Abstract: An improved shower/bathtub transfer chair that is capable of disassembly into five basic components. The chair seat and back structures, separable from each other and from the support frame for the device, serve as two of the five components. The remaining three components include an inside leg frame component, an outside leg frame component, and a cross frame component. When disassembled through the use of locking pin mechanisms, each of the five components described provide a generally planar geometry that can be stacked and arranged within a rectangular, suitcase-styled enclosure, for transport and/or storage.

Abstract: A capacitive array is housed within a polyester mat or other appropriate nonconductive substrate material which is interconnected with a control module. The control module supplies to the capacitive array a suitable oscillator driver current and concurrently senses capacitance value changes within the capacitive array induced through dielectric shifts within the array brought about by the proximity or absence thereof of the patient's body mass. The control module consists of a power supply, a driver/sensor circuit, a calibration/comparator logic circuit, a system interconnection integrity circuit, and an alarm generation circuit. It may also optionally contain a nurse call relay circuit for interconnection to a facility's nurse call system.

Abstract: A disposable fuel burner 10 is disclosed which comprises a container 11 having a closed bottom wall 12, an enclosing sidewall 13 and an open top 14, and at least partially filled with a liquid fuel 15. A support member 16 is supported adjacent the open top 14 above the fuel 15, and having a centrally located opening 17 of various diameters for receiving one end of an elongated wick 18 of a fibrous material. The support member 16 may be a cardboard or plastic disk supported on legs 21a, a cylinder 21, or may be a cup-shaped member 30. A first layer of fibrous material 22 substantially fills the open top 14 and overlies the support member and the end of the wick supported thereon and acts as an interface between the fuel 15 and the atmosphere. A second layer of a plastic 23, e.g., polyurethane, foam material overlies the first layer. A top cover 27 is secured on the container 11 closing the open top 14 and is at least partially removable, e.g.

Abstract: A pressure or temperature sensor array utilizing a combination of liquid crystal material and charge coupled device (CCD) sensor array. The device generally comprises a liquid crystal material enclosed in a planar capsule, one side of which has a flexible outer membrane which is placed on the surface whose pressure and/or temperature is to be measured; a light source used to illuminate the liquid crystal material; and a charge coupled device (CCD) array which detects the variations in the optical signature of the liquid crystal material due to changes in pressure or temperature. The device may further include an optical waveguide for controlling transmission of light from the light source to the liquid crystal material.

Abstract: An acoustic logging tool, useful for creating a circumferential image of an earth borehole or well casing, which includes one or many acoustic transceivers mounted in substantially the same plane, in a drill string sub. The mounting receptacles are located in blocks, flexibly mounted in fixed inserts within the interior of the drill string sub. Each of the transceivers is structured to provide temperature and pressure compensation. The echo signals received by the transceivers are digitized and processed to eliminate extraneous noise created by the ringing of the transducers, by the signals reflected from the material backing the transducer ultrasonic element, and by any other sources inherent to the drilling environment. Digitization and further processing also allows for signal enhancement, thus allowing detection of signals in the presence of substantial noise.

Abstract: An assembly of structural building components for use in conjunction with an improved anodized aluminum post having a generally cylindrical cross section and longitudinal grooves disposed in a peripheral wall therein for the receipt of the various components. The improved aluminum post has a double wall extruded construction to increase rigidity and versatility. The component assemblies include improved bracket structures insertable into the longitudinal grooves, double bracket structures, improved post connectors for joining one post to another at various angles, terminal post clamps and caps, and various utility structures adapted specifically for use in conjunction with the improved post design.

Abstract: A method for determining changes in the average wall thickness or the mean radius of a pipe or tube using ultrasonic and/or magnetostrictive wave probes by analyzing the dispersive behavior of waves traveling in the tube wall volume. The method examines certain wave propagation modes and identifies a cut-off frequency that is characteristic for a particular wall thickness or tube diameter. This method permits the rapid and accurate inspection of a length of pipe or tube from a single location on the inside diameter of the pipe and permits a comparison of data gathered with similar data for the structure in its original condition. Changes in the cut-off frequency, indirectly determined by the method of the present invention are inversely related to changes in the wall thickness and/or the mean radius for the cylindrical structure. In this manner the method of the present invention provides a mechanism for determining the remaining service life for such pipes and tubes.

Abstract: A flexible water container carried on the back of the user in a position that does not restrict the active movement of the user during exercise. Connected to the water container is a tube to conduct the water from the container to an irrigation system positioned within a helmet or otherwise placed about the head of the user. A pressurized air bladder is positioned adjacent to the water container in a manner such that pressure within the air bladder has a tendency to force water from the water container into the tube and thus into the irrigation system. The air bladder is inflatable by means a hand pump connected to the bladder through a flexible tube. The irrigation system is constructed and configured so as to appropriately surround the head of the user and further includes a soft, flexible wick material worn about the head for the purpose of conducting water forced from the irrigation system evenly about the user's head.

Abstract: Methods and devices for determining the identity and concentration of constituent compounds within a test specimen. The methods are based on the principle that a specific compound in a specific concentration will modify a pattern of incident polychromatic light in a manner that is recognizable. The system includes a polychromatic light source directed first through an incident light pattern generator and then through the test specimen. Reflected and transmitted light components then pass through a pattern recognition gating device that selects portions of the light for analysis by an array of detectors. The methods include producing a modulated pattern of incident light specific for a particular compound of interest and selectively analyzing the reflected or transmitted light according to known patterns for that compound in specific concentrations.

Abstract: A method utilizing high-speed digital computers and high resolution display systems for stacking a plurality of two-dimensional complex displays acquired from individual NDE scans over the surface of a material being inspected. The solid three-dimensional image constructed incorporates the two dimensions typically provided by eddy current-type testing components, i.e., the imaginary or vertical component and the real or horizontal component, and a third dimension that represents the physical orthogonal distance between sequential scans. The solid three-dimensional image is generated by connecting corresponding positional points on adjacent two-dimensional plane displays. The closed solid figure generated results when a null or equilibrium point away from the specific signal features is encountered. Appropriate coloration or shading on the three-dimensional image highlights the features for visual inspection.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for directing ultrasonic and magnetostrictively generated mechanical waves from an exterior point to an interior point within a small diameter tube, pipe, or cylindrical structure. The present invention incorporates an external mechanism for generating waves in a cylindrical waveguide tube gun of a size small enough for insertion into the target tube and configured so as to maintain mechanical contact with an inside diameter of the target tube. Standard ultrasonic wave generating devices or magnetostrictive/mechanical wave generating coils are positioned on the waveguide external to the target tube and generate appropriate mechanical waves through the waveguide to a point interior to the target tube. A mechanical interface between the waveguide and the inside diameter surface of the tube is positioned and provided at a point within the target tube to transfer both the interrogating waves and the received return signal waves between the target tube and the waveguide.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed for eliminating a noise signal from at least one source during an acoustic measurement of a subsurface geological formation or borehole. The apparatus includes a longitudinal body for positioning in the borehole and a transmitter supported by the body for transmitting acoustic signals into the formation and borehole. A sensor, substantially isolated within the body, is used to detect one or more noise signals and a receiver is carried by the body for receiving acoustic signals traversing the formation and borehole, and for receiving one or more noise signals. A processor is connected to the sensor and receiver for processing the acoustic signals and noise signals coupled from the receiver and the noise signal coupled from the sensor into a preferred formation or borehole signal by determining the noise signal received at the receiver using the noise signal received in the sensor and a propagation factor for the noise signal between the sensor and receiver.

Abstract: An improved isolated current sensing device. The invention consists of two magnetizable cores which surround the conductor carrying the current to be measured. The two cores are cyclically saturated in opposite directions by a high-frequency excitation current counter-wound around the two cores. The device then detects through an output winding the asymmetry in the core magnetic fluxes caused by the current-carrying conductor. The output signal is passed through a phase-sensitive detector tuned to twice the original excitation frequency. Negative feedback is used to stabilize the device.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for the non-contact measurement of tensile loading (or tension) in ferromagnetic materials, particularly wire ropes, cables, and strands. The magnetostrictive effect is used to measure wave propagation properties within such materials to determine load forces imposed on the tested material based upon a signature obtained for like materials under like conditions. The apparatus and method contemplate an active measurement application, wherein a transmitting sensor generates an mechanical pulse within a material through the magnetostrictive effect, and a receiving sensor detects reflected mechanical waves within the material by the inverse magnetostrictive effect. Unlike other sensing methods, utilizing the magnetostrictive effect in this way has the advantage of generating and detecting mechanical waves in the tested material without direct physical or acoustical contact.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for optimizing computer tomography images obtained from any of a number of different standard computer tomography scanning devices. The apparatus and method incorporate computer-aided design data for an object being scanned into a system for establishing nominal scanning beam intensities and nominal scanning detector sensitivities that ultimately compensate for non-anomalous variations in beam path characteristics. Particularly adapted for optimizing scan images on objects with large length-to-width ratios, the present invention identifies significant deviations from some normal baseline beam path in advance of a scan and modifies beam intensity and detector sensitivity to bring the projected beam into a nominal range. Thereafter, deviations from this referenced nominal beam can be better identified as anomalies within the object being scanned, that are of interest.