Abstract: A charging method of an electrostatic image developer which makes it possible to electrically charge an insulating one-component developer or a two-component developer consisting of a toner and a carrier to a desired charged state and which comprises introducing the developer into a charging space between a pair of sheet-like charging members opposing each other in which space an alternating field is formed, and oscillating the developer by means of the alternating field for charging it. A developing method of a non-contact or contact system which develops the electrostatic image by use of the developer charged electrically by the above-mentioned charging method.

Abstract: An ashtray having a small electrode and a large electrode. A high voltage is applied between the two electrodes so that ions are produced to ionize smoke particles, air is caused to flow from the small electrode to the large electrode and the ionized smoke particles adhere to the large electrode. An auxiliary electrode is provided to connect electrically to the large electrode.

Abstract: A die-cut paint masking part for use in masking a curved corner surface of an object to be painted comprises a flexible, paint-impervious mask, a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive material permanently adhering to the underside of the mask, and a removable flexible protective liner releasably adhering to the adhesive layer. Prior to use and while flat, the masking part has a generally Y-shaped configuration and includes a base leg from which diverge a relatively wide branch and a relatively narrow branch. The base leg and wide branch have a common curved first edge. The base leg and narrow branch have a common curved second edge. A notch or cut-out to facilitate folding is formed at the point where the two branches converge. The protective liner is provided with two score lines, formed during die-cutting of the masking part from a web, which define three independently removable liner portions.

Abstract: A plastic re-usable two-piece push-pin stand-off fastener for releasably securing together two spaced-apart circuit boards comprises a hollow body having a body bore into which, for pre-assembly, a pin is insertable into the body bore prior to use. The pin has large and small outside diameter portions near its head and insertion ends, respectively. The body bore has large and small inside diameter bore portions near its head and insertion ends, respectively. The body also has outwardly extending inwardly depressible resilient flexible wings adjacent the large bore portion, has outwardly expandable resilient flexible legs adjacent the small bore portion, and has an external shoulder between the wings and the legs. In use, the body is inserted into a hole in the first board to entrap the board between the body head and wings. Then, the body is inserted into a hole in the second board so that the shoulder bears thereagainst.

Abstract: A re-usable two-piece fastener for releasably clamping two workpieces together comprises an expandable hollow plastic body for receiving an axially insertable and rotatable screw made of plastic or metal. The body comprises a slotted outwardly expandable shank having a head or flange at its outer end and a bore extending entirely through the body. The screw comprises a threaded shank having a head at its outer end. The body bore comprises an outer end portion of the same diameter as the threaded screw shank, an intermediate thread-engaging member having an aperture of the same diameter as the root diameter of the screw shank and sloped at the same pitch as the screw thread, and an inner end portion. The thread-engaging member may be integral with the body or may take the form of a metal insert. The inner end portion of the body bore may be of the same or larger diameter than the screw thread or may be of smaller diameter so that the screw thread can self-tap thereinto.

Abstract: A projectile adapted to be struck by a racquet or manually thrown in a game comprises a body portion and a relatively movable extendable/retractable vane portion mounted thereon. At the commencement of flight along a trajectory, the vanes in the vane portion are set in retracted position relative to the body portion. As the flight progresses, the vanes are gradually extended by a biasing mechanism at a controlled or timed rate to cause gradually increasing aerodynamic drag, thereby unpredictably altering the flight trajectory, shortening the flight distance and reducing the speed of the projectile than would otherwise occur if the vanes had remained retracted. Such extension or transformation adds a new element of anticipation and game strategy for the contestants. The vanes are reset to the retracted position for a subsequent flight either by striking the head of the body portion with a racquet (as in the case of a racquet game) or manually (as in the case of a dart-like throwing game).

Abstract: A molded plastic one-piece hollow expansion nut comprises an outwardly expandable shank which is insertable through a panel hole and a head at one end of the shank for engaging the panel surface. A screw-receiving bore extends axially through the nut and receives the threaded shank of a screw whose screw head bears against the nut head. The portion of the bore along which shank wall expansion occurs is cylindrical and of slightly larger diameter than the screw thread. The inmost end of the bore is of oblong cross-section and its minor axis is shorter than the diameter of the screw thread. A single screw-engaging thread in the cylindrical bore initially holds and guides the screw. The shank walls opposite the ends of the minor axis have oblique screw-thread receiving slots therethrough which define very sturdy damage resistant nut threads which engage the screw thread.

Abstract: A two-piece molded plastic fastener comprises a hollow body and a pin insertable thereinto. The body has a head and a bore defined by a resiliently deformable grooved bore wall. The pin has a pin head and a serrated pin shank. When fully installed in an aperture in a workpiece (which comprises one or more panels), the serrated pin shank is frictionally engaged with and digs into the resilient grooved bore wall (i.e., is "set"), and the two heads bear against opposite sides of the workpiece. Depending on fastener design, the heads either apply a predetermined pressure on the workpiece (depending on the setting force) or are maintained at a predetermined distance from each other when set. Either the body or pin or both may embody features (such as holes, screw threads, hooks, snap fasteners) which enable objects to be secured thereto. In addition, the pin may have an axial bore therethrough to enable the fastener to serve as a bushing.

Abstract: A cushion for motor vehicle seating or furniture comprises a flexible outer membrane or cover and a multi-hardness foam member, comprising foam regions of different foam hardness. The foam regions are bonded together along common boundaries and are bonded to the membrane at any boundary therewith, such bonding ocurring during formulation of the foam member and employing the materials of which the foam member is made. The method generally comprises the steps of: (a) providing a flexible membrane having a cavity therein; (b) adding to the cavity in a predetermined sequence a plurality of formulations in liquid form which, when cured, provide a foam article having foam regions of different hardness; (c) and allowing the formulations to cure, bond together at any common boundary between formulations, and bond together at any common boundary between a formulation and the membrane.

Abstract: A method for cooking potatoes in hot water-vapor consists of disposing dried potatoes in non-overlapped, non-contacting relationship above a body of boiling water so as to expose them for about five minutes to a confined body of hot water vapor maintained at atmospheric pressure. The apparatus comprises a water container for a body of water, a heat source to heat and maintain said body of water at its boiling point, a perforated motor-driven movable conveyor structure on which diced potatoes can be arranged in non-overlapped, non-contacting relationship and which is located closely above the surface of the body of water, and an enclosure overlying the conveyor structure and the water container for entrapping hot water-vapor there or within so as to expose the diced potatoes thereto, said container having apertures therein so as to maintain the hot water-vapor at substantial atmospheric pressure.

Abstract: In a direction finder operating according to the Watson-Watt principle and having two separate receivers (3, 4) of the same type and of simple construction for the signals of the two crossed directional antenna systems (A, B, C, D), the vectorial simulation signals VN in a transmission line for intermediate frequency antenna signals are compared to vectorial rectified signals VV in order to compensate the phase shift caused in both receivers by means of an adjustable phase shifter (21). The vectorial signals VV are selectively derived from the antenna signals as sum signals or difference signals. In one embodiment, a reconstructed phase signal is obtained by reverse pulse control in a direction finding ellipse generator (24, 25) having two outputs on the basis of the difference between the vectorial rectified signal VV and the rectified vectorial simulation signal VN.

Abstract: A large mobile tower crane comprises a vertical multi-section lattice-type tower having its lower end fixedly mounted on the rotatable upper section of a self-propelled vehicle and a load-supporting multi-section lattice-type crane boom having its base end pivotally mounted on the upper end of the tower. A load to be lifted, swung and lowered, is attachable to a load line suspended from a pulley at the point end of the boom. The tower is selectively rotatable to swing the boom and the boom is selectively pivotable vertically to desired boom (luffing) angles. A crane control system employs strain gauge-type electronic sensing devices mounted on opposite lateral sides of the crane boom and on a side of the crane tower to provide electric signals pertaining to applied loads. A transducer provides an electric signal pertaining to boom angle.

Abstract: A three-phase induction motor control apparatus resorting to a slip frequency control type vector control system having three-phase sine wave generating device, first operation device, second operation device, and vector operation device; whereby a current command value and a frequency command value are determined in accordance with a difference between a set velocity and a real velocity to determined a control current value. The three-phase sine wave generating device generates a three-phase sine wave having a frequency according to the frequency command value. The first operation device multiplies one of outputs, which are outputted from the three-phase sine wave generating device and mutually have a phase difference of 120.degree., and a preset value to determine one current component value.

Abstract: A developing method wherein a developer layer formed on a developer feeding carrier is conveyed, into an oscillating electric field, and an electrostatic latent image on an image retainer is developed by the developer of the developer layer inside the oscillating electric field. The developer has carrier particles and toner particles and the average particle size of the carrier particles is from 5 to 50 .mu.m. The average particle size of the toner particles is up to 20 .mu.m. The carrier particle and the toner particle are sphered.

Abstract: Electrolyzer for the extraction of a substance from an electrolytic bath.The electrolyzer comprises an anode and a cathode immersed in the bath. The cathode, in which the substance is formed, surrounds the anode. The electrolyzer also comprises means for confining the substance in the vicinity of the cathode and for guiding said substance along and towards the upper end of the cathode, together with means for collecting the substance at said end. These confinement and guidance means comprises at least one grid layer located in the vicinity of the cathode and passing along the same.Application to the production of alkaline metals or alkaline earth metals.

Abstract: A two-piece fastener comprises a screw and a plastic nut for releasably securing together two apertured panels. The screw comprises a screw head and a threaded screw shank insertable in the aperture of one panel. The nut comprises a nut head, a nut shank insertable in the aperture of the other panel, and a bore extending through both the nut head and nut shank to receive the screw shank. The nut shank has an expandable portion, a screw-engaging portion, and a common wall therebetween. The bore has an unthreaded bore region through the nut head and through expandable nut shank portion, an intermediate bore region through the common wall and in a part of the screw-engaging nut shank portion, and a threaded bore region through the screw-engaging nut shank portion. The expandable nut shank portion comprises a plurality of thin, flexible, resilient walls, each connected between the common wall and the nut head. Each flexible wall has a parabolically shaped recess on its inner surface along which it can bend.

Abstract: Vacuum loading apparatus is provided for ingesting a mixture of debris (such as particulate matter) and ambient air, for collecting the debris for disposal, and for filtering the ingested air before discharging it to atmosphere. The apparatus comprises three relatively light-weight, portable, independently movable modules, each incorporating a weeled chassis, to facilitate their movement to, from and on the jobsite, whereat they are interconnected for use by large flexible hoses. The power module comprises a motor-driven vacuum blower. The debris-receiver module comprises a receiver tank with a removable disposable debris-collection bag therein (which bag may or may not have an associated filter) and a debris-collection vacuum hose connected to the exterior thereof. The upper and lower ends of the receiver tank and the inside and outside of the bag are exposed to the same negative air pressure in the tank to prevent its collapse or damage by a pressure equalization duct.

Abstract: An electronic control for the automatic transmission of a motor vehicle receives input signal in digital, analog, and pulsed form from signal generating devices responsive to operating conditions in the apparatus, processes them in accordance with a stored program and provides output signals to operate various tranducers. The electronic control is embodied in a stack of customized circuit boards. Each board is connected to a control bus (for information exchange between boards) and to an I/O signal bus (for information exchange between the apparatus and the electronic control). A connector board is connected to an electric power supply, to the signal generating devices, to the transducers and to visual display devices. A CPU (central processing unit) board protects against data loss in low/off power conditions.

Abstract: A two-piece plastic fastener comprising a body and a screw releasably secures a pair of panels together in spaced apart relationship. The body, which has a bore therethrough, comprises a body shank having a body head, outwardly extending, inwardly depressible, flexible locking tabs spaced from the body head, an external shoulder spaced from the tabs, and outwardly expandable walls spaced from the shoulder. The body shank also comprises, inside the bore, flexible screw thread engaging means and ramp means on the inside of the walls. The screw, which is insertable into the bore, comprises a screw head and a screw shank having a threaded portion and an unthreaded end portion. In use, the body shank is inserted into a hole in the first panel so that the latter is entrapped between the body head and the locking tabs. The body shank is then inserted into the hole in the second panel. The screw is axially inserted into the bore so that its threaded portion engages the thread-engaging means in the bore.

Abstract: A chiropractic thruster for use in chiropractic treatment to apply controlled impact forces or thrusts to a human body comprises a rubber tipped free-floating punch, the length of stroke of which can be adjusted to control the force applied to the body. The punch delivers one stroke whenever the trigger of a three-way poppet valve is depressed and causes a burst of compressed air to flow from a relatively large compressed air reservoir in the thruster handle to one side of a spring-biased piston in a relatively smaller air cylinder located in the thruster. The piston comprises a piston rod which drives the punch and which, when the piston is biased to retracted position, is spaced from the inner end of the punch by a predetermined distance.