Abstract: A wall-mountable support bracket for supporting a vending machine on a vertical wall includes a load-bearing main member and a top member coupled to the main member to be movable between engaged and disengaged positions relative to the top of the vending machine. The main member is in the form of a one-piece unitary metal plate bent into a substantially fixed angular shape in which the main member is capable of supporting the vending machine on the vertical wall. First apertures in a back portion of the main member receive first fasteners to fixedly attach the main member to the vertical wall. Second apertures in the back portion and a bottom portion of the main member and holes in a bottom and side of a base of the vending machine receive second fasteners to fixedly attached the vending machine to the main member.
Abstract: A method for landscaping an area using an earth-reinforcing revetment includes the steps of providing a first structure of at least one landscaping apparatus having a measure of openings and a base region, providing a second structure of the at least one landscaping apparatus having a measure of openings greater than the measure of openings of the second structure, arranging the second structure at an angle relative to the first structure such that the angle defines a landscaping feature, arranging at least a portion of the first structure on a landscaping region of the area such that the landscaping region at least partially supports base region of the first structure, and disposing landscaping material on the first structure of the landscaping apparatus so as to define a feature for the area. Also, a landscaping apparatus of an earth-reinforcing revetment includes the above described structures.
Abstract: A bicycle arm-drive apparatus includes a stationary mounting structure, an arm drive input mechanism, a drive motion transmission mechanism, and a plurality of connectors. One end of the mounting structure attaches to the front-center portion of the bicycle. The arm drive input mechanism includes a pair of control arms that pivotally attach to the other end of the mounting structure and generally extend rearward and outward from there. The operator grips each control arm, inputting arm power by driving them fore-and-aft. The drive motion transmission mechanism includes a pair of connecting rod assemblies running down opposite sides of the bicycle frame between the control arms and bicycle pedals. A plurality of connectors link the connecting rod assemblies to the pedals and control arms in order to transmit control arm fore-and-aft movement via the connecting rod assemblies to the pedals to enable the arm power to assist with bicycle pedaling.
Abstract: A two-port tire valve stem has a body, preferably of substantially rigid construction, with a first end portion adapted to be mounted to a wheel rim and a second end portion with at least two ports in a branched configuration, each supporting a valve. One of the valve ports may be used for inflation or deflation concurrently with the other being coupled to a pressure sensor for monitoring the air pressure in the tire. The two-port tire valve stem is adapted to be rigidly mounted to an outer of a pair of adjacent wheels, using a bracket, while its first end is adapted to be connected in fluid communication with the inner of the pair of wheels.
Abstract: A method for processing a fruit, such as a cranberry, includes cutting open a fruit and partially removing a highly concentrated juice fraction from the fruit when pressed while maintained within a sub-freezing temperature range. The skin of the frozen fruit is penetrated by being sliced or punctured facilitating juice extraction and subsequently infusion, such as by vacuum. Before extraction, the sliced fruit is uniformly tempered to a temperature below 32° F., more specifically to between 26° F. and 32° F. To extract juice, the fruit is pressed, removing from about 40% to 65% by weight of the liquid, yielding a concentrated fruit juice, with significantly enhanced brix, acid, and color, and a partially dehydrated fruit piece, with significantly reduced brix, acid, and color, and still within the given sub-freezing temperature range. The fruit piece may then be infused, such as under vacuum while being rotated, with a variety of ingredients.
Abstract: A product hold down unit has a vertical column of a carousel and a vertical row of spaced-apart engageable elements on the column. The column has a compartment open at opposite top and bottom ends and adapted to receive product items in a vertical stack. The row of engageable elements extends between the top and bottom ends of the column, enabling restriction of items in the compartment to moving from top to bottom ends of the compartment but not vice versa. The unit also has an anchor resting on top of, and supported by, the stack in the column compartment as the anchor engages adjacent ones of the engageable elements on the column so as to prevent it from moving upwardly in the compartment while allowing it to move downwardly by gravity as product items are dispensed from the stack thereof at the bottom end of the column.
Abstract: A vending machine housing assembly includes a housing body having plural sides assembled one to the next in an end-to-end angular relationship so as to provide the housing body with a polygonal cross-sectional configuration. Each side define a wall portion and a corner portion in a one-piece construction in which the corner portion is rigidly and integrally connected to the wall portion and has an arcuate cross-sectional configuration determining the angular relationship between the sides of the housing body. The housing assembly also has an upper collar and a lower base respectively disposed above and below the housing body and having polygonal cross-sectional configurations like that of the housing body, and elements interconnecting and fixedly clamping the housing body between the upper collar and lower base to provide the housing assembly as a rigid construction.
Abstract: A crankable hand wrench includes an elongated main handle having opposite end portions, opposite faces extending between the opposite end portions, and a slot in the main handle nearer to one than the other of the opposite end portions, a wrench head attached to and extending from at least the other of the opposite end portions of the main handle, and a crank assembly incorporated by the main handle. The slot is formed through the main handle between the opposite faces thereof so as to open at the opposite faces. The crank assembly includes a crank handle movable between a stored position in which the crank handle is disposed within the slot and a deployed position in which the crank handle extends from the main handle so as to form a substantially L-shaped crank therewith.
Abstract: A method and system for determining modulated volume information for a tradeable element, such as a security or commodity. The invention compensates for normal fluctuations in volume occurring during the course of a trading period, thereby enabling convenient visualization of abnormal volume activity. In one embodiment, the invention involves providing a historical data source containing historical volume information for the tradeable element for a plurality of historical time intervals; obtaining unmodulated volume information for the tradeable element for a selected time interval in the trading period; retrieving from the historical data source selected data representing historical volume information for one or more of the historical time intervals corresponding to the selected time interval; and using the selected data to convert the unmodulated volume information for the selected time interval to modulated volume information for the selected time interval.
Abstract: A multi-coin operated actuation mechanism includes an interchangeable coin carrier wheel having a coin receiving recess of a width different from that of another wheel such that a different number of coins can be deposited into coin accepting regions of the recess. The wheel has an outer segment on its peripheral edge defining either an abutment surface or a camming surface at an outer trailing end of the recess correspondingly aligned with the coin accepting region or a non-accepting region of the recess defined adjacent to the accepting region. Also, coin periphery sensing dogs are pivotally mounted side-by-side and match the maximum number of the multiple coins. The dogs have outer tip surfaces substantially identical and correspondingly aligned with and adapted to engage outer segments on the peripheral edge of the wheel to prevent or allow movement of the wheel past them depending upon whether the multiple coins are present or not in the recess.
Abstract: A hold down mechanism includes a shaft, ring-shaped member, latch device fixed to the member and latchable with teeth thereon to permit unassisted movement of the member and latch device downward along the shaft due to the influence of gravity on the member but not upwardly along the shaft by manually lifting the member without unlatching the latch device from the shaft, support arms fixedly spaced apart on and extending inwardly from the member, platens independently reciprocally mounted below support arms, and a spring mounted between platens and support arms exerting a weak downward force on platens independently so as to bias platens to move downwardly away from support arms and against items in stacks aligned under platens while at the same time yieldable to permit platens to move upwardly toward support arms to accommodate differences in stack heights as items are successively dispensed therefrom. Optionally, the mechanism may be used without the shaft.
Abstract: A product transfer assembly includes separate transfer segments mounted in a vending machine such that they are disposed in spaced relationship above one another. Each transfer segment has a ramp of helical shape with an exit end and an entrance end spaced above the exit end such that the ramps of the transfer segments together define a path of travel taken by a product item down and in contact with the ramps which includes spaced apart portions helical in shape and reversing the direction of travel of the product item, relative to a generally vertical reference axis, going from one portion to the next portion of the path. Entrance and exit ends of each ramp are angularly displaced from corresponding ends of an adjacent ramp such that the object free-falls out of contact with any ramp between the exit and entrances ends of adjacent ramps.
Abstract: A vending machine has a dispensing wheel rotatably mounted on a head with an outer peripheral rim on the wheel having elements displaced angularly from one another in an endless row and radially relative to a central axis of the wheel so as to define a driven gear on the wheel and an alignment device permitting latching of the wheel at, and releasing it from, a desired orientation on the head in a dispensing cycle such that during removing the head from, and remounting it upon, a housing the wheel will be held in a desired relationship with the head in which only given items can pass through the wheel in response to the next deposit of a coin in an actuation mechanism and rotating of a drive gear of the mechanism and driven gear therewith through an actuation cycle corresponding to the dispensing cycle.
Abstract: A multiple coin actuation mechanism has a latch biased to an inward home position with its inner end extending through an upstream side of a first coin slot of a stationary front cover plate toward a rotatable carrier wheel and generally alongside an unobstructed path for insertion of a first coin through the first coin slot into a first coin recess of the carrier wheel. The latch is pivotally yieldably movable away from the carrier wheel due to engagement with a second coin in a second coin recess in the rotatable carrier wheel, as the second coin is brought into alignment with the first coin slot, to allow the second coin to pass under the latch while the latch remains in contact with the second coin, preventing its removal from the second coin recess outwardly through the first coin slot, as the carrier wheel rotates past the first coin slot.
Abstract: An anti-vandalism device in a coin-operated actuation mechanism includes a stop movably extendible and compressible in length and mounted on a coin retainer plate in alignment with a bore therein for moving between a forward blocking position and a rearward unblocking position relative to the bore and to a coin receiving recess in a coin carrier wheel on an opposite side of the retainer plate depending upon whether or not the recess is devoid of a valid coin, and a cam surface actuator defined on a ratchet gear wheel disposed adjacent to the coin retainer plate in a position to engage the stop and cause it to move from its rearward unblocking position to its forward blocking position when the coin receiving recess is devoid of a valid coin and in response to the ratchet gear wheel moving with the coin carrier wheel.
Abstract: Foreign object removal-enabling features in a coin-operated item vending and game apparatus housing include a shallow V-shaped guard wall extending between a pair of opposing sidewalls of a lower end portion of the housing, a pair of openings each in one of the opposing sidewalls adjacent opposite ends of the guard wall, and another opening in a front wall of the housing below and in front of the guard wall. The guard wall is positioned to block debris, such as pieces of paper, from traveling on a path to a coin slot of a coin deposit while providing a slot in the guard wall for permitting a coin to pass through the guard wall to the coin slot. The wall openings will permit insertion a tweezers or other tool therethrough enable the debris removal.
Abstract: Floor covering for an animal house for beef animals and dairy animals includes an elastomeric mat which can be fixed to a floor or floot slat by screws. Rigid strips are located at the base of the mat for securing the screws which are coverable by the mat when it is fixed to the slat. The mat is designed for cleanliness and enhanced protection and comfort for animals. A flap valve forms an openable flat valve along one longitudinal edge of the mat to close a gap between adjacent slats of a slatted floor to reduce the emission of gases and fumes emanating from a tank beneath the floor. The flap valve allows waste material to pass through the slatted floor to the tank.
Abstract: A dual coin mechanism for a vending machine includes a cover plate having a peripheral flange with first and second coin slots defined therein angularly and axially offset from one another about and along an axis defined by the cover plate, and first and second coin carrier wheels mounted for rotation about the axis relative to the cover plate and respectively having first and second coin recesses angularly and axially offset from one another about and along the axis. The axially offset relationships between the first and second slots, the first and second recesses and consequently first and second paths taken by first and second coins carried in the first and second recesses ensure that the first and second coins are not brought into alignment respectively with the second and first slots and thus are made inaccessible to a user during their travel along the first and second paths.
Abstract: A coin-operated vending machine includes fastening elements adapted to be reached to fasten a lower base to an upper body by inserting a tool through openings in the lower base bottom once a coin box is removed from the lower base whereas the elements cannot be reached and unfastened when the openings are blocked by the coin box in the lower base, a transverse wall attached to an outer wall of the upper body and disposed across the upper body so as to block off access to the coin box by reaching through the upper body with a head of the machine removed, a central rod adapted to assemble the upper body to the head being fixedly attached upon the transverse wall, and a motion-responsive device operable in conjunction with a coin chute to permit coins only to pass through it from a coin-actuated mechanism to the coin box.
Abstract: An apparatus for enabling fabrication of accurate angular cuts in a pipe includes a first fixture adapted to be clamped on a pipe and adjusted relative to the pipe so as to define a substantially planar surface aligned with a desired cut angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the pipe and a second fixture adapted to mount a cutting torch and enable sliding the mounted cutting torch on the planar surface defined by the first fixture and relative to the pipe such that the torch can fabricate a cut in the pipe at the desired cut angle.