Abstract: A pumping apparatus (10) is disclosed which includes a downhole reservoir unit (20), a pumping unit (18) and a power unit (102). The reservoir unit (20) has a piston assembly (70) with a top piston (72) and a bottom piston (74). A storage chamber (82) is defined between the two pistons (72, 74) which is variable in volume as the piston assembly moves from the rest position to a pumping position where a helical spring (98) is compressed. The piston assembly (70) is moved by fluid in a tubing string (22) through reciprocal motion of a pulser piston (48). As the piston assembly (70) is moved downwardly, fluid from the reservoir passes through a check valve into the storage chamber (82). When the piston assembly (70) is in the pumping position, the pulser piston (48) is retracted and the helical spring (98) drives the piston assembly (70) upward. The volume of the storage chamber (82) decreases and fluid is pumped from the storage chamber through the tubing string to the surface.

Abstract: Four roll-formed slats attached to a vehicle top or rear deck have external tracks formed along their opposite edges. Two brackets slidably engage the external tracks of each slat, and lock at any point along the slat by means of an intermediate clamping plate. The clamping plates are shaped to permit application of clamping force without marring a plastic trim strip which is along the center of the slat. The brackets on the inboard slats carry retractable luggage stops, and those on the outboard slats carry tie-down loops. The outboard brackets are also adapted for attachment of crossbars, spanning the outboard slats, but only at certain discrete positions along the slats. Crossbar accessories facilitate securing bicycles, skis or other special articles to the vehicle.

Abstract: A tube is passed through the urethra into the bladder (indicated by liquid flow from the bladder to the distal end of the tube) and then withdrawn slightly so that its proximal end is within the urethra (indicated by flow cessation). The tube is anchored in that position by sliding a hygroscopic bougie up the outside of the tube and just inside the urethral meatus, and then spraying the bougie with water to expand it against the urethral wall. A proximal enlargement in the tube also aids anchoring.A conical sheath is used to expand the meatus, to aid in inserting the tube and bougie. The patient holds a handle on the sheath to facilitate access to the meatus.With the tube anchored, the patient undergoes stress of the type which produces the incontinence to be diagnosed, and the diagnostician observes the timing of liquid discharge from the urethra through the tube, relative to stress incidence. From this relative timing the type of incontinence is inferred.

Abstract: This scaffold hoist uses a transmission mechanism whose output shafts are fastened to the hoist housing, and whose case rotates, carrying a sheave which impels the mechanism along the cable. The transmission mechanism is advantageously a quadrant drive for extremely high torque-to-weight ratio.The sheave has a peripheral groove, tapered and deep enough to seat a cable having any of three different diameters, at different depths in the groove.The cable wraps around three-fourths of the sheave. Around five-eighths of the sheave, a chain presses the cable into the groove. The chain rollers enter the groove deeply enough to engage even the smallest-diameter cables of interest, while clearing the sheave periphery. The chain side bars ride along the sides of the sheave, holding the chain and cable in position.A resettable overspeed brake uses a rotary cam that jams a cable of any of the three sizes, at correspondingly various cam angles.

Abstract: A case for holding equipment such as cameras and accessories has a shell formed of a bottom wall and upstanding sidewalls and end walls. Dividers, which extend between the sidewalls, are secured to the sidewalls in an adjustable fashion that allows them to be positioned horizontally to divide the case into compartments of different sizes. A horizontal support extends between, is attached to the sidewalls and is secured to the end wall and one of the dividers for providing a horizontal surface for supporting the bottom of a camera body. The dividers have U-shaped cutouts that support a lens attached to and extending out from the camera body. The horizontal support is adjustable vertically to accommodate different sized camera bodies so that the horizontal support and the U-shaped cutouts in the dividers cooperate to support the camera body and its attached lens above the rest of the accessories and extra lenses in the case.

Abstract: Hydraulic chambers for attenuation of wave motion within waterbed mattresses are buoyed by encapsulated material made of a large multiplicity of interbonded fibers.

Abstract: Like conventional bumpers, these transparent self-attaching bumpers for household and office use protect walls, cabinets, furniture, chinaware and other objects from damage due to impacts. By virtue of transparency and other optical properties, however, they avoid the conspicuous "spots" on the protected or guarded surfaces which conventional bumpers constitute. These bumpers are sufficiently low in optical distortion (ideally they have negligible magnification, displacement, and discontinuity), as well as in optical scattering and reflectance, to be extremely inconspicuous even when placed over distinctly patterned surfaces. These bumpers are made self-attaching either by a coating of adhesive--which is also transparent--or by forming the bumpers themselves to grip particular shaped surfaces to be protected or guarded.

Abstract: Vibrations having a frequency exceeding 150 Hertz are established in a rigid body by means of a vibrator system that in one embodiment includes a pair of rotating wheels, only one of which has a weighted eccentric secured to its axle. The wheels are coupled together by an endless belt made of a material that dampens the vibrations propagating between the wheels. The unweighted wheel is driven by a flexible shaft connected to its axle. In another embodiment three wheels are used in which two are weighted at the axles. The vibrator system may be used to sink pipes and the like into the ground, or snake a sorting table employed, for example, in the mining industry or a silo hopper for discharging grain. Also disclosed is a method for sinking a pipe or the like into the ground and retrieving it after lowering it a predetermined distance. In this method, wires are attached at each end of the pipe for facilitating its downward motion and its retrieval.

Abstract: Accessible at both sides of this toy vehicle is a shifter element that enables a user to control the vehicle using only one hand, and without picking the vehicle up or even obstructing its forward travel. The shifter element may be used to turn the vehicle on or off. If the vehicle has two or more operating modes the shifter may be used to select between the modes. The shifter thus enhances the play fantasy, since "real" vehicles start and stop without being raised from the street by their drivers. The shifter element moves transversely relative to the vehicle. In one position the element protrudes at one side of the vehicle, and if pushed inwardly there the element moves toward the other side of the vehicle. In the other position the element protrudes at the other side of the toy; if pushed inwardly it moves toward the first side.

Abstract: A method of making a shielding gasket integral with a surface comprising the steps of (a) preparing a gasket material consisting of a mixture of an elastomer, a conductive filler, a catalyst and a bonding agent; (b) filling a mold with the gasket material; (c) covering the mold with a surface chosen to be bonded to the gasket; and (d) curing the gasket material in contact with the surface to utilize the bonding agent to bond the gasket material to the chosen surface. The article fabricated by this method comprises a gasket (18b), consisting of a mixture of an elastomer (26), a conductive filler (30) and a bonding agent (28), bonded to a surface (38) by the bonding agent during curing and having the particles comprising the conductive filler held in physical contact with the surface and with one another by the elastomer to which the particles are bonded.