Abstract: An evenly-lit instrument assembly adapted to be front-mounted in an opening in a vehicle's dashboard is provided. The mounting of the instrument assembly is concealed. The instrument assembly includes a housing and a circuit assembly fitted inside the housing. The circuit assembly controls a pointer. A dial is located above the circuit assembly, and is secured inside of the housing. A light pipe is further included inside the housing and positioned just above the circuit assembly for evenly disbursing light provided by a light-emitting source across the dial.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for concentrating diverse input signals indicative of the state or magnitude of a variety of functions and conditions of an engine-driven watercraft is disclosed. A power regulation portion includes a feedback resistor configured to form a hysteresis loop to prevent operation in a linear region when an over voltage condition exists, thus protecting the circuitry from excessive power dissipation. The apparatus also includes a reverse voltage protection circuit including a diode and a polyswitch that protects downstream circuits from application of reverse polarity power. An inventive method for determining the speed of the watercraft, using a measured pressure, and which includes a calculated component designed to account for the effects of the friction as in a pitot tube is disclosed. An input is obtained from a user-actuated switch, such input being used to vary an adjustment factor, which in turn varies the watercraft speed determination using the inventive speed method.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus are provided for displaying a value of a measured parameter for an engine-driven vehicle, such as the speed of an engine. The apparatus includes a microcontroller which receives a data signal from a data concentrator. The data signal contains information relating to the value of a parameter which has been measured by a sensor or other measuring device. Based on the value of the data signal the microcontroller generates one or more motor control signals. The motor control signals are used to drive a stepper-motor. The motor rotates an output shaft which has a pointer mounted near one end of the shaft. The angular position of the output shaft upon rotation corresponds to the value of the parameter and the pointer helps to provide a human-readable format for the parameter value.

Abstract: A fluid actuated clutch assembly includes a coil spring which is manufactured from a substantially rectangular includes cross section wire. Both ends of the spring are manufactured with open and ground ends to ensure that the load from the spring is transferred in a smooth and uniform manner.

Abstract: A segment removal assembly (46) includes a segment removal device which automatically grasps removable segments (48, 50) of shuttle and magazine rings (8, 10) of a winding machine (2), removes the segments to a displaced position leaving segment gaps (66) in the rings and, after the interior (146) of the rings are accessed by removing and inserting a portion of a transformer core (34) from and into the interior of the rings at a load/unload station (158), the segments are replaced back into the segment gaps and resecured to remainders (52, 54) of the rings. This is accomplished using pivotal arms (110, 112, 132, 134) which engage pins (80) carried by the ring segments. Grasping the pins unlatches the segments from the remainders of the rings thus permitting the segments to be removed from the remainders of the rings.

Abstract: A spring assembly particularly adapted for use in vehicular automatic transmissions comprising a pair of annular plates having a multiplicity of circumferentially spaced, parallel-oriented compression springs mounted therebetween. The annular plates are interconnected at circumferentially spaced points around their periphery so that the compression springs are held in a precompressed state. The interconnection means are designed so as to permit the overall axial length of the spring assembly to constrict as the springs are compressed. Two alternative embodiments of the present invention are disclosed: a first embodiment wherein the annular plates are made from stamped sheet metal and a second embodiment wherein the annular plates are made from injected molded plastic.

Abstract: A bracket for the mounting of distribution transformer tanks to the tops of supports, such as utility poles is disclosed. The bracket is formed from a single stamped band of metal and includes a narrow vertically disposed front bracket surface just sufficiently wide to accommodate a conventional jump proof lip for attachment to a bracket or bolt holding the bracket to the support--such as a pole. Paired vertically disposed bracket sides diverge from the front surface to and toward the supported tank. These sides are bent at welding pad support legs. These legs are in parallel alignment, and extend until the tank sides. At the tank sides, the bracket at each side flares outwardly and ends to define a welding pad with discrete major surface areas tangent to the tank sides. When weld material is placed continuously around these firm tank attachment of the bracket occurs.

Abstract: A finished transformer core (48) includes a core (2) of wound amorphous transformer core material (4) to which rigidifying bonding material (22) is applied to the ends (12, 14) of the core. The bonding material does not cover the entire ends but leaves gaps (24) to permit fluid flow between the ambient environment and the interlamination voids (16) which exist between the layers (18, 20) of the wound material. The core, rigidified by the bonding material, is housed within a fluid permeable containment assembly (28). The containment assembly typically includes fluid permeable filter material (32, 34, 36, 38) which allows transformer oil and air to pass through the material but will trap solid particles of core material within the containment assembly.

Abstract: A continuous ribbon of annealed amorphous magnetic core material (4) is removed from a supply spool (14) and wound into an annular cavity (6) defined by a rotating bobbin (8) within a partially assembled toroidal transformer (10). An appropriate tension on the material entering the annular cavity is created by providing a magnet (35) along a guide surface (20) between the supply spool and the annular cavity to create a drag force on the material. Slack in the material between the guide surface and the entrance gap is eliminated by lightly biasing (40) a portion of the guide surface against the core material. The amorphous magnetic core material is preferably subjected to a stress relief annealing operation in the same spiral orientation and with the same inner and outer diameters as the material will assume as the core of the toroidal transformer. To accomplish this the annealed core material is backwound from its annealing spool (44) onto the supply spool and then is wound into the bobbin.

Abstract: A winding apparatus for fabricating a multifilar low voltage winding for a toroidal transformer is disclosed. The apparatus uses a wire storage magazine 18 and a wire winding shuttle 20 which rotate about a semitoroidal winding mandrel 38 to wind a multifilar low voltage winding 48 on the winding mandrel having a greater radial depth of turns at the radially inward leg of the winding than at the radially outward leg of the winding. The multifilar winding can be wound with a group of conductors in a single pass over the winding mandrel, or wound one conductor at a time using multiple passes over the winding mandrel, or wound using multiple passes over the winding mandrel with some intermediate number of conductors being wound during each pass.

Abstract: The coil winding machine (10) winds a series of interconnected coil bundles within winding forms (28). The winding forms are transferred from a coil winding station (29), at which the coil is wound in the pie-shaped cavity of the winding form, to a coil removal station (237,293,61), at which the winding form is separated and the coil is removed and placed on a storage arbor (54) in the proper order for later assembly in a transformer, and finally, after reassembly of the winding form, back to the winding station.

Abstract: A toroidal electrical transformer having a low voltage coil, a high voltage coil and an annular magnetic core is disclosed. The preferred low voltage and high voltage coils are each continuous and form an arcuate elongated passage therethrough. The preferred annular magnetic core is wound in place in said arcuate elongated passage substantially from a continuous strip of magnetic material resulting in a toroidal transformer with continuous windings and a continuous wound core. Various components and sub-assemblies are also disclosed along with various apparatus and methods for producing such toroidal electrical transformers, its components and its sub-assemblies.

Abstract: Apparatus for winding a continuous length of wire about a mandrel to create coils of wire uses a coil winding machine having a circular cage mounted to a frame and a circular winding magazine freely rotatably mounted to the frame within the cage to define an annular cavity between them. Initially a supply of wire is wound on the magazine, such as counterclockwise. The wire on the magazine continues to be connected as a continuous strand to a large, external spool of wire. A winding shuttle is driven along the annular cavity clockwise to remove wire from the magazine and wind it about a mandrel. Wire is removed from the magazine at double the rate at which it is wound about the mandrel. The excess wire initially expands within the cavity. The expansion is halted by the cage. Once all of the excess wire is restrained by the cage, the continued clockwise movement of the shuttle causes the excess wire to double back upon itself in a loop so the wire is rewound on the magazine in the clockwise direction.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a formed metal blocking, for mounting within wedge-shaped gaps between coils of a toroidal transformer, including butterfly-shaped top and bottom core blockings. The blockings are formed from identical stampings, each stamping having a pair of U-shaped coil-engaging faces joined along their inner legs by a center web. The stampings are joined back to back and have a number of flanges which are bent over for securing the stampings to one another. The stampings have an apertured tab at the end of the center web used to form a lifting eye for the top blocking. With the bottom blocking, the tabs are folded over for mounting to a base plate. The outer legs of the U-shaped faces are longer than the inner legs and center web to create a gap in the electric path surrounding the core.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a formed metal blocking, for mounting within wedge-shaped gaps between coils of a toroidal transformer, including butterfly-shaped top and bottom core blockings. The blockings are formed from identical stampings, each stamping having a pair of U-shaped coil-engaging faces joined along their inner legs by a center web. The stampings are joined back to back and have a number of flanges which are bent over for securing the stampings to one another. The stampings have an apertured tab at the end of the center web used to form a lifting eye for the top blocking. With the bottom blocking the tabs are folded over for mounting to a base plate. The outer legs of the U-shaped faces are longer than the inner legs and center web to create a gap in the electric path surrounding the core.

Abstract: A toroidal electrical transformer having a low voltage coil, a high voltage coil and an annular magnetic core is disclosed. The preferred low voltage and high voltage coils are each continuous in substantial part over their length and form an arcuate elongated passage therethrough. The preferred annular magnetic core is wound in place in said arcuate elongated passage substantially from a continuous strip of magnetic material. Various components and sub-assemblies are also disclosed along with various apparatus and methods for producing such toroidal electrical transformer, its components and its sub-assemblies.

Abstract: A winding apparatus and method for fabricating a multifilar low voltage winding for a toroidal transformer is disclosed. The method and apparatus use a wire storage magazine (18) and a wire winding shuttle (20) which rotate about a semitoroidal winding mandrel (38) to wind a multifilar low voltage winding (48) on the winding mandrel having a greater radial depth of turns at the radially inward leg of the winding than at the radially outward leg of the winding. The multifilar winding can be wound with a group of conductors in a single pass over the winding mandrel, or wound one conductor at a time using multiple passes over the winding mandrel, or wound using multiple passes over the winding mandrel with some intermediate number of conductors being wound during each pass.

Abstract: A toroidal electrical transformer having a low voltage coil, a high voltage coil, and an annular magnetic core is disclosed. The preferred low voltage and high voltage coils are each fabricated in two semitoroidal sections which together form an arcuate elongated passage therethrough. Two bobbin halves are inserted into the semitoroidal sections of the low and high voltage coils and are joined to form a cylindrical bobbin within the arcuate elongated passage. The preferred annular magnetic core is wound onto the bobbin within the arcuate elongated passage substantially from a continuous strip of magnetic material resulting in a toroidal transformer with continuous windings and a continuous wound core. Various components and sub-assemblies are also disclosed along with various apparatus and methods for producing such toroidal electrical transformers, its components and its sub-assemblies.

Abstract: A toroidal transformer insulation tube includes first and second identical, molded plastic U-channel halves. The halves each have an arcuate bottom and generally semi-cylindrical sides which extend upwardly from the bottom and terminate in inner and outer edges. The edges have symmetrically arranged alternating lapped sections, radially offset from adjacent lapped sections, so that when one U-channel half is mounted to another U-channel half with their edges aligned, the lapped sections overlap to restrict relative radial and rotary motion between the U-channel halves. Thickened flanges are formed at the ends of the halves for strength and for keeping the electrical windings on the insulation tube. The flanges have lead slots, facing in opposite axial directions, formed therein for receipt of transformer leads so that the leads in opposed slots of opposed tubes are spaced apart.

Abstract: A toroidal elecrical transformer having a low voltage coil, a high voltage coil and an annular magnetic core is disclosed. The preferred low voltage and high voltage coils are each continuous and form an arcuate elongated passage therethrough. The preferred annular magnetic core is wound in place in said arcuate elongated passage substantially from a continuous strip of magnetic material resulting in a toroidal transformer with continuous windings and a continuous wound core. Various components and sub-assemblies are also disclosed along with various apparatus and methods for producing such toroidal electrical transformers, its components and its sub-assemblies.