Abstract: A foldable cane constructed in three sections each joined by pairs of hinge links having laterally displaced hinge pins which permit adjoining sections to be swung through 180.degree. relative to each other so that in the folded configuration of the cane the three sections are disposed along side each other in essentially parallel relationship to occupy a minimum amount of space. The pairs of hinge links are equipped with spring urged slidable locking sleeves for locking the hinge links in axial alignment when the cane is in use.

Abstract: In front loaders designed for drive-in attachment to tractors, two telescopic struts are pivotable between a stowed retracted position alongside the boom assembly which carries the bucket; a first deployed extended position for supporting the rear end of the detachable main portion of the loader, aided by auxiliary struts, when it is not attached to the tractor; and a second deployed extended position, in which the struts engage with abutments on the sub-frame which carries both the boom assembly and the hydraulic cylinders for pivoting the boom assembly and are secured to said cylinders, for locking the boom assembly in its fully raised position whilst the detachable main portion is attached to the tractor.

Abstract: A picture frame made of metal extrusions of identical cross sectional shape is assembled at its corners by the use of corner plate assemblies and cam operating buttons. The corner plate assemblies include a reaction plate having cam ramps formed therein, and a reaction sub-plate. The two plates are in closely-spaced parallel relationship to each other. There is an offset in one of the plates at the corner where it is welded to the other plate. The cam operating buttons are caged between the plates but can be operated by a quarter turn with a screwdriver which will tighten or loosen the corner assembly in two picture frame members joined at a corner, to thereby secure the frame members together at a corner.

Abstract: Method for flocculating microscopic particles in suspension in a liquid and application to the collection of phytoplankton microalgae and of zooplankton and for the purification of used water.One passes a first liquid comprising microscopic particles in suspension through a fixed granular layer (2) up to partial or complete clogging of said granular material by said microscopic particles; one unclogs at least partially said granular material in a fixed layer by passing a second liquid therethrough, moving in the same direction as the first liquid, but at a higher speed than the first; and one recovers below said layer flocculated aggregates of said microscopic particles and a liquid outflow (6).

Abstract: A fuel preheater for liquid fuel having a multi-pass heat exchanger for said fuel, heated by an electrical resistance heater provided with a sensor adjacent the device designed to burn the fuel, the sensor controlling the flow of electrical current to said heater. The heat exchanger is preferably made from extruded stock and a material having good heat conductivity. If the device burning the fuel is a water cooled device, a separate heat exchanger using such heated water may be placed in series with the preheater in order to augment it.

Abstract: A portable ice chest includes a food compartment and a pair of side-by-side, curved chutes for dispensing beverage containers by gravity through the first wall of the chest. A segregated ice compartment cools both the food compartment and the container chute. Access to both the ice and food compartments is gained through either a lid on the top of the chest or a door in the side of the chest. A separate door in the front of the chest allows access to a dispensing station to which the containers are delivered by the chutes. One embodiment of the chest includes a seat and backrest to allow an individual to employ the chest as a seat.

Abstract: A hand-held and hand-operated condiment grinder-dispenser includes a housing, a grinding mechanism having a rotary grinding wheel and a driving mechanism having an operating lever coupled to the grinding wheel and arranged for a reciprocating motion composed of a manually-induced forward motion and a spring-induced return motion. An overrunning (freewheeling) clutch couples the driving mechanism to the grinding wheel for transmitting a torque from the driving mechanism to the grinding wheel solely during the forward motions (work strokes) of the operating lever. The operating lever is positioned with respect to a housing part such that the operating lever and the housing part are included in a grip of the user's hand, as the condiment grinder-dispenser is held and operated.

Abstract: A brushless, preferably coreless, disc-type DC motor or generator characterized by a positive, unidirectional, nearly constant torque is disclosed. The machine in a preferred form comprises a rotor disc mounted for rotation with the shaft and a stator fixedly mounted in coaxial parallel relation to the rotor. The stator contains at least two interleaved sets of coils, with the sets of coils adapted to be alternately energized for current flow in the same direction in the plane of the stator to generate axially extending magnetic fields all of the same polarity. The rotor disc carries in a circular array at least one permanent magnet, asymmetrically shaped in relation to the shape of the stator coils, each having a tip portion and a base portion; and with a magnetic field of common polarity extending in the same axial direction as the magnetic fields of the energized coils. When the tip portions of the magnets are aligned with a first set of coils, that set is energized to create a torque on the rotor.

Abstract: Tractor front loaders of drive-in type have brackets fixed to a tractor and engageable with a detachable sub-frame carrying a boom assembly mounting a bucket. The sub-frame is secured to the brackets by close-fitting pins causing removal difficulties, or loose-fitting pins causing loader instability and accelerated pin wear. Easy-release pins are therefore provided, each passing with substantial radial clearance through aligned axially-spaced holes in one bracket and fitting, between the holes, in an eccentric bush which fits in a boss fixed to the subframe and is rotatable by a handle into an operative position in which the pin establishes contact with one side of the holes and the boss establishes clamping contact with a cam-plate fixed to the bracket, or into an easy-release position in which the contacts are disestablished.

Abstract: The transducer diaphragm includes a folded sheet of thin film material, having a front surface and having a plurality of rearwardly extending projections in the form of fins or vanes thereon. Each one of the projections has at least one conductor portion disposed thereon. A substantially flat, thin sheet is secured to form the front face of the diaphragm and to help rigidify the folded sheet. In the preferred form of the invention, each one of the projections is generally channel-shaped throughout its length, and has a bight portion interconnecting a pair of leg portions. In one form of the invention, at least one portion of a conductor is disposed on each one of the projections.

Abstract: Mandelonitrile-.beta.-D-glucuronic acid can be produced by tritylating mandelonitrile-.beta.-D-glucoside, acetylating the obtained product, and then simultaneously detritylating and oxidizing in order to obtain mandelonitrile-.beta.-D-triacetyl glucuronic acid. This compound may then be deacetylated to obtain mandelonitrile-.beta.-D-glucuronic acid or the salt thereof.

Abstract: Self-propelled irrigation equipment for large planted areas comprises a three-wheeled vehicle carrying a water distribution pipe supported by a telescopic girder, both girder and pipe extending across the vehicle to both sides. The pipe has evenly-spaced outlet openings which deliver water direct to the ground through flexible hoses open at their ends. Water is supplied to the equipment through a large, flexible hose stretched out on the ground between a fixed supply point and a large drum mounted on the vehicle. The vehicle is moved towards the supply point by means of a hydraulic actuator at a velocity proportional to the water quantity passing through the equipment to the ground, while the drum is rotated by a second hydraulic actuator at a rotational speed sufficient to wind up the hose on the drum at the rate of the vehicle's progress.

Abstract: A video control unit mounting system for mounting a video control unit adjacent an operating surface having a securing means for releasably attaching the video control unit relative to the operating surface and a elastically stretchable video control mounting means having an aperture formed therein for receiving and encompassing the stick of a video control unit. The video control mounting means receives and retains a video control unit between the video control mounting means and the securing means so that movement of the video control unit is greatly inhibited during use.

Abstract: Hyperacidified tumors having high .beta.-glucuronidase activity can be treated with glucuronides with aglycones toxic to the tumor cells with great safety toward the rest of the body by first administering an alkalinizing agent in an amount sufficient to maintain the pH level of non-tumor tissues at approximately 7.4 during the glucuronide treatment. This will cause inactivation of .beta.-glucuronidase activity in the rest of the body. When nitrile-containing aglycones are used sodium thiosulfate is also administered to avoid cyanide poisoning. A loading dose of glucuronide greater than 2 mMoles per kilogram body weight is first administered with additional administration of one third the initial dose each hour as long as .beta.-glucuronidase activity remains at the tumor site. Bacterial cells having .beta.-glucuronidase activity may also be diagnosed and treated in accordance with the present invention.

Abstract: A locking device for a toilet seat lid comprises a rotatable lever arm having a downwardly extending flange mounted adjacent the free end thereof. The lever arm is rotatably mounted on a mounting plate with the latter being fastened to the toilet bowl to the rear of the toilet seat by means of the conventional seat-fastening bolts. The flange cooperates with the free end of the lever arm to present a jaw-like structure for receiving a portion of the rear of the closed lid therein. Upon movement of the closed lid towards an open position the lid engages the jaw-like structure in a manner which opposes movement of the lid towards a fully open position. The lever arm is user-rotatable to a position free of the closed lid to allow opening of the lid and access to the toilet bowl. A spring bias on the lever arm returns the lever arm to the original lid-receiving position upon the lid being returned to its closed position.

Abstract: A fiber board composition and a fiber board composite formed therefrom is capable of consolidation into a variety of structural building products ranging from flat sheets and panels which may interlock for modular housing to 2.times.4's through 2.times.12's, etc. Fiber boards comprised of the fiber board composition of the present invention are characterized by high strength, fire resistance, water resistance and insect and rot resistance.

Abstract: A bio-mass burner having a continuous feed on demand to a first combustion chamber that contains a hollow grate structure. The novel method of operation includes the use of at least one venturi tube which is in fluid communication with the hollow grate structure to establish an air flow into a second combustion chamber. Primary air to support combustion in the first chamber is supplied to the underside of the grate structure. Secondary air to support combustion in the second chamber is supplied through the hollow grate structure and then to the venturi tube in a sufficiently tortuous path through the first combustion chamber to insure that the air is superheated at the outlet of the venturi tube. A baffle arrangement in the first combustion chamber directs the fuel product toward the grate structure and assists in preventing any unburned gases from being ejected into the atmosphere.

Abstract: Use of ferri-magnetic reactive iron oxide particles to react hydrogen sulfide in water, hydrocarbon liquids or drilling mud affords quick, effective scavenging of these liquids without accumulation of particulate matter and without wasting the reactive particles. The reaction product is environmentally safe, so that it may be disposed of on a simple waste heap.A quantity of the magnetic iron oxide particles, principally a synthetic porous Fe.sub.3 O.sub.4, is suspended in the liquid. The quantity added is in excess of that required for the reaction with the hydrogen sulfide in order to speed the reaction time and provide a large margin of safety. In use, the reactive iron oxide particles contact and react the hydrogen sulfide, forming a non-magnetic particulate product of reaction. Thus, if used to scavenge a drilling mud, this contact and reaction occurs as the mud, bearing the drill cuttings, rises through the drilling formation.