Abstract: A second stage scuba pressure regulator having a valve seat and a floating piston that is free to travel axially within adjustable limits in relationship to the valve seat. Upon pressurization, the piston is pneumatically actuated to make contact with a valve seat set to a pre-adjusted contact interference. Upon depressurization, the piston is free to retract away from the valve seat to a position of no or minimal contact which will prevent long term deformation of the contacting surfaces.

Abstract: A cuticle pusher manicuring appliance which employs a pusher head having an upper member and a lower member with a rounded slot therebetween. The cuticle is captured in the slot while it is being pushed by the appliance. The lower member lifts the edge of the cuticle a precise distance from the nail surface while the upper member prevents the cuticle edge from being lifted above the slot. The dome structure of the upper member acts as an inhibitor, stopping the edge of the pusher from invading the matrix of the nail, a delicate area where the nail cells are produced.

Abstract: A system of computers having team/workgroup features built in. A typical hardware component thereof is a unitary chassis of a regular single IBM-PC tower-chassis footprint, designed to house electronics for up to four personal computers, all operating on a single power supply. The unitary chassis provides interconnecting cable for connecting up to four corresponding display terminals and keyboards, which all can be located at other dispersed locations. Each such computer provides a communication/device-sharing card, which may for example be a SCSI-II card providing data rate transfer at 10 Megabytes per second on a single SCSI-II cable. Furthermore, each computer comprises a CPU card and a monitor interface card, such as a VGA card. The invention is especially suited for configuration as a PC-based, multiple-CPU, multi-user workgroup system. Such workgroup systems are especially adapted for collaborative, multimedia and client-server computing for small workgroups.

Abstract: The head and shaft of golf clubs are mechanically isolated from one another by a dampening ferrule made of a rubber-like material and installed around the shaft where the shaft attaches to the head such as at the hosel. The ferrule in a disclosed embodiment is configured as a hollow cylinder having an internal passage for tight-fit engagement with the shaft and an external radial surface for tight-fit engagement with the golf club head. Preferred materials for the dampening ferrule include Neoprene, Delrin, Nylon, plastic polymers and other rubber-like substances.

Abstract: A holder for temporary storage of eye-glasses particularly in a vehicle, comprises an elongated hollow cylinder made of a rubber-like, soft resilient material. A rectangular slot at one end of the cylinder is adjacent a plurality of straight die cuts forming a plurality of deformable fingers. These fingers effectively grasp an end of the folded eye-glasses physically isolating and protecting the eye-glasses which sit, predominantly in the interior of the cylinder. The cylinder is preferrably dimensioned to fit standard cup holders used in vehicles.

Abstract: A frangible quick disconnect coupling having a coupler and a nipple, also referred to herein as coupling halves which are designed to automatically seal off fluid flow after impact in a modularized race car configuration to prevent fuel spillage. The shut-off mechanisms work under any impact condition, including tension, shear and bending breakaway The couplings are designed for equipment which has been modularized for a quick change environment. A radially floating mechanism allows the couplings to be connected under misaligned conditions for blind mating operation. This mechanism also protects the breakaway structure under severe vibration conditions. All leak paths are completely sealed off throughout the normal connect and disconnect operations to minimize fuel spillage. Streamlined flow passages are designed to minimize pressure loss. Coupling halves are designed for direct mounting to an engine manifold, fuel cell or other structure without hose attachment interfaces.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for generation of electricity from packages of spent-fuel rods either on a remote site or in a permanent underground waste repository. It can also be applied to abandoned deep mines with high temperatures. Also many low-temperature geothermal reservoirs can generate electricity economically. Each individual fuel rod assembly is estimated to produce about 8 kilowatts and the total assemblies in the United States can generate about 63 megawatts of heat. Although this energy cannot be used to generate steam, it is harnessed in the invention by inducing ventilation in shafts constructed as part of an underground mined facility or by installation of ventilation chimneys at reactor sites. Natural ventilation phenomena has been observed and historically used to supply air in mines. It is also the same process that makes chimneys work in fire places and industrial furnaces.

Abstract: A method of providing shallow acceptor and donor energy levels to produce higher conductivity semiconductor materials, relies on the coulombic pairing of donor and acceptor elements. One exemplary embodiment is applied to create shallow acceptor levels in the III-V nitride materials via the coulombic pairing of group I elements which, in principle, act as double acceptors occupying metal lattice sites with group IV or group VI elements which act as single donors occupying metal or nitrogen lattice sites, respectively. The resulting pairs act as single acceptors with an energy level much closer to the valence band edge than that of either the first or second level of the group I element acceptors in their unpaired state. This approach, when optimized, can result in creating acceptor levels much shallower than the Mg acceptors currently used to make p-type GaN and its alloys.

Abstract: A reconfigurable computer mouse pad is disclosed as comprising a pair of adhesively attached mouse pad material surfaces having mounted therebetween a plurality of plumber strips, the latter comprising elongated, rectangular strips of metal typically made of an aluminum alloy. The combination of mouse pad surfaces and the plumbers'strips sandwiched between them, results in a novel structure of a readily configurable computer mouse pad apparatus which permits the pad to be bent into virtually any desired configuration, including for example, an arched configuration suitable for being mounted on the arm of a chair or on the thigh of a user. The most significant aspect of the present invention is that it comprises a mouse pad that can be configured into any shape and because of the construction thereof, will retain that shape.

Abstract: A manicuring apparatus in the form of an elongated spade which serves two distinct functions. One such function is pushing and separating the cuticle and the other such function is removing the pterygium membrane with a scraping action. The pterygium membrane is a thin layer of skin firmly attached to and extending over the nail plate from the cuticle. The appliance comprises a handle portion and a dome portion, the latter terminating in an arcuate blade edge shaped to conform to the curvature of the cuticle edge of the nail.

Abstract: A curling iron system which, in addition to conventional mechanical elements of base, curling irons, ovens, holders and the like, utilizes an accurate temperature measurement and display capability adapted for use by salon personnel without sophisticated technical know-how. The temperature measurement is implemented by a thermocouple and the display is implemented using a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) connected to the thermocouple by a thermocouple amplifier and a display driver. The combination of thermocouple, LED display and intermediate electronics, operates to provide an accurate indication of the actual surface temperature of the curling iron and thus assure that the iron will be precisely the appropriate temperature for curling or straightening the particular thickness hair being serviced. In the preferred embodiment disclosed herein, the thermocouple is mounted on a platform adjacent the oven and the display is positioned on a vertically oriented member behind the thermocouple platform.

Abstract: A golf club having a configuration adapted to ensure that the gloved, weak hand of the golfer, grasps the club shaft and particularly the gripping area thereof with a sufficient force to adequately secure the club and thus play the game despite the presence of a handicap, including a handicap comprising the total inability to exert any force in a gripping manner. Furthermore, the present invention provides a golf glove configuration which is designed to provide a powerful grasp of the club shaft with the gloved hand for preventing any twisting of the glove upon impact with the ball, despite the presence of large torquing forces resulting from such impact. The invention is essentially identical in shape to all existing golf gloves, but comprises a Velcro hooked strap which is much longer than the conventional Velcro hook strap found in ordinary golf gloves.