Abstract: A device 10 is provided for supporting a wall 11 of a form for containing concrete and like fluid materials. It comprises the following components and arrangements thereof relative to each other; and normally but not necessarily arranged as in FIG.

Abstract: Apparatus for heating and storing water comprises a tank 10 for holding a quantity of water 15 within a space 11 between studs 12 in a wall or like surface 13 of a room 14. An inlet conduit 16 conveys water into the tank 10, and an outlet conduit 17 conveys water out of it and on to another entity 36. A heater 32, spaced apart from the tank 10, receives water from a supply source at a lower temperature, heats it to a higher temperature, and communicates the heated water to the inlet conduit 16. Reinforcing structural members 25 and locator tabs 22 allow for economic construction and ease of installation. A typical tank 10 comprises a hollow parallelopiped having its front surface member 20 in the plane of the surface 13 of the room 14 and its back surface in a plane behind that of the surface 13.

Abstract: A system for aqua farming comprises at least one land mass; typically a plurality of approximately rectangular land masses with their sides typically at least about an order of magnitude longer than their ends and defining approximately parallel channels between them in an adjacent body of water. The water moves into the channels and, in a substantial region of each land mass, also moves through it from the channel on one side to the channel on the other side thereof. Filtering means such as sand, gravel, or a mixture of sand and gravel, block the movement through the land masses of most of the pieces of solid matter that may be present in the water, whose smallest cross section is larger than a predetermined size.

Abstract: Visual display means of a vehicle having a body and force means for producing motion change of the vehicle body comprise a vehicle visual display device on the vehicle body including a container, a first liquid fluid in the container, and a second fluid in the container and essentially immiscible with the first fluid. The vehicle visual display device is responsive to the force means to cause a first fluid-second fluid interface, a first fluid-container interface, and a second fluid-container interface, to change in response to the motion change in the vehicle body. Either the first liquid fluid or the second fluid or both are visible through the container. A plurality of the devices in close proximity, such as side by side, provide the especially interesting and pleasing effects of synchronous change as the motion of the vehicle varies.

Abstract: A device is provided with a substantially rigid sheet having a pair of parallel opposite edges; and a holder for holding the sheet at a position in stable equilibrium at a predetermined location; the sheet and the holder being so constructed and arranged that the sheet can be moved easily to and away from the location by a person without a need for equipment.

Abstract: Apparatus for mass transfer of gas and liquid flowing through passages therein has a vertical enclosure formed in a pair of sheet metal plates sealed together around their periphery and formed to have rows of horizontal passages communicating with columns of vertical passages in and adjacent to a vertical plane defined by flat contiguous areas of the plates between and around the passages. The inner surfaces of the passages have highly wettable areas to substantially maximize transfer of mass and heat. Each horizontal passage is continuous between the vertical passages with which it communicates.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for use with electronic activation means such as work or entertainment systems introduce precisely controlled amounts of aromatic chemicals, using metered spray technology, into the immediate vicinity of the operator. Control is provided by microprocessor circuitry so that aromas may be used at appropriate times and intensities by computer or entertainment sources. Multiple removable spray containers may generate numerous aromatic enhancements to a wide variety of applications.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for burning a mixture of natural gas and air in a ratio that is slightly fuel rich to slightly fuel lean with substantially minimal emission of gaseous pollutants containing nitrogen, hydrogen, or carbon. The mixture is provided along a predetermined path in a non-radiant burner and is ignited to provide a blue flame in a predetermined burning region. A refractory porous member located in the cool region adjacent to the upstream end of the burning region reduces the temperature of combustion slightly by scavenging a substantial fraction of the excess free radicals that are critical to the formation of nascent NO and its conversion to NO.sub.2 and the nitrogen acids. Typically the porosity in the porous member is about 92 to 97 percent and its thickness is such that it extends into the flame to a level at about 25 to 50 percent of the height of the flame. The mixture typically comprises about 80 to 120 percent theoretical air.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for relieving the compression pressure while starting an internal combustion engine 10. A passage 12 communicates via end openings 22 and 22a between the compression space 13 and the exhaust region 19 in the head 20 of the engine. A spring 16 presses against one side of a piston 15 in a valve 21, holding an end portion 23 away from the opening 22 until the engine speed exceeds the cranking speed. The pressure of the engine's lubricating oil 18 on the opposite side of the piston 15 then forces the end portion 23 against the opening 22, to close the passage 12 and permit the engine to continue running with full compression.

Abstract: A gas-fired, double-sided griddle apparatus for high-volume commercial cooking comprises double-sided griddles, each having a lower platen having a horizontal lower cooking surface and an upper platen having an upper cooking surface; a positioning mechanism for moving the upper platen of each griddle into a horizontal position in contact with the food, permitting the upper platen to press downward against the food until the cooking surface reaches a predetermined level above the cooking surface of the lower platen, stopping the downward movement at that level, and lifting the upper platen away from the food after a predetermined cooking time; a counterflow heater for heating a supply of oil to desired temperatures; and apparatus for circulating the heated oil through a serpentine path wherein the oil contacts, and transfers heat to, a first region of the lower platen and a similar path wherein the oil transfers heat to a second region of the upper platen that is positioned directly above, and parallel to, the

Abstract: A pressure regulating valve 10 is provided in a housing 11 filled with oil 23 and having an inlet port 12 and an outlet port 13. A straight elongate vertical tube 14 having a lengthwise slot 19 near its lower end 15 is affixed to the housing and communicates with the inlet port. Closely fitting down into the tube is a piston 16, slidable between a lower position 29 with its lower end 17 below the slot and a substantially higher upper position. A coaxial annular weight 22, surrounding upper portions of the piston and the tube, is affixed to the piston to exert a downward force thereon by virtue of the gravitational attraction of the weight to the earth.

Abstract: Atoms in a neodymium:glass rod 20 are excited to a substantially spatially uniform metastable state by flashlamps 21. A flowing fluid 26 cools the flashlamps, but not the rod; so that low temperature gradients are maintained in the rod during isothermal laser operation. Automatic control means 22 turn off the electrical power supply 24 when the temperature in the rod reaches a predetermined limit. A flowing fluid 23 then cools the rod, at a rate low enough to avoid thermal stress therein, while it is not lasing. Segments of reflectors 25 focus the pump photons in the rod so as to substantially balance the cylindrical lensing action of the rod against the radial attenuation through it, and thus to provide substantially uniform density of stored energy in the rod.

Abstract: In apparatus useful in immunoassay of a fluid, light is directed to an optical sensor wherein the light is transmitted to a replaceable optical device that is responsive to index of refraction in a sensing region thereof that is exposed to the fluid. One portion of the light is transmitted via a reference path to a first detector. Another portion of the light is transmitted via a sensing path that includes the sensing region to another detector. A ratioing device receives an output from each detector and provides a signal responsive to the ratio of the outputs. The replaceable optical device typically comprises a pair of channel waveguides in directional coupling arrangement, or a pair of channel waveguides in an interferometer arrangement, or a ridge waveguide having a serpentine path.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for monitoring formaldehyde vapor in a gas, comprising directing the gas into contact with an aqueous acidic solution that can dissolve the vapor and thus collect it therein, separating the gas from the solution, reacting the solution with a reagent to form from the collected formaldehyde a derivative that can be excited by radiation at a wavelength in the range of about 230 to 300 (typically 254) nanometers to fluoresce at a substantially different wavelength, irradiating the solution at a wavelength in said range for excitation, and measuring the intensity of the resulting fluorescence. Typically the fluorescence is measured at a wavelength in the range of about 450 to 550 nanometers and the irradiation and the measurement of fluorescence are carried out by means comprising conventional fluorometric means.

Abstract: Apparatus for improving properties of a solid material by providing shock waves therein. A laser oscillator 10a provides a plurality of pulses 112 of coherent radiation. The leading edge of each pulse is sharpened either by a metal foil 18 or by phase conjugation reflection means 18a, 18e including a stimulated Brillouin scattering cell 18d,18e and optionally a Faraday isolator 18b. Each pulse is directed onto an amplifier 123 comprising first and second laser amplifier rods 23a,23b in series. At least a major portion of the radiation 112 amplified by the first amplifier rod 23a is directed to the second amplifier rod 23b, where it is amplified and then directed to a surface of the solid material.

Abstract: A method for providing intelligible markings that are virtually invisible to the unaided eye on the surface of an article, comprises: applying onto the surface, by a jet printing process, a marking medium comprising a compatible liquid or viscous substance containing an organic laser dye (typically IR-125 in a concentration of about 0.005 to 0.05 percent by weight of the medium) that is poorly absorptive of radiation in the visible range of about 400 to 700 nanometers, is highly absorptive of radiation in the near infrared range of at least about 750 nanometers in wavelength (typically about 750 to 900 nanometers), and fluoresces in response to radiation excitation in the said near infrared range to produce fluorescent radiation of wavelengths longer than the wavelength of the excitation (typically in the range of about 800 to 1100 nanometers). Other useful laser dyes may comprise DTTCI, DNTTCI, HDITCI, DDTTCI, IR-140, DDCI-4, or IR-132.

Abstract: Apparatus 10 (FIG.

Abstract: Heat pump systems (principally FIG. 3; also FIGS. 5, 7 or 9) comprising, in circuit of fluid, an injected compressor 113, communicating a compressed gas discharge 137 to a condenser 100, communicating an at least partly liquid output 130 to an expansion valve 101, communicating therefrom 131 to a separator 110, communicating liquid therefrom 134 to a capillary tube 111, and communicating gas therefrom 132 to a control valve 112 that is responsive to ambient temperature; 111 communicating the liquid therefrom 135 to an evaporator 102, communicating gas therefrom 136 to an inlet of the injected compressor 113; the control valve 112 communicating gas therefrom 133 to an injection input of the injected compressor 113; and the expansive valve 101 being adjustable 176,171 responsive to the temperature of the gas communicating 136 from the evaporator 102 to the injected compressor 113. Where the fluid comprises a non-azeotropic refrigerant blend (NARB), the system (FIG. 5; also FIG.

Abstract: Apparatus for providing selectively from time to time in the same member 11 either rotary motion 12 about an axis 13 or linear movement 14 in an axial direction from one position to another comprises: an electric motor 15 including a stator 16 comprising a housing 17 and a magnet 18 for providing a first magnetic field therein; a rotor 19 comprising an armature 20, for providing a second magnetic field, on a shaft 11; all of the above being coaxial about the axis 13; and a commutator 21 (mechanical or electronic) and associated circuitry 22 for conducting electrical energy to the motor 15 to provide, selectively, rotation 12 of the shaft 11 in a selected direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) and/or axial translation 14 of the shaft 11 in a selected direction (toward or away from the first magnetic field). For rotation, the magnetic fields are substantially perpendicular; for translation, they are substantially parallel.

Abstract: Apparatus for modulation of optical signals at millimeter-wave frequencies comprises a thin elongate dielectric slab (1) of lithium niobate to partially confine and guide therein a polarized electrical signal (8) at millimeter-wave frequencies; a thinner optical waveguide (3) of lithium niobate with titanium diffused therein to substantially confine and guide therein an optical signal (9), having at least one elongate surface adjacent to an elongate surface of the dielectric slab (1); an optical grating (5) of arsenic trisulfide for directing a polarized optical signal (9) into the waveguide (3) to propagate in a lengthwise direction therein; an optical grating (7) of arsenic trisulfide for directing the optical signal (9) out of the waveguide (3) after it has traversed a predetermined distance therein; and a metallic waveguide (2) for directing an electrical signal (8) into the dielectric slab (1) in the same direction as that of the optical signal (9) in the waveguide (3), and at a center frequency such tha