Abstract: A coffee maker provides a controlled release of heated water into brewing material. In one embodiment the coffee maker includes a spiraling nozzle releasing heated water over brewing material held in the coffee maker. The nozzle provides a single release point at each instant providing improved exposure of the brewing material to the heated water. In another embodiment the coffee maker includes a rotating sprinkler arm releasing heated water into the brewing material. In either embodiment motion may be provided by the flow of heated water, or by an electric motor.

Abstract: A control circuit for a cooking oven. The control circuit includes a contactor. The contactor has at least one contact and at least one coil. A relay (such as a solid-state relay) is in series connection with the contactor. A heating element is controlled by the relay and is in series connection with the relay and the contactor. The controller also includes a controller. The controller is configured to bypass the relay and to control power to the at least one coil.

Abstract: Provided is an appliance for cooking and/or reheating food, which includes: a housing having a cooking vessel arranged such as to receive the food to be cooked and/or reheated, and a circuit for heating by ventilation including an air duct arranged such as to channel and direct a flow of hot air onto the food to be cooked and/or reheated, wherein the air duct has at least one cross-section in which a geometric size of the channeled air flow is limited such as to reduce a turbulence of the air flow flowing downstream from said at least one section of the air duct.

Abstract: A system comprises a capsule (30) with a wall and a capsule extraction unit (10,10?, 20). The extraction unit has a capsule holder (20) for holding the capsule and an opener (10) with a cutting edge (151) for forming an opening (37,38) in the capsule wall (32,33) by cutting the wall. The opener (10,10?) further comprises a ram (152) that recesses a portion (39) of the capsule wall (32,33) adjacent to the opening (37,38) after formation of the opening by cutting the wall (32,33) by the cutting edge (151).

Abstract: A cooking device for cutting a foodstuff into a prescribed shape. The cooking device includes a cutting portion and a handle attached to the cutting portion. The cutting portion includes a cutting blade and a guide; the cutting blade includes a wave-shaped portion in which trough portions, which recede downward in a direction approaching a foodstuff to be cut, and crest portions, which project upward in the opposite direction to the downward direction, appear alternatively; in the cutting blade, crests, which are the tops of the cutting blade crest portions, and troughs, which are the bottoms of the cutting blade trough portions, appear alternatively; and in the guide, at least a portion of a guide surface, which follows the surface of the foodstuff to be cut, is located between the cutting blade crests and cutting blade troughs in the vertical direction.

Abstract: An upper housing assembly includes a pivot arm having an upper cam surface adjacent a distal end. A cam follower is coupled to a laser head to move up and down with a laser head. The cam follower exerts a downward force on the upper cam surface during normal operation. Thus, as the pivot arm rotates back and forth, the laser head moves up and down. A assist gas hose can be coupled between the upper housing and the laser head which has a spiral configuration permitting relative axial movement between the upper housing and the laser head. Upon an upward axial force being exerted on the laser head, the cam follower moves upwardly away from the upper cam surface.

Abstract: An electrically-heated window sheet material includes a heatable transparent conductive film, and bus bars for supplying electricity to the transparent conductive film. The bus bars includes left and right bus bars connected to left and right edges of the transparent conductive film. The transparent conductive film includes a band-shaped first region interposed between the left and right bus bars, a band-shaped second region interposed between the left and right bus bars, and openings provided in the first region. A distance between the left and right bus bars is shorter in the first region than in the second region. The openings are arranged so that a current flowing in the first region from one of the left and right bus bars to the other of the left and right bus bars is bypassed at least once by the openings.

Abstract: A beam processor for processing a work surface of a workpiece W by irradiating the work surface with a beam, includes: an output source for outputting the beam, a beam moving device for moving the beam output from the output source; and a plurality of reflectors disposed on an optical path of the beam between the beam moving device and the work surface for reflecting the beam moved by the beam moving device and conducting the beam to the work surface, wherein the plurality of reflectors is inclined a predetermined angle corresponding to an incident direction of the beam so that the beam moved by the beam moving device is conducted nearly vertically to a different position of the work surface.

Abstract: Subsea heating assembly, comprising a component interface cable (9) in association with a subsea component (7?) to be heated. The component interface cable receives power from an electric power source. The power source comprises an induction coupler (100) with core rings which surround an alternating current carrying source cable (5), and a winding cable (107) wound around the core ring The winding cable connects to the component interface cable. The induction coupler comprises an upper section (100a) with first core parts (101a) and a lower section (100b) with second core parts (101b). The winding cable is arranged in the upper section. The first core parts are aligned with second core parts when the upper section is landed on the lower section. The upper section is removable from the lower section.

Abstract: A three-dimensional ceramic heater, such as a cylindrical ceramic heater, is proposed in which the conductive ceramic heating element is multi-furcated into lanes at least in the folded-back sections so that the electric current tends to flow in a more uniform and hence laminar manner with the effect that the localized over heating is suppressed greatly.

Abstract: An optical communication system includes a free space optical transceiver within a housing to transmit and receive optical communication signals along an optical pathway through a window in the housing. Heating elements applied to the interior surface of the window substantially uniformly heat the window such that the window is kept free from condensation and ice without introducing significant distortions in the wavefront. Accordingly, the heating elements are designed and placed on the window such that the obscuration caused by the presence of the heating elements within the optical pathway and the wavefront distortion caused by temperature gradients within the cross-section of the window in the optical pathway cause less than 1 decibel (dB) in transmission loss as compared to the same system without the heating elements on the window.

Abstract: A warming device that heats and agitates a container. The warming device has a housing having an enclosed chamber and a concentric warming chamber adapted to receive a first fluid. A concentric basket is provided that is adapted to fit within the warming chamber. The concentric basket secures the container partially submerged within the first fluid. At least one heating element is provided to heat the first fluid in the warming chamber to warm an exterior surface of the container. A motor is provided to agitate and warm a second fluid in the container by rotating the concentric basket at a predetermined rate. A control panel provides various signal instructions to the heating element and the motor.

Abstract: A method of resistance spot welding a steel workpiece and an aluminum or aluminum alloy (“aluminum”) workpiece together includes several steps. One step involves providing a workpiece stack-up with a steel workpiece and an aluminum workpiece. Another step involves attaching a cover over a weld face of a welding electrode. The cover is made of a metal material with an electrical resistivity that is greater than an electrical resistivity of a material of the welding electrode. Yet another step involves performing multiple individual resistance spot welds to the workpiece stack-up. The cover abuts the aluminum workpiece while the individual resistance spot welds are performed. And another step involves removing the cover from the welding electrode after the individual spot welds are performed.

Abstract: A beer making system may use direct steam injection during wort manufacturing. Steam may be added directly to the wort, and may be part of a recirculating mash system. The steam may be the primary mechanism for adding heat to the system, and may eliminate many problems that often occur when using conventional heating systems. A water reservoir may feed a stream generator, which may inject steam into wort during mashing or boiling steps. A controller may monitor temperature and other parameters, and may calculate the dilution of wort based on the water added through the steam injection and allow a brewing system to compensate for said dilution and still produce desired results.

Abstract: A food grilling rack provides a frame defined by a plurality of connected side walls forming a closed geometric shape. The frame includes a lower corrugated sheet that provides multiple troughs, each trough having a lowest portion. The lower sheet is attached to at least some of the side walls. An upper sheet of material is supported (e.g., removably) above the sheet of corrugated material. There are a plurality of openings in the upper sheet of material, each opening being vertically aligned with a lowest portion of a trough. In one embodiment, the frame includes a pair of flanged members attached to a lower corrugated sheet that provides multiple troughs, each trough having a lowest portion. A sheet with openings slides into the frame aligning the openings with the lowest part of the trough.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing apparatus is disclosed. The additive manufacturing apparatus includes a linear rail having a length. The linear rail is one of rotatable or revolvable in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis. The additive manufacturing apparatus further includes an electromagnetic energy source movably coupled to the linear rail and movable in a polar coordinate system having a radius R.

Abstract: A system and method for producing steam from an electrically conductive fluid includes: (a) a glow discharge cell, (b) a fluid source, a pump or a valve, and (c) a DC electrical power supply. The glow discharge cell includes an electrically conductive cylindrical vessel having first and second ends, and at least one inlet and one outlet. A hollow electrode is aligned with a longitudinal axis of the vessel and extends at least from the first end to the second end of the vessel. First and second insulators seal the first and second ends, respectively, of the vessel around the hollow electrode and maintain a substantially equidistant gap between the vessel and the hollow electrode. A non-conductive granular material is disposed within the gap. An electric glow discharge is created whenever the cell is connected to the electrical power supply, and the electrically conductive fluid is introduced into the gap.

Abstract: An electrical food preparation device including a drive mechanism (3) rotated by a motor and a working tool (4, 5, 6, 7) including a bushing that removably engages on the drive mechanism, the drive mechanism including a section provided with at least one drive ramp that mates with a complementary drive ramp carried by said bushing in order to rotate said working tool, the drive ramp having an inclination designed such that the rotation of the drive mechanism in the direction of rotation of the motor generates a force on the bushing that tends to keep it engaged on the drive mechanism, the drive mechanism also including at least one retaining surface (33) that comes into contact with a stop carried by the working tool when the drive mechanism rotates in the reverse direction, the retaining surface and the stop having shapes that mate each other to prevent the bushing from rising back up along the drive mechanism when the motor stops suddenly, wherein the retaining surface is provided on a different part of the

Abstract: A cold coffee brewing device is disclosed. A filter basket is provided that can rest at two positions, a first brewing position and a second draining position, the draining position being located above the liquid being brewed to allow the filter basket to drain without further support. The filter basket rests on a first width in the brewing position and on a second width in the draining position. The first and second width can either be formed in to a container for brewing or an adaptor can be provided to create the first and second width on the container. The filter basket has sections that are adapted to rest on the first and second width respectively.

Abstract: A workpiece stack-up that includes at least a steel workpiece and an aluminum-based workpiece can be resistance spot welded by employing a multi-stage spot welding method in which the passage of electrical current is controlled to perform multiple stages of weld joint development. The multiple stages include: (1) a molten weld pool growth stage in which a molten weld pool is initiated and grown within the aluminum-based workpiece; (2) a molten weld pool solidification stage in which the molten weld pool is allowed to cool and solidify into a weld nugget that forms all or part of a weld joint; (3) a weld nugget re-melting stage in which at least a portion of the weld nugget is re-melted; and (4) a re-melted weld nugget solidification stage in which the re-melted portion of the weld nugget is allowed to cool and solidify.