Abstract: A flotation device for rescue of individuals in distress in static or swift water or under icy conditions. A preferred embodiment includes a throwable disk having an annular groove wherein the disk is divisible into a pair of separate, positively buoyant subassemblies. A web-like harness is stowed in a recess within each subassembly and a line is fixed at one end to the harness. In the nondeployed condition, the line is wrapped, spool-like, about an annular groove in the disk, thereby holding the subassemblies together. In use, a rescuer holds the free end of the line in one hand and, with the other, throws the disk in the direction of the person to be rescued. During flight, the line unwinds from the disk. Desirably, the disk is thrown beyond the person in distress to be subsequently drawn by the rescuer toward that person. When the line has been unwound from the disk, the subassemblies separate and the harness is pulled out of the storage recesses in the subassemblies.

Abstract: A wrench for engaging a faucet mounting nut, the wrench including an elongated tubular pipe which has slots at one end. A nut engaging socket, having radially projecting studs, is adapted for reversible insertion into the pipe opening, with the socket studs engaging the slots in the pipe. A variety of socket inserts, for engagement of a variety of nut sizes and shapes, is provided. Openings in the pipe, at the end opposite the socket engaging end, provide a means for a rod to be inserted into the pipe to facilitate pipe rotation. The elongated pipe, since it is hollow, can slide over a water supply line during mounting nut removal, thereby eliminating the requirement of first detaching the supply line.

Abstract: A device for cleaning cooking grill rails which includes an elongated blade for scraping movement along the rails, and a handle having an elongated portion connected to the blade. The blade is attached to the elongated handle portion for rotation thereabout in a plane substantially perpendicular to the elongated portion axis. The elongated blade includes a plurality of flat fingers, disposed substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the blade. The fingers are suitable for insertion between grill rails for scraping purposes. Rotation of the elongated blade about the elongated handle portion imparts a capability for using the fingers with a variety of grills where the distance between rails differs.

Abstract: Devotional and learning devices for displaying individual frames of scrolls containing scriptural passages, prayers and quotations from the teachings of saints, sages, mystics and divinities, which scrolls, when displayed, are illuminated with light of sufficiently low intensity so that the individual frames of said scrolls can be comfortably viewed by the user of one of these devices in an otherwise unilluminated room and at the same time the interior of said otherwise unilluminated room is substdantially imperceptible in the peripheral vision of said user.

Abstract: A pill crusher having an elongated base, an anvil integrally fixed to the base, a movable handle and a compression link, pivotally coupled to the base and pivotally connected to the handle, for facilitating rotational movement of the handle relative to the base. A platen is coupled pivotally to an anchor block on the base and connected at the other end to the handle so that movement of the handle produces movement of the platen relative to the anvil, for crushing a pill between the two. A pouch is provided, for receiving a pill to be crushed. It is adapted to fit in a mouth defined by the anvil and the platen. The pill crusher includes a cover fixed to the base and disposed above the rear anchor block, the cover providing an onboard dispenser for a plurality of pouches.

Abstract: An odor control system for removing hydrogen sulfide from a gas stream. In a first chamber, the gas stream is initially treated with NaOH at low pH for removal of about 70% of the H.sub.2 S. Unreacted NaOH and the reaction product Na.sub.2 S flow into a first sump while the initially treated gas stream flows into a second chamber, fluidly connected to a second sump. In the second chamber, the gas stream is scrubbed with a solution of NaOH and NaOCl for scrubbing of the remaining H.sub.2 S before the cleaned gas is exhausted to atmosphere. From the second chamber, unreacted NaOH and NaOCl, together with reaction products sulfur, Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 and Na.sub.2 S flow into the second sump. The contents of the two sumps are flushed out separately by adding make up water to each of them. Each sump has a separate drain and each drain empties into a common drain where the Na.sub.2 S from the first sump reacts with unreacted NaOCl from the second sump to produce sulfur and Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4.

Abstract: A pump control system which can distinguish between water and oil so that a pump can be controlled to pump water and deactivated before oil is pumped. Sensing is accomplished by a pair of capacitive sensors, one located above the other in a vessel in which water accumulates. A dual mode frequency oscillator is associated with each sensor. Each sensor reacts to the dielectric constant of the liquid at the sensor by changing its capacitance, to thus detect the presence of a conductive substance, such as a liquid, to cause the sensor's oscillator to switch its mode of oscillation. The dual mode oscillator of each sensor selectively generates a control signal having two different duty cycles. As the dielectric constant of the liquid medium is sensed, a logic circuit interposed between the sensors allows the output of each sensor to be turned off when only the lower sensor is in water. The circuit turns on the pump only when both sensors are in water and the pump remains on until both sensors are out of water.

Abstract: A boat mooring apparatus having an elongated tubular housing wherein the housing is adapted for positioning between a boat and a dock while providing positive control in two directions. Adjacent each end of the housing a pin is utilized to secure an elongated helical spring within the housing. End caps, each including a pair of spaced apart cable guiding apertures, are provided at each end of the housing. At one end of the housing, a cable, looped through the apertures in an end cap, engages the elongated spring within the housing. In a similar manner, another cable is looped through the apertures of the other end cap and engages the other spring within the housing. In use, either cable is suitable for convenient attachment to a boat cleat or to a dock cleat.

Abstract: A waveform generating system generates one or more quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) spectrum pairs which are combined with a frequency modulated (FM) spectrum in the center. The QAM spectrums are offset in frequency to result in a gap in the center to allow combining of the FM spectrum without interference.

Abstract: A grill cleaning device for removing unwanted residue from grill rail surfaces. The device includes an elongated handle. A rigid blade, for removing residue from the top surfaces of the rails, is mounted at one end of the handle. A deformable coiled wire, for removing residue from the side surfaces of the rails, is wrapped around the blade.

Abstract: A mooring apparatus having an elongated tubular housing wherein the housing is adapted for positioning between a boat and a dock while providing positive control in two directions. A pin for fixing an elongated helical spring within the housing is disposed adjacent the dock engaging end thereof. An end cap, including a pair of spaced apart cable guiding apertures, is provided at the dock end of the housing. A cable, for engagement of a dock stanchion or piling, is looped through the end cap apertures and around the pin for slideable movement thereabout. A second cable, looped through a pair of guiding apertures in an end cap at the boat end of the housing, engages the elongated spring at the end opposite the fixed end, the second cable being adapted for attachment to a boat cleat. Bumpers, fixed at each end of the elongated housing help pad points of contact between boat, dock and apparatus, thereby substantially reducing shock to the inner housing of the apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of attaching reversibly an inflatable three dimensional graphic to the exterior surface of an inflatable wall of an inflatable toy. The wall surface includes means for reversibly attaching the graphic in a leak tight manner while providing a method for fluid communication between the wall and the graphic so that the graphic can be inflated simultaneously with the wall.

Abstract: A tire inflation device for delivering a fluid, such as carbon dioxide, from a liquid gas cartridge to a pneumatic tire wherein the device has a capability of controlling inflation to enable the user to achieve a preset desired tire pressure. A cartridge activating mechanism is provided. A cartridge securing mechanism is provided which prevents removal of an activated, unspent cartridge from the inflating device.

Abstract: An odor control system and method for removing unwanted odorous airborne constituents in which the gas stream is flowed through a compact, boxlike housing having a plurality of sequentially communicating treatment chambers. Gas stream pretreatment is accomplished in a first chamber, in fluid communication with a sump, as the gas flows through a packed bed wetted by suitable chemical reagents. After pretreatment, the gas stream is passed through downstream chambers, also utilizing wetted packed beds. These chambers are in fluid communication with a second, separate sump. Because of the first chamber/separate sump combination, influent gas treatment, by stages, can be accomplished. In this manner, different, contemporaneous chemical treatments are possible, within the single housing, with different chemical reagents utilized as needed. Such treatments are possible even in cases where otherwise incompatible chemical reagents are used.