Abstract: A pillow adjustable to maximize comfortable support of the cervical area of the neck and head includes a cover comprising upper and lower fabric cover panels forming therebetween an interior space filled with a flowable filler material such as buckwheat hulls. Internally protruding snap fasteners in vertically aligned locations on inner facing sides of the upper and lower cover panels are fastenable and unfastenable by application of external pressing or pulling forces applied to the cover panels, thereby forming or unforming subdivisions of the interior space of the pillow into which filler material may be externally manipulated into or out of. In the preferred embodiment, a rectangular array of fasteners offset to one long side of a rectangular pillow allows narrow or wide tubular neck support sections to be formed by subdivisions within the pillow.

Abstract: An improved drill bit having a shank of larger diameter than the body of the drill has an intermediate section rearward of the point section of the drill of smaller diameter than the point, and a longitudinally elongated, enlarged diameter root section joining the rear end of the intermediate section to the shank. The reduced diameter of the intermediate section provides a clearance space, preventing rubbing of the wall of a hole drilled by the bit, while the enlarged diameter root section increases the resistance of the bit to breaking. An improved method of making the enlarged-root drill bit includes inclining a relieving wheel at a substantially smaller angle to the longitudinal axis of a blank than the angle at which the blank was fluted. In one embodiment having a front tapered tip made by the novel method, rearwardly directed teeth are formed at the rear plane of the drill point, by fluting and relieving steps alone, without requiring an additional machining step.

Abstract: A vehicle wheel and adapter allowing the wheel to be fastened by means of a single knock-off type hub nut to a disk brake hub or brake drum of a vehicle utilizing wheels of the type that are attached by a plurality of lug bolts or lug nuts arranged in a circular pattern includes a circular adapter plate provided with mounting holes to permit the adapter to be attached using existing lug bolts or lug nuts. The adapter plate has an axially forwardly protruding central coaxial tube section externally threaded on an outer axial portion thereof, and a plurality of axially forwardly protruding engagement bars disposed radially outwards from the tube section. A wheel hub having a tubular front section and a larger diameter, dish-shaped rear section has a flat, circular inner wall provided with grooves adapted to insertably receive the engagement bars of the adapter plate. The tubular front section of the wheel hub has an inwardly and rearwardly tapered, frusto-conically shaped entrance opening.

Abstract: A drumstick of improved durability for use with musical instruments such as drums and cymbals includes an elongated wooden core having an elongated, generally cylindrically shaped shaft section, a shorter frusto-conically shaped front section which tapers to a smaller diameter neck, and a short tip section joined to the neck. Formed in the outer cylindrical wall of a central longitudinal portion of the shaft is an elongated, shallow annular groove. A polymer sleeve having greater resistance to rimshot damage than wood is positioned coaxially over the shaft, within the groove. In the preferred method of fabrication, the wooden core is placed in a cavity of an injection mold, and molten fiberglass-filled nylon injected into a first enclosed region surrounding the grooved portion of the shaft, to form the sleeve. Optionally, the cavity may have a second enlarged region surrounding the tip section of the core, the second enlarged region communicating with the first enlarged region.

Abstract: A de-spooler apparatus for paying out fine wire from a spool of wire, for use in wire bonding machines, maintains a relatively constant slack length of wire within the apparatus, thereby allowing wire to be drawn from the machine as needed with a minimum amount of tension exerted on the wire. The apparatus includes a spool drive motor for paying out wire from a spool, a hairpin-shaped bail for containing a slack length of wire, and a nozzle for directing a stream of pressurized gas downwards into the open end of the bail, causing wire within the bail to form a curved slack length. The apparatus also includes a proximity-type feed sensor for detecting when the slack length straightens and shortens a pre-determined amount, bringing the slack length into the detection range of the feed sensor, which outputs an electrical signal that causes the drive motor to rotate in a forward sense, paying off wire from the supply spool and increasing the slack length.

Abstract: An article of protective eye wear, specifically, sunglasses which are self-buoyant is disclosed. The self-buoyant sunglasses include an elongated flexible strap having two free ends provided with fasteners joinable together to form a band which encircles the head. The strap has a cutout section in its lower longitudinal edge wall for receiving an eye shield having the shape of a thin cylindrical plate. A flap formed in the upper edge of the strap folds down behind the strap to sandwich the upper margin of the eye shield, which is fastened to the strap and flap, preferably by strips coated on both sides with a pressure sensitive adhesive. In the preferred embodiment, the strap is made buoyant by fabricating it from a low-density polyethylene foam core, the outer surface of which core has adhered thereto by flame, heat and pressure, a nylon spandex cover.

Abstract: A self-ratcheting wrench for applying torque to a polygonal cross-section body such as a bolt or nut has an elongated handle terminated at one end thereof by a head having an opening adapted to receive the nut. A plurality of three-sided pawls pivotable in a transverse plane are arranged around the opening and spring biased to place a flat face wall of the pawls against the flat sides of alternate nut faces. Motion of each pawl radially inward into the nut-receiving opening is limited by abutting contact of a first inner side wall of each pawl with a triangular-shaped stop, the abutting contact also providing means for transmitting torque applied to the handle of the wrench to the pawl and contacting nut.

Abstract: An improved platform for scales used to weigh parcels and envelopes for shipping has a hoop-shaped wire bail having at both rear end portions thereof a short, laterally inwardly projecting pivot leg. The pivot legs are axially aligned, and are pivotably attached to the platform in a manner permitting the bail to be pivoted upward and rearward from a position in which the plane of the bail lies below the surface of the platform, to an upright position in which envelopes placed on the platform may be leaned rearward against the bail, thus covering less of the platform and improving the viewability of a weight indicator located below the platform. Stop lugs in the platform located rearward of the pivot legs limit rearward motion of the bail to a position in which the plane of the bail is inclined slightly rearward of a plane perpendicular to the platform.

Abstract: An article for shielding the display screen of a video display terminal (VDT) from unwanted light and unauthorized viewing comprises a visor attachable around the periphery of a CRT face plate or around the face plate of other types of video display devices. The VDT visor includes thin, flat sheets of a stiff material such as chipboard laminated on upper and lower flat sides thereof by flexible vinyl cover sheets to form panel members. In the preferred embodiment, three separate, generally rectangular chipboard sheets are laminated between a single upper vinyl cover sheet and a single lower vinyl cover sheet, the outer peripheral edges of the cover sheets being bonded together to encapsulate the chipboard sheets in an adjacent relationship to one another.

Abstract: An improved tool for ultrasonic wire bonding, and a novel method by which the tool may be semi-automatically threaded with bonding wire are disclosed. The overall exterior shape of the tool is that of an elongated rectangular cross-section bar having at the lower end thereof a tapered, smaller cross-section tip. The tip includes a flattened front toe section for applying ultrasonic energy to wire and a bonding pad, and an upawardly angled oblique lower face rearward of the toe section. A wire guide hole through the tip that has a longitudinal axis that slopes upward at a steeper angle than the oblique lower face has an exit opening in the lower oblique face, just rearward of the front toe section. The guide hole has an enlarged opening in the rear face of the tip. An elongated straight shallow groove formed in a side wall of the tip extends obliquely downwards from the rear face to front face of the tip.

Abstract: A method and article for optically encoding copies of a printed document to make the copies unreadable to a casual observer uses a mask having alternating transparent and opaque, white-colored areas placed over the document prior to making a first photocopy of the document, referred to as a first coded half. The opaque regions of the mask, which preferably are spatially periodic, obscure portions of printed letters to make the first coded half unreadable. The mask is then shifted in location relative to the document so as to position transparent regions of the mask over formerly obscured areas, and vice versa. A second photocopy, or second coded half is then made. The first and second coded halves are then physically transmitted or telefaxed to a recipient, who must superimpose the first and second coded halves to render the document readable.

Abstract: An improved drill bit having a shank of larger diameter than the body of the drill has an intermediate section rearward of the point section of the drill of smaller diameter than the point, and a longitudinally elongated, enlarged diameter root section joining the rear end of the intermediate section to the shank. The reduced diameter of the intermediate section provides a clearance space, preventing rubbing of the wall of a hole drilled by the bit, while the enlarged diameter root section increases the resistance of the bit to breaking. An improved method of making the enlarged-root drill bit includes inclining a relieving wheel at a substantially smaller angle to the longitudinal axis of a blank than the angle at which the blank was fluted. In one embodiment having a front tapered tip made by the novel method, rearwardly directed teeth are formed at the rear plane of the drill point, by fluting and relieving steps alone, without requiring an additional machining step.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for attaching semiconductor dice to substrates includes a novel die-grasping apparatus and technique which employs a tweezer-like clamping device which has one fixed leg. The second leg of the clamping device is movable laterally towards the fixed leg by means of a linear actuator coupled to the movable leg through a spring. Lateral spacing between the linear actuator and the movable leg is adjustable, allowing the spring to be prestressed to a precisely adjustable value, thereby resulting in a precisely pre-adjustable side-gripping force on the lateral sides of a semiconductor chip or die, ensuring that the fragile die will not be broken by the grasping action. The preferred embodiment employs a micro-manipulator to precisely position a die in place on a molten solder pre-form on a substrate, and a vacuum probe for first placing the pre-form on the substrate.

Abstract: An egg injection machine, beneficial injectable formulations for increasing the hatchability of avian hatchery eggs, and an improved method for the control of contamination in the injection process are provided. A novel ethanol-based contamination control carrier solution allows beneficial vaccines, vitamins, nutrients, and trace minerals to be injected into fertile eggs without risk of contamination of the eggs by machine, solution, or egg-to-egg cross-contamination by the injection needle. The invention is useful in both the chicken and turkey hatchery industry for egg injections prior to incubator setting or during transfer to hatch bins. Hatch improvements of +2.29 percent to +5.33 percent are shown for varying conditions. A method for facilitating the injections of virus vaccines is disclosed.

Abstract: A jack for elevating a sofa or similar article of furniture to facilitate cleaning the area beneath the article has an elongated, horizontal beam rollably supported at the rear end thereof by a pair of wheels, one on each end of a horizontal axle disposed perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the horizontal beam. An L-shaped plate attached to the front end of the horizontal beam has a lower horizontal plate extension adapted to be inserted under an article of furniture. The jack includes an upright beam member that is pivotably attached to a wheel axle. A stop member located rearward of the axle limits rearward movement of the upright member, such that under the force of gravity the longitudinal axis of the upright member extends obliquely upward and rearward from the horizontal beam.

Abstract: An improved cutting bit and associated holding block assembly for use on rotary wheel, chain or rotor cutters of the type having a plurality of cutting bits projecting outwards from the periphery of the wheel, chain or rotor and used to cut tree stumps or other hard or refractory materials includes individual holding blocks which each rotatably support within a bore therewithin a separate cylindrical cutting bit. The bore is canted inwards with respect to a radius of the wheel, chain or rotor, thus causing the outermost portion of a rotatable bit held in the bore to contact a surface to be worked at a negative top rake angle as the bit is rotated into contact with the work surface. The negative top rake angle advantageously provides clearance for chips severed by the bit.

Abstract: An improvement in devices for the thermostatic control of engine coolant comprises a radiator hose with an internally mounted thermostatic valve. In one embodiment of the improved device, a flexible hose has a radially inwardly projecting annular flange on which the radially outwardly projecting annular flange of a conventional thermostatic valve may seat. In another embodiment, the annular flange of a thermostatic valve is modified to permit it to be clamped onto a coil of a helical spring held coaxially within a flexible radiator hose. The improved thermostatic coolant control devices eliminate the requirement for gaskets, gasket cement, and unbolting and bolting metal parts together heretofore, required for the replacement of thermostats.

Abstract: A punch embroidering tool for inserting yarn through fabric and forming loops of yarn includes a hollow needle of the type used in hypodermic syringes, modified by punching a transverse hole through the needle adjacent to the point of the needle, for receiving the end of a yarn strand. The base of the needle is press-fitted into a hollow cylindrical needle support tube having a longitudinally disposed bore communicating with the needle bore. The outer cylindrical wall surface of the needle support tube is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart, annular grooves, and fits longitudinally slidably with a hollow cylindrical housing. A bushing having one or more pairs of slots extending longitudinally forward from its rear transverse annular end wall fits slidably over the grooved portion of the needle support tube, coaxially within the housing.

Abstract: An improved annular sealing element for oil well blowout preventers includes a plurality of curved metal segments spaced apart at regular circumferential angles and imbedded in a resilient matrix forming a generally lenticular-shaped body with a hollow central bore. Each segment has a tooth-like upper plate section having a downwardly depending web which is pivotably joined to the upper surface of a wedge-shaped base plate. Pivotability in a vertical plane of the upper plate section relative to the base plate limits the force exertable by the sealing element on a drill string component within the bore of the element. A cylindrical pivot bar formed in the lower surface of the base plate of each segment is adapted to roll or self-pivot on the annular head of a driver piston, thus allowing the sealing element to be installed in existing blowout preventers without modification of the driver piston.