Abstract: There is disclosed an inner shoe for a molded ski boot which includes a foot warmer mechanism having an electrical resistance heater, an electrical generator, a mechanical translator to translate vertical movements of the wearer's heel into uni-directional rotational movement of a flywheel, and a gear box mechanically coupling the flywheel to the electrical generator. Specific features of the mechanism include: a shock absorbing resilient coupling of the flywheel to prevent damaging the mechanism while juming or otherwise subjecting the shoe to hard usage; interchangeable generators and gear boxes to accommodate wearer's of varied size and weight as well as for varied intensity of activity; and an entirely sealed, remote latch to lock the mechanical drive out of operation.

Abstract: There is disclosed a very compact flat case for carrying prophylactics, such as condoms and the like. The overall dimensions of the case are approximately the same as a large coin. The case has flat top and bottom members which are hinged together with concentric cylindrical walls which support a resilient seal such as an O-ring. One or both of the mating walls are inclined to insure that sealing pressure is applied to the O-ring. The case has a closure which has a pair of detent balls, one each of each of the top and bottom members. The detent balls seat in mating recesses in the opposite member.

Abstract: There is disclosed a game board with playing pieces in which the game board is provided with a plurality of square bosses arranged in a waffle pattern. The playing pieces are each provided with a peripheral skirt about their lower edge and an offset shoulder about their upper edge. The bosses and playing pieces are square and are of the same shape so that the playing pieces can be stacked on a respective boss of the board and on each other.

Abstract: There is disclosed an optical stereoscopic system having a prism window which permits free viewing of left and right steroscopic images by an observer. The prism window comprises a pair of prisms positioned with their long sides medially and their short sides laterally, and in abutting and joined relationship. Preferably, the prisms are thin plate prisms, each having a plano face and an opposite prism face formed with a plurality of parallel V-grooves to form, therebetween, a plurality of parallel triangular prisms. The optical system includes left and right stereoscopic imaging surfaces for display of normal, i.e., unreversed, left and right stereoscopic images. The prism window is placed in front of the imaging surfaces and a three dimensional image can be seen by an observer witnessing through a prism window.

Abstract: There is disclosed an exerciser sling which is formed as a generally U-shaped band of flexible sheet material having its upper ends attached to a support ring which has substantially the same diameter as the lateral dimensions of the user. The support ring protects the user's head, and supports the sides of the sling vertically and substantially parallel to each other, totally enclosing the sides of the user. The sling also includes a back support band which extends vertically from the support ring to a joined attachment with the fabric band of the sling at its lower rear edges, and has front belting which extends about the waist or diagonally across the chest and lower abdomen of the user. The sling has a pair of leg openings at its lower end, or bight, and the sides have opposite openings for the arms of the user.

Abstract: There is disclosed a spray tip for airless spraying in which a turret member, which carries the tungsten carbide spray tip, is rotatably mounted in a spray tip housing and is removably and interchangeably received in the housing. The turret member is provided with a dynamic seal which has a seal formed of a very hard plastic, preferably an acetal copolymer that is filled with a reinforcement material, preferably with glass fibers. The hard reinforced plastic resists cold flow and extrusion while, nevertheless, providing a resilient seal that is very effective, even when spraying very low viscosity liquids. Longevity of this seal and ease of rotation of the turret member while maintaining full sealing pressure on the seal is achieved by the cooperative use of a resiliently biased piston support for the seal.

Abstract: There is disclosed a resilient spring and lever support for an inner sole of a shoe which can be used in combination with a new foot warmer mechanism, or can be used as an orthopedic foot support. The preferred embodiment is a foot warmer mechanism which has a pair of sole plates in rubbing frictional contact with the upper sole plate pivotally secured at the toe of the shoe and the lower sole plate supported by a lever arm located near the heel of the shoe. A resilient spring is provided at the heel of the shoe to bias the pair of plates upwardly, and one or more springs can also be provided at intermediate positions. The pair of plates is moved down and up by the applied weight of the wearer and the countering bias of the spring. As the sole plates are moved, they slide against each other, generating heat by friction, to warm the weater's foot. The mechanism can be constructed in the shoe or can be a separate assembly that can be inserted into a shoe.

Abstract: The invention is a wrenching tool useful for installation of the frangible, or torque-limiting, fasteners which are commonly used in the aerospace industry. The tool has a head with a post that is seated in the wrenching ring of fastener and is pivotally mounted on the jaw end of a handle. The jaw end of the handle moves towards the post as the handle is pivoted on the head, and grips against the outside wall of the wrenching collar. If necessary, the wrenching tool is used with a hex key wrench to immobilize the fastener bolt during removal or application of the frangible fastener.

Abstract: An optical system to permit viewing of adjacent stereoscopic images in which the observers each wear a pair of eyeglasses to view the display. Polarizing light filters are positioned in front of each of the stereoscopic images and these filters have different angles of polarization to encode each image. Each eyepiece includes a polarized filter which decodes the image for its respective eye, and a rotatably adjustable prism which deviates the line of sight a sufficient degree that both stereoscopic images are fused in the fovea of the eye. The rotatably adjustable prism can be a solid prism or a Fresnel prism and Fresnel prisms are preferred. The rotation of the prism permits the observer to adjust the refractory angle of the image regardless of the observer's distance to the image source, and thus permits the observer to move about the displayed images and permits a plurality of observers to view the display.

Abstract: There is disclosed a storage shelf which is specifically designed for an orderly storage of pails with tapered sidewalls. The shelf is used on a rack with end frames which support longitudinal rails at each shelf level. The shelves of the invention are supported between the longitudinal rails, with their ends resting on ledges which are on the inside surface of each rail. Each shelf is formed of heavy gauge sheet metal having coextensive, sidewalls with inclined inside walls. The height and inclination of the inside walls corresponds to the difference between the top and bottom diameters of the pails. This results in a shelf having inclined sidewalls which center the pails on the shelves, yet which provides minimal clearance between the tops of the pails, from row to row, thereby achieving automatic alignment of the pails without increasing the overall size or bulk of the storage unit. Each shelf is braced by its sidewalls and by a central longitudinal rib on its undersurface.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a gas chromatography assembly comprising a high mass, thermally conductive body provided with at least one cell in which is disposed a resistance filament for the detection of a sample gas. Lines are provided for communication between the cell and sample gas and carrier gas from chromatographic separation columns. The conductive body is adapted to carry the separation columns in heat transfer relationship therewith. In accordance with the present invention, the assembly components, including the interior of the cell and the separation columns are heated with a single heating element, which is controlled by a single heating element control means. The temperature of the environment of the sensor, switching valves and the separation columns, are thus controlled through a single constant temperature control system.

Abstract: There is disclosed a simulated thatched roofing which closely approximates the appearance and durability of thatched roofs. The roof structure includes a supporting roof structure formed of a roof frame and a base underlayment and a natural or synthetic fiber outer covering laid thereover which is formed of a base sheet, which can be woven or unwoven fabric, with or without a laminated layer of a synthetic resin, or can be a layer of a natural or synthetic resin in which a plurality of discontinuous loops of a synthetic or natural, raw bast or leaf fiber are embedded. The loops are cut to the ends of the fibers as tufts which are closely spaced across the entire surface of the roof covering, and which simulate the cut ends of reeds used in traditional roof thatching.

Abstract: There is disclosed a power unit for twirling a jump rope about a substantially horizontal axis, as in conventional rope jumping, or about a vertical axis to provide an entirely new variation of the game. The power unit includes a stand with a vertical standard which supports a motorized drive with an output shaft on which is mounted a crank element. One end of a jump rope is attached to the crank element, which twirls the jump rope. The opposite end of the jump rope is secured to a stationary support, e.g., fence post, side of a building, etc. The power unit can also be removed from the vertical standard and seated in a recess in the base of the stand with the drive shaft vertically oriented, whereby the crank element is rotationally driven about a vertical axis. A short rope is secured to the crank element and a weighted element such as a foam plastic ball is secured to its free end. The players jump the rope as it swung around in a horizontal arc of rotation, thereby providing a new variation of the game.

Abstract: A closure for containers provided with one or more closure projections adapted to cooperate with means on the container for securing the closure in sealing position over the open mouth of the container. The closure of the invention can be used with containers designed for child resistant packaging or with containers designed for conventional closures. The closure includes a top wall and a depending skirt portion. One or more locking projections are formed on the inner wall surface of the skirt portion. The locking projection has an upper surface facing the top wall of the closure on which is formed a lug which extends parallel to the axis of the closure so that the locking projection has a generally inverted T-shaped configuration including a pair of oppositely extending arms which extend normal to the lug. The extending arms define support surfaces which cooperate with the securing means of the container to prevent cocking or tilting of the closure when in the locked and sealed position on the container.

Abstract: There is disclosed a shoe with an internal warming mechanism that includes a heat engine and, in particular, a heat engine operating on a substantially or quasi-Carnot cycle. The warming mechanism has a compressor for compressing a gas, a condenser for condensing the gas into a liquid, an expansion and evaporator zone for expanding the liquified gas into a gas and a return line to cycle the expanded gas to the compressor. The source of energy for compression of the gas is the movement of the wearer's foot in the shoe, and the heel of the shoe has a hollow cavity in which the gas compressor is located. The sole of the shoe has an internal heel plate which is coupled, on its undersurface, to a post which is mechanically linked to the gas compressor such that up and down movements of the post in response to the movement of the wearer's heel will drive the compressor and provide the necessary work to drive the heat engine.

Abstract: There is disclosed an orifice tip which has a cylindrical base with an asymmetric head, preferably in the shape of a single upstanding elongated rib which is centrally located on the cylindrical base. The rib has tapered side walls with an arcuate, convex edge that has a transverse V-groove. The V-groove intersects a central passageway through the orifice tip, thereby providing a spray eyelet which is precisely oriented to the V-groove. The orifice tip is mounted in a holder having a transverse bore that terminates in an asymmetric receptacle in the form of an elongated slot which receives the elongated rib of the orifice tip, thereby precisely orienting the orifice tip in the holder. The orifice tip is particularly advantageous as it can be assembled to its holder with automated equipment.

Abstract: There is disclosed an easily releaseable, internally threaded fastener having at least one axial slot which extends substantially through the wall of the fastener. The external wall of the fastener is non-cylindrical, e.g. hexagonal, or three-lobed, to permit the application of a fastening torque to the fastener. The fastener is surrounded by a retainer sleeve having a mating, internal wall portion which provides hoop strength to the fastener. The retainer also has an annular recess in its internal wall whereby the retainer can be slid axially, or rotated, to release the fastener. The fastener assembly includes a metal spacer seated in each axial slot of the fastener to permit the even transmission of the fastener application torque.

Abstract: There is disclosed a machine for saw-sizing of lumber and a method for its use. The machine has a frame and a work table surface which supports at least one and, preferably four, bandsaws. The bandsaws are each positioned at an incident angle from 20.degree. to about 80.degree. to the surface of the lumber which is fed through the machine. The lumber is fed from the back side or back edge of the bandsaw saw blades. The machine is specifically designed for a single pass sizing of all four sides of lumber with two vertical bandsaws and two horizontal bandsaws; the horizontal bandsaws are positioned to size the bottom and top surfaces of the lumber while the vertical bandsaws are positioned to size the opposite vertical sides of the lumber. The method comprises passing the lumber through the machine from the back edge of the bandsaw blades to drag the lumber against the bandsaw blades. This results in a rough saw sized texture to the lumber without any significant change in its dimensions.

Abstract: The continuous solution polymerization of an acrylate, particularly methyl methacrylate, is practiced in the presence of a large quantity of solvent by introducing the monomer feed into a continuous loop of recycled solvent and removing the polymerized product therefrom. The polymerization is practiced in a plurality of stages, preferably two stages wherein the bulk of the polymerization is performed in the first stage and the final stage is operated to deplete the initiator and any other polymerization modifiers, thereby forming a crude polymerizate for devolatilization. A product of superior thermal stability and optimum heat distortion temperature is achieved by the addition of some of the comonomer such as methyl acrylate, or ethyl acrylate, etc., to the final stage or stages of the polymerization. Additionally, the product quality is enhanced by addition of a portion of the chain transfer agent, such as n-dodecyl mercaptan, to the final stage or stages of polymerization.

Abstract: There is disclosed an improved wrenching tool which utilizes readily removable key member that is axially restrained in a key holder of the tool member by a detent ball and that can be released from the tool by precisely aligning the key holder to the outer, rotationally driven socket member of the tool. This invention comprises a release mechanism to locate the key holder in the tool at the precise position where the detent ball is aligned with a ball cavity in the outer socket member, thus permitting lateral displacement of the detent ball, and releasing the central key member. Preferably the key release includes a knob on a shaft which extends through a sidewall of the tool housing and which internally supports a cam that is received in a cam guide on an axially sliding block which is secured in a subassembly to the key holder.