Abstract: This invention presents an improved way to determine, nondestructively, the composition of an unknown material sample such as, for example, an alloy steel fastener or a carbon steel fastener of unknown standard grade. The procedure involves utilizing a pulse of heat from a focused laser or infrared heater to a spot at the end of a standard grade fastener of known length or applying a pulse of cold and then placing an infrared temperature detector a specific distance from the heat or cold source and measure the temperature-time transmission. Over an interval of time the nature of the transmitted pulse and the time variation of temperature causes a pattern that allows the determination of the alloy content of the bolt. The temperature-time signature of the bolt, the decay curve after shut-off and the slopes of the curves can be used to detect inferior or mismatched bolts in a laboratory, in a plant or production floor environment or in situ testing in installed equipment.

Abstract: Medical studies have shown that when the pressure within the eye rises above normal the flow of blood is suppressed to the veins and the optic nerve fibers causing a reduction of temperature at those locations. If such conditions are allowed to exist over a period of time the subject is in danger of experiencing loss of peripheral vision, called glaucoma.This invention presents an improved way to determine indirectly intra-ocular pressure of the human eye through the use of a noncontacting, nonirrating, infrared temperature sensing device. This is accomplished by accurately measuring the temperature at the macula and fovea sites located at the back of the eye and the core body temperature as the individual's base temperature using the same tympanic temperature measuring device. The difference in these temperatures, calibrated in terms of intra-ocular pressure, reveals the potential danger of impending glaucoma.

Abstract: This invention detects blood flow disorders by comparing the core body temperature, defined by a tympanic membrane measurement, to temperature measurements at various locations within the eye. The differential between the temperature measurement of the core body and that of selected site locations can yield an accurate indication of blood flow disorder within the eye. Areas at the back of the eye can be scanned at selected sites to obtain a temperature measurement profile, and again these temperatures will provide a difference when compared to the core body temperature and that can indicate abnormal blood flow. The use of additional instrumentation via computer technology or photography can be employed to map the fundus area of the eye and produce hard copies of results. The same principle can be utilized to determine abnormal blood flow patterns at subsurface skin locations caused by infections, disease, peripheral circulation, soft tissue intimation due to sprains, arthritis tendinitis, etc.

Abstract: An apparatus is invented that accurately determines the failure or fracture stress of materials that behave in a brittle manner while under static or dynamic loadings that applies a stress to a test specimen in tension, compression, shear, or combination thereof, or in the case of cyclic loading stressing a fatigue sample. The bending and twisting of the test specimen due to the inherent misalignments in conventional test systems are drastically reduced by this device, which utilizes a hollow cylinder, termed a bending moment absorber whose ends are fitted and fixed to the ends of a dumbbell or flat specimen. This assembly, in turn, is clamped at each end by commercially available hydraulically-operated grips within the load train. This device causes the combined cross-sections of the hollow cylinder and the specimen to act in concert so as to markedly increase the moment of inertia of the system and thus reduce both the imposed bending stress and the error during testing.