Abstract: A locking element or latch is embodied from a metal plate and comprises a first pair of articulation tabs, a second pair of tabs to receive strains, these tabs being received in corresponding openings formed in the flanges of the base. The retaining member of the latch is guided in displacement in an L-shaped cutout and is associated with a floating contact with a rocker articulated on an ejector. A push button comprises engagement surfaces cooperating selectively with the locking member and ejector and ramps to assist the lifting of the latch. A single spring serves to actuate, and place under tension, all of the moving parts of the buckle.

Abstract: An action play toy which includes a housing having a plurality of apertures therein and a plurality of action elements and three dimensional elements which are detachably received in the apertures. A gear assembly in the housing interconnects the action elements for simultaneous rotation and a bell assembly in the housing produces interesting sound in response to rotation of the gear assembly. The toy is adapted for assembly by a child with action and three dimensional elements of a variety of configurations, as desired.

Abstract: A toy vehicle is provided including a counterbalance weight and a support member which can cause the vehicle to spin while performing a wheelstand. The counterbalance weight can be positioned to provide a downwardly directed force which, together with the torque on the rear wheels, causes the front wheels to raise off the ground as the vehicle moves forward. The support member includes a pair of skids which can be positioned to engage the ground while the vehicle is performing a wheelstand to cause it to spin substantially in circles. Alternatively, the counterbalance weight can be positioned so that an insufficient counterbalance force exists to raise the front wheels off the ground as the vehicle moves forward.

Abstract: A device for mechanically joining sheet material, comprising a separable fastener which may have a pair of complementary extruded plastic members provided with resiliently separable interlocking fastener profiles, and at least one, and generally both, of the fastener members having releasable jaw extension structure for receiving and gripping and retaining sheet material to be joined. In certain forms, the jaw structure includes locking bar means arranged to be inserted into a cavity of the jaw structure. The jaw structure may be extruded from a plastic of greater durometer than the interlocking profiles.

Abstract: A toy motorcycle having at least one electric light bulb thereon and comprising an elongated frame having front and rear portions supporting wheels for free rotation and a central portion comprising, in combination, a gear train having interengaging gears supported on shafts extending transversely to the vertical plane of the frame and rotatably mounted in bearings in opposite side plates of the housing, an inertia flywheel rotatable upon another transverse shaft parallel to the others, an electric armature fixed coaxially to the flywheel for rotation therewith, a stationary field coil supported by one side plate of the housing coaxially with the armature, and a transverse axle extending at opposite ends through bearings in the side plates of the housing to which drive wheels are connected on opposite ends thereof and positioned outwardly from opposite sides of the enclosure for the housing for frictional engagement with a supporting surface to cause rotation of the inertia flywheel to energize the same by ma

Abstract: A device for locking together two stacked objects, each having a plate with an opening, the plates being in superposed relation and the openings being in registry. The device includes a housing, the top wall of which is the plate of the lower object. A bolt, movable vertically and rotatably within the housing, having a head piece shaped to pass through the plate openings when the bolt is in a first angular orientation but not when the bolt is in a second angular orientation. A structural unit, movable vertically with the bolt and rotatable with respect to it, has a supporting shoulder which does not engage a support surface in the housing when the unit is in a first angular orientation but does engage the surface when the bolt is in a second angular orientation.

Abstract: The invention relates to a tensioning apparatus for tensioning a flexible member, such as a strap (11, 62) or a panel (P) and wherein the flexible member (11, 62, P) presents a rigid element (13) at or near its free end or edge, the rigid insert (13) is located in a slot (15, 53) in a rotary member (16, 51) and said rotary member (16, 51) is rotated to tension the flexible member (11, 62, P). The apparatus includes locking means (21, 22 or 54, 56, 64 and 65) for locking the rotary member (16, 51) with the flexible member (11, 62 or P) in tension and said flexible member (11, 62, P) preferably includes a resilient member (14) which, when passed through the slot (15, 53) in advance of the rigid element (13) resiliently retains the flexible member (11, 62, P) with the rotary member (16, 51).

Abstract: A fastener for detachably fastening first and second workpieces together is disclosed. The first workpiece has a through aperture of predetermined shape. The second workpiece has a through aperture of predetermined shape which includes a first small diameter portion having first opposed edges spaced apart a first predetermined distance and a second annularly displaced portion having second opposed edges spaced apart a second, relatively larger predetermined distance. The fastener comprises a base, a first catch portion integral with and extending outwardly from a first side of the base, a second catch portion integral with and extending outwardly from the base oppositely from the first catch portion, and a twistable stem integral with the base for enabling at least one of the first and second catch portions to be twisted for angularly spacing such catch portion for disengagement of the fastener from the aperture of at least one of the first and second workpieces with which such catch portion is engaged.

Abstract: When a tongue having a locking hole is inserted into a buckle, the edge of the locking hole is caught and locked by a catch of a rockable latch plate and is unlocked thereby when a slide button of the buckle is manually pressed in sliding movement, in which an inclined surface of the button actuates by wedge action lever-like arms of an actuating plate which, in turn, force a rockable link plate to rotate the latch plate until its catch releases the tongue. A number of springs are provided for return movements including a spring cocked by the inserted tongue for forcibly ejecting the tongue when it is released.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for aligning one end of an optical fiber in the emitting well of an LED employs an elongated rod having a flat milled halfway through the mid-section thereof for forming a recess and first and second channels extending between the recess and an associated end of the rod to the depth of the recess. The two channels are located in front of the bottom of the recess and are oriented at 90.degree. with respect to each other in an end view. The channels also overlap along the center line of the rod and are dimensioned for loosely-releasably receiving and supporting a length of fiber in a straight line while the one end thereof is aligned with the emitting surface of the LED.

Abstract: A releasable, hook-type fastener of the kind intended to secure pieces of equipment or structural members together, the fastener including a casing, a drive shaft turnable in the casing, an eccentric bushing carried by the casing and turnable with the shaft, and a pair of separate and distinct, similarly-shaped spring hooks that are disposed side by side and substantially in broadside contact with each other. At one end, the hooks have looped bearing portions which are frictionally engaged with the eccentric bushing, and at the other end they have registered bill portions. A pin is provided, separate from the hooks and adjacent to the eccentric bushing, for engagement with the hooks so as to maintain them in registration with one another. The arrangement is such that an unusually strong and sturdy construction results, without the need for heavy gauge springs and without the use of odd-shaped springs which would require special metal stock and bending fixtures or jigs for their fabrication.

Abstract: A universal clamp for an adjustable post includes a split base clamp mounted on a stationary supporting stud. An elongated channel in the form of a yoke including a rigid extension protruding through the split base clamp slidably supports a pair of opposed jaws adapted to engage the post. The channel is enclosed within a covering sleeve. One jaw is fixed with respect to the sleeve. The remaining jaw is operably movable through a lever operator and interposed over-center toggle plate. Manipulation of the lever operator tensions the channel and extension. This tightens the split base clamp. It also engages complementary radial serrations surrounding the extension on one end of the sleeve and on the split base clamp. The jaws are compressively moved toward one another through the toggle plate and interposed sleeve to grasp the post and thereby fix its position relative to the mounting stud.