Abstract: A self-sufficient, blinking-light LED device formed by a decoratively-shaped casing having a LED projecting from its face, the casing being attachable to the shoe of an individual or elsewhere on his person whereby as the individual walks or jogs, the resultant changes in velocity cause the LED to be intermittently activated to create strobe light effects which attract attention. Housed in the casing is a D-C power source connected through an acceleration-sensitive make-and-break switch to the short leads of the LED, one of which forms the fixed contact of the switch. The movable contact is defined by a cantilevered flat spring having a weight attached to its free end. A change in velocity causes the spring contact to flex to momentarily engage the fixed contact to close the switch and activate the LED.

Abstract: A self-drilling anchor installable in a wall by means of a screwdriver, the anchor being adapted to receive a fastener serving to hold a fixture adjacent the wall. The anchor includes an externally-threaded shank section having a head engageable by the screwdriver and a longitudinal bore to receive the fastener. Integral with the shank section and extending axially therefrom is a core drill section whose bit includes at least one cutting blade and whose outer cylindrical surface acts as guide means whereby as the anchor is turned in to the wall by a screwdriver, the cutting blade then bores a round hole therein whose bank is engaged by the cylindrical surface to ensure circularity of the drilled hole. And as the anchor continues to turn, the shank section enters and taps the drilled hole until its head engages the outer surface of the wall to complete the anchor installation.

Abstract: A dagger-like anchor drivable into a hollow wall and adapted to receive a fastener screw to hold an object adjacent the wall. The anchor is fabricated from a sheet metal blank, shaped, folded and hardened to define a head having a hole to threadably receive the screw, and a pair of normally juxtaposed flat blades aligned with the hole and extending from the head, the blades terminating in triangular sections coming to a point to penetrate the wall. The blades are each provided at offset intermediate positions with a tab that projects through a complementary slot in the other blade. When the anchor is driven into the wall so that its head lies against the outer surface of the wall, and the fastener screw is then inserted in the hole and turned to advance between the blades, the screw acts to spread the blades and their tabs apart.

Abstract: A technique for inducing analgesic effects to relieve pain in a living organism whose central nervous system is associated with thermal receptors in the skin that sense heat and transmit signals through afferent fibers reflecting the intensity of the heat and its duration to the brain via the spinal cord. Applied to an area of the skin for a predetermined period is an air stream whose temperature is periodically elevated to create high-temperature pulses separated by lower temperature intervals whereby as a result of heat transfer from the skin area to tissue underlying the skin, the temperature at the surface of the skin is at a tolerable level. The signals transmitted to the brain during this period that reflect the sensed high temperature pulses stimulate the brain into producing endorphins having analgesic effects on the organism and relieving pain.

Abstract: A combined chemo-thermo therapy technique in which a pharmaceutical agent, such as a lipolysis cream, is topically applied to a localized skin surface overlying a problem region to be treated. This surface is then subjected to an air stream whose temperature alternates periodically from a high peak level to a lower base level in a pulsatory heat energy wave pattern. Because heat transfer takes place under the skin in the intervals between successive peaks, the temperature of the problem region is significantly raised, but that on the skin surface remains at a tolerable level. As a consequence, the absorption of the agent and its diffusion throughout the tissues of the heated problem region is accelerated and its interaction therewith is promoted to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment.

Abstract: An interactive seating device such as a stool or chair which makes it possible for an individual to sit down without having to lower himself to do so, the seated individual being thereafter assisted in getting up from the seat. The device includes an articulated seat whose front segment is hinged to a rear segment and is so linked thereto that in a perching mode in which the rear segment is at an elevated level and the front segment is folded down, an individual can then perch on the rear segment without having to lower himself. The rear segment is mounted on a depressible spring mechanism supported on a stand that normally raises the seat to the perching mode level. When the individual perches on the rear segment, the resultant load imposed thereon depresses and thereby energizes the spring mechanism, causing the seat to sink to a sitting mode level at which the front segment is outstretched to fully support the seated individual.

Abstract: Regeneration of damaged tissue, whether in the skin, tendons or elsewhere in the body begins with the growth and proliferation of cells which take place along a migratory path and in a polar direction that depends on the nature of the injury. Thus in some situations, regenerative cells and non-cellular healing components migrate radially from the outskirts of the damaged tissue region toward the center thereof, while in others migration is along a longitudinal or transverse path. To stimulate and enhance this regenerative process and thereby promote rapid healing of the damaged tissue, use is made of an exogenous electrical stimulation technique in which cathode and anode electrodes are placed in or near the region. Impressed across the electrodes is a DC potential whose magnitude is sufficient to cause a minute ionic and electronic current to flow between the electrodes through the region.

Abstract: A two-way door latch that is swingable relative to a door jamb, the door having an opening adjacent its edge whose opposing ends are covered by a pair of escutcheons. Rotatably mounted on each escutcheon is a knob having a short shaft that extends into the escutcheon and terminates in a cam, the knobs being rotable about a common axis. One of the cams is spring-biased and so shaped as to maintain the related knob at a rest position, whereby when the knob is turned in either direction to unlatch the door, when released the knob will be returned to its rest position. The cams are bridged by a pair of pins that are offset with respect to the common axis, and when a knob is turned, the pins then travel in a circle concentric with the axis.

Abstract: A low-density, open-cell flexible polyurethane foam body that is modified to impart resilience and enhanced shock-absorbency properties thereto. Modification is effected by implanting in the open cells of the body expandable microspheres having particle sizes in the micron range, each microsphere being formed by a gas proof polymeric shell encapsulating a drop of a liquid petroleum gas. The microspheres are expanded by heat to as much as fifty times their initial volume and are entrapped in the open cells of the body. The expanded microspheres are constituted by a soft polymeric shell enclosing a compressible gas, the expanded microspheres behaving as energy-absorbing miniature springs dispersed throughout the body.

Abstract: A safety hypodermic needle and shielding cap assembly attachable to a standard syringe adapted to prevent the needle after it has been injected in a patient and then withdrawn, from accidental sticking the operator. The syringe includes a fluid chamber provided at its front end with a projecting nozzle surrounded by a cylindrical socket. The assembly includes a hollow hub receivable in the syringe socket and a needle mounted on the hub and extending along its longitudinal axis whereby the nozzle projects into the hub to deliver fluid to the needle. Mounted adjacent one side of the hub is a short track on which is slidable a flexible push rod on whose upper end is laterally attached a shielding cap having a center bore in alignment with the needle. In the operating mode of the assembly, the push rod is retracted and the cap is then telescoped on the hub to expose the needle for injection into a patient.

Abstract: A bottle assembly functioning as a handsfree canteen for carrying a drinkable liquid such as mineral water. The assembly include a standard liquid containing bottle whose externally threaded neck is engaged by a screw-on cap having a small loop integral therewith. The loop is coupled by a retractable link to a shoulder, waist or neck strap or chain for carrying the capped bottle.

Abstract: In-line roller skates whose wheels make it possible for a skater to stop without the need for a braking pad or other special expedients for this purpose. Each skate includes a boot to accommodate the skater's foot and a frame secured to the underside of the boot supporting a series of in-line wheels having a composite structure. Each composite wheel includes a center section formed of hard material, such as high-density polyethylene, having a low coefficient of friction, the center section being flanked by side sections formed of relatively soft material, such as cast polyurethane, having a high coefficient of friction. In order to stop or reduce speed, the skater turns the in-line skates away from the direction of travel as he would when braking ice skates. This maneuver causes a portion both of the hard and a soft section of the composite wheels, now angled with respect to the direction of travel, to frictionally engage the ground to effect a braking action.

Abstract: An intraoral appliance which when worn by a singer or other vocalist acts to improve the quality of the voice and increase its power. The appliance is constituted by a pair of spacer pieces molded to conform to select teeth in the oral cavity of the vocalist, the pieces being seated on molars or other teeth on opposing sides of either the upper or the lower dental arch. The smooth head surfaces of the pieces are raised slightly above the teeth on which they are seated to prevent the arches from meeting and causing the mandible supporting the lower arch to slide forward relative to the maxilla to an extent limited by the parameters of the temporomadibular joint. The displaced mandible serves to release tension on the muscles of the head, neck and chest associated with the mandible, giving rise to greater and more efficient respiration, a relaxation of the hyoid bone supporting the tongue and its muscles and from which the larynx is suspended, and a relaxation of the vocal cords of the larynx.

Abstract: A scooping and packaging assembly adapted to scoop up and package poop deposited on a surface by a pet animal on a surface so that one may then dispose of the poop. The assembly consists of a loop provided with a handle, a hand-held wand and a rectangular plastic-film bag whose dimensions are such that when the loop and wand are inserted into the bag through its open end, they are separated from each other to an extent permitting manipulation of the wand relative to the loop. In operating the assembly, the user, who in one hand grasps the handle of the loop, and in the other grasps the wand while holding onto the open end of the bag, advances the closed end of the bag along the surface toward the poop and manipulates the wand to push the poop onto the outside of the bag in the region within the confines of the loop, the poop depressing the region to form a pocket depending from the loop.