Abstract: A removable and reusable plastic screw anchor for fastening fixtures and other objects to a hollow wall. The anchor includes a four-legged diamond-shaped shank whose front legs are joined together by a front apex hinge and whose rear legs are joined to the front legs by side apex hinges, the ends of the rear legs defining a rear apex. Secured by a pair of normally outstretched resilient webs to the rear legs of the shank is a flanged socket whose bore lies in registration with an opening formed in the front apex hinge. The diamond-shaped shank is collapsible to form a tongue that is insertable in a hole drilled in the wall to accommodate the socket, the webs then reverting to their outstretched condition to cause the shank which is now behind the wall to recover its diamond formation. When a self-tappping screw is turned into the socket bore, it acts to thread the bore.

Abstract: An easily-installed fabric wall covering system making it possible to support a fabric sheet against a wall. The system is constituted by a frame of extruded molding pieces or tracks that are attached to the wall along the perimeter of the wall surface to be covered. Each track includes a storage channel having a generally rectangular cross-section whose base is extended beyond the rear end of the channel to define a wall mounting flange. The face of the channel has an adhesive layer thereon to hold the margin of the fabric sheet while it is being mounted, the excess tail of the sheet which extends beyond the margin being stuffed by a tool into an inclined inlet at the front end of the channel. This inlet is defined by dilatable jaws that are pried open by the tool to admit the tail into the storage channel. When the tool is withdrawn, the tail is clamped by the jaws to securely anchor the sheet on the wall.

Abstract: An armored rotameter capable of accurately measuring low flow rates, the meter including a metal body provided with a bore defining a vertical flow tube having a lower inlet into which a fluid to be metered is admitted and an upper outlet from which the fluid is discharged. Disposed in the flow tube is a float having a guided stem which includes a lateral pin projecting through a slot in the front wall of the meter body, the pin riding up and down the slot as the float moves up and down the tube as a function of flow rate. The pin is coupled to one end of a bar magnet link that is external to the meter body and is swingable about a center pivot, the link being caused to swing to an extent and direction in accordance with float movement. The slot and link are sealed by a pressure plate secured to the front face of the meter body.

Abstract: A yogurt maker which requires only hot tap water at the proper temperature and a yogurt preparation to produce a natural yogurt without the need for an external heat source to promote incubation. The maker is constituted by a can which houses a Dewar flask, the can having a removable cover provided with a chromatic liquid crystal cell that serves to test the hot tap water to be sure that it is at the correct temperature before it is poured into the flask to be mixed with the yogurt preparation. The hot water mixture is maintained by the flask at the incubation temperature for a period indicated by a scale on the cover, which scale is settable relative to start and stop points on the can. Upon completion of incubation, the flask containing the yogurt is withdrawn from the can and refrigerated.

Abstract: A vibration-proof anchor bolt assembly which is insertable in a hole drilled in masonry for fastening a fixture to the surface thereof, the diameter of the hole being slightly larger than that of the bolt. The bolt is provided with an enlarged head that lies against the fixture and is engageable by a torque tool, the threaded rear section of the bolt being of reduced diameter. The upper portion of the rear section is encircled by an expansible shell which when expanded is forced against the wall of the hole to anchor the bolt therein. Received on the lower portion of the rear section is a wedge nut having an upper conical zone and a lower ring zone whose normal diameter is larger than that of the hole, slots being cut into said ring zone to define spring fingers. These fingers are inwardly flexed by the wall on the hole when the assembly is inserted therein, thereby compressing the ring and constricting the internally-threaded bore thereof.

Abstract: A technique for exciting the electromagnet of a magnetic flowmeter in which a fluid to be metered is conducted through a flow tube having detecting electrodes, the fluid intercepting a magnetic field established by the electromagnet to induce a signal in the electrodes indicative of flow in a high flow-rate range as well as in a low flow-rate range. In this technique, derived from the electrode signal is a control signal whose frequency is a function of the velocity of the fluid passing through the tube, the excitation current supplied to the electromagnet being governed by the control signal so that it has a frequency which is higher in the high flow-rate range and lower in the low flow-rate range.

Abstract: An egg beater having a manually-cranked drive wheelwith opposed gear faces which are engaged by a pair of pinions keyed to the shafts of intermeshing beater elements whereby the turning wheel causes these elements to rotate in opposite directions. The drive wheel and pinions are encased in a doughnut-shaped housing having a scalloped periphery, the housing being dimensioned to fit into the palm of one hand of the operator to be gripped by the fingers thereof, so that it also functions as the beater handle. The wheel is turned by a crank arm whose knob is grasped by the other hand of the operator.

Abstract: An electro-optical computer-controlled scanning system adapted to accurately and rapidly digitize an engineering or other line drawing and to store the digital data, making it possible to reassemble a stored drawing with virtually the same fidelity as the original document. Use is made of a laser beam scanner having a wide angle deflector to sweep the beam in the X and Y directions to a degree sufficient to traverse the X and Y dimensions of the drawing being digitized and a narrow angle deflector for sweeping the beam in the X and Y directions to a degree sufficient to examine any selected region of the drawing. Information is extracted from the drawing in a two-mode procedure, the first carrying out a low-resolution survey along a narrow stripe extending in the X direction across the drawing to determine whether any drawing information is contained therein.

Abstract: An anti-backlash twin gear formed by a pair of identical half-gears, each fabricated by stamping a metal sheet to create a toothed wheel provided with a diametrical spoke having a central mounting bore. The arched area between one side of the spoke and one half section of the wheel is fully excised to form an open region, whereas the arched area between the opposite side of the spoke and the other half section of the wheel is contour-cut to define a C-shaped flat spring whose foot is integral with the spoke. The spring is offset from the plane of the wheel whereby when the pair of half-gears are juxtaposed, the untensioned spring of each half gear is received within the open region of the other and the free end of the spring abuts the edge of the spoke flanking this region to effect a slight angular displacement of the half-gear.

Abstract: A method and system for the automatic determination of the weight of starch or similar substances in various forms of simple or complex substrates. In a system in accordance with the invention, dispersion of starch is effected by ultrasonics and enzymatic hydrolysis is carried out continuously in segmented form. The colorimetric determination of glucose obtained thereby is also effected continuously in segmented form.

Abstract: An automatic control system for supplying a fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine including a variable-Venturi carburetor. Air is fed into the input of the Venturi, the air passing through the throat thereof whose effective area is adjusted by a mechanism operated by a servo motor. Fuel is fed into the input of the Venturi from a fuel reservoir through a main path having a fixed orifice and an auxiliary path formed by a metering valve operated by an auxiliary fuel-control motor. The differential air pressure developed between the inlet of the Venturi and the throat thereof is sensed to produce an air-velocity command signal that is applied to a controller adapted to compare the command signal with the servo motor set point to produce an output for governing the servo motor to cause it to seek a null point, thereby defining a closed process control loop.

Abstract: A system for the combustion of moist ligneous and other wastes, such as sawdust and compacted household rubbish in order to generate heat. The system includes a crusher-extractor to divide the waste matter entrained in an air stream to produce a fuel mixture that is fed into one input of an exchanger-separator whose output supplies a pyrolytic burner coupled to a boiler. The hot fumes from the boiler are fed back into the other input of the exchanger-separator which serves to mix fresh divided waste with residue or unburned waste extracted from the fumes, and to separate the waste material to be consumed in the burner from the hot gas and moisture.

Abstract: To produce a corrosion-resistant coating thereon which is hard and uniform and capable of withstanding the action of strong acids and alkalis, a body of magnesium metal or an alloy of magnesium is first treated with an aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid to form a fluoromagnesium layer on the metal surface. The coated metal is then immersed in an electrolyte bath comprising an aqueous solution of alkali metal silicate, and an aqueous solution of an alkali metal hydroxide. An electrical potential is applied between the magnesium metal anode and a cathode (iron or nickel) in the bath until a visible spark is discharged on the surface of the metal. The potential difference is maintained for a few minutes until a uniform silicate layer is formed on the fluoromagnesium layer.

Abstract: A transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals for liquid level gauging, the elapsed time between the transmission of a pulse and the reception of an echo pulse reflected from the surface of the liquid being measured to afford an index of the level of the liquid. The transponder is constituted by a piezoelectric transducer assembly suspended within an open-ended casing by an electrically non-conductive elastomeric material which serves to rapidly damp the vibratory activity of the transducer to prevent ringing thereof which interferes with reception. In the assembly, the piezoelectric transducer is sandwiched between a loading plate and a horn-shaped radiating plate, the assembly being held together by a bolt which extends between the plates and passes through the transducer. The transducer operates in the compression mode and is therefore capable of operating reliably with a high voltage drive signal to cause the radiating plate to emit an ultrasonic beam having a narrow angle.

Abstract: A vortex-shedding flowmeter in which a shedder is transversely mounted in a flow tube through which the fluid to be metered is conducted, the shedder dividing the flow and causing vortices to be shed alternately on either side thereof at a repetition rate proportional to flow rate, thereby producing downstream trains of vortices moving along the right and left sides of the tube. The wave span between the eyes of successive vortices in the trains has a substantially constant length determined by the geometry of the shedder. At a downstream position in the flow tube is a vane flanked by the trains of vortices and having a length no less than one-half the length of the span and no greater than the full length thereof. The vane is pivoted on a torsion shaft on its central axis which is perpendicular to the tube axis and is balanced with respect thereto.

Abstract: An electromagnetic flowmeter in which a low-frequency rectangular wave is supplied to the electromagnet coil of the flowmeter to produce an excitation current establishing a magnetic field which is intercepted by the fluid passing through the flow tube to induce a signal voltage in the electrodes disposed in the tube. This signal voltage is proportional to flow rate and is accompanied by an objectionable D-C noise component. To eliminate this noise component, the signal voltage is passed through a first high-pass filter, and to compensate for errors introduced by this filter, the signal voltage derived from the first filter is divided by a comparison voltage derived from the excitation current, but only after this comparison voltage passes through a second high-pass filter having essentially the same characteristics as the first filter.

Abstract: A highly compact electromagnetic flowmeter unit interposable between the flanged ends of upstream and downstream line pipes for metering fluid passing through the line. The flowmeter is constituted by a ferromagnetic ring within which a pair of electromagnet coils is supported at opposed positions along a diametrical axis normal to the longitudinal axis of the ring, the longitudinal axis passing through the central flow passage of an annular pressure vessel. The vessel, which is formed of high-strength insulating material, is molded within the ring and encapsulates the coils as well as a pair of electrodes disposed at diametrically-opposed positions with respect to the flow passage along a transverse axis at right angles to the coil axis to define a unitary structure. The unit is compressible between the end flanges of the pipes by bridging bolts that pass through bore holes in the pressure vessel or lie outside the ring to encage the unit.

Abstract: An indexing mechanism in which a workpiece to be machined by a tool is attachable to the end of a rotatable spindle that is driven by the reversible motor of a servomechanism to assume a desired angular position. Mounted on the spindle and rotatable therewith is one gear of a multiple-tooth face gear coupling pair, the second gear of which is axially advanced by a motor along the spindle into and out of meshing engagement with the first gear. The second gear is non-rotatable and acts, when in mesh with the first gear, to prevent rotation of the spindle and thereby lock the angular position of the workpiece.

Abstract: A control system to prevent the accumulation of excessive cellular material in a fluidized-bed reactor wherein waste water or other liquid to be processed is conducted upwardly at a velocity conducive to fluidization through a bed of particles which function as a carrier for the growth of the material. Included in the system is a separator column whose low end extends toward the fluidized bed and whose high end extends toward a head of liquid effluent which lies on the bed. In the course of reactor operation, the cellular material on the particles continues to grow, causing the bed to expand until its level reaches an alarm point indicative of excessive growth. This point is sensed to activate an agitator arrangement which effects shearing of the excess cellular material from the particles to produce in the separator column a mixture of sheared material and partially stripped carrier particles.

Abstract: Method of drying on a web face an applied coating containing volatile products, involving feeding the web at a rate of at least 50 feet per minute past a station at which a flame sheet from a high-capacity burner is with its tip in contact with the coated face of the fed web transversely thereof for evaporating and igniting the volatile products in the passing coating, and featuring directing into contact with the coated face of the fed web on opposite sides of and adjacent to the contacting flame sheet stable air sheets of a velocity of at least 400 feet per minute.