Abstract: The conversion ceiling system disclosed may be installed immediately under a pre-existing ceiling without dismantling or removing the pre-existing ceiling. The conversion ceiling system includes pans which are adapted to cooperate with conventional inverted T-beams which, if pre-existing, support the pre-existing ceiling panels. The T-beams support the conversion pans in a side-by-side array to form a new ceiling surface. Each of the conversion pans includes a horizontally extending plate having a specially formed upwardly turned peripheral rim. At least two portions of the rim include laterally projecting tabs for engaging the flanges of T-beams and at least one of the tabs has an upstanding stop to limit the horizontal movement of the pan. The ceiling assembly may include a number of resilient clips securing the upstanding stops on the rims of the pans to the T-beams. Alternately, the pre-existing ceiling tiles may engage the stop to prevent horizontal movement of the pans.

Abstract: A method of setting up tooling on parallel rotary arbors for cutting plural parallel longitudinal slits in a web of sheet material advancing between the arbors, using a set of tooling comprising multiple circular cutter elements and multiple circular spacer elements, the elements having various nominal axial lengths with a common axial length tolerance of .+-.t. Each element, measured to determine the deviation between its actual and nominal axial length, is detectably identified (e.g. by color coding) with one of plural discrete successive subranges of the overall tolerance range .+-.t, viz., with that subrange in which its measured axial length deviation lines.

Abstract: For slidably mounting a panel such as a door on a railed track, a roller assembly including a roller having a peripheral groove for sliding on the track rail, housing structure for mounting the roller in the panel, and a rigid metal stabilizer element carried by the housing structure and having a grooved or notched extremity for overlying the rail, in tandem relation to the roller, to prevent derailment of the roller. The stabilizer element is vertically slidable in the housing structure so as to ride smoothly along the rail, accommodating local irregularities or variations in rail height.

Abstract: A hollow structural member constituted of a plurality of wall sections cooperatively laterally enclosing an interior space, wherein adjacent wall sections have straight longitudinal edges aligned and facing each other to define a joint between the sections, with longitudinal recesses respectively formed on the inner surfaces of the wall sections adjacent the joint and opening toward each other across the joint, and wherein the sections are interlocked at the joint by means of an elongated spline inserted in the recesses for bridging the joint and having an outwardly projecting central longitudinal rib for engaging the joint-defining edges of the wall sections to limit the extent of lateral insertion of the spline into either of the recesses.

Abstract: A tin alloy powder containing up to 5% P is disclosed. Reduced sensitivity to sintering conditions is achieved by use of present alloy powder in production of sintered bronze articles. Means for controlling the growth of the article during sintering are also disclosed.

Abstract: In a method of producing an extruded, cross-linked cable coating of filled polyethylene wherein the extruder is charged with commingled polyethylene pellets and filler-EPR masterbatch pellets containing a peroxide cross-linking agent, the peroxide is incorporated in the masterbatch pellets by application to and absorption in the pellets during advance of the pellets to the extruder, while the pellets are continuously maintained at an elevated temperature for preventing bleed-out of absorbed peroxide.

Abstract: A cable-coating extruder head having a head body with a central passageway for an advancing cable, a die insert removably seated in a fixed die body at the forward end of the passageway providing a die aperture through which the cable passes, and a guider insert removably mounted in a fixed guider body within the passageway for centering the cable in the die aperture, wherein both the guide insert and the die insert are insertable forwardly and removable rearwardly through the rearward end of the passageway to enable change of guider and die apertures without displacing the forward end of the head body. The guider insert has a rearward extension projecting beyond the head body for manipulation to facilitate guider insert removal and replacement.

Abstract: In a ceiling system wherein a plurality of horizontal C-shaped panels are carried by stringers extending above the panels, a device for securing a panel to a stringer at any desired angle relative thereto. The device includes a carrier member grippable in a fixed angular position between the side flanges of the panel and a hanger member, mountable in a fixed angular position on the stringer, for supporting the carrier member beneath the stringer for unobstructed rotation relative to the stringer about a vertical axis, thereby to suspend the panel from the stringer at a selected angle.

Abstract: An elongated ceiling conversion strip 28 comprising an elongated flat central web 32, an upper flange portion 34 extending upwardly from the inner longitudinal edge of web 32 and an array of spaced mounting brackets 42 depending from said web, each of said mounting brackets comprising a lower flange portion 44 extending downwardly from said web and a pair of mounting flanges 46 and 48 extending longitudinally from said lower flange portion, each of said mounting flanges extending in opposite directions from each other. A ceiling assembly for utilizing conversion strip 28 comprising a drop-in ceiling assembly 10 and a linear ceiling assembly 14 is also disclosed.

Abstract: A roofing panel system including a plurality of elongated panels disposed in side-by-side parallel array on a supporting roof structure, each panel having an upwardly projecting longitudinal flange along each side with the flanges of adjacent panels together constituting a standing seam at the junction of the panels. A plurality of clips, fastened to the roof structure along each standing seam and interposed between the adjacent panel flanges constituting that seam, engage the tops of the adjacent panel flanges to anchor the panels to the roof structure and also support the adjacent panels from below. Each standing seam is covered by an elongated cap member snap-fitted over the tops of the adjacent panel flanges and bearing sealant material which engages the tops of the latter flanges to seal the seam. The top portion of each panel flange is bent toward the other flange of the panel to form a leg, over which the cap member extends, having a flat upwardly facing surface for contact with the sealant material.

Abstract: In a ceiling assembly, a parallel array of horizontally elongated panels each having vertical major surfaces and a horizontal top flange and a plurality of spaced parallel horizontally elongated stringers extending above and transversely of the panels for supporting the panels, the stringers having horizontal flanges formed with slots in which the top edge portions of the panels are received. The slots are shaped to provide, in the stringer flanges, pairs of facing spring tabs to facilitate insertion of the top portions of the panels in the slots and to interlock with the panel top flanges.

Abstract: A vent-type window structure, having one or more vent sashes each mounted by means of a pair of hinges respectively disposed at the opposite sides of the sash, wherein at least one of the sashes is positively secured to each of its associated hinges only by a single manually removable pin, to facilitate rapid removal of the sash or sashes for use of the window opening as an emergency egress opening. Each pin has a manually graspable ring at the inner side of the sash, and projects through the side of the sash and the associated hinge, being retained by a yieldable element abutting the hinge; when the pin is pulled manually in an axial direction toward the center of the sash, the latter element yields to enable extraction of the pin. The two pins respectively on the opposite sides of a sash are positioned so that they can be easily withdrawn together by pulling them toward each other.

Abstract: Production of a longitudinally striated coating on a strip article by advancing the article past an open side of an otherwise-enclosed trench so that the article surface to be coated closes the open trench side, while delivering concurrent laminar flows of two different liquid coating materials to the trench at least at one locality spaced from the trench open side, to keep the trench completely filled and to deposit a layer of coating material on the moving article surface. Liquid circulation in the trench caused by the motion of the article surface so distributes the two coating materials along the trench that the applied coating layer is constituted of alternating longitudinal striations of the two materials.

Abstract: In the coating of a major surface of a strip article, wherein the strip surface is advanced longitudinally past a dam and, immediately beyond the dam, past an extended wall spaced from the strip surface by a gap equal to a desired wet coating thickness, a first liquid coating material is applied to the strip surface ahead of the dam and a second liquid coating material is delivered under pressure to the gap beyond the dam through one or more apertures in the wall to produce a stripe or stripes of the second coating material. The apertures can be provided in a rotatable disk, constituting a portion of the wall; rotary movement of the disk angularly displaces the apertures so as to vary the location and spacing of the produced stripes, for example in a manner simulating the appearance of natural wood grain.

Abstract: A tilt latch for a window sash including a base member mountable on a sash and a slide member disposed for sliding movement in a channel formed in the base member and resiliently biased toward an extended position in which a nose-shaped first end of the slide member engages a window frame to prevent the sash from tilting out of the frame. A downward projection formed on a second end portion of the slide member interferingly engages an end edge of the base member to arrest movement of the slide member at the extended position, but this second end portion of the slide member is dimensioned to enable the projection to be lifted manually out of such engagement so that the slide member can be moved beyond the extended position.

Abstract: In the coating of a strip article of indeterminate length, wherein the article is continuously advanced lengthwise past a dam while liquid coating material is supplied to a major surface of the article ahead of the dam, the article is passed through a gap of extended length immediately beyond the dam, the gap being defined between uniformly spaced walls one of which faces the article surface bearing the coating material. The spacing between the gap walls is equal to the thickness of the strip article plus a desired wet thickness of the layer of coating material. Coating material of different colors or shades may be supplied to different portions of the strip surface for producing coatings of varied patterns.

Abstract: For use with horizontal siding panels each having complementary first and second locking means respectively formed along their top and bottom margins for interlocking vertically adjacent courses of panels in overlapping array, a system for mounting, on a wall, a panel interposed between already-mounted upper and lower courses which are vertically spaced by a distance less than the height of the interposed panel.

Abstract: In a suspended ceiling assembly of panels carried by spaced, elongated stringers, stabilizer bars interconnecting the stringers for maintaining the stringers fixed in position relative to each other and preventing racking of the assembly. Each stabilizer bar is a rigid element having a tab at each end for snap-fitting insertion into a slot formed in a stringer, and also having flange portions adjacent each end for bearing against a stringer surface along spaced extended lines of contact, when the tab at that end is inserted in the stringer, to prevent angular movement of the stringer relative to the stabilizer bar.

Abstract: A tilt latch for a sliding window sash comprising a unitary molded plastic article including a base portion mountable on the top of a window sash, a body portion having a projecting nose for insertion in a channel of a window frame, and a narrow thin portion hingedly connecting the body to the base for enabling movement of the body between a closed position overlying the base and an open position. Two such latches are respectively mounted on opposite sides of a window sash; when the latch bodies are in the closed position, their noses are respectively received in vertical channels of the window frame for retaining the sash in the frame, while movement of the latch bodies to open position permits the sash to be tilted out of the frame. Each latch is provided with a manually releasable lock, such as a pin projecting from the base and received with interference fit in an opening of the body, for retaining the body in the closed position.

Abstract: For use with horizontal siding panels each having complementary first and second locking means respectively formed along their top and bottom margins for interlocking vertically adjacent courses of panels in overlapping array, a system and method for mounting, on a wall, a panel interposed between already-mounted upper and lower courses which are vertically spaced by a distance less than the height of the interposed panel. The system includes clip means for securing the second locking means of the upper-course panels to the wall while permitting upward insertion of the first locking means of the interposed panel, behind the upper-course panels, to a level above that at which the second locking means of the upper-course panels would interlock therewith, and retaining means for securing the first locking means of the interposed panel to the wall at that level.