Abstract: Apparatus is provided for slitting the skins of shelled peanuts, or the like, without splitting the nuts. Peanuts are fed in a single stream into the bite of a pair of rollers mounted one above the other for rotation about parallel horizontal axes. The rollers are driven to carry the stream of nuts into engagement with slitting elements disposed on both sides of the bite of the rollers. The upper roller is carried by a yoke pivoted to a drive shaft and is adapted to rise and fall to and away from the lower roll according to the size of the nut being fed therethrough whereby a substantially constant gripping pressure is applied to the nuts irrespective of the size of the nut. A power drive system connects between the drive shaft and the upper roll.

Abstract: A game disc is provided for use, in the preferred embodiment, in skipping the same over the surface of water by throwing the toy with a spinning motion and in a generally flat low trajectory. The disc, when made for skipping on water, is of a material having a density less than that water so that it will float. In the preferred mode, the device is in the form of a relatively small disc, preferably having at least one notch at the edge thereof, and formed on one side with an auger face oriented in one direction and on the other side with an auger face oriented in the opposite direction to enhance the motion of the disc and improve its skipping action especially on water. The auger faces provide a lifting motion to the disc and the different auger directions allow the disc to be spun from either hand.

Abstract: New copper-rich metal alloys containing nickel along with certain specific amounts of boron are disclosed. The alloys are subjected to a rapid solidification processing (RSP) technique which produces cooling rates between .about.10.sup.5.degree. to 10.sup.7 .degree. C./sec. The asquenched ribbon, powder, etc. consists primarily of a metastable crystalline solid solution phase. The metastable crystalline phases are subjected to suitable heat treatments so as to produce a transformation to a stable multiphase microstructure, which includes borides. This heat treated alloy exhibits superior mechanical properties with good corrosion and/or oxidation resistance for numerous engineering applications.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a thermal pane window or door and the product so produced. The method comprises assembling at least two panes of glass in spaced parallel relation to each other, defining a space therebetween and separated all around the edges by a metal spacer frame, and electrostatically bonding the frame to its adjacent panes in the presence of heat and pressure.The resultant thermal pane window or door is characterized by a hermetically sealed space between the two panes of glass that preferably has been evacuated so as to contain no moisture and oxygen and then preferably is filled with a low heat-loss gas or left under vacuum.

Abstract: Process of making thin film materials for high efficiency solar cells on low-cost silicon substrates. The process comprises forming a low-cost silicon substrate, forming a graded transition region on the substrate and epitaxially growing a thin gallium arsenide film on the graded transition region. The process further includes doping the thin gallium arsenide film and forming a junction therein. The graded transition region preferably is a zone refined mixture of silicon and germanium characterized by a higher percentage of germanium at the surface of the region than adjacent the substrate. The process also includes the formation of homojunctions in thin gallium arsenide films.Solar cells made from the materials manufactured according to the process are characterized by a high conversion efficiency, improved stability and relatively low unit cost.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for the front surface metallization and encapsulation of solar cells of the type comprising p and n semiconductor strata separated by a barrier junction, and front and rear conducting strata constituting electrical contacts, wherein the front conducting stratum is a novel metallic grid permitting transmission of solar radiation to the semiconductor strata. This metallic grid is in the form of a mesh of wires of sufficiently high tensile strength to be self-supporting while being drawn from spools or the like into contact with one or more components of the solar cell before completion of the cells's fabrication.The method is characterized in that the metallic grid, in the form of the mesh of wires, is encapsulated between a transparent cover plate and the exposed front surface of the semiconductor strata, the mesh forming an electrical contact with the front surface of the semiconductor strata simultaneously that the plate is electrostatically bonded thereto.