Abstract: A gullwing door that is mountable to a vehicle and that is capable of providing ballistics protection to occupants of the vehicle. The gullwing door includes an outer panel that is rotatably mountable to the vehicle at an upper edge of the outer panel and that is lined with a first protective shell, and an inner panel disposed adjacent to the outer panel that comprises a second protective shell. The inner panel is rotatably connected to the outer panel at an upper edge of the inner panel and the inner panel and the outer panel are capable of rotatably opening together or separately.

Abstract: A system is provided for introducing gas bubbles (usually air bubbles) into a liquid stream to coalesce material such as unwanted bits, or particles, of hydrocarbons that lie in the liquid stream along with wanted dissolved bits of metal, for removal of the hydrocarbons. The system is constructed to produce a large number of bubbles of an optimum range such as 60 to 100 ?m which best coalesce the hydrocarbons. A controller receives the outputs of sensors such as pressure and flow rate sensors (P, F) and uses them to make changes in other parameters such as the pressure of air introduced into the liquid stream and the pressure in a third conduit of the liquid-bubble stream.

Abstract: An articulated gull-wing door is described. The articulated gull-wing door comprises an upper section and a lower section mounted in a modular frame or directly in the body of a motor vehicle between two pillars. The upper section is overlapable with the lower section when the door is in a closed position to provide a leak proof interface. The upper section is attached to a top of the modular frame with a plurality of hinges and comprises a sliding rod that is couplable to a mechanical link in the lower section. The lower section comprises a plurality of linear bearings arranged at an upper portion of a front side and a rear side of the lower section to slidably couple the lower section to corresponding rails attached to upper front and upper rear portions of the modular frame. The lower section is capable of slidably displacing itself in a vertical direction on the rails in the modular frame to fixed upper pivot points and then rotating upward upon the fixed upper pivot points to a fully opened position.

Abstract: Multiple water purifier modules are stacked in a rack having manifolds for each of the various water filtration functions: feed, concentrate, and filtrate. Each module connects to the rack by a quick connect for each of the filtration tubes. The quick connects are of the self-sealing type. A handle on the end of the module away from the rack has a lever for causing the quick connects to release the module from the rack while the system remains in operation. The, module can then be totally removed from the rack for testing, service, or replacement while the overall system remains in operation. Each module contains complete filtration media. The water is passed into the feed tubes under pressure where it passes into an elongated cavity filled with elongated hollow fibers. Filtrate, such as purer water, passes through the walls of the hollow fibers to an outlet, while concentrate, which is fluid with a high percent of impurities, flows from the cavity into concentrate tubes to another outlet for disposal.

Abstract: A water filtration system (60, FIG. 2) wherein pressured feed water (water with impurities to be filtered out) passes downstream from an upstream end of a passage (66) through a filter arrangement (74) in the passage, to a filtrate storage region (82), during filtrate production. Pressured water, such as at 50 psi (3 bars) from a tap water source (110), provides the pressured feed water during filtrate production, and also pressurizes the filtrate during backflushing. A filtrate pressurizing apparatus (90) includes a movable member or piston (92) that lies in a chamber (94), and that has a feed side (134) that is pressurized by tap water during a backflush and that has a filtrate side (132) that presses against filtrate, the feed side having a larger diameter (D2) than the filtrate side (D1) to produce an increased pressure during backflushing.