Abstract: An adaptor (10) having a concrete cylindrical body (12) with an axial bore (14) having a directional twin seal (24) cast within the body (12) to project into the axial bore (14). The bore (14) has a maximum diameter at each end (16, 18) of the body (12) that decreases to a minimum diameter at the center of the bore (14) where the seal (24) is positioned. The method of constructing the adaptor (10) includes the steps of placing a lower form (44) on a support member (40); placing a seal (54) on the lower form (44); placing an upper form (46) on the seal (54); and placing an outer cylinder (42) around the upper and lower forms (44,46) to create a space (58) into which liquid concrete is poured.

Abstract: A ball-launching system for a dog's ball which automatically launches or shoots a ball along an airborne path, thereby enabling the dog to chase the ball, fetch it and return it to the system. The system includes a ball collection area for receiving the returned ball, dropped or otherwise deposited therein by the dog, and for feeding the returned ball, under the force of gravity along, into the hollow interior of a ball-launching tube. As the ball rolls down the hollow interior of the tube, a sensing device detects the passage of the ball therover and generates a command signal. The command signal is delayed a predetermined period of time, sufficient to enable the ball to contact the rear end of the tube and come to rest in a firing position.

Abstract: A ball throwing machine for tossing a plurality of balls in succession, one at a time. The machine has a frame adapted to rest on a supporting surface, a spring-loaded pivotally mounted catapult arm that receives, holds, and tosses the balls, and a cam wheel and cam wheel shaft turnably mounting the cam wheel on the frame. The shaft has an axis which is laterally offset from the pivot axis of the catapult arm. The cam wheel has peripheral teeth, and a power driven pinion engages the teeth to impart turning movement to the wheel. There are cam rollers on the wheel which engage, one at a time, a cam plate on the catapult arm. The arrangement is such that the catapult arm is periodically shifted toward a ball-receiving position, picks up a ball, and as the cam wheel turns further, one cam roller by-passes the cam plate enabling the catapult arm to snap under the action of the spring and toss the ball.

Abstract: A wing packer has a middle frame section and two wing frame sections to which rollers are attached. The packer can be converted to a transport position by a hydraulic system which lifts the middle section and pivots the wing sections upward. The rollers are connected to the frame about a two-axis pivot which facilitates their remaining in contact with the ground on uneven terrain.

Abstract: A pellet feed system for an air gun, according to which a magazine is provided with a plurality of compartments dimensioned to permit the containment of pellets of various shapes; and including a pellet setting device operable in conjunction with said magazine for advancing the pellets singly from the magazine down into a loading cylinder so that the skirt of the pellet is sized by the force applied within the loading cylinder diameter. The operation just described can be performed in any normal position of the gun (not relying solely on gravity), and can even be operated in a gravity-free environment.

Abstract: A land fill spreader blade assembly characterized by a double "U" shape in plan for directing land fill materials into the demolition wheels or tracks carried by and supporting a tractor carrying the blade.

Abstract: A rolling hoe apparatus having a hub, shaft, bearings and a plurality of cultivating teeth, arranged into at least one hoe wheel and suspended from a bearing structure such that the axis (15) of rotation of the hoe-body (3) encloses an angle with the normal to the ground-surface in a range of 0.degree.-75.degree.when viewed in the plane of direction of advance (19), while the lateral tilting of the hoe-wheel with respect to the plane perpendicular to the direction of advance (19) lies in the range between 3.degree. and 75.degree.

Abstract: An improved sweeper system for use with a grass mowing machine for use in the care of golf course greens in which the lawn mowing machine has at least one mower assembly, the sweeper system including a sweeper structural support affixed to and extending from the mower assembly, an elongated broom having a horizontal head portion and bristles downwardly extending therefrom, an elongated structural head member affixed to the broom head portion, a cylindrical vertical shaft extending upwardly from the structural head member, a bearing trunnion affixed to the structural support member adjacent the outer end the shaft being rotatably received in the bearing trunnion and a plurality of spacers received on the shaft above the trunnions so that the elevation of the brush is adjustable and elastomeric members extending from the sweeper system to the structural head member on either side of the structural support, the broom following behind the mower assembly to sweep the golf green as it is mowed.

Abstract: A compound bow utilizes tension cables and bowstring cables acting on grooved cam pulley assemblies. The tension cables are not continuous to the bowstring cables but are individually anchored at each end. Looped ends of the bowstring cable are transfixed by a rigid cross pin which can be selectively lodged in one of a plurality of cross slots intersecting a diametrical groove in a side surface of a pulley. The bowstring is captured in a groove as it enters the pulley by a segment of a tension cable pulley.

Abstract: A magazine for an air gun comprises an outer case, a circular pellet carrier rotatably mounted in the outer case, and a cover that is pivotally mounted on the outer case. A coil spring resiliently biases the pellet carrier towards an end position. To load the magazine, the cover is pivoted to cause the pellet carrier to rotate to another end position, and a soft lead airgun pellet is then dropped in through a hole in the outer cover into a pellet chamber in the pellet carrier. The outer cover is then rotated, allowing successive pellets to be dropped into successive pellet chambers within the pellet carrier. In use, a probe pushes the first pellet out of the magazine into the breech of an airgun, and following this, the magazine automatically indexes under spring pressure to present the next pellet ready for loading. The pellets themselves serve as part of the indexing mechanism. The transfer probe places the pellets accurately in position within the breech of the airgun.

Abstract: A folding row marker includes first, inner and second, intermediate sections pivotally coupled together, as well as a third, outer section pivotally coupled to a distal end of the second section. A marker disc is disposed on the distal end of the third section and a hydraulic ram pivotally displaces the second section relative to the first section and further, via connecting linkage, pivotally displaces the third section relative to the second section during extension of the row marker to the use position and retraction of the row marker to the stored position. The first section is adapted for pivoting attachment to an end of a folding toolbar and linkage is provided to maintain all sections of the row marker under application of a positive force in a fixed, fully folded, compact and stable configuration when the toolbar is in the stored position.

Abstract: A hand held disk launcher is constructed of one piece molded plastic material having a handle portion and a flat head portion and attachment means for a flexible member on opposite sides of the head portion whereby a flexible member may be detachably connected to the head portion on either side thereof to facilitate the use of the launcher by a left handed person or a right handed person. The flexible member is provided with a hook portion at the free end thereof for engagement with a complementary recess in a disk. The flexible member may be in the form of a completely flexible strap or a semi-rigid, flexible, resilient arm.

Abstract: A plow having symmetrical mold-boards and bodies, the plow comprising a hitch 1 connected in particular by means of a pivot 3 and to a main frame 4 which is provided with a pivot 18 receiving a hydraulic actuator 17 whose action causes a beam 8 to pivot about its axis 7 together with body carrier elements 10 provided with mold-boards 11, characterized by a symmetrical moldboard 11 having a concave working surface which is horizontally hollow 46 and vertically hollow 47, with each of its side ends taken in a front position tapering upwardly rearwardly, by a single deflector 45 for both working directions in the form of a sector of a melon, by a strut 10 comprising a safety system including two elements 36 and 78 capable of moving longitudinally relative to each other, and by a pivoting rear rudder blade.

Abstract: A tool for cutting elongated turf strips has a cutting head secured to lateral stabilizing members. The cutting head is a rectangular box-shaped member having forward peripheral cutting edges. The stabilizing members have rollers that ride on the turf surface to ensure a uniform cutting depth of the cutting head. An upwardly and rearwardly directed handle is pivotally connected to the top wall of the cutting head to facilitate moving the cutting head through turf to cut a strip of sod therefrom.

Abstract: A hydraulic stabilizer disclosed for reducing shock from firing a bow includes a piston movably received within a hydraulic cylinder. First and second chambers are defined between end caps of the hydraulic cylinder and the axial ends of the piston. The two chambers are connected by a central passage through the center of the piston. O-rings are mounted on the radially outer periphery of the piston and radial passages connect the central passage to the outer periphery of the piston. Conical coil springs are mounted in each of the first and second fluid chambers and bias the piston towards a central position with respect to the hydraulic cylinder. The use of conical coil springs ensures that the piston slows down as it moves towards the ends of the hydraulic cylinder. The improved hydraulic stabilizer reduces shocks from firing of the bow and ensures quieter shooting and more accurate bow operation.

Abstract: A bowstring release device has a female part adapted to be fastened to the wrist of an archer and a male part adapted to be fastened to the bowstring. The male part is adapted to be received by the female part and held therein by a keeper until it is released by actuating a triggered release mechanism. The female part also has bowstring-receiving slots so that it can be used with a bow that does not have a male member attached to the bowstring. The female part has a universal joint interposed between it and the device used to fasten it to the wrist of the archer.

Abstract: A normally rigid planar framework for mounting a large number of ground working tools is made resilient to accommodate the torsional forces exerted on the rigid structural members of the framework as it passes over uneven ground and the tools are subjected to varying forces as they move through the ground. Resilience of the framework is achieved by having the structural members which are normally rigidly fastened together, fastened together instead by resilient fastening which permits torsional flexing between the rigid members so fastened. Additionally, rigid structural members of the framework which normally are pivotally connected to permit movement only around the pin axis of the pivotal connection, are resiliently pivotally connected so that slight rotation of the structural members can occur around the other two axes which intersect the pin axis of the respective pivotal connections at mutual right angles.

Abstract: A wheel arrangement includes a retainer mechanism with a spring-loaded pin mounted on the walking beam of a support wheel assembly on a folding implement. A mating retainer supported on the wheel support tube is normally offset from the pin when the implement is in the lowered field-working position. As the implement is raised toward the transport position and the angle of the beam changes relative to the support tube, the pin settles in a central notch in the retainer. The retainer mechanism maintains a preselected angle between the beam and the support tube as the outrigger is moved upwardly and the outrigger wheels are raised from the ground, thereby preventing unwanted rocking of the walking beam during transport and maintaining the wheels in a noninterfering relationship with other portions of the implement.

Abstract: A hammer driven soil coring device for use on golf course greens having a cylindrical cutting tube that has a lower cutting edge and longitudinally extending guide slots which serve as a guide for an ejector plate. Affixed to the cylindrical cutting tube is a cutter cap to which is affixed a support tube. The support tube has one vertically oriented slot. The slot serves as a guide for a stop which serves as a device to control the depth that a tamping plate achieves when the cylindrical cutting tube is driven into the surface of the green. A hand knob extends through the slot into a cylindrical rod for extending the tamping plate beyond the cylindrical cutting tube and to lock the tamping plate into a fixed position. A bubble level is located within the support tube. An impact head is located at the end of the tube with an aperture that allows the operator to view a bubble level.

Abstract: A harrow assembly adapted to be towed by a towing vehicle in either a working mode or a transport mode. The harrow assembly includes front and rear offset disc harrow units pivoted at one end portion. Each offset disc harrow unit includes a transport wheel assembly, each assembly having a pair of opposed, spaced transport wheels arranged on either side of the respective harrow units.