Abstract: The invention concerns a thrust reverser for a jet engine, of the type having swing doors (6) pivoting about fixed transverse pivots (7) secured to the rear end of flanges extending in line with pipe of the engine. According to the invention, each door (6) is borne by a connecting piece (10) offset towards the front with respect to a transverse plane passing through the pivot axis and orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the door. Furthermore, the fairing (4a, 4b) extends as far as the rear end of the flanges, the said fairing and each door (6) being arranged, on the one hand, so as to cover completely the flanges in the folded position of the said door, and, on the other hand, to enable each door (6) to be brought into its deployed position without any interference between the said fairing and door.

Abstract: The absolute values of biaxial stresses in a ferromagnetic material (16) are measured using a probe (12) which comprises an electromagnet (26), a sensor (32) for stress-induced magnetic anisotropy (SMA) and a sensor (30) for directional effective permeability (DEP). The DEP sensor (30) enables absolute values of stress to be determined; the SMA sensor (32) enables the directions of the principal stress axes to be accurately determined, and improves the accuracy of the stress measurements.

Abstract: A method for guiding a device in a required direction along the interior of a pipe, the method comprising removably mounting the device on a curved guide, lowering the device and the guide through a hole bored in the wall of the pipe to gain access to the interior of the pipe with the guide arranged to curve in the required direction in which the device is to move along the pipe and moving the device off the guide in the required direction.

Abstract: The invention relates to a dental amalgam capsule 10 arranged to contain mercury in a first compartment 16 and dental alloy powder in a second, or mixing, compartment 18, a conduit 28 being provided so that amalgam can be dispensed by a rod 66 directly from the capsule 10 into a cavity in a tooth.

Abstract: The casing metal of, for example, a munition containing organic materials is removed or at least perforated by anodic dissolution in a chamber (16) fabricated to contain the explosion should the munition detonate. The contents are then exposed to reaction with anolyte from a plant (17), the anolyte comprising nitric acid and electrochemically regenerable silver II ions.

Abstract: A loop polymerization process or apparatus primarily for vinyl and related monomers in aqueous suspension. The monomers and water are pumped into four rectangular passageway loops (10) operated at a sheer rate above 800 s.sup.-1 while sustaining laminar flow. The polymer is removed from the passageway loops (10) at a T connector (16).

Abstract: A temporary cover for excavations comprising a platform having a lowermost surface for contact with the ground surrounding the excavation and an uppermost surface and means attached to the platform for securing the platform to a below ground anchor point.

Abstract: An electrode for use in electrochemical ion exchange which includes a hydrolysable metal phosphate such as zirconium phosphate (Zr(HPO.sub.4).sub.2) which has been hydrolysed at least in part is regenerated. The electrode is made the anode of an electrochemical cell in which the electrolyte is an aqueous solution containing one or more phosphate ions provided, for example, by a dissolved salt (eg Na.sub.3 PO.sub.4, Na.sub.2 HPO.sub.4 or NaH.sub.2 PO.sub.4) or orthophosphoric acid, or both. Preferably, the electrolyte is acidic (eg pH 2). Operation of the cell reverses the hydrolysis reaction and enhances the performance of the electrode.

Abstract: An identification card holder for cards of a defined size is provided. The card holder includes a base plate and a front plate secured in spaced apart relationship to define a card receiving slot to receive an inserted card and a mouth opening at the edge of the holder. The front plate includes a face hole of a size less than that of the card. The base plate includes a spring acting to urge an inserted card towards a card-contacting face of the front plate and situated so as not to interfere with a magnetic strip of an inserted card. The card-contacting face of the front plate has a channel of sufficient depth that embossed characters on an inserted card do not contact the surface of the front plate.

Abstract: In a method and apparatus for generating colorimetric data useful in the automatic colorimetric sorting of products, such as fruits or vegetables, each product is illuminated by means of a beam producing a succession of lines of light, the energy reflected by the product in preselected wavelengths is reconstituted for each point on each line of light, the light intensity of each point is measured, the measured values are converted so as to form a series of numerical data corresponding, for each wavelength, to the light intensity curves for each line of light, and the series of numerical data are processed, by computing, in accordance with programmed criteria based on a comparison of the values of the homologous points of said series, so as to generate usable colorimetric data.

Abstract: A dry powder inhaler (10) consists of a chamber (12) into which powder is introduced from a metering system, and a mouthpiece (26) through which a patient inhales, connected by a duct (16), so that air flows through the chamber carrying the powder into the patient's lungs. Within the duct is an impactor (25) consisting of a plate (27) spaced in front of a similarly sized aperture, and between the chamber and the impactor plate is an orifice (18) narrower than the duct, so the air stream is diverted along S-shaped paths to avoid the plate. The presence of the impactor can improve the efficiency of delivery of a drug to the lungs, and decrease the unwanted dose to the mouth and throat, as the latter is principally due to agglomerates or larger particles which are intercepted or broken up by the impactor.

Abstract: A liquid metal electromagnetic pump 17 operates by passing an electric current through the liquid metal in a direction transverse to an applied magnetic field and the longitudinal axis of the liquid metal flow pipe. The direction of the pump is reversible by reversing the electric current. It is used to transfer batches of contaminated solder from a reservoir 12 in a hot air solder leveller 11 to a treatment tank (TA or TB). Contamination of the solder is removed by a cleaning process and the liquid solder returned to the reservoir 12 after heating to the required process temperature.

Abstract: Metal matrix composite is made by blending non-metal reinforcement powder with powder of metal or metal alloy matrix material, heating to a temperature high enough to cause melting of the matrix metal/alloy and subjecting the mixture to high pressure in a die press before solidification occurs.

Abstract: With the vehicle anti-collision system of the present invention, road vehicles in the vicinity of a railway crossing are alerted as a train approaches the crossing. A signalling device operating in conjunction with a GPS receiver located in the train emits a signal to a receiver located at the railway crossing to provide an indication of the rail vehicle's location with respect to the railway crossing. The signal is sent continuously at predetermined intervals to provide the railway crossing with sufficient data to estimate the velocity and time of arrival of the train or railway vehicle at the crossing. The railway crossing processes the information and transmits an alarm signal to approaching road vehicles as the rail vehicle approaches the crossing. The signal emitted by the crossing is received at the road vehicle which provides various levels of alarms depending on how close the rail vehicle is to the crossing.

Abstract: A blast wheel assembly has a bladed rotor and an impeller which rotate together. A cage has an axial and angular wall including an aperture through which in use particulate material passes. The cross section of the aperture is irregular to control the uniformity of blast effect on a surface being treated. The assembly can be in a mobile or static machine. Various forms of aperture are described, the preferred form of which is of non-uniform shape as it extends angularly with respect to the cage axis, the aperture being of less cross-section in a region intermediate the angular end regions of the aperture.

Abstract: A colliding shock wave lens consists of a set of spark gaps capable of generating a number of shock waves in a gaseous medium which coalesce at the centre of the device, forming a region of transitory high density gas. This region of high density acts as a converging lens, momentarily capable of focusing a pulsed laser beam, timed to pass through the lens at the right instant. The lens may be used to modulate a laser beam or to Q-switch a laser.

Abstract: The invention relates to an analysis device for the automatic grading of products, in particular of fruits or vegetables, comprising punctiform lighting means (4, 8, 12) capable of generating a polarised incident beam, means (19) for deflecting the polarised incident beam which are capable of forming a crosswise line of light, lateral reflection means (22, 23) capable of allowing the products to be lighted laterally, lower reflection means (28, 29) capable of allowing the lower face of the products to be lighted, and separation means (6, 10, 14) aligned on the optical axis of the polarised incident beam and suited to separating said incident beam and the backscattered depolarised light energy.

Abstract: Transducers 114 are acted upon by milk flowing respectively from each teat of the animal into a milking claw which has an upper chamber 119 and a lower chamber 120. The transducers respond to a condition of the milk and control valves 128. If the transducer indicates normal milk, valve 128 is set to direct flow into the lower chamber 120 from which it passes via pipe 122 to a collection tank. If abnormal milk is indicated, valve 128 is set to direct flow into the upper chamber 119, from which it passes via pipe 124 to a dump bucket or drain.

Abstract: A liquid is subjected to ultrasound within a stainless steel pipe (35) of wall thickness 2.5 mm. Three ultrasonic transducers (56) are equally spaced around the pipe, each fixed to one end of a tapered resonant coupler (46) with a nodal flange (48) by which it is supported with its wider end coaxially within a steel collar (38) welded to the outside of the pipe wall. The space around the sides and the end of the coupler is filled by a buffer liquid such as olive oil. When the transducers (56) are energised they resonate, as do the couplers (46), and ultrasound is transmitted through the buffer liquid and the wall into the liquid inside the pipe (35). Within the pipe the intensity can be sufficient to cause cavitation, and so to cause sonochemical effects.

Abstract: A method of comparing two nominally identical entities each of which can be represented by an assembly of arcs, comprising the operations of producing images of the entities, analysing each of the images into an assembly of arcs, producing respective data sets representative of the arcs in the assemblies, using the data sets to map one assembly of arcs onto the other, determining differences in the mapping related to differences between the images, comparing the determined differences in the mapping between the images with statistically determined differences in the mapping between a plurality of authentic images to establish a criterion of an acceptable level of probability of identity between the said two entities and providing an indication of the acceptance or rejection of the proposition that the two entities are identical.