Abstract: A light-weight, low-profile socket wrench system includes a set of thin-walled sockets, each having a round peripheral surface around which a multiplicity of gear-like teeth are distributed, and a ratchet wrench having a cylindrical opening in its head in which a socket is releasably maintained, with its teeth directly engaged by teeth on a pawl, for applying rotational torque directly to the peripheral surface of the socket. Permanent magnets supported in the wrench head maintain the socket in easily releasable operational engagement with the wrench.

Abstract: An open-end wrench, which is self-adjusting and ratcheting, clamps at least four side surfaces of a nut or bolt head, and is adjustable to fit a range of sizes.

Abstract: A hand tool or clamp, capable of clamping a work-piece of any size within a wide range of sizes, includes a fixed jaw secured to one end of a slide bar, the other end of which is received in an elongate hollow sleeve and supported for back and forth movement relative to the sleeve. A movable jaw is supported on said sleeve at a selected one of plural mounting locations spaced along the length of the sleeve, each defined by a transverse pin extending through the sleeve. Once the fixed jaw has been advanced by hand toward the movable jaw sufficiently to clamp the work-piece, the sleeve and slide bar are releasably locked together by a pawl and ratchet mechanism. The clamping pressure is increased over that provided by hand by a screw mechanism associated with the fixed jaw.

Abstract: The sealed egg package disclosed herein includes a cup-shaped receptacle formed of transparent thermoplastic material which encloses and resiliently supports an egg therein. The receptacle is closed by a cover sheet adhesively sealed to the rim of the receptacle. The closed receptacle insulates the egg from the air and inhibits evaporation of water and escape of carbon dioxide from the egg. A gaseous atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, sealed within the receptacle and surrounding the egg protects the egg against deterioration.

Abstract: A light-weight, low-profile socket wrench system includes a set of cylindrical thin-walled sockets, each having a through axial opening sufficiently large to allow a bolt engaged by a nut of a size corresponding to that of the nut-receiving opening to pass through the axial opening and extend beyond the nut, and a ratchet wrench releasably engageable with the socket for applying rotational torque directly to a peripheral surface of the socket. In a preferred embodiment, the socket has a round peripheral surface around which a multiplicity of teeth are distributed, and the head of the ratchet wrench has a circular cylindrical opening in which the socket is releasably maintained with its teeth directly engaged by teeth on a pawl.

Abstract: Apparatus for monitoring and controlling the level of water in a swimming pool includes a vertically elongated vessel partially-buried below the pool water level at a location close to the return line from the filter to the pool inlet, a connector pipe extending from the vessel to the return line for allowing pool water at sub-level pressure to enter the vessel and rise to the pool water level, and a float-controlled valve supported within the vessel and detachably coupled with a pressure water supply and adapted to open as the float drops below a predetermined desired level and allow fresh water to flow into and out of the vessel through the connector pipe and return line and then into the pool for restoring the water in the pool to the predetermined desired level as determined by the position of the float on the water within the vessel being restored to a float position indicative of the predetermined desired level of water in the pool.

Abstract: A gripper tool for facilitating the handling of framing lumber of two inches by four or more inches cross-section used as studs and joists, includes a pair of pivotally joined levers having longer arms at one side of the pivot constituting handles and shorter arms at the other side of the pivot. A first of the shorter arms has a portion which extends from the pivot and at its end has a right angularly extending jaw adapted to engage one side of a lumber member, and the other shorter arm, which is pivotable relative to the first, has a jaw engageable with the opposite side of the lumber member. A thin plate affixed to the extending portion of the first shorter arm extends equidistantly to either side for providing ears adapted to temporarily support on an adjoining lumber member an end of a lumber member to which the jaws are releasably clamped. An optional spring, pivotably attached to the flat plate, is shaped and dimensioned to lock the clamped tool onto an abutting lumber member of the same thickness.

Abstract: A method for opening and closing an incision in which a plurality of opposed sets of aligned closure components are adhesively adhered to a patient's skin, prior to making the incision, along opposite sides of the intended incision and spaced a first distance from one another transversely of the incision line. After the surgeon has made the incision and closed the wound in conventional fashion except for final closing of the epidermis, a bridge having a length shorter than the first distance anchored between the opposed closure components and spanning the incision draws the closure components toward each other so as to bring the skin at the edges of the wound into alignment and everting contact under a slight, but precise amount of tension which is maintained while the wound heals. The closure components and the bridge are all perforated and thus breathable, and the bridge material is transparent so as to permit healing of the incision to be monitored.

Abstract: A seat back for a seating system wherein the contour of the seat back is automatically adjusted to the spinal curvature of an occupant by a multiplicity of compressible interconnected plenum chambers which project horizontally forward from the seat back and are connected to a source of air under sufficient pressure to inflate and maintain the plenum chambers fully extended when the seat is unoccupied. The plenum chambers are interconnected by either very small-diameter tubing, or tubing having small-orificed restrictors therein for reducing the rate of flow of air from one chamber to another for introducing a time delay between movement of the occupant and inflation and deflation of the chambers affected by such movement. The plenum chambers are arranged in one or more arrays each consisting of vertically-separated pairs, the chamber of each pair being equally spaced from a vertical center-line.

Abstract: An attachment designed to engage the nipple cap of a nursing bottle and serving the function of a nipple shield and also having a compartment for storing a pre-measured amount of powdered baby formula to be mixed, when desired, with water or other diluent stored in the nursing bottle. The bottle with attachment provides a convenient travel container for an infant's meal away from home which can be pre-sterilized and eliminates the need to carry a bulky container of powdered formula and measuring scoop in the usually already overcrowded diaper bag.

Abstract: A support device adapted to be attached to a side rail of a bed frame for providing support to assist a person to get into and out of bed. The device includes a circular metal disk adapted to be attached to the side rail and an elongate handle of adjustable length pivotally connected at one end on a pivot pin which is anchored in and projects horizontally from the disk. The handle may be positioned either with vertical orientation in which it can be grasped by and provide support for the user, or with horizontal orientation alongside the side rail, out of the way and out of sight when not needed, by cooperation between a protrusion formed on the handle and detent slots formed in the disk.

Abstract: A hand tool or clamp, which locks itself to a work-piece to thereby free the hands of the user, includes a fixed jaw secured to one end of a slide bar and a movable jaw mounted to the slide bar for movement therealong toward and away from the fixed jaw. The movable jaw is normally spring-biased toward the fixed jaw by a flat coil spring supported on the fixed jaw and connected at its free end to the movable jaw. The spring is uncoiled as the jaws are pulled apart to receive a work-piece, and when either jaw is released, rewinds and rapidly advances the movable jaw along the slide bar into clamping engagement with the work-piece. Additional clamping pressure is provided by a screw mechanism associated with the movable jaw which cooperates with the slide bar to advance the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw and increase the clamping pressure between them.

Abstract: A portable highway barrier constructed of light weight material has an interior cavity which can be filled with a fluid ballast once it has been transported to a utilization site. The barrier has a box-like configuration defined by vertically-oriented side and end walls, the bottom portion of which is constructed to provide vertically-oriented slots each of which may function to support the lower edge of a vertically-oriented highway sign. The upwardly extending walls of a shallow well formed in the top of the barrier have apertures therein for facilitating attachment to the barrier of highway signs and/or other signalling or control devices such as warning lights. The barrier construction provides for attachment of connecting elements to its end walls so as to enable interconstruction of a plurality of barriers in end to end relationship for traffic channelization.

Abstract: A tool for producing compression, advantageously usable as a nutcracker, has two straight leg members hinged together at one end and mutually opposed jaw sections on the legs adjacent the hinge and a grasping portion remote from the hinge. The location of the hinge point is adjustable to accommodate the tool to workpieces, such as nuts, of different sizes and thereby adjust the force exerted on the workpiece when the leg members are squeezed together.

Abstract: The bubble vials of a carpenter's level are individually illuminated by a respective light emitting diode (LED) energized from a battery supported within the body of the level. Charge on the batteries is maintained by one or more solar cells mounted on an exterior surface of the body, and the LED's are energized by a control circuit including a normally open manually actuable switch and a pair of mercury switches supported within the body at different fixed orientations relative thereto such that one of them closes when the body is horizontally oriented to apply voltage to the LED for the horizontal bubble vial, and the other closes when the body of the level is vertically oriented and connects the battery to the LED for the bubble vials of the plumbing levels. Thus, the circuit automatically illuminates only the bubble vial, or vials, that need to be illuminated in order to observe the position of the bubble for the orientation selected by the user.

Abstract: A disposable washcloth, in one embodiment, is formed by impregnating a sheet of non-woven paper with a cured formulation of water activated polyurethane gel, a sudsing detergent, and an aqueous solution of a medicated cleansing agent, and in another embodiment is made by bonding a sheet of non-woven paper to a sheet of non-woven fabric composed of randomly oriented spray bonded synthetic fibers with the above-mentioned cured formulation. In both cases, the polyurethane dissolves at a slow rate when wetted and controllably releases the detergent and the cleansing agent with modest sudsing.

Abstract: A modular hand tool system in which a tool piece is detachably secured to a handle has an elongated planar handle having a centrally located rectangularly-shaped cutout extending inwardly from one end. The tool piece, which may take a variety of forms, has a shank portion of substantially the same shape and size as the cutout and is received therein with a tight sliding fit. The tool piece is detachably secured in the cutout by a screw mechanism including an elongated rod supported within and anchored at one end to the handle at a point displaced from the tool piece and which at its other end threadably engages a threaded opening formed in the shank portion of the tool piece.

Abstract: A virus-infected body fluid is decontaminated as it is being collected, before it has had an opportunity to clot or thicken and before attending personnel are exposed to it, by introducing a suitable viricidal into the tubing through which the fluid is transported from the fluid source to a collection receptacle in an amount and concentration sufficient to substantially reduce the virus population in the collected fluid. In applications where suction is used to pull the fluid through the tubing, a venturi is used to draw a metered amount of liquid viricidal from a container into the tubing, and in cases when the fluid is transported by gravity, an in-line filter containing a suitable viricidal is connected in line with the tubing, the viricidal being leached from the filter by the fluid flowing through it. In both cases, the viricidal is thoroughly mixed with the fluid and continues to act on the collected fluid until its disposal.