Abstract: A card gripper cap for a container is provided having one end releasably connectable to a container and an opposing end having a slot formed by adjacent flanges for receiving a display card. The flanges are interposed by fingers having hooks at their exposed ends for gripping or extending through the display card. The cap further has a piercer for perforating a product seal over an opening in the container and a nozzle releasably connected thereto.

Abstract: A card gripper cap for a container is provided having one end releasably connectable to a container and an opposing end having a slot formed by adjacent flanges for receiving a display card. The flanges are interposed by fingers having hooks at their exposed ends for gripping or extending through the display card. The cap further has a piercer for perforating a product seal over an opening in the container and a nozzle releasably connected thereto.

Abstract: A semiconductor thyristor has multiple different semiconductor layers with regions arranged in predetermined configurations to cause a plasma of carriers to flow in an expanding volume over a finite time to reach a full conduction condition, after the thyristor is switched into a conductive condition. A smooth current or connectivity transition occurs between a nonconductive state and a conductive state, thereby eliminating the typical, more instantaneous and discontinuous on-switching conductivity transitions. The finite and increased time to reach the full conduction inherently reduces the di/dt effect created by switching the thyristor. The reduced di/dt substantially reduces the radiated and conductive interference signals generated by switching the thyristor. The growth in the size of the plasma is controlled using configurations of the semiconductor structure and doping profiles within the semiconductor layers.

Abstract: A welding system includes an imaging system that takes frame by frame pictures of a weld puddle. The imaging system is located in the weld torch. From the images puddle length and width are determined. The length and width are applied against stored membership functions that cover a range of different weld current characteristics and the degree of membership of each dimension in those functions is determined, producing an alpha factor for each membership function. This provides a fuzzy current requirement. Stored values for moment and area for each membership function are multiplied by the alpha for the respective function. The total of the moments is divided by the total of the areas to produce a desired weld current. The weld head includes a weld wire feeder that is driven by a servo by which the wire can be feed along either side of the weld joint. The wire feeder is gear driven in such a way that it does not interfere with the optics in the weld torch. The optics include a strobe to illuminate the puddle.

Abstract: A reset circuit asserts, de-asserts and re-asserts a reset signal in response to a voltage applied between first and second nodes to which the reset circuit is connected. The reset signal includes a plurality of transistor switches connected together with positive feedback to achieve latching of the reset signal in either a high or a low state. The different inherent conductivity characteristics of the transistor switches causes the switches to begin closing when the applied voltage is at a first predetermined level and causes the transistor switches to begin opening when the applied voltage achieves a second predetermined lower level. The conductivity characteristics of the transistor switches cause the first and second predetermined levels to slightly vary over temperatures in the range of approximately -50.degree. C. to 150.degree. C., allowing reliable operation over a wide range of temperatures. The reset circuit may be integrated with the circuit which it resets.

Abstract: In a rigid magnetic recording disk, the magnetic properties, such as the coercivity, of a cobalt based, hard, magnetic alloy, such as a cobalt-platinum-chromium (CoPtCr) thin film magnetic recording layer, are controlled by providing a thin, sputtered, underlayer of a nonmagnetic, binary, chromium-tungsten (CrW) alloy whose major constituent is chromium, and preferably of a composition Cr.sub.88 W.sub.12 upon which the thin film magnetic recording layer is subsequently sputter deposited.

Abstract: A five bar articulating mechanism having the bars pivotally linked one to another forming a closed loop. Any one of the bars is intermittently rigidly joined to an adjacent bar to convert the five bar mechanism to a four bar mechanism.

Abstract: A four bar linkage is movable from a first position to a second position by a continuous motion of a linear actuator. The linkage comprises a first leg and a second leg shorter than the first leg spaced from and parallel to the first leg in the first position. The first and second legs are supported at their lower end by being pivotally attached to a base, and the upper ends of the first and second legs pivotally support an upper platen at their upper end. The first and second legs, the base, and the upper platen comprise the elements of a four bar linkage. The linkage is translated from a first position where the first and second legs are parallel and extend vertically upward to a second position wherein the platen is rotated up to 90.degree. or more and is displaced laterally from the base and can face to the side and upward allowing access to the base and the upper platen from overhead.

Abstract: A four bar linkage is movable from a first position to a second position by a continuous motion of a linear actuator. The linkage comprises a first leg and a second leg shorter than the first leg spaced from and parallel to the first leg in the first position. The first and second legs are supported at their lower end by being pivotally attached to a base, and the upper ends of the first and second legs pivotally support an upper platen at their upper end. The first and second legs, the base, and the upper platen comprise the elements of a four bar linkage. The linkage is translated from a first position where the first and second legs are parallel and extend vertically upward to a second position wherein the platen is rotated up to 90.degree. or more and is displaced laterally from the base and can face to the side and upward allowing access to the base and the upper platen from overhead.

Abstract: An hydraulic cylinder having a plurality of piston rods is disclosed. The cylinder comprises a cylindrical hollow member having a pair of end members to enclose the cylinder, a piston positioned between the end members is supported by a plurality of rods. An end of the rods is affixed to a base of a press supporting the piston in a fixed relationship to the base. The cylinder is movable along the rods and the piston, and a die is attached to the press having a movable portion attached to the cylinder end member and a fixed portion attached to the base. Movement of the cylinder in a first direction closes the die on a workpiece, and movement of the cylinder in a counter direction opens the die.

Abstract: A portable modular insulated beverage dispenser is disclosed. The beverage dispenser of the present invention comprises a base module including a refrigeration unit; a central sleeve module concentrically engageable with the base having a central bore configured to encircle a beverage container; and a cover module concentrically engageable with the sleeve to enclose the container. The cover includes a container of pressurized gas, a pressure regulator, a shut-off valve interposed the regulator and gas container, a tapping head including a gas inlet for applying regulated gas to the beverage container and a beverage outlet for dispensing beverage. A dispensing tower which includes a hand operated shut-off valve is provided and a gas conduit extends between the regulator and the gas inlet. A beverage conduit extends between the beverage outlet and the dispensing tower.

Abstract: A press for forming complementary parts including mold parts and metal stampings having an articulating frame is disclosed. The press of the present invention comprises a first bolster plate and a second bolster plate which in a first position are spaced apart in a parallel opposed manner. The frame may be articulated from the first position to a second position wherein the bolster plates are in a non parallel, non opposed arrangement. The frame comprises a first pair of spaced apart frame supports pivotally connected at their ends to the first and second bolster plates, and a second pair of spaced apart frame supports having a length less than the first pair of frame supports pivotally connected at their ends to the first and second bolster plates in a spaced apart manner.

Abstract: A toroidal shaped container including a body made from tubing and formed into a ring is disclosed. The tube is bent so that the tube ends are aligned and spaced apart a distance with a closure piece inserted between the aligned ends and welded thereto to form a closed container. In a preferred embodiment the closure piece includes a boss projecting radially from the closure piece with an inwardly extending threaded aperture formed in the boss penetrating the interior of the pressure vessel.

Abstract: A refrigeration heat pump changeover valve assembly has a cylindrical housing with a slidable valve member in the housing for changing the flow of refrigerant in a refrigeration heat pump system. The evaporator and condenser lines are connected on one side of the housing adjacent each other in line with the axis of the housing. The compressor suction line and discharge or pressure line are connected on the other side of the housing opposite the evaporator and condenser lines adjacent each other at right angles to the axis of the cylindrical housing. The valve member upon moving between a first and a second position upon the operation of a pilot valve connects the suction line to either the evaporator or condenser line when in the first or second position, respectively, and the discharge line is connected to the other line.

Abstract: A welding system includes an imaging system that takes frame by frame pictures of a weld puddle. The imaging system is located in the weld torch. From the images puddle length and width are determined. The length and width are applied against stored membership functions that cover a range of different weld current characteristics and the degree of membership of each dimension in those functions is determined, producing an alpha factor for each membership function. This provides a fuzzy current requirement. Stored values for moment and area for each membership function are multiplied by the alpha for the respective function. The total of the moments is divided by the total of the areas to produce a desired weld current. The weld head includes a weld wire feeder that is driven by a servo by which the wire can be feed along either side of the weld joint. The wire feeder is gear driven in such a way that it does not interfere with the optics in the weld torch. The optics include a strobe to illuminate the puddle.