Abstract: A spray system designed for use with animals and in particular a system designed to wash the udders of cows while avoiding injuries to the cows usually encountered with such systems. The present spray system includes a low profile spray head which contains an upwardly directed recessed channel within which are placed a plurality of spray holes to direct water or other fluid spray materials at the udders. The position of the spray holes within the recess causes the fluid emitted from the spray holes to form an upwardly directed fine particle spray or mist which rises from the spray head up to three feet above the spray head, enabling the spray head to completely bathe the utters even though the spray head may be placed at floor level.

Abstract: A surf casting system employing a specially designed bow and arrow and a reel which are capable of projecting a fishing line along with a leader line, hook and bait to distances greater than 100 yards, permitting fishing at distances from the shore that were heretofore generally unattainable with conventional equipment. The bow supports the reel which carries the fishing line. The axis of rotation of the reel is oriented parallel to the direction of flight of the arrow, enabling the line to spill off from the reel at the high speed of the arrow. A line damping system is employed to keep the line sufficiently taught and confined to preventing the tangling of the line as it is released from the reel. The damping system is designed to function without appreciably affecting the speed and distance of the arrow. The composition and density of the arrow is varied to permit either surface or bottom fishing.

Abstract: A basic wall framing unit typically consisting of a rectangle formed of two vertical and two horizontal two inch by four inch lumber with the verticals being spaced apart by two feet on centers. A plurality of wall framing units can be combined at the building site to provide a wall of any desired length. It is also possible to provide complete, larger and more complex wall framing units with provisions for windows and doors which are preassembled at a fabrication facility and then transported to the building site. A wall that is the complete side of a home can be provided and set in place at one time, greatly reducing the time necessary to fabricate the home. All of the framing units are generally secured together with truss plates to provide a means of rapid construction and to reduce or entirely eliminate the need for the carpenter to install hurricane strapping at the site.

Abstract: A hitching system for a tractor or similar vehicle which includes a parallelogram of four rigid members rotatably connected together at the ends of each of the members and in which the members are arranged to provide at least one member which is positioned vertically and moves essentially in the vertical direction despite variations in the surface of the terrain and the height to which the movable vertically positioned member is adjusted. This movable, vertically positioned member is connected to a blade, such as a box blade, to cause the blade to be held with its lower surface generally parallel to the desired final grade of the terrain. The blade is adjusted in the vertical direction as necessary to level the surface of the terrain by a hydraulic cylinder. A laser guidance system is included in a preferred embodiment to control this hydraulic cylinder and the height of the blade with respect to the terrain.

Abstract: A catheter placement system designed to permit a physician to quickly and safely place a large gage catheter into a selected major vein, while avoiding injury to the selected vein, nerves or other veins located about the area of the insertion. Initially, a small finder needle is inserted into the area where selected vein is expected to be located to cause as little damage as possible to the surrounding tissue. Once blood is drawn easily through the finder needle, the selected vein has been located. The finder needle is placed coaxially within a support tube, which is placed coaxially within the catheter. The finder needle is used as a guide for the support tube and catheter, which are moved together over the finder needle into the selected vein, with the support tube providing needed support for the usually flexible catheter to make it rigid while progressing to the selected vein.

Abstract: A spark plug includes a ground electrode and a center electrode. The ground electrode comprises a ring shaped member which is centered on the center electrode. A beveled ring shaped surface of the ring shaped member generally faces the center electrode. This increases the spark area of the ground electrode, providing for more consistent and stronger sparks, and even multiple sparks. A cross shaped channel is disposed centrally on a distal face of the center electrode. Because of the increased spark area which the channel provides, the spark is more likely to travel along the channel, rather than jump from point to point along the distal face of the center electrode, as can happen with conventional spark plugs; thus, the channel provides a stronger and more consistent spark.

Abstract: A compartment which is designed to be mounted on the front panel of a quick scoop carton to hold condiments. The compartment facilitates the application of condiments to food by holding condiments that are difficult to handle such as ketchup. The condiment in the compartment and the food in the carton are held by one hand, freeing the other hand to pick up and dip the food in the condiment. This design eliminates the need to squeeze out the condiment from a package and spread it over the food, making the food difficult and messy to handle.

Abstract: A cable stripping apparatus designed to strip an end of a cable that includes an outer shield and a layer of insulation surrounding a center conductor. The stripping is accomplished by removing the outer shield at a first predetermined location and by removing the insulating layer at second predetermined location. The apparatus comprises a cutting head which includes a cable guide port, one or more cutting blades with their cutting edges facing into the cable guide port and one or more blade actuating mechanisms which drive the blades into the cable guide port and into the surface of the cable to strip the cable when the cutting head is rotated about the cable end. The end of the curing head about the cable guide port is compact, permitting it to be used to strip the ends of cables located in area where larger devices could not be accommodated. The advantage of the compact head end is maintained even though centrifugal force is used to automatically actuate the cutting blades as the cutting head is rotated.

Abstract: A ladder safety attachment designed to secure a ladder at its top to a tree or pole to prevent rocking or sliding of the ladder out of the position to which the ladder was initially set. The safety attachment includes a platform with two sets of spikes. The spikes in the first set are fixed in position with respect to the platform and are designed to engage a tree or pole as soon as the combined safety attachment and ladder are placed against the pole or tree, holding the ladder in its initial position while an operator ascends the ladder to engage the second set of spikes. The spikes in the second set are adjustable and are designed to accommodate various diameter trees or poles. The safety attachment further includes a adjustable set of ladder attachment brackets which can be adjusted to accommodate ladders of various sizes.

Abstract: A neutron absorbing apparatus which includes two adjacent neutron absorbing plates and a mounting assembly with latching means configured to be easily secured to fuel assemblies while the fuel assemblies remain under water in a fuel storage rack, thereby eliminating the need to remove the fuel assemblies or the fuel storage rack for installation. The two neutron absorbing plates are positioned orthogonally to form a chevron cross section which can be placed about the fuel assemblies by insertion in the existing space between the fuel assemblies and the cell walls of a fuel storage rack. A prescribed orientation of the chevron configured neutron absorbing plate in the cells of the fuel storage rack together with the selected use of a single neutron absorbing plate economically provides sufficient neutron absorption in all radial directions about the fuel assemblies to maintain safe storage condition sin closely packed fuel storage racks.

Abstract: A fat/stock separator comprising a colander, a transparent hopper vessel with a trap, a support base and a flow valve mounted to and connected through the wall of the hopper vessel to the trap for draining fluid from the hopper vessel. The colander in a preferred embodiment is sufficiently large to accept the stock and meat parts produced from cooking a large portion of meat or fowl, such as a complete turkey. The oil and fat contained within the stock separates and floats to the top after standing for a period of time. It is then possible to draw off through the flow valve fat free stock from beneath the layer of oil. The contours of the trap and the transparency of the hopper vessel facilitate determining accurately where the fat free stock ends, thereby making it possible to draw off fat free stock, whether there is a large or a small amount of liquid in the hopper vessel.

Abstract: An apparatus for retrieving disbursed objects of various forms, and most importantly spherical objects, such as balls from a surface, such as the ground's surface, comprising a hollow tube having a centrally located longitudinal axis, a first and a second end with an opening at each end, detents located internally within and connected to the hollow tube near the first end of the tube, and a grip attached to the outside of the hollow tube near the second end of the tub. The detents are generally positioned in a single plane oriented orthogonally to the longitudinal axis and in close proximity to the first end of the hollow tube. In retrieving objects, the opening at the first end of the tube is positioned over the object to be retrieved. Downward pressure is applied to the grip to force the hollow tube down and over the object to be retrieved.

Abstract: A neutron absorbing apparatus which includes two adjacent neutron absorbing plates and a mounting assembly with latching means configured to be easily secured to fuel assemblies while the fuel assemblies remain under water in a fuel storage rack, thereby eliminating the need to remove the fuel assemblies or the fuel storage rack for installation. The two neutron absorbing plates are positioned orthogonally to form a chevron cross section which can be placed about the fuel assemblies by insertion in the existing space between the fuel assemblies and the cell walls of a fuel storage rack. A prescribed orientation of the chevron configured neutron absorbing plate in the cells of the fuel storage rack together with the selected use of a single neutron absorbing plate economically provides sufficient neutron absorption in all radial directions about the fuel assemblies to maintain safe storage conditions in closely packed fuel storage racks.

Abstract: A system for extending the frequency range of an RF amplifier by improving the VSWR, and power handling capability of the amplifier, comprising a broadband reversing transformer, a first and a second amplifier coupled by means of a first and a second through-line quadrature coupler with the first quadrature coupler being connected to the inputs of the two amplifiers and the second quadrature coupler being connected to the outputs of the two amplifiers. The broadband reversing transformer is inserted in series with one of the two amplifiers enabling a signal at frequencies out of the passband of the quadrature couplers to pass through the through-lines port of the quadrature couplers, and thereby greatly extending the frequency range over which quadrature couplers may be used while, at the same time, retaining the usual combining and VSWR advantages of the couplers within their passbands.

Abstract: A system for providing a quadrature hybrid with a wide bandwidth and an extremely low amplitude imbalance. This system incorporates conventional quadrature hybrids as components and provide a system quadrature hybrid having a larger bandwidth and a far lower amplitude imbalance than that of any of the component quadrature hybrids. Typically, the system bandwidth improvement over that of the component hybrids is 60 percent, while the improvement in the imbalance is 6 to 1. These improvements are achieved using a system network consisting fundamentally of three conventional hybrids, a reversing divider and an in-phase divider, all of which are readily available components. This system provides a significant improvement over more complicated quadrature hybrid designs where filter networks are required to obtain wide bandwidth. The widest bandwidth components now abailable, including those using filter networks, can be incorporated in the present invention to provide an even wider system bandwidth.