Abstract: A process and apparatus for forming a sheet material by drawing it into a die cavity (12) utilizing the flow of a viscous thermoplastic polymer medium extruded against the sheet (22) and/or extruded out of said die cavity (12) through a plurality of passageways, (14a), (14b), and (14c) and programmably varying said extrusion of said medium to cause the sheet material to be controllably stretched into the cavity and shaped.

Abstract: An apparatus for abrading a workpiece surface by extruding a flowable plastic abrading medium through a passageway which includes said workpiece surface. The apparatus utilizes at least three chambers for feeding and receiving said medium whereby at least two of said chambers operate at differential parameters to effect differential abrasion on different surfaces of said workpiece.

Abstract: unidirectional abrasive flow machining is achieved by a pair of extrusion chambers, whereby a first workpiece is fixtured to a first of said chambers and an abrasive medium is extruded from the first chamber through the first workpiece, and upon exiting the first workpiece, is allowed to fall into and be collected within the second chamber. Thereafter, the first workpiece is removed and a second workpiece is fixtured to the second chamber so that the abrasive medium collected therein is extruded through the second workpiece and upon exiting the second workpiece, is allowed to fall into and be collected within the first chamber.

Abstract: Mono-layer thin film membranes are provided which are ultraporous. Such mono-layers are formed having a thickness on the order of about 1.2 to 150 nanometers, by a variety of polymerization, cross-linking, and film treatment processes to achieve the development of controlled pore sizes in the ultraporous size range corresponding to molecular weight cutoff values of from 500 to about 1,000,000. Such thin film mono-layer membranes are ordinarily supported on a microporous support material, desirably a microporous polymer membrane having a smooth, microporous skin with pore sizes in the range of from about 0.1 microns to about 3 microns, preferably from about 0.1 microns to about 0.5 microns, in diameter. There may be an intermediate gel layer. These membranes are useful for ultraporous, dialysis, and molecular separations.

Abstract: An enzyme reactor system is provided based on the entrapment of a coenzyme-requiring enzyme, a coenzyme, and a regeneration enzyme in a hydrogel layer coated on a support, and confined by an ultraporous thin film semipermeable membrane. The diffusion barrier confines the coenzyme-requiring enzyme, coenzyme, and regeneration enzyme but lets substrate and reaction products, exclusive of coenzyme, diffuse freely into and out of the hydrogel layer. In an alternate embodiment, the support is formed of an ultraporous thin film semipermeable membrane on a microporous or macroporous support, through which the reaction products, exclusive of coenzyme, can diffuse freely, but through which neither coenzyme-requiring enzyme, coenzyme, regeneration enzyme, nor substrate can pass. In this embodiment, the product is recovered in high purity, free of substrate, coenzyme-requiring enzyme, coenzyme, and regeneration enzyme.

Abstract: Fluid flow through orifices, particularly where flow rates are to be controlled or metered, is improved by employing abrasive flow machining to achieve a target flow resistance in the orifice.

Abstract: The dermal use of non-irritating retinoids such as the esters and amides of 13-cis and 13-trans-retinoic acid for effecting the reduction and reversal of photoaging and skin cancer is disclosed.

Abstract: A ball-shooting game machine having a starter hole for initiating a separate game when a game ball shot onto a game board enters into the starter hole, and a separate game device for conducting the separate game, is provided with a random number generator to produce a random number when a predetermined number of balls is shot onto the game board and the results of any separate game is determined by the value of the random number generated.

Abstract: A dry van truck trailer or cargo area is provided with a plurality of removable side panels which can be removed by opening the rear door and sliding the panels outwardly from the rear of the truck trailer or cargo area when the rear door is in the open position to thereby permit side-loading or utilization of the floor as a flat-bed. When the side panels are in place, they seal against each other and against adjacent components to render the truck trailer or cargo area as a water tight dry van.

Abstract: The component parts of a drill rod assembly on a blast furnace tap hole drill are joined together by providing a coupling having at least one extension with frusto-conical side walls adapted to mate with a socket having frusto-conical side walls within the drill rod component to be connected thereto, or in the alternative, incorporating such a coupling as a portion of one of the component parts.

Abstract: A high lift tag axle for a concrete mixer truck or the like is pivotally attached to the rear of the truck through a pair of tag arms each having a lever arm, with a linkage arrangement interconnecting each lever arm to the truck frame, and a hydraulic cylinder connected to said linkage arrangement to align the linkage arrangement in a plane sufficient to lock the lift axle in a downward position where the wheels engage the road surface, and whereby the hydraulic cylinder can pivot as the linkage arrangement sufficient to pivot the tag axle into a position whereby the wheels are raised off of the road surface.

Abstract: A toy utilizing bubbles in liquid comprises a vessel to be charged with a liquid keeping an air layer at the top and to be sealed, a bubble generating member, and in-liquid movable members moved by bubbles rising in the liquid in the vessel.

Abstract: A polyurethane glove having improved tear and puncture resistance is made from the reaction product of an aliphatic diisocyanate, an aliphatic polyether diol having a molecular weight in the range of about 1,000 to about 5,000 and an aliphatic diol containing about 2 to about 6 carbon atoms.

Abstract: An improvement in an unitary preassembled intraoral dam for all dental procedures which comprises an extrudable thermoplastic polyurethane which is the reaction product of an aliphatic diisocyanate, a high molecular weight polyether diol, and a low molecular weight aliphatic diol. The improved polyurethane intraoral dam is impermeable to particles of 10 micrometers or greater, with a high degree of puncture and tear resistance, hemocompatibility, hydrolytic stability, non-cytotoxicity, thus guaranteeing the maintenance of a sterile operative field, and a high degree of prevention of contamination and infection for either patient or practitioner.

Abstract: Enhanced hiding power for opacifiers in paints, inks, and other coatings is provided by employing the opacifiers, such as TiO.sub.2, ZnO, talc, CaCo.sub.3, and the like, adhered to or embedded in the surface of thermoplastic microspheres. The composite opacifier-microsphere material is readily formed with a preselected specific gravity, so that there is little tendency for the material to separate. In addition, the composite behaves in the coating as a opacifier-air interface, having a very high difference in refractive indices, and exceptional hiding power. The high volume to weight ratio of the composite affords very attractive economic advantages, effectively reducing the weight proportion of opacifiers required in the formulations, and other related advantages.

Abstract: A bottle cap for use with moulded plastics bottles which have an integral flanged seal over the aperture of a threaded neck, a frangible membrane joining the seal to the neck, the cap having a complementary screw-thread to that of the neck and at least two inwardly projecting resilient members located above the screw-thread such that, when the cap is screwed onto the bottle, the members pass around the seal with resilient deformation and, on unscrewing of the cap, engage the flanged seal in a lifting action, is characterized in that at least one, preferably 2, and ideally 6, of the inwardly projecting members comprises an upwardly directed blade, adapted to engage an underface of the seal so as to cut the seal, allowing its easier removal, a wall being preferably provided on the blade to reinforce the blade by acting against a side of the seal.

Abstract: An improved extension bar for a drill rod assembly on a blast furnace tap hole drill having an increased diameter sufficient to occupy a significant portion of tap hole drilled so as to minimize the volume of blast furnace hot metal that can emerge from the blast furnace before the striking bas assembly can be removed, and having a protective sleeve portion at the rearward end thereof to shield and protect the interface between the drill rod and extension bar to prevent such interface from being exposed the hot metal and thereby avoid the possibility that they could become welded together.

Abstract: In a ball shooting game machine, such as a pachinko game machine having winning holes, controls for permitting the player to obtain winning balls regardless of his skill, wherein the controls effect a first state disadvantageous to the player and then a second state advantageous to the player, the controls including means for detecting shot balls reaching the game board, a random number generator for generating a random number when a preselected number of balls are shot, and means for driving or controlling the winning holes to effect the advantageous state in response to the generation of a preset specific number by the random number generator, and means for maintaining or reversing the advantageous state in response to whether or how many winning balls are achieved.

Abstract: An apparatus for abrading a workpiece surface by extruding a flowable plastic abrading medium through a passageway which includes said workpiece surface. The apparatus utilizes at least three chambers for feeding and receiving said medium whereby at least two of said chambers operate at differential parameters to effect differential abrasion on different surfaces of said workpiece.

Abstract: A method of processing an orifice in a structure to attain a precise predetermined flow resistance through said orifice. Undersized orifices are machined by either electrochemical, chemical or electric discharge machining, while oversized orifices are electroplated, electroless plated or vapor deposition coated, such that the processing fluid, i.e. the electrolyte, corrosive fluid, dielectric or carrier gas as used in the machining, plating or coating process is passed through said orifice during said processing at a predetermined fixed pressure while measuring the dynamic flow resistance of said processing fluid through said orifice until said dynamic flow resistance is equal to that desired.