Abstract: An article to hold the bottom of trouser or pants legs in place to allow for ease of insertion in a sock, boot or the like. The article includes an open ended garter band including a longitudinally stretchable portion, a generally U-shaped longitudinally stretchable stirrup depending from the garter band and mating fuzz and hook members of the VELCRO fastener type on opposite faces of the free end portions of the garter band. The stirrup is looped around the arch of the foot and the garter band is wrapped around the pants leg above its bottom edge and adjacent the ankle where the free end portions are pressed together to close the ankle garter band whereby the fuzz and hook members engage. The garter can be opened by pulling the overlapped ends apart.

Abstract: A control valve is provided for use in brake applications in air-spring equipped railroad and highway vehicles, particularly convertible rail-highway semi-trailers. Such vehicles usually employ pneumatic brake cylinders. The control valve combines the functions of a relay valve with two distinct output limiting characteristics, namely, service and emergency, which output limiting characteristics depend upon vehicle weight is indicated by air spring pressure. The control valve also produces an automatic minimum output to prevent total loss of braking should air spring pressure be lost due to failure.

Abstract: An air control system is provided for a vehicle convertible between highway and railway modes of travel. Air springs suspend a rail-wheel set axle unit and highway wheel-set axle units from the vehicle body so that the one wheel-set axle unit is stored in a raised inoperative position while the other is in the lowered operative position. During a transfer from the highway mode of travel to the railroad mode of travel, or vice-versa, a valved air control system selectively allows the wheel-set axle units to be positioned in either the raised or lowered positions. The air control system also includes, in addition to the mode selection function, the highway braking function, the rail braking function, the parking brake and the emergency brake functions.

Abstract: A system of automatically controlling the size of thermoplastic blown film to minimize scrap generation by guiding the bubble at an elevation above the melting point of the bubble, to keep it centered above the extrusion die, sensing when the bubble is too wide or too narrow and automatically actuating a means to selectively remove or deliver gas or air to or from the bubble to return the bubble to the predetermined desired diameter of width and sensing when the predetermined diameter or width is obtained.

Abstract: A twist lock for removably retaining a standardized container on a chassis in which a first gear quadrant is mounted on a shank of the lock for rotation therewith, a second gear quadrant is mounted for rotation within the chassis bolster and engaging the first gear quadrant, a handle to rotate the second gear quadrant and a latch mechanism associated with the handle whereby movement of the handle in one direction will rotate the twist lock 90.degree. to its locking position within the corner member of the container, and movement of the handle in the opposite direction will rotate the lock back to its unlocked position. The actuating mechanism of the lock is confined within the envelope of the bolster so that the handle wll not protrude behind the rear of the chassis and can be installed in a position in which the dirt, salt and splash of the rear wheels will be kept out of the actuating mechanism.

Abstract: A pin construction for locking the front corner castings of a standard container to a conventional gooseneck chassis in which the pin is provided with a gear rack, a spur gear quadrant is mounted for rotation to and in the front bolster of the chassis which engages the gear rack, a handle to rotate the spur gear and a latch mechanism associated with the handle whereby in-line thrust of the pin is obtained to obviate binding, the mechanism being relatively simple, maintenance-free and encased in the bolster to preclude damage to the pin and handle.

Abstract: A rail bogie air suspension for a convertible rail-highway semi-trailer using an invaginating air bag secured between an upper air chamber member affixed to the underside of the rear frame of a vehicle and a load support leg assembly, a bumper carried by said upper air chamber member, a plate and shaft assembly spring urged towards said bumper and a pneumatically operable pin supporting said plate and shaft assembly whereby, when air is vented from the bag, air pressure is simultaneously provided which acts on a member that retracts the pin and allows the bumper plate and shaft assembly to move past the pin under the weight of the vehicle to allow the entire assembly to fully retract for the proper elevated stored position of the bogie during the highway mode.

Abstract: In a convertible rail-highway semi-trailer a mechanism for lifting and retaining a rail wheel-set axle unit or bogie in an elevated stored position in the highway mode when the highway wheels engage the ground. The mechanism includes hooks pre-set to engage the bogie when the body has been lowered and to retain the bogie as the body rises when the air springs of the highway wheel-set axle unit are inflated to convert from the rail to highway mode. The mechanism also includes a device to keep the hooks disengaged from the rail bogie when the air springs of the rail bogie are inflated and the flanged railroad wheels engage the tracks and the highway wheels are in an elevated inoperative position. The mechanism is also provided with a valve device to prevent inflation of the rail bogie air springs when the latter is in its elevated stored position.

Abstract: Chess pieces each with a detachable marker at the base of the piece to permit playing variations without the necessity of starting from move one of a diagramless game. The marker is removably attached to the piece, preferably by magnetic means, and the board is magnetically attenuated, such as a standard board ferric-metalized at the preferably non-playing surface, to retain the detached marker in the original square yet not interfere with piece movement or reunion of piece and its marker, and make detachment easy despite firm magnetic attachment of piece and marker. The marker includes a portion extending beyond the peripheral edge of the base of the piece so that the marker is visible, but not distractingly so, when attached to the piece to indicate the original position of the piece.

Abstract: An electro pneumatic system is provided for simultaneously braking a plurality of railway cars in a train. A relay valve in each car is connected between the source of air braking pressure and the brake cylinders and is responsive to the amount of air pressure within an independent air reservoir in each of the cars to apply or release the brakes. Electrical means are selectively operated to control the amount of air pressure in each independent air reservoir.

Abstract: A coupler to connect rail-highway vehicles end to end including a female member at the end of one vehicle into which extends a sensing member, a male member at the end of an adjacent vehicle adapted to enter the female member, the male member including a vertical hole therethrough, and linkage connecting the sensing member with a vertical locking pin so that as the male member approaches its fully inserted position in the female member it contacts the sensing member and actuates the linkage to automatically urge the vertical locking pin through the vertical hole, the assembly being such that the weight of the vertical locking pin cannot retract from the vertical hole and cause an unlocking action to occur. In the uncoupling action, the vertical locking pin is first retracted and upon full withdrawal of the male member, the sensing member re-enters the female member, the entire assembly then being reset for automatic coupling when necessary.

Abstract: A rail car brake system of high mechanical efficiency which is compact, light in weight and economical in that it utilizes mass produced highway truck brake cylinders and slack adjusters and is easy to maintain. Critical components are lubricated and fully sealed against foreign particles. The brake system includes a shoe which is mounted in a brake head to operate in a direction truly perpendicular to the wheel tread to reduce wear, employs a long-lead screw operatively inter-connecting the brake cylinder and brake head via an automatic slack adjuster and an anti-friction roller bearing supporting the screw whereby direct load path absorption of the brake application forces is effected. The brake system also includes a parking brake which is automatically applied and released and which also provides emergency braking capability should the service brake fail. Each brake system operates on one wheel.

Abstract: A pre-mixed adhesive composition comprised of a vinyl acetate co-polymer emulsion including a cross-linking catalyst and a cross-linking inhibitor providing a good cured water resistant Type II bond and extended shelf life so that the adhesive composition will not gel over an extended period of time and will therefore be usable for direct gluing application to semi-porous and porous substrates.

Abstract: A one-piece plastic razor molded to contain a handle, a guard plate at the top thereof, at least one locating pin upstanding from the guard plate and adapted to extend through a slot in the razor blade, a cover hinged at one end of the guard plate having at least one slot, beads in the locating pin to frictionally engage the cover slot and firmly lock the cover against the blade on the guard plate and means to ease opening of the cover to replace the blade without sacrificing the locking action of the cover on the guard plate.

Abstract: A truck body floor construction in which transverse boards of standard length and width with holes pre-drilled in predetermined positions are secured to the side rails having pre-drilled holes in the same predetermined positions, whereby the flooring is self-jigging and the length of the flooring to accommodate different lengths of vehicle bodies can be readily effected by simply adding one or more boards. A novel tie-down means clamps the body to the longitudinal frame rails of a wheeled supporting frame easily and effectively, which means holds the body securely to the frame even when the truck body is subjected to fore and aft stops and sudden starts. This system eliminates the need for cross members and thereby does not necessitate advance information of axle location to provide wheel clearance, since the transverse floor system provides full length clearance.

Abstract: A vehicle body or intermodal container whose sidewalls comprise modular steel, aluminum or plastic panels bonded to plywood and whose roof comprises a continuous metal or plastic sheet substantially coextensive with the body bonded to plywood. The construction is economical, structurally sound, esthetically attractive and not prone to occasional damage, water-tight and reparable in the field without resort to welding.

Abstract: A convertible semi-trailer having over-the-road or highway running gear with rubber tired wheels and a flanged rail wheel-set and bogie, the body being supported upon said highway running gear and upon said railroad bogie independently by air spring means associated with the rail wheel-set axle unit and with the highway running gear and means to alternately raise and lower the highway running gear and railroad bogie for selective use in the railroad mode or highway mode of travel, the semi-trailers being couplable end-to-end to form a train of multiple semi-trailers in the railroad mode of travel. The highway running gear may be of the single axle or the tandem axle type, in each case each axle carrying dual sets of tires of conventional size allowing loads as high as legally permitted to be carried over the road in the highway mode of travel, the railroad bogie having a single axle wheel set of approximately 60,000 lb. capacity.

Abstract: A self-steering wheel set for a railway vehicle, particularly a convertible rail-highway semi-trailer, wherein an arcuate member is secured transversely beneath the vehicle body and a wheel-set unit or bogie is provided comprising a yoke to which a tongue is fixedly secured at its rear end, the front end of the tongue having means slidably mounting the tongue on and capturing the arcuate member, an axle and flanged wheels mounted on the yoke and air spring means supporting the vehicle on the yoke, whereby the tongue acts as a tow bar, the connection between the free end of the tongue and the arcuate member is such that it is capable of taking torque reactions, the tongue and its connection to the yoke is such that it is capable of taking longitudinal brake reaction and the bogie follows the curvature of the rails.

Abstract: A coupler to connect convertible rail-highway vehicles end to end to achieve train configuration to carry vertical loads of about 25,000 pounds and at the same time provide limited rolling, pitching and yaw actions between the coupled vehicles. The coupler includes a male member extending from the front of a rear vehicle and a female member in the rear sill structure of a forward vehicle receiving the male member and a releasable locking means comprised of a vertical hole through the male member, a bushing in the vertical hole, the outer surface of which bushing is spherical, a spherical seat in the rear sill structure upon which the male member rests, a vertical locking pin, the vertical axis of the hole, spherical seat and locking pin being the same, and linkage means to selectively extend the locking pin through the vertical hole in the male member to effect coupling and uncoupling.

Abstract: A pre-mixed adhesive composition comprised of a vinyl acetate polymer emulsion including a cross-linking catalyst and a cross-linking inhibitor providing a good cured water resistant Type II bond and extended shelf life so that the adhesive composition will not gel over an extended period of time and will therefore be usable for direct gluing application to semi-porous and porous substrates.