Abstract: Apparatus for controlling the supply of electric power to a power consuming appliance (e.g. an electric soldering iron) in dependence on a parameter (e.g. the temperature of the soldering iron) comprises electric circuit means including a thyristor connected in series with the appliance across an AC supply, a first voltage divider including a variable resistor for defining a set point for said parameter, a second voltage divider including a sensor for said parameter and adapted to provide an analogue electrical parameter, and a first and a second transistor having their bases connected respectively to tappings of said voltage dividers defined respectively by a terminal of said variable resistor and said sensor, the emitter of said second transistor being connected to the gate of said thyristor.

Abstract: The present method involves the use of a urethral probe, having one tapered end with a silk thread anchored near said tapered end, at about four centimeters from the apex of the taper. The probe is inserted into the urethra while the free end of the thread is held firmly in the examiner's hand. Once the probe has been inserted into the urethra to the point where the attachment of the string is exactly at the external meatus, the examiner holds only the thread, exerting a slight tension on it. (The thread represents a continuation of the unstrained urethral axis.) The patient is then asked to strain. If there is any weakness of urethral support, the instrument is deflected upward. This upward deflection causes the stationary thread to create an angle which is then read directly from a scale, wherein the degree of deflection can be interpretively read in order to determine the degree of deformity of the urethrovesical angle from its normal anatomic position.

Abstract: A strippable covering for protecting marine structures from fouling in contact with water which comprises a sheet-like water-insoluble base prepared from a synthetic, thermoplastic polymeric material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, said base ranging in thickness from 4 to 8 mils and coated on one side thereof with a water insoluble, acrylic adhesive material comprising homopolymers and copolymers of acrylic acid and acid esters, said adhesive material ranging in thickness from about 0.

Abstract: The present invention comprises apparatus for initiating a fluid flow within a siphon tube from an aquarium to its associated filter tank. The novel apparatus comprises the addition of a vacuum duct with an upturned fluid trap to an otherwise conventional siphon tube; the detachable attachment of a siphon bulb to the trap outlet of the vacuum duct while both the aquarium and filter tank are full, with the filter tank pump being in an 37 off" condition; the squeezing of the siphon bulb in order to exhaust air from said bulb and ultimately out through the aquarium tank. The bulb is then released, thereby creating a pressure differential within the siphon tube which will cause the air within said tube to be drawn into the bulb. The removal of the trapped air within the siphon tube, and from the vacuum duct and its trap, will cause fluid to fill the siphon tube, and vacuum duct.

Abstract: The present method for display of wall paneling includes the steps of securing two back-to-back panel samples within a perimeter and then in turn securing several of such perimeters within variously configured pre-formed angle channels in order to obtain a desired floor display pattern.

Abstract: The present method of test sample recovery comprises the steps of: placement of granulated solid material within a multi-chambered, multi-sectioned apparatus having an angulated interior surface; rotatably mixing the material of said sample through the use of rotors axially disposed within the chambers of the apparatus wherein the exterior surface of said rotors exhibits an angulation which is opposite in slope to the angulation of the interior surface of the mixing chambers; maintaining a constant pressure level within the chambers; controllably heating the material of the sample until a state of flux is obtained; monitoring the viscosity of the sample in order to ascertain the point at which cross-linking is attained; continuing the above steps until a hardened solid-state is reached; opening of the test chamber; and removing the hardened test sample which, by virtue of said opposing angulations of the test chambers and rotors, imparts to the cross-linked sample a self-releasing physical characteristic whic

Abstract: The present invention exhibits a match and matchbook cover having in slideable disposition behind the matches; a safety panel having disposed at the forward edge thereof a friction panel wherein the matchbook is provided with a slit which permits the selectable extension of said friction area from the safety panel upon the application of slide pressure by the user. Similarly, the friction panel can be readily withdrawn by a user through a simple withdrawal of the sliding panel.

Abstract: A device for retrieving waste deposits particularly animal feces, excrement and the like, comprising a first tubular shaft having a distal or handle end portion and a proximal end portion, the latter terminating in a first stop. A second shaft, concentrically disposed within said first shaft and movable longitudinally with respect thereto, terminates in a second stop positioned outwardly of said first stop. Longitudinal movement of the second shaft causes a pair of opposed frame members rotatably mounted in, or attached to the second stop and connected to the first stop by e.g., rods, to opposedly rotate to open or closed positions in jaw-like fashion.

Abstract: The present invention disclosed a spring bracket for securing a lawn mower grass catcher assembly to the base of a lawn mower proper in which the catcher assembly includes a loop element extending as an integral part of said assembly, wherein said spring bracket comprises: a handle having a notch-like recess therein, said recess adapted for a three-sided slide-fittable inclusion about said loop element; tension means having two ends, one of said ends being affixed to said handle at a point proximate to said recess; and a nut and bolt combination, said bolt secured to the second end of said tension means wherein said nut and bolt combination is itself secured to the base of the lawn mower proper, wherein a rotational movement of the handle will result in a selectable decrease or increase in said tension means which may be utilized in order to accomplish attachments of the present bracket to said loop element of the grass catcher assembly.

Abstract: A fishing rod support which may be mounted on either a wall or a ceiling surface which comprises a pair of cooperating bracket members comprising a proximal bracket adapted to receive the handle portion of said rod, and a distal bracket provided with a U-shaped channel for receiving the tip portion of said rod, said channel having its longitudinal dimension in parallel relation to the plane of said wall or ceiling surface, and means for retaining said tip within said channel comprising a lip extending perpendicular to said longitudinal dimension, and a pivotable gate attached at one end thereof to a peripheral edge of said channel. In an overhead installation of the bracket, the lip prevents the escape of the tip portion, should the boat be in motion with the gate in the unsecured position.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a portable cutting and sewing work station in which a single axle trailer of the U-haul type is adapted in order to exhibit a plurality of cutting surfaces and equipment storage areas. Said surfaces and areas may be selectably unfolded from particular areas within the trailer in order to form the desired work station. The present structure includes a sewing machine and a seat adjacent thereto in which the trailer proper is utilized as the base or support of the mobile work station.

Abstract: The present invention provides for a lip and cheek expander and tongue retractor for mechanically holding open a patient's mouth and stabilizing his tongue therein so as to facilitate dental and medical procedures. The present expander-retractor comprises first and second arc-shaped shells, each of said shells having a trough-shaped cross-section including first and second side walls; and a spring element having two ends, one of each of said ends secured to the first and second shells respectively, said element disposed in a plane which is substantially transverse to those planes defined by said side walls and which, upon insertion is substantially co-planer with the plane of the patient's tongue. The spring element includes a lingual arch which is adapted for engagement with the paient's tongue.

Abstract: A method for the preparation of an enclosed sanitary device which comprises providing a compressible, rapidly absorptive, organic polymeric foam pre-form to which a finite length of withdrawal string has been attached, compressing said pre-form to less than about 50% of its original dry volume, and locating the compressed pre-form in fixed position within a fluid-soluble container. Additionally, said enclosed device may then be mounted upon a support and insertion structure. The apparatus for use in the method of this invention comprises means for compressing said pre-form to the dimensions of the final device and placing the resulting compressed pre-form in said container to form the enclosed device.

Abstract: A catamenial device such as a tampon which comprises a segment of a rapidly re-expandable hydrophilic polymeric foam held in compression to less than 50 percent of its original dry volume and a constraining means holding said segment in compression which is adapted to provide lubrication for insertion of said segment into an animal's body cavity and to thereafter rapidly disintegrate, wherein said constraining means comprises a coating material comprising a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. Said coating material may be provided by the application of a solution to the surface of said foam segment, or by full impregnation. In a further embodiment, said coating material may be introduced into said foam in particulate form to serve as a novel release agent in a segment which is subsequently constrained within a gelatin capsule.

Abstract: A fishing rod support which may be mounted on either a wall or a ceiling surface which comprises a pair of cooperating bracket members comprising a proximal bracket adapted to receive the handle portion of said rod, and a distal bracket provided with a generally U-shaped channel for receiving the tip portion of said rod, said channel having its longitudinal dimension in parallel relation to the plane of said wall or ceiling surface, and means for retaining said tip within said channel comprising a lip extending perpendicular to said longitudinal dimension, a pivotable gate attached at one end thereof to a peripheral edge of said channel, and a depression in the wall of said channel adjacent said lip adapted to retain said tip out of contact with said gate.

Abstract: A monolithic sanitary device comprising a generally arcuate, boat-shaped structure prepared from a hydrophilic, highly absorbent, polymeric foam material which has been rendered fluid-impervious on one side thereof by a coating of an organic polymeric latex material. The device dispenses with the need of elaborate barrier layers, the various facing and backing sheets, as the foam material possess a texture which is acceptable to living tissue and the fluid-impervious latex coating prevents undesirable strike-through and assists in maintaining the structural integrity of the device.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an improvement in the configuration of concave saw teeth of a circular saw. More particularly, the present invention comprises an inverse, half-conical, varying radius raking surface for a concave saw tooth of a circular saw.

Abstract: A method for attaching a length of string to a segment of material such as a foam pre-form used in tampon manufacture comprising providing the string in proximity to the pre-form, drawing the loose ends of the string through the pre-form in intersecting divergent perpendicular directions to form a loop on the side of their entry into said pre-form, whereby the loose ends protrude therefrom, passing the protruding ends through the loop, and tightening the loop around the ends to form a knot. The apparatus useful in the above method comprises a pair of reciprocable needles adapted to extend into perpendicular intersection with the pre-form to engage and retract a length of string through said pre-form, a string tensioning means for placing said string in tension adjacent said pre-form, means in alignment with said tensioning means for severing a finite length of said string, and means laterally aligned with said pre-form and axially aligned with said needles for drawing the ends of said string into a knot.

Abstract: The present invention constitutes a mixing and feeding apparatus for use in association with solid chemicals such as fiberglass and certain plastics. The mixing function is achieved by a circumferential tumbler, having a plurality of longitudinal prongs, which rotates in a first direction. Concurrently with the rotation of the tumbler, an axial flight screw, axially disposed within the tumbler, rotates in an opposite direction. The rotation of the flight screw interacts with the tumbler to perform a mixing function while also serving to advance the solid material from the mixer to a discharge area.

Abstract: A rear view mirror having a slidably extensible auxiliary reflective element is disclosed. The auxiliary reflective element serves to enlarge the range of rear view vision of the driver of a vehicle such as an automobile. The position of the auxiliary mirror can easily be adjusted with regard to both its displacement from the principal mirror and the relative angle of its plane with regard to the plane of the principal mirror.