Abstract: A label is manufactured for permanent mounting to a gas flow regulator. The label is made from a material having a surface that can be permanently colored with a color layer and permanently etched, such as an aluminum alloy. The color layer can be anodized with a color layer to various colors. The etching can includes an etched bar code, which is readable by typical bar code readers, or an etched design. The label is formed as a continuous walled structure, such as a cylindrical tube.

Abstract: A label is manufactured for permanent mounting to a gas flow regulator. The label is made from a material having a surface that can be permanently colored with a color layer and permanently etched, such as an aluminum alloy. The color layer can be anodized with a color layer to various colors. The etching can includes an etched bar code, which is readable by typical bar code readers, or an etched design. The label is formed as a continuous walled structure, such as a cylindrical tube.

Abstract: Semi-spherical supports are used in the piercing of small, consistently sized holes in a soft metal. In particular, an orifice plate can be fabricated with small, consistently sized flow apertures to regulate flow in a gas flow regulating device. By using semi-spherical supports, the need for hand-punching and real-time flow calibration can be avoided and automated machinery with a tapered piercing tool can be used to fabricate orifice plates.

Abstract: A convoluted or multiple-pass neck tube joins inner and outer elements of a vacuum-jacketed vessel. The additional length of the convoluted neck tube creates an increased distance for heat to conduct from the outer to the inner vessel. As such, a convoluted neck tube can be substitute in place of a straight neck tube or a bellows neck tube to reduce heat gain into the inner vessel. An additional benefit achieved by the convoluted neck tube is greater flexibility of the neck tube, thus yielding more stress resistance.

Abstract: A fixture for holding wing structures during heat bonding of their skins, the wing structures each including a base along the root thereof defined by a pair of elongated base flanges and an elongated slot extending into the root centrally between the base flanges. The fixture comprises an elongated, rigid member including an elongated surface portion curved at a predetermined radius which tapers from approximately the central area of the member to one end thereof toward the axis of the member to induce a distortion in the wing structure sufficient to compensate for thermally induced dimensional changes in the wing structure after removal from the fixture. The fixture also includes an elongated key flange radially extending from the curved surface portion for cooperating with a slot in the base of the wing structure to align the wing structure with the longitudinal axis of the member and screws for securing the base flanges of the wing structure to the curved surface on opposite sides of the key.