Abstract: A wrench for soft spike assemblies. The wrench provides a wrench head and a ribbed handle. The wrench head includes a plurality of symmetrically-spaced torque members and insert grip members, the former designed to frictionally engage the individual spikes and the latter designed to engage and grasp the perimeter of the spike assembly thereby facilitating hands-free installation and removal of the spike assemblies. The handle is provided with a hexagonal insert passage fore receiving an Allen-type wrench which may be used to provide increased torque in installing or removing a soft spike assembly.

Abstract: An improved force transducer which may, for example, be used as a joystick control for computer display control. Co-planar strain gauges are configured for response to forces applied in each of three orthogonal directions. A post and underlying ceramic substrate, the latter having the strain gauges mounted thereon, are mounted to a printed circuit board by means of a conductive epoxy or solder in a gap between the substrate and the circuit board. A retainer may be used to limit the extent of post displacement in X and Y directions to prevent damage to the assembly from forces which would otherwise exceed the physical limits thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the post and underlying substrate are implemented as a unitary ceramic body. In another embodiment, ballast or trim resistors for balancing the output of the transducer, are located under the post. In yet another embodiment the metal paths or traces which connect to the strain gauges, follow a unique arrangement to avoid crossing over each other.

Abstract: A method of dry cleaning articles such as clothing and the like including the use of Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Etheracetate as the cleaning solvent and the use of vacuum to assist in the removal of solvent from the articles and the use of vacuum distillation of the solvent after a cleaning cycle.

Abstract: The fabrication of an off axis three-mirror telescope on only two substrates allowing two of mirrors to be formed on a common substrate, such as by means of diamond turning. The common substrate configuration is made possible by utilizing a common vertex for both the primary and tertiary mirrors so that alignment subsequent to fabrication requires placement of only two elements. In addition, all three mirrors in this invention share a common optical axis enabling an extremely simple mounting and housing design. The present invention is applicable for use in electro-optical imaging sensors operating from visible wavelengths to long infrared wavelengths. A telescope is formed by the assembly of three off-axis mirrors, including a primary mirror, a secondary mirror and a tertiary mirror.

Abstract: A dive mask having a drain and deflector flow guide soft skirt. The flexible skirt has a built-in purge valve and a nose compression recess on each side of a nose enclosure. The skirt thus exhausts and deflects exhaled bubbles away from the diver's line of vision. The two recesses permit one-handed finger access to permit the diver to squeeze his or her nostrils together to permit the diver to equalize ear pressure with the water pressure.

Abstract: A tire lever for removing tires from wheels having an axle and installing tires thereon provides separate hooks for removal and installation, an attachment to the wheel axle and length adjustment for accommodating different size wheels. Tire removal and installation is accomplished by rotating the lever around the wheel using the axle as a center of rotation while the appropriate hook engages the tire bead.

Abstract: New sensing and diagnostic methods are implemented with multimode fiber Bragg gratings (MMFBG) and methods for sensor addressing and multiplexing are described. Real time structural strain and vibration monitoring using optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) is discussed. The first all-mode, wave optics calculations of the reflectivity of Bragg gratings in highly multimode optical fibers are presented, including the effects of individual mode power changes due to microbending transducer loss upstream from the grating. Two categories of multimode fiber gratings are possible, independent mode and mode coupling, and the fabrication differences between these types of gratings are described. The reflectivity properties of independent mode multimode fiber gratings are examined and compared to single mode fiber gratings.

Abstract: A lower housing connects to the snorkel tube on one end, to the mouthpiece at the other, and can connect to ambient through a one-way purge valve in the middle. The lower housing has a mouthpiece with flexible bellows attached to it. Within the mouthpiece, and connected to the lower housing, is a sleeve in one of multiple positions. The mouthpiece is connected to the other end of the sleeve so that as the sleeve angle changes relative to the lower housing, so does the mouthpiece angle change.A flexible rib in the lower housing has a raised contour that locks into one of a plurality of raised contours on the sleeve. Therefore, to change the angle of the mouthpiece relative to the lower housing, the snorkeler simply pushes the mouthpiece into one of several positions. There is enough locking pressure between the lower housing rib and the sleeve contours to prevent the mouthpiece from changing positions unintentionally.

Abstract: A resettable ground fault circuit interrupter most advantageously suited for use with 400-Hz aircraft electrical systems and designed to interrupt the AC power between an aircraft electrical system and one or more electrical appliances being operated therein when a ground fault occurs. The circuit relies upon an imbalance sensor which is implemented in the preferred embodiment disclosed herein as a multi-turn coil of a transformer through which input wires connected to an AC input terminal are threaded so that an imbalance resulting from a ground fault can be detected by the coil. The signal generated by the coil as a result of such an imbalance is then amplified and applied to a thyristor, the conducting or non-conducting state of which determines whether or not the circuit is in a configuration for interrupting the AC signal or not interrupting the AC signal. Light emitting diodes are utilized to indicate the interruption status of the circuit.

Abstract: The glass pane of an emergency equipment access panel is replaced by tempered glass as opposed to conventional annealed glass panels of the type available in the prior art. Tempering places the surfaces of the glass in a higher degree of compression while balancing tensile forces are confined to the interior. Because of the high degree of permanent stress induced in the glass by tempering, if any portion of the tempered glass is weakened, such as by cracking even an edge thereof, the entire structure virtually disintegrates into a large plurality of small, relatively harmless pieces, leaving no significant size shards of glass that might otherwise injure one's hand or arm reaching through the shattered glass to gain access to the interior of a cabinet for example. An edge breaking device provides a simple and convenient means for exploiting the high stresses built into tempered glass and produces the virtual disintegration of the glass panel even though only an edge portion thereof has been fractured.

Abstract: An improved force transducer which may, for example, be used as a joystick control for computer display control. Co-planar strain gauges are configured for response to forces applied in each of three orthogonal directions. A post and underlying ceramic substrate, the latter having the strain gauges mounted thereon, are mounted to a printed circuit board by means of a conductive epoxy or solder in a gap between the substrate and the circuit board. A retainer may be used to limit the extent of post displacement in X and Y directions to prevent damage to the assembly from forces which would otherwise exceed the physical limits thereof.

Abstract: An immobilization weapon of the type which imparts an electrical voltage across a live target using a projectile launched toward the target from a distance, employs a projectile having two connecters. One such connecter extends from the projectile in fixed relation thereto. The other such connecter is launched from the projectile at or near the target to assure proper spacing between the connecters irrespective of the distance to the target. In the preferred embodiment, the secondarily launched connecter is actuated by current through the target when the projectile is in proximity to the impact surface of the target.

Abstract: A new class of fiber optic sensors based on nonlinear buckling of fibers and optical bend loss provide intrinsic, all-fiber displacement sensors which exhibit several unique properties. Primary among them is a sensing range from less than 1 .mu.m to several mm, which is convenient for many structural monitoring applications. This sensing range is also very convenient for many actuator and lever arm sensing applications. In addition, the sensors exhibit a very low temperature dependence of the response, and are easily configurable for a variety of novel applications. They may be implemented with single-mode, few mode, or highly multimode fibers, including plastic optical fiber (POF). Both step index and graded index profile fibers produce useful sensors with differing response characteristics.

Abstract: A force transducer having a post connected to an underlying substrate having a plurality of strain gauges, is protected from otherwise damaging static electric discharge current using a grounding guard. The guard is preferably a flat conductive member having an aperture for receiving the post and a tab for connection to electrical ground. The guard surrounds the post and overlays the substrate to channel such current away from delicate strain gauges and other electronics. In the preferred embodiment the aperture is formed by bending up a plurality of flaps cut into the guard and bent up to receive the post in press-fit engagement.