an angle and situated at an elevation which places the vaginal passage of the female in alignment with the distended genitalia of a male partner standing adjacent to the lower end of the platform. The apparatus includes stirrups and handles which allow the female excellent freedom of movement to permit repositioning of her body as desired.

Abstract: Aldehyde-telechelic polyisobutylenes free of other end groups such as alcohols, olefins, etc., are made by the hydroformylation of polyisobutylene having one or more olefinic end groups in the presence of a rhodium catalyst in combination with an organic phosphorus ligand. Very high conversions of olefin to aldehyde are obtained. Depending upon the number of aldehyde end groups per macromolecule, the telechelic polyisobutylene polymers can be utilized as precursors to form various types of block copolymers, e.g., AB, ABA, or radial block copolymers, with other polymers such as polyurethanes, polyesters, polyamines, and the like.

Abstract: An apparatus for exhausting contaminant-laden air from a building area includes a monitoring device for determining when a contaminant level has exceeded a preselected value and which provides an output signal when the contaminant level has exceeded said preselected value, a motor-driven exhaust fan and associated conduit means for expelling air from the building area, and a timer-control circuit for actuating the exhaust fan for a predetermined period of time in response to an output signal from the monitor that the concentration of the contaminant has exceeded the preselected level. The apparatus allows for the removal of contaminants from an occupancy area of a building only when the level of the contaminant exceeds a preselected level, and only for a maximum predetermined period of time effective to reduce the amount of contaminant in the air to a safe level, thereby providing effective, energy efficient means for maintaining contaminant concentrations below a desired level.

Abstract: A process for preparing film structures comprising phthalocyanine oligomers having metal coordinating atoms in adjacent rings connected along a central axis through oxygen atoms. The ligands on the outermost rings of the structures are hydrophilic. The preferred coordinating atom is germanium and the structures may be prepared on a Langmuir-Blodgett balance using phthalocyanine oligomers in which one of the outermost rings is connected to a hydrophobic ligand while the other outermost ring is connected to a hydrophilic ligand. The pH of the subphase in the trough of the balance is maintained at a pH of from about 2 to 6, and the hydrophobic ligand is converted to a hydrophilic ligand during the process of coating a substrate by passing it upward through the film on the subphase.

Abstract: A slide trombone is provided which has an activatable attachment which lengthens the basic windpath of the instrument. The attachment is activated to lower the basic pitch of the instrument by a minor third. The instrument further has a reach (i.e., the distance which the slide travels from its innermost position to its outermost position) which does not exceed 55 centimeters. Thus, when the trombone is tuned to B.sup..music-flat. /G.sup..music-natural., the slide has a shorter reach than is conventional for a B.sup..music-flat. /F or other known B.sup..music-flat. /G.sup..music-natural., trombones. Therefore, for the B.sup..music-flat. /G.sup..music-natural., trombone, the slide may lower the pitch by five complete semitones. The trombone can also be tuned to C/A, D.sup..music-flat. /B.sup..music-flat., E.sup..music-flat. /C, and F/D. In the D.sup..music-flat. /B.sup..music-flat. embodiment, the trigger action may be reversed.

Abstract: Vinyl monomers are polymerized in the presence of bi(phosphine oxides) and bi(phosphine sulfides) which can function as photoinitiators and chain transfer agents in the polymerization of vinyl monomers. The incorporation of such organo-phosphorous compounds into such polymers either as an integral part thereof, or as an admixture, results in improved thermal stability of the polymers.

Abstract: A device for vending articles includes a stack of separator panels, each of which supports a product package, positioned in a storage bin. The bin has separator panel support tabs extending into the bottom thereof, and a pivot plate containing a panel-dislodging detent is located at the bin's bottom. The lowermost panel is dislodged from the support tabs by rotation of a pin forming part of an associated coin mechanism after proper coinage has been inserted into the mechanism and its operating handle has been turned. The pin forces the plate to pivot, causing its detent to press against the separator panel, thereby dislodging the panel from the support tabs, together with its product package. Once dislodged, the separator panel falls from the device, together with the vended article, the article proceeding to an area accessible to the purchaser, and the separator panel being retained on a hanger attached to the bin.

Abstract: A mixed bacteria culture for biodegrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminants includes Achromobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp. which have been grown together and gradually acclimated to utilize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as a primary food source. The mixed bacteria culture can be utilized for in situ or ex situ bioremediation of contaminated soil, or in any of various conventional bioreactors to treat contaminated liquids such as landfill leachates, groundwater or industrial effluents. The bacteria, the nutrients used to sustain growth of the bacteria, and the products of the biodegradation of the polycyclic aromatic or other hydrocarbons are all substantially harmless to the environment. The mixed bacteria can be utilized in the presence of oxygen, or hydrogen peroxide can be used alone or in combination with oxygen as an effective alternative electron acceptor. The mixed bacteria culture of Achromobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for permitting the magnetization of flexible hard magnetic materials in the form of sheets or strips, such as magnetic rubber, wherein opposing arrays formed from alternating magnetic disks and flux conducting elements are use in sets of two with opposing polar moments such as to induce a magnetic flux in the gap between the discs. The width of the magnetic disk and flux conducting elements, respectively, are selected to optimize the magnetic pull strength of the material. At the array ends are flux conducting elements that are about 1/2 (i.e., from about 0.25 to about 0.75, and preferably from about 0.4 to 0.6) of the width of the internal flux conducting elements. A material to be magnetized is passed between the array sets in contrast with both disks and consequently imprinted with magnetic poles. The magnetized properties of the material is enhanced by passing the material through a second set of arrays which are axially offset with respect to the first set of arrays.

Abstract: A lightweight structure for a flatbed trailer having a cellular stiffening structure formed from a plurality of vertically arranged partitions which form a multiplicity of polygonal cells is disclosed. The cellular structure has the advantage of providing a strong lightweight structure which efficiently transmits load forces from the floor structure to the base upon which the wheels, suspension system, kingpin and landing gear are mounted. The resulting trailer has about a 4000 pound weight advantage over conventional steel frame trailers and about a 2500 pound weight advantage over conventional aluminum frame trailers, which translates directly into increased payload capacity as the trailer of the invention is capable of carrying loads up to the maximum legal weight limits in most states.