Abstract: An optical assembly for mounting in a vehicle employs a two piece assembly including a bracket having a front surface and a back surface and an optical device having a front surface and a lens element on the front surface. The back surface of the bracket is connected to the vehicle and the front surface of the optical device is removably attached to the back surface of the bracket. The lens element focuses an image through a windshield of the vehicle. In one embodiment of the present invention, the optical device further comprises at least one notch member and a support extension member and the bracket includes an opening and further comprises at least one groove member. The at least one notch member is positioned to removably attach to the at least one groove member, and the support extension member is positioned to removably attach to the opening. In one embodiment, the assembly is mounted to the vehicle windshield so that a driver of said vehicle has an unobstructed view of a road.

Abstract: There is disclosed a bathtub having interior front end corners between the walls being smoothly curved with a large radius of curvature, about 6 inches, and having pockets recessed into the corners between the front wall and opposite end walls to receive the bottom ends of a shower curtain, thereby permitting the opposite side edges of the shower curtain to be in contact with their respective shower wall substantially the entire vertical length of the curtain. This avoids gaps between the shower walls and the bottom corner ends of the shower curtain through which water can escape from the shower enclosure.

Abstract: An improved apparatus and method are provided for wireless communication with computers. The communication apparatus is integral with a removable by cover of a computer case and operatively connected to memory means associated with the case. By mounting or affixing the wireless communication device to a bay or slot cover in the computer case, conventional existing computers can be readily retrofitted to include integral and upgradable wireless communication. In certain embodiments, a jack or other connection is provided in the bay or slot cover, and a removable wireless communication member is selectively connected to the jack. Cable means preferably connect a motherboard within the computer housing to the wireless communication device. The wireless communication device or connection may be combined on a single bay cover with a conventional device such as a diskette drive, tape drive, or the like.

Abstract: There is disclosed a press-on bottle cap which is convertible to a screw reclosure lid. The cap is formed with a circular disc having an integral, downwardly dependent circumferential skirt. The skirt has a raised helical bead on its inside wall which extends an angular increment from 270 to about 400 degrees and a raised circumferential bead located beneath the helical bead and at least one tear line defined by a circumferential band of weakened strength located between the circumferential and helical beads. A tear tab extends from the outer wall of the skirt adjacent the tear line which can be pulled by the user to sever a reclosure lid having the helical bead which can be threaded onto the neck of the bottle to seal its contents. For this purpose, the undersurface of the disc of the cap has a compressible sealing gasket which is engaged by an annular lip of the upper end of the bottle neck.

Abstract: A user-sizeable headrail assembly that may be easily and readily cut-down to size by the consumer; includes a pre-assembled, cordless headrail and a cutting jig. The preferred headrail has an elongated track, a pinion rod, and multiple carriers which slide along the track and rod. The cutting jig is sized for removable location between a pair of carriers at a desired location along the pre-assembled headrail for simultaneously cutting the elongated track and pinion rod to divide the pre-assembled headrail into a first scrap portion and a second useful portion having a desired length that is less than the initial length. For this purpose, the cutting jig includes an upper track support portion including upper contact members that contact the opposed sides of the elongated track and a lower rod support portion including lower contact members that extends downwardly from the upper track support portion and surround the pinion rod in the interior of the elongated track.

Abstract: A concrete joint restraint system that is adapted for securing a dowel to first and second horizontal members that are spaced apart from one another and located at a desired height above a subgrade prior to placement of concrete. The system includes a closed clip including a cylinder with an end aperture for receiving one end of the dowel and a snap-on connection for connecting the open clip to the first horizontal member. The system further includes an open clip including a pair of flexible, arcuate side walls that define an elongated gap for receiving the other end of the dowel and a snap-on connection for coupling the closed clip to the second horizontal member. The system beneficially permits plastic, fiberglass reinforced plastic, or other non-metallic dowels to be supported between inexpensive rebar bolsters made of steel wire.

Abstract: A micro-gyro device is disclosed combining a first element which oscillates linearly in a plane along a first direction, ad a second element which receives Coriolis force acting in the same plane along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, so arranged that said Coriolis force is transmitted from one element to the other without any substantial transfer of motion of either element to the other in its own direction of motion. In other words, the masses of the two elements operate independently of one another, providing improved performance, and individual adjustability to compensate for any manufacturing imprecision. The rate axis, around which is measured angular speed of the micro-gyro device due to exterior forces, is perpendicular to the plane of the first and second elements.

Abstract: A standardization device for calibrating a spectroscopic apparatus. The spectroscopic apparatus includes a light source, an optical device to be standardized, and a sensor. The standardization device includes an optical standardization device, an adaptor, and an optical fiber. The optical standardization device transmits at least one monochromatic light beam. The adaptor is removable disposed within the spectroscopic apparatus and interposed between the optical device to be standardized and the optical standardization device. The adaptor transmits the monochromatic light beam between the optical standardization device and the optical device to be standardized. One end of the optical fiber is connected to the standardization device while the other end is connected to the adaptor. The optical fiber transmits the monochromatic light beam between the optical standardization device and the adaptor.

Abstract: The invention is a retaining device to secure a socket to an anvil of a pneumatic air gun. The retaining device comprises an O-ring, a projection, and a metal insert attached to the projection. The O-ring has a diameter and defines a plane. The projection extends inwardly from the O-ring along the plane of the O-ring. The metal insert comprises a near portion, a shoulder portion, and a far portion. The diameter of the near portion is greater than the diameter of the far portion. The far portion, the shoulder portion, and the shear-resistant portion of the near portion all have a solid metal core. The near portion has a hollow core extending from the solid core to a near end of the metal insert. The near portion has at least one aperture opening from the hollow core to the outside surface of the metal tip, and an external annular groove intersecting the aperture.

Abstract: The invention is a light level monitoring and ATM control system which is designed for operation at a typical automated teller machine (ATM). The system is used to ensure that a user area associated with the ATM is maintained at a minimum light level. If the user area drops below a predetermined minimum, the preferred system disables the ATM and illuminates a warning sign to deter bank customers from approaching the area. The system does not directly measure the light level in the user area, but rather uniquely, indirectly determines the light level in the user area by measuring the output of a light fixture that illuminates the user area at a point remote to the user area and by calibrating the remote measurement relative to a measured value and a minimum value in the user area. The system, by indirectly determining the light level in the user area, does not suffer from apparent changes in light level in the user area due to the presence or absence of a customer or the color of a customer's clothing.

Abstract: An innovative golf club head is disclosed that beneficially dampens the transmission of shock and vibration from the front hitting face to the hosel and associated shaft, and is more tolerant of inadvertent mis-hits of the golf ball. The golf club head includes a front hitting face is isolated to some degree from the hosel by a heel-side face aperture located in the front hitting face near the heel between the front hitting face and the hosel. The heel-side face aperture preferably extends through the golf head from the front hitting face to the back face. The invention may reside in blade-type club or in a cavity-back club having a cavity in its back face that defines a perimeter weighted golf club head. In the latter case, the heel-side face aperture may be provided as a slot which connects the front hitting face to the central cavity in the back face.

Abstract: A novel system and method for measuring and monitoring heart rate during exercise is disclosed. A near-real-time heart rate is obtained by extracting an electrocardiographic signal via electrically conductive handgrips, severely reducing the bandwidth of the signal using analog filtering, and then applying sophisticated digital correlation and logic techniques to extract the heart rate. The severe reduction of information content accomplished by the analog filter allows sophisticated digital treatment of the remaining signal by inexpensive digital processing means. In the present embodiment, a mass-produced general-purpose single-chip 8-bit microprocessor is adequate to accomplish all the required digitization and calculations.

Abstract: A decorative light-supporting structure is disclosed. In a first form, the structure simulates a lighted tree and preferably includes three rigid supports. The lower ends of the rigid supports hold the decorative light-supporting structure above a surface, a lower skirt detachably connects the three rigid supports near their lower ends, and a cap detachably fits over and joins the upper ends of the rigid supports. The cap has a plurality of protrusions extending from an upper surface of the cap to facilitate wrapping of a string of lights over the upper surface and between the protrusions. A bottom edge of the lower skirt has a plurality of skirt protrusions to facilitate wrapping of the string of lights between the cap and the plurality of skirt protrusions. Each wrap routs the string of lights from a skirt protrusion to the upper surface and back down to and around another skirt protrusion.

Abstract: The invention is an optical switching device having a switching element which, in one aspect is a solid switching body to reduce beam spread, in a second aspect is trapezoidal in cross-section so that the optical channels selectively connected by the switching body are conveniently located on one side of the device, and in a third aspect is a retroreflective switching element that eliminates the need to achieve and maintain precise angular alignment between the switching body and the optical axes of the optical channels connected by the switching device.

Abstract: An oven with slide-out transfer guides is provided for use in conjunction with multiple conveyor ovens to provide quick and convenient accessibility to an oven's interior in case of product transfer difficulties. A slidable rail assembly is mounted in the oven, which also has an access port for transfer guide egress and ingress, and a transfer guide with opposed lips forming a slot which mounts the transfer guide on the rail assembly. When access to the oven's interior is necessary to remedy a product transfer problem, the oven of the present invention allows the transfer guide to slide along the rail while still supported by same, and said transfer guide can be partially removed from said oven without the need to turn off the oven. In this way, obstructions can be cleared quickly without significant down time, thereby saving the user both time and expense.

Abstract: There is disclosed a fastener useful for the precise positioning of a plurality of plates in a parallel, spaced-apart array. The fastener has a cylindrical standard with distal fixed abutments and carries a plurality of spacers that are axially adjustable on the standard. At least one spacer is axially extendable, and has a user-adjustable cam to control its axial length, thereby accommodating for variable thicknesses of the intermediate plates. The fastener is disclosed as particularly useful for the precise orientation of the parallel plates of a fixture used in equipment for automated testing of printed circuit boards.

Abstract: Masa handling methods for the continuous processing of masa type dough in conjunction with commonly available feed processing equipment, such as a masa extruder, an oven, or cooling apparatus. One masa handling method includes a masa separator having a pair of opposed, endless belt conveyors having facing surfaces spaced apart to receive a generally continuous masa stream output from a nozzle on the masa extruder. When the masa stream moves between the conveyors, it is gripped by their facing surfaces and moved away from the nozzle, causing the masa to be separated into individual pieces, or logs. The masa handling method can also include feeding the masa to masa hoppers fed by at least two endless belt conveyors arranged in upstream and downstream positions relative to each other.