Abstract: A safety light assembly is designed for use with an outboard, motor or the outdrive unit of a motor mounted on a boat which is carried on a trailer being towed by a towing vehicle. The safety light assembly is removably secured to the anti-cavitation plate of the drive housing of the motor or outdrive unit by means of clamps. The assembly includes a housing with a central light-supporting portion between first and second flanges located on opposite sides of the central light-supporting portion. A light is attached to the central light-supporting portion of the housing; and the flanges are removably secured by means of clamps to the anti-cavitation plate on the drive housing of an outboard motor, or outdrive unit. Electrical connectors interconnect the light with a source of electrical energy, which ideally is the lighting system of the taillights of a boat trailer.

Abstract: A laser aiming system and method is provided for determining the aiming tendencies of an individual golfer during putting. The system consists of two main parts. One of these parts is a housing with a laser in it for directing a beam of light parallel to the putting surface and at right angles to an imaginary line between a ball to be putted and a target hole. A mirror attached to the toe of the putter head is oriented perpendicular to the ball-striking surface of the putter head. The location of the laser beam is such that when the putter is in position to strike the ball, the projected beam of light is reflected from the mirror on the putter head back to the housing from which the laser beam is projected. The reflected beam strikes a 45° inclined mirror in the housing and reflects upwardly to an opaque indicating window, where the reflected laser beam spot is visible to the golfer. When the putter is correctly aimed, the spot is in the center of the window.

Abstract: A farrier's sighting instrument is designed as a portable, lightweight tool, easily carried by a farrier. It comprises a flat, transparent plate of a rectangular configuration, and sized to overlie the foot of a horse. The plate has a plurality of parallel indicia line sets on it, with the line sets arranged perpendicular to one edge of the plate. The lines in the line sets are spaced from one another by a uniform distance. A stop plate is attached to the one edge, and extends above the top surface of the flat transparent plate, with the stop plate located in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the parallel indicia lines.

Abstract: A water distribution valve, ideally suited for distributing water from a recirculating pump of a swimming pool to selective outlet lines, is designed with a main housing in the form of an outer cylindrical section. This main housing has outlet ports located through the peripheral surface thereof at equal angular spaced intervals. These outlet openings are located in a plane which is perpendicular to the central axis of the main housing. A fluid distribution member, in the form of a T-shaped body, is rotatably mounted inside the main housing member. The base or stem of the T is connected with a water inlet; and one arm of the T has a fluid delivery opening in it for delivering water from the inlet through the opening.

Abstract: A harvesting machine particularly suitable for picking or harvesting vegetables, such as peppers or tomatoes, employs a harvesting frame on which is mounted a rotating shaft aligned transversely to the direction of movement of the machine. A pair of spaced apart picking members are mounted on the shaft on opposite sides of a row of plants having a crop to be harvested. The picking members are simultaneously rotated; and each of them has a plurality of arcuate picking elements pivotally mounted on them. The picking elements rotate with the picking members in the same direction of movement of the machine; and as the picking elements rotate downwardly above the row of plants, a cam pivots them into a position adjacent the picking members, spaced away from a plant located between the picking members.

Abstract: A constant flow distribution valve, particularly suited as the filler valve for a canning system, is constructed in the form of at least three stacked circular plates. The top or uppermost one of these plates has an elongated slot formed in it near the circumference, and oriented perpendicular to a radius of the top plate or concentrically with the circumference of the plate. This plate is mounted in a non-rotational position in the canning apparatus. A second plate and an indexing member are mounted together for rotation beneath the first plate. The second plate has its center line aligned with the center of the top plate, and includes a series of equally spaced distribution openings through it, with the openings aligned with the slot in the first plate as the second plate is rotated. Beneath the second plate is an indexing member for locating containers to be filled beneath each of the distribution openings in the second plate.

Abstract: An improved safety fishing lure includes a main body portion which is hollow. The front end of the main body portion is designed to be attached to a fishing line. The main body portion also has a groove in it for protecting the point of a hook. A hook is movably mounted in the main body portion for movement from a storage position, with the point in the groove, to an active fish catching mode with the point extended out of the groove beyond the main body portion. A holding mechanism including a spring is used to hold the hook in its storage position. A release mechanism is coupled with the holding mechanism for disengaging the holding mechanism in response to movement of the main body portion through the water to cause the hook to move to its active fish catching position.

Abstract: The throwing arm for a clay target launching machine is designed with an adjustable leading edge or target-engaging edge of the throwing arm. This edge is separately, pivotally mounted on a main body member, which in turn is pivoted to launch the targets. By adjusting the angle of the leading edge of the throwing arm, causing it to be offset from a center line through the central pivot of the main body member of the throwing arm, the angle between two simultaneously released targets can be varied from an angle which is less than that of conventional devices to an angle which is greater than that of conventional devices. A further enhancement includes constructing the leading edge of the throwing arm with materials of different coefficients of friction to provide additional variations in the angle at which targets are released by the machine in which the throwing arm is used.

Abstract: A portable dechlorinator filter, primarily designed for use in dechlorinating the water in a bath tub or the like, is in the form of a hollow ball made of plastic material. The plastic ball includes a number of perforations or apertures through it to permit the free flow of water from the exterior of the ball through its interior. Filter material made of a copper-zinc compound or brass-zinc compound is provided in the form of elongated filaments (manufactured on the order of steel wool and the like). The filter material is encased in a water-permeable, gauze-like cover placed inside the plastic ball. The gauze-like cover prevents broken ends of the filaments from protruding through any of the holes in the ball. The ball is made of two releasably interconnected hemispheres; so that spent filter material can be removed and replaced with new filter material.

Abstract: A vehicle washing system is mounted adjacent the ceiling of a garage or other structure. It includes an upper frame and a mat is located beneath the frame for catching and draining off fluids used during the washing operation. After a vehicle is driven onto the mat beneath the frame, a mechanism is operated to lower a waterproof curtain from the frame down to a point adjacent the mat to completely surround the vehicle. In addition, fluid conduit rings also are lowered from the frame to various positions surrounding the vehicle. Nozzles in these rings are directed toward the vehicle location and washing and rinsing fluid is supplied, under pressure, to the rings in a pre-established sequence to effect the washing of the vehicle. In addition, hot air drying tubes and nozzles are lowered from the frame when the device is in use to permit the application of hot drying air to the vehicle after the washing cycle has been completed.

Abstract: A portable starting block, used by track athletes, is constructed of sections of two lightweight aluminum extrusions. One of these extrusions comprises a foot pedal portion having a generally concave, outwardly facing, foot-engaging portion with an inwardly turned track-engaging end. The other portion of the starting block is a support plate, which also has a track-engaging end and an upper end for pivotal interconnection with the foot pedal portion. The pivotal interconnections are formed as mating extrusions, one of which slides into the other to form a movable hinge between the two portions of the starting block. This permits any desired incremental angle adjustment of the starting block within a fairly wide range of angles. The two parts are locked together by a locking pin; and when the block is folded into its storage position, the foot pedal portion underlies the support plate portion.

Abstract: An improved ausculatory blood pressure cuff, of the type used in self-testing locations, operates with no moving parts other than the inflatable bladder. No springs or mechanical motors are used to close the bladder portion of the machine around the arm of the user. A generally cylindrically shaped housing is mounted on a base support. The housing has an opening where it is mounted onto the base support; and a hollow fabric sleeve, having a first portion releasably attached to the interior of the cylindrical housing and having a second portion spaced from the first portion located on the interior of the housing, is placed in the housing. An inflatable bladder is located in the space between the two portions of the hollow sleeve; and air is supplied under pressure to inflate the bladder to predetermined pressures. When this is done, the bladder and sleeve expand to constrict the space in the cylindrical housing to close the bladder and sleeve about the arm of a user.

Abstract: An exercise device for stretching the lower back and leg muscles of a user includes a flexible cable located between a foot rest portion and a handle member. The handle member is designed to be grasped by the hands of a user; and the cable is fixedly attached to one or the other of the foot rest or the handle. The other end of the cable is attached to a rotatable reel; and a motor is provided for operating the reel to wind up the cable to reduce the distance between the handle and the foot rest at a predetermined rate. Controls are provided for controlling the operation of the motor and for controlling its direction of operation. In some embodiments, the motor is a battery-operated motor located within the handle member, which also includes batteries for operating the motor.

Abstract: A CMOS wave shaping buffer circuit comprises two CMOS inverter stages connected as a non-inverting buffer. In addition, the two stages are further coupled by way of their supply connections to produce a positive feedback from the second stage to the first whenever both stages are driven to a linear state, that is both transistors of each stage are “ON”. The positive feedback prevents the output stage from remaining in a logically ambiguous state, but forces crisp transitions from one state to another even for slowly changing input signals.

Abstract: The absolute interferometric measurement of the shape of either flat, or spherical surfaces is achieved by incorporating a Fizeau-interferometer and a test piece holder capable of several degrees of freedom of movement relative to the reference position in the interferometer. A data acquisition and processing technique inter-compares three test parts in various combinations. Full surface absolute maps for each of the test pieces are determined using at least two different rotational positions of one test-piece to yield rotationally sheared maps of that surface. An optimized numerical reconstruction algorithm employing linear filtering and superposition of different angular shear spectra in the angular frequency domain is employed. The method does not require any assumptions about the surfaces under test; and it has low error propagation, even in the case of high spatial resolution.

Abstract: A fitting, in the form of a mounting collar for installation of a water input nozzle, such as a cleaning head in the floor and walls of a swimming pool, is designed to permit the fitting to be rocked from side to side a limited amount relative to the central axis of a water supply pipe in which the fitting is inserted during initial installation. This is done to allow for installation discrepancies where the water supply pipe is not perpendicular to the surface of the pool where the pipe opens into the pool. By allowing this amount of movement in the installation of the mounting collar, the orientation of a pop-up cleaning head, for example, with respect to the pool floor or wall, is ensured to be perpendicular; so that optimum cleaning of the pool surface during subsequent use of the system occurs.

Abstract: A swimming pool aerator is designed with a base member secured to the end of a water return pipe above the water surface in the side of a pool or water feature basin. The base member carries a retractable spray nozzle, which normally is biased to retract into the wall of the pool through the base member. When water is applied to the supply line under pressure, an aerator nozzle is moved from a rest position to an extended position against the action of a biasing spring to spray water into the pool. When the pressure or supply is turned off, the aerator nozzle is retracted back into the base portion by the biasing spring to a position safely out of the way of swimmers or users of the pool.

Abstract: A weapon discharge safety mechanism is designed in one multiple section piece for use with handguns and in two separate sections for use with rifles. The discharge safety mechanism includes a trigger guard housing with a bottom, first and second sides and an open top, which fits over and covers the trigger guard and trigger area of a firearm such as a pistol or a rifle. The trigger guard housing portion is releasably secured by a retention pin just behind the front of the trigger guard to hold the trigger guard housing portion in place covering the trigger guard. For handguns, an enclosed bullet trap housing is attached to the trigger guard housing portion. For rifles, this housing is separate. The bullet trap housing has a first closed end and a second open end, which fits over the end of a barrel of the gun and extends over the barrel a short distance.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for packaging coiled nylon copolymer trimmer line comprises making the package of plastic material which is capable of melt bonding, either by the application of heat and pressure, radio frequency (RF) or by ultrasonic welding. The container comprises a backing sheet and a pre-formed bubble having an opening in it, with a flange extending outwardly around the opening. The flange is placed on the backing sheet; and the two sheets are heat-melt bonded together by a suitable technique, to produce a strong, integral package which significantly resists separation of the flange from the backing sheet. After the package has been formed, nylon or nylon copolymer, or other plastic, trimmer line is wound into the package, and the bond between the flange and the backing sheet is greater than the compression spring force exerted by the wound trimmer line against the package, preventing separation of the package parts from one another.

Abstract: A line for a rotating trimmer has a plurality of longitudinal outwardly-extending cutting edges, spaced circumferentially about the main body portion of the line. A cross-sectional area of the main body portion is selected to be between 70 percent and 90 percent of the area of the space circumscribing the cutting edges to provide substantial bulk to the line to increase its wear, while retaining the advantages of the cutting edges for facilitating cutting of grass and the like.