Abstract: A mud gun for closing a tap hole of a vertical furnace, especially a blast furnace, is provided with a novel mechanism for traversing the gun barrel and pressing the muzzle of the barrel against the tap hole under high pressure.

Abstract: In a butterfly valve, comprising a valve disk pivotally mounted for movement between a closed position, in which the disk prevents the passage of fluid along a passageway, and an open position, in which the passage of fluid is allowed, an annular seal is provided to seal between the periphery of the disk and the wall of the passageway, provided by a valve housing, when the disk is in its closed position. The seal comprises two deformable sealing members, of P.C.T.F.E., mounted to seal against fluid flow in either direction along the passageway. A rigid former or rigid support ring is mounted between the sealing members to provide support therefor, and to act as a back-up seal in case fire should destroy the primary sealing members. In order that the former can be effective as a seal, it is clamped between the valve housing and a clamping ring independently of the fire-destructible primary sealing members.

Abstract: A foot pump comprises a base member and an operating member pivotally connected to the base member. A piston-and-cylinder assembly is connected between the members. In use the user depresses the operating member with his or her foot, thereby causing air to be compressed in and expelled from said assembly. A return spring incorporated in said assembly returns the operating member to its raised position. The assembly can be disconnected from the base member and connected to the base member again, at will, and the whole is so arranged that when the assembly is disconnected from the base member the pump can assume a storage position in which the operating member is in a depressed position and the return spring is not loaded, or at least not significantly loaded.

Abstract: In a servo-motor assembly for a vehicle braking system a valve controlling the servo pressure is operated by an operating assembly including a rotary valve actuator positioned between a pedal-operated input member and an abutment member. The valve actuator is axially movable through a limited distance and a camming mechanism translates axial movement of the actuator into angular movement which operates the valve.

Abstract: Servo boosters for vehicle hydraulic braking systems are described which incorporate a novel arrangement for providing an increasing reaction force on the input member in response to an increasing output force. In the novel arrangement a first thrust assembly is interposed between the input member and the output member, and a second thrust assembly is interposed between the movable wall of the booster, which may be a diaphragm or a piston, and the output member. The thrust assemblies each generally consist of rotatable parallel plates having inclined ramp surfaces on opposed faces co-operating with balls or rollers located between the plates. Some of the plates of the two thrust assemblies are keyed together. Axial forces between the members generate torques in the thrust assemblies and since the torques must balance each other as a result of the connections between the plates a fixed relationship is maintained between the input and output forces and the force exerted by the movable wall.

Abstract: A control valve assembly for a vehicle braking system, comprises a valve controlling communication between an inlet and an outlet, the valve having a valve seat carried by a control piston and an inertia-responsive member, preferably a ball, movable into engagement with the valve seat to close the valve at a predetermined deceleration of the vehicle. A disabling device is provided which is operable in response to the pressure at the outlet to hold the valve open. The disabling device comprises an auxiliary piston which is biased to an inoperative position and is movable, in response to a predetermined outlet pressure, against the biasing force to hold the ball off its valve seat.

Abstract: An axially movable seal face member of a rotary mechanical face seal, for example for a ship's stern shaft, is sealed to its associated structure, and at the same time loaded axially, by the wedging action of a ring urged radially between two oppositely inclined annular surfaces on bodies associated with the member and the structure, either the ring or the surfaces or both being of resilient material. The ring could be a rubber O-ring and the surfaces could be two further O-rings. Alternatively the ring could be rigid, or the ring could be resilient but the other two surfaces rigid.

Abstract: A spring support particularly intended for supporting pipes in installations where the pipes are liable to move laterally while in use, as for example in the case of pipes through which steam is conveyed, has provision for locking its compression spring means against movement relative to a body of the spring support in a plurality of positions longitudinally of the axis of operating movement of the spring. Preferably the spring means can be locked in an infinite number of positions within the operating range of its longitudinal movement. Thus if for any reason it is desired to resist movement for a while of a pipe which is supported by the spring support during use, the spring means can be readily locked against movement in the operative position it was occupying, without first having to move the spring means to another position before the spring means may be locked.

Abstract: Disclosed is a denitrification reactor wherein each of catalyst cells is provided by packing a plurality of honeycomb catalyst blocks into a box-shaped frame with four corner posts; a plurality of vertical guide posts are erected in such a spaced apart relationship that four adjacent vertical guide posts may vertically guide the corner posts of each catalyst cell; and the catalyst cells with honeycomb catalyst blocks are charged along said vertical guide posts and are pressed thereagainst.

Abstract: A friction pad assembly for a rail vehicle brake comprises a pad of friction material carried by a rigid backing plate, and the backing plate is detachably mounted on a shoe. A part-circular notch at one end of the shoe receives the stem of a headed stud which acts as an abutment for that end of the backing plate, and the backing plate is urged into engagement with the stud by means of a keeper which acts on the opposite end of the backing plate. The keeper comprises a stop member in combination with a relatively movable resilient abutment comprising a strip of metal which is bent into a loop and of which a forward terminal projection of part-circular outline is received in a notch of complementary outline in the other end of the backing plate.

Abstract: A gaming machine of the kind in which a combination of symbols is selected at random by spinning and stopping each of a set of coaxial reels, each reel carrying a plurality of symbols around its periphery and serving to display at least one of these symbols in a display window when stationary, characterized in that the reels are spun by a drive mechanism comprising a lever operated mechanism through which the work done by a player in operating a lever is transferred to the reels so as to spin them, and electrical powered drive means including a motor driven shaft on which the reels are rotatably mounted and to which they are frictionally coupled through individual slipping clutches. Preferably, the lever, when operated by a player, triggers operation of the electrical powered drive means so that the reels are spun by both the lever operated mechanism and the electrical powered drive means.

Abstract: A marking system wherein distinctive, adhesive-backed separable markers are carried on a substrate, and printed on the substrate are images of the respective markers with a blank line being printed adjacent each image on which objects marked may be recorded. The system is particularly, though not exclusively, suited to the marking of keys.

Abstract: In a vehicle disc brake a pair of friction pad assemblies are adapted to be applied simultaneously to the respective inboard and outboard faces of each of a pair of relatively fixed, axially spaced, rotatable discs by an actuator assembly. The actuator assembly comprises a pair of first and second rigid clamp assemblies which are relatively movable axially, and an actuator acting between the two clamp assemblies. The clamp assembly is arranged to apply the friction pad assemblies to the inboard faces of the discs and the clamp assembly is arranged to apply the friction pad assemblies to the outboard faces of the discs.

Abstract: A machine for making single and double record sleeves made respectively from one and two sheet material blanks, comprises two input lines each for cutting and creasing a blank and connectable to two first output lines each for making up single record sleeves from blanks cut and creased by the two input lines, and a second output line connectable to both input lines for making up a double record sleeve from blanks cut and creased by the two input lines, connection of the two input lines to one of the first output lines and the second output line being controlled by conditioning means having two corresponding conditions.

Abstract: A power operated actuator assembly incorporates a stop mechanism for opposing movement of an actuating member if a booster fluid supply is operative. The stop mechanism comprises a chamber which is supplied with a metered proportion of pressurized fluid when the actuating member is moved such that the greater the force on the actuating member, the greater will be the magnitude of the force due to the pressurized fluid opposing movement of the actuating member.

Abstract: A vehicle load-sensing assembly for use with a vehicle fluid-pressure braking system comprises an input member subjected to a force in a road spring and a valve which has a movable valve member for controlling the flow of fluid through the valve. A thrust transmitting mechanism is located between the input member and the valve member. The thrust transmitting mechanism comprises relatively movable parts, and a camming device is disposed between the parts to transmit movement between the parts to control operation of the valve member.

Abstract: A system is disclosed for monitoring operation of a speed sensor which produces a pulse signal with a repetition frequency related to the speed being sensed.An analogue speed signal is derived from a pulse signal having a repetition frequency related to the sensed speed and is fed to an integrator which, under the control of the pulse signal, performs successive separate integrating operations on the analogue speed signal in the periods between successive pulses, and a comparator compares the integrated sum thus produced with a reference value corresponding to a limit for normal generation of pulses, to produce a warning signal if the integrated sum exceeds the reference value. The system may include a timer to respond to successive warning signals and produce a malfunction signal if they occur with less than a predetermined time interval between them.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a two-part prosthesis which is particularly designed and intended for intramedullary implantation in substitution for the metacarpophalangeal (MP), phalangeal-interphalangeal (PIP) or distal-interphalangeal (DIP) joints.

Abstract: In a rotatable shake-out drum designed to receive refractory moulds containing hot metal castings and to break them up, cooling water is fed to the drum in synchronization with the feeding of moulds to the drum so that the quantity of water fed into the drum varies with the rate of delivery of moulds into the drum.

Abstract: In a master cylinder assembly of the kind in which transfer chambers in pedal-operated master cylinders are connected by a transfer passage, each master cylinder has a transfer valve which is normally open and which is movable into a closed position to isolate the transfer chamber of that master cylinder from a reservoir in response to an increase in pressure in the transfer chamber when the other master cylinder is operated on its own.