Abstract: A resuable safety module-activator reshielding tool having a barrel within which to receive a single use, disposable, needle/medication cartridge from which a pre-filled supply of fluid medication is injected. The cartridge includes a needle cannula that is advanced outwardly of the barrel to administer an injection and retracted inwardly of the barrel at the conclusion of the injection. The cannula is crushed, shielded and discarded all within the cartridge so as to permit a safe handling thereof after use and avoid an accidental needle stick. The activator tool cannot be reused until the injection has been completed, the cannula destroyed and shielded, and the cartridge removed from the barrel for disposal.

Abstract: A piston stem insert to be received within a hollow receptacle that is molded at the interior of a carpule based piston, so that a piston stem may be easily attached to and detached from the piston by way of the insert. In a first embodiment of the invention, a set of flexible, anti-displacement wings extend radially from the insert to releasable and frictionally engage the inside walls of a carpule, so as to prevent an inadvertent and premature displacement of the piston through the carpule. In a second embodiment, a set of anti-rotation wings extend radially from the piston stem insert to be received within respective cavities of the receptacle that are shaped so that the wings may be rotated in a single (e.g. clockwise) direction but blocked from rotation in an opposite direction.

Abstract: A combination needle sheath and sterility package comprising a lower needle cover to surround and protect the distal end of a sterile, double ended hypodermic needle cannula and an upper sleeve to surround and protect the proximal end of the cannula. The upper sleeve can be opened to permit the bore of a conventional hypodermic syringe to be received therewithin, so that the proximal end of the needle cannula can communicate fluidically with the syringe cylinder. By virtue of the needle sheath/sterility package as disclosed herein, the sterility of the needle cannula may be reliably preserved during handling and prior to use, while the possibility of an accidental needle stick during attachment of the cannula to the syringe may be advantageously minimized.

Abstract: A dental syringe of the type having a pre-filled cartridge of fluid medication and a double ended hypodermic needle communicating with the cartridge for injecting the contents thereof into a targeted tissue area of a patient. The cartridge is carried within an inner syringe cylinder, and the inner cylinder is slideable through an outer syringe cylinder. The inner cylinder has a pair of axially spaced locking grooves which extend around the periphery thereof. The outer cylinder includes a finger ring having an integral, inwardly projecting tab. The finger ring is hingedly connected to the outer cylinder so that the integral tab may be rotated into or out of engagement with either one of the pair of locking grooves of the inner cylinder. With the tab engaging a first of the locking grooves, the inner cylinder is retained at a relatively proximal position within the outer cylinder so that the needle is located inwardly of and completely shielded thereby to prevent an accidental needle strike.

Abstract: Ultralight carbon-bonded carbon fiber composites of densities in the range of about 0.04 to 0.10 grams per cubic centimeter are fabricated by forming an aqueous slurry of carbonaceous fibers which include carbonized fibers and 0-50 weight percent fugitive fibers and a particulate thermosetting resin precursor. The slurry is brought into contact with a perforated mandrel and the water is drained from the slurry through the perforations at a controlled flow rate of about 0.03 to 0.30 liters per minutes per square inch of mandrel surface. The deposited billet of fibers and resin precursor is heated to cure the resin precursor to bind the fibers together, removed from the mandrel, and then the resin and fugitive fibers, if any, are carbonized.

Abstract: A shielded safety syringe comprising a cylindrical, outer protective sleeve, an inner needle carrier movable axially through the sleeve, and a double-ended hypodermic needle supported by the needle carrier and aligned coaxially with respect to the outer sleeve and needle carrier. The needle communicates with an evacuated blood collection tube at the interior of the outer sleeve. A position control button is connected to the needle carrier and slidable through an axial guide channel formed in the outer sleeve for moving the needle carrier between proximal and distal positions within the sleeve. Accordingly, the needle is also moved through the outer sleeve to be relocated from an axially extended position, at which to make a veni puncture through a targeted tissue area, to a retracted position, at which the needle is completely surrounded and shielded by the outer sleeve to permit a safe handling and disposal of the syringe while avoiding an accidental needle strike.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a highly pure, partially stabilized, fibrous zirconia composite for use as thermal insulation in environments where temperatures up to about 2000.degree. C. are utilized. The composite of the present invention is fabricated into any suitable configuration such as a cone, cylinder, dome or the like by vacuum molding an aqueous slurry of partially stabilized zirconia fibers into a desired configuration on a suitably shaped mandrel. The molded fibers are infiltrated with zirconyl nitrate and the resulting structure is then dried to form a rigid structure which may be removed and placed in a furnace. The structure is then heated in air to a temperature of about 600.degree. C. for driving off the nitrate from the structure and for oxidizing the zirconyl ion to zirconia. Thereafter, the structure is heated to about 950.degree. to 1,250.degree. C. to fuse the zirconia fibers at their nexi in a matrix of zirconia.

Abstract: A low cost, easy to use, snap-on, linear-to-vernier syringe by which a volume of material may be controllably and accurately delivered to a recipient. By virtue of the present invention, a piston supporting collar member may be securely snapped into releaseable engagement with a conventional, disposable syringe cylinder to complete the syringe assembly. Moreover, the conventional syringe cylinder is thereby converted into a precisely accurate pipetting cylinder to control the infusion of highly potent, dosage sensitive, radioactive, or expensive drugs, and the like, without requiring any modification to the cylinder. The syringe assembly is particularly adapted to permit rapid switching between freely rotated and incrementally rotated modes of operation, whereby a predetermined volume of material may be selectively imparted from the syringe cylinder, either continuously or in discrete and precisely calibrated increments.

Abstract: A hand-held snuffer for extinguishing a fire in a vessel, such as a kitchen pan, which includes a soft, compressible, resilient, nonflammable mat, means to support the mat to present a substantially flat, flame-contacting face, and means for grasping the supported mat and laying it on the flaming vessel.

Abstract: The invention is a method for depositing liquid-suspended particles on an immersed porous article characterized by interconnected porosity. In one form of the invention, coating is conducted in a vessel containing an organic liquid supporting a colloidal dispersion of graphite sized to lodge in surface pores of the article. The liquid comprises a first volatile component (e.g., acetone) and a second less-volatile component (e.g., toluene) containing a dissolved organic graphite-bonding agent. The liquid also contains an organic agent (e.g., cellulose gum) for maintaining the particles in suspension. A porous carbon article to be coated is immersed in the liquid so that it is permeated therewith. While the liquid is stirred to maintain a uniform blend, the vessel headspace is evacuated to effect flashing-off of the first component from the interior of the article.

Abstract: A composite contains in one region graphite flakes and refractory fibers in arbonized polymeric resin and in an adjacent region a gradually diminishing weight proportion of graphite flakes, refractory fibers, and the same carbonized resin.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for fabricating ultra-thin films of pyrolytic carbon. Pyrolytic carbon is vapor deposited onto a concave surface of a heated substrate to a total uniform thickness in the range of about 0.1 to 1.0 micrometer. The carbon film on the substrate is provided with a layer of adherent polymeric resin. The resulting composite film of pyrolytic carbon and polymeric resin is then easily separated from the substrate by shrinking the polymeric resin coating with thermally induced forces.

Abstract: A dual purpose socket assembly is provided for a photographic camera for releasably connecting either a photoflash lamp device or an electronic flash device to the camera which operates in an artificial illumination mode to provide electrical signals for controlling either the photoflash lamp device or the electronic flash device each of which has differently structured connector plugs, having differently arranged electrical contacts, for releasably connecting with the socket assembly.

Abstract: Flash mounting apparatus for a camera having a folding viewfinder, comprising a socket mounted in the viewfinder cap for receiving a flash array, a spring for urging the viewfinder from a folded to an erect configuration, and a blade engaging member in the socket for engaging the blade of a flash array and holding it against accidental dislodgement when the viewfinder is erected.

Abstract: An accessory attachment for use with a camera of the type having a frontal housing for an objective lens, a shutter mechanism, camera function-controlling devices such as photocells and shutter or controls knobs or buttons, and provided with a socket for mounting a flash lamp. The attachment serves to mount accessories such as auxiliary portrait, wide-angle, or telephoto lenses, filter lenses for the camera's objective lens and photocell, auxiliary shutter or control knobs, and flash equipment in operative relation to the corresponding elements of the camera. The attachment comprises a housing mounting the accessories, receivable against wall-forming means of the camera, and having a movable latch member engageable with a strap or recess provided on the camera. A plug secured to the accessory attachment is slidably receivable in the flash lamp socket of the camera to cooperate with the latch member in locating and securing the attachment.