Abstract: A rack system for vehicles that comprises a rack assembly and an attachment assembly comprising a base member mounted to a vehicle hitch receiver, an inner swing arm having a first end pivotably mounted to the base member, an outer swing arm having a first end pivotably mounted to a second end of the inner swing arm, a rack member pivotably mounted to a second end of the outer swing arm, and locking means for selectively locking the base and rack members together to secure the system in a storage position. The rack assembly is rigidly attached to the rack member. When the base and rack members are locked together, the rack assembly is securely located immediately above and behind the vehicle hitch receiver. When the rack member is unlocked from the base member, the rack assembly may be moved within a movement area defined by the rear of the vehicle and a horizontal, generally circular arc that extends from one side of the vehicle to the other side of the vehicle.

Abstract: A sit-on-top kayak having a seating and footwell arrangement that allows three people to sit comfortably in a cockpit of the kayak. Three seating surfaces and footwells are preferably employed. The footwells associated with the two rearmost seating surfaces straddle the two forwardmost seating surfaces. An improved hull is provided having a keel and winglets extending on either side of the keel. The keel and winglets terminate at the front in a bow portion of the hull lower surface and come together at a point at the stern of the kayak.

Abstract: An aerosol device for dispensing texture material for matching existing accoustical ceiling texture. The device comprises a container, a valve assembly, a dispensing nozzle, a hardenable material, and pressurized inert gas as a propelling mechanism. The hardenable material and pressurized inert gas are placed into the container. When the valve assembly is opened, the the inert gas forces the hardenable material out of the container through the dispensing nozzle. The dispensing nozzle diverts at least a portion of the hardenable material exiting the container to develop a spray suitable for the application of the hardenable material onto the ceiling surface being textured. The hardenable material preferably comprises at least water, filler, binder, and polystyrene particles. The inert gas is preferably nitrogen.

Abstract: The device is characterised in that the obturating means are constituted by an obturating screw (24) capable of co-operating with the whole set of mounting pieces (3) and, if required, with a ring-shaped obturating joint (25) and in that the capturing means are constituted by a threaded joining piece (25) to co-operate with the whole set of mounting pieces (3) by replacing the obturating screw (24) and, if required, the ring-shaped obturating joint (25) during the control, so as to break the imperviousness of the receiving cell (6) with respect to the container or box and comprising a perforation (34) linked to continuous analysing means so as to enable capture of the gas that has entered the receiving cell (6).

Abstract: An apparatus for applying spray texture to a wall or the like. The apparatus comprises an aerosol can containing pressurized spray texture material. The spray texture material is released from the can by a valve and passes through a nozzle passageway, out of a discharge opening, and on to a surface to be textured. The apparatus further comprises an outlet member that can be placed over the discharge opening to vary the effective cross-sectional area thereof. This outlet member can be in the form of a straw or tube that is inserted into the nozzle passageway or a disc or other member having a plurality of outlet orifices formed therein. The outlet member having a plurality of outlet orifices can be attached directly to an actuator member in which the dispensing passageway is formed.

Abstract: A retaining wall system and method for stabilizing earthen walls comprises box members assembled together to form a reinforcing wall assembly and anchor mesh connected to the box members and buried within the earthen wall. The box members define an interior cavity and a rear wall that engages the face of the earthen wall. Waste material such as used tires or waste dirt may be placed within the interior chambers of the box members. The anchor mesh is attached to the rear wall to inhibit lateral movement of the reinforcing wall assembly. The box members are connected to the anchor mesh by locking pins that extend through loop portions of the anchor mesh and engage a front face of the wall panels. Anchor bars are connected to the loop portions of the anchor mesh. These anchor bars engage a back face of the box members to control and limit the movement of the box members relative to the anchor mesh as earth is back-filled against the box members.

Abstract: An scraper system for removing acoustic texture materials comprising an integral debris collection assembly. The system comprises a scraper assembly comprising a scraper blade maintained at an angle with respect to a handle portion. A band is provided that defines at least a portion of a rectangular perimeter that, in use, is arranged below the scraper blade. A bag is attached to the band so that acoustic texture material removed by the scraper blade falls into the bag. The band is made of resilient material and is attached to the scraper assembly in a manner that allows the band to deflect when it contacts a wall surface adjacent to the ceiling surface. This allows the scraper blade to reach allow the way to wall surface. But the band returns to its original position with the perimeter defined thereby under the blade when the blade is not scraping near the wall surface.

Abstract: An adjustable mobile base that accommodates machines of different effective footprints and allows them to be selectively moved from place-to-place or fixed at a given location. The mobile base assembly comprises a frame assembly comprised of corner members and side members. The side members are telescopically received within the corner members such that a width dimension and depth dimension of the base assembly can be changed to accommodate machines having different effective footprints. A lock system may be provided which employs one or more lock assemblies. Each lock assembly comprises a lock member that is slidably received within a lock housing and a drive member which is threadably received within the lock housing. Rotating the drive member in one direction elevates one or more wheels of the base assembly and thus frictionally engages the floor surface and prevents movement of the machine on the base assembly.

Abstract: A retaining wall system and method for stabilizing earthen walls. The system comprises a wall panels assembled together to form a reinforcing wall assembly and anchor mesh connected to the wall panels and buried within the earthen wall. The wall panels engage the face of the earthen wall, and the anchor mesh inhibits lateral movement of the reinforcing wall assembly. The panels are connected to the anchor mesh by locking pins that extend through loop portions of the anchor mesh and engage a front face of the wall panels. Anchor bars are connected to the loop portions of the anchor mesh; these anchor bars engage a back face of the wall panels to control and limit the movement of the wall panels relative to the anchor mesh as earth is back-filled against the wall panels. When the wall panels are concrete, a void network is formed in the panels to receive the anchor mesh loop portions and the locking pins. Pin windows may be formed in concrete wall panels to facilitate insertion of the locking pins.

Abstract: A system for harvesting fruit from vertical plants arranged in rows. The system comprises a frame having two frame portions arranged on opposite sides of a given row during harvesting. A front wheel and one back wheel are mounted on one of the frame portions, and the other back wheel is mounted on the other wheel portion. A shaker system and collecting system are arranged on the frame to dislodge and collect the fruit. The collecting system defines an entryway through which the plants pass relative to the harvesting system during harvesting. The front wheel is arranged forward of the entryway and significantly increases the maneuverability of the harvesting system.

Abstract: A cover for protecting wounds on animals. The cover is made of an elastic, breathable fabric that stretches to accommodate the portion of the animal at which the wound is located. The memory of the fabric causes the cover to hold itself onto the animal, and the cover may be provided with a main portion that engages the animal's torso to anchor an appendage cover over an appendage. Banding material is preferably applied to the cover to maintain the position of the wound cover on the animal and prevent unraveling of the fabric from which the cover is made.

Abstract: Pulse propagation analysis to ascertain whether and anomaly such as surface corrosion exists on a section of conductive member such as pipe. Anomalies such as surface corrosion result in localized velocity changes of pulses propagating along a conductive member. These localized velocity changes exhibit themselves in changes in waveform, rise and fall time, amplitude, and time delay of a pulse with respect to a fixed time reference. To allow such anomalies to be located, two pulses are generated such that they intersect at intersecting locations along the conductive member. The resulting modified pulses are analyzed for perturbations indicative of localized velocity changes.

Abstract: A distancing system comprising radio frequency transceivers and data processing circuits. The radio frequency transceivers allow data transmission via a high frequency radio signal. The transmission and receipt of these radio signals can be timed to estimate distance. But the data processing circuits operate at local clock frequencies, and one cannot be sure at what point a give radio frequency signal was received to a resolution greater than one-half cycle of the local clock signal. The data processing circuits periodically "skip" to resynchronize with incoming data streams. These skips occur at intervals corresponding to the frequency difference between the local clock frequencies. This frequency difference can be used to pinpoint fairly precisely when a given radio frequency signal was received in a previous half-cycle of the local clock.

Abstract: An adjustable pillow assembly for supporting objects on a wearer's lap. The height of the pillow assembly is adjusted by inserting different combinations of lap cushions into a cover member as appropriate for a given individual. The lap cushions may be of equal thickness, in which case three lap cushions would provide three different heights of the pillow assembly. As one alternative, a surface contour of an upper surface of the pillow assembly can be contoured by placing one or more elbow cushions within the cover member on top of the uppermost lap cushion. As another alternative, the lap cushions may be provided in different thicknesses, in which case three lap cushions would provide seven different possible heights to the pillow assembly.

Abstract: A flow regulator having a first and second stages of regulation. The first stage is a pressure regulation stage that maintains the pressure within an intermediate chamber (formed by a series of interconnected passageways and cavities) within a predetermined range above the pressure in an outlet port. The second stage maintains the flow rate within a predetermined range about a target flow rate. Both stages sample the pressure in the outlet port and automatically adjust the flow of fluid to ensure that fluctuations in pressure at the inlet and outlet ports do not affect the flow rate. The flow rate is set and controlled by a piston and valve arrangement. The pressure is regulated by a similar piston and valve arrangement. A flexible membrane is used to allow pressures in one chamber to be transferred into a control signal that operates a control valve in another chamber.