Abstract: An electromagnetic acoustic wave transducer (EMAT) probe is supported with its magnetic field issuing device for movement from a retracted position into closely spaced relation to a test object. Relative movement is provided as between a magnetic flux coupler and the EMAT field issuing device to derive the EMAT magnetic field from a magnet. A biasing unit urges the probe into its retracted position and the probe is moved into its operative position by magnetic interaction with a test object.

Abstract: A container adapted to be secured to the wall of a bathroom vanity or in a comparable location in a house adjacent to a water supply source. A fire hose has one end connected within the container to plumbing couplings for the supply of water. The fire hose is mounted for easy removal by stringing it through a series of closed rings having diameters substantially greater than the diameter of the hose when filled with water. The hose is accordion folded with the rings positioned at successive loops along one side of the accordion fold. A rod extends through the successive rings and is pivotally supported at one end within the container so that the rod may be pivoted outwardly of the container and the hose pulled from the rod.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for remelting scrap glass fibers is disclosed. The removal of binder and remelting of the scrap are carried out in one operation, and the resulting molten scrap fibers are fed directly into a conventional glass melting furnace. Granular raw glass batch also is fed into the glass melting furnace.

Abstract: DC magnetizing pulses produce unidirectional flux in the object under test, advantageously into the saturation region thereof. The DC pulses have, or are accompanied by, an AC component for producing eddy currents in the object, and variations in the eddy currents are sensed and used to produce corresponding signals. In a preferred embodiment composite DC pulses having a relatively broad initial value followed by shorter DC pulses are intermittently applied to a primary coil wound around the core of a probe adapted to be inserted into a tube in situ. Small null coils provide an output signal. Quadrature detection and gating means yield outputs corresponding to sufficient saturation of an object, and free from transients due to the intermittent bursts of pulses. Flaw detector and comparator type apparatus are described, including bridge configurations in which the AC component is applied to the bridge.

Abstract: An improved umbrella structure having a unique handle that permits the umbrella to be staked into the ground, right side up, when desired by the user. The handle, in preferred form, includes a pin having a stake-like point at one end and a threaded shank at the other end, and a cap that can be threadedly connected with the shank. In the stake position, the pin is threaded into the umbrella's handle so that the stake-like point is exposed, and the cap is inserted in the user's pocket. In the storage position, the pin is threaded into the umbrella's handle so that the stake-like point is received in a storage cavity defined in that handle, and the cap is threaded onto the pin so as to protect the threaded shank and establish an aesthetically pleasing contour to the handle.

Abstract: A direct current motor which includes a stator for producing a fixed magnetic field and a plurality of armature windings. The motor is caused to rotate by applying current to each winding only while that winding is passing through a zone in a given orientation relative to the stator field. The direction of rotation is changed without changing the direction of the current applied to the windings, by changing the orientation of the zone relative to the stator field, to reverse the direction of the rotational force applied to the armature. Because the current does not reverse through the armature windings, the control circuit can be simple and in a preferred embodiment includes only two gate-turn-off silicon controlled rectifiers, a switch, and a resistor.

Abstract: A lamp is included as a cathode load for a gate-turn-off silicon controlled rectifier (GTO). The conduction path of a transistor is connected between the gate electrode of the GTO and ground. The GTO and lamp are turned off by applying current in the forward direction through the base-emitter junction of the transistor, thereby turning on the transistor and placing the gate electrode of the GTO at ground. The forward current passes through a thermal circuit breaker which periodically opens in response to the heat produced by the current flow, causing the gate electrode of the GTO to become forward biased via the collector load resistance of the transistor and turn on.

Abstract: When a gate-turn-off silicon controlled rectifier (GTO) is turned on, the potential of its gate electrode rises toward the voltage at its anode electrode. This gate voltage is employed to turn on a second GTO to insure that the loads driven by these GTO's are energized in a particular order. Switches in the circuit permit the GTO's to be turned off concurrently or in any order desired. A charge storage circuit may be included for controlling the turn-on delay between the two GTO's.

Abstract: The current through the main conduction path of a gate-turn-off silicon controlled rectifier (GTO) charges a capacitor in the cathode circuit of the rectifier. The GTO is turned off by providing a discharge path for the capacitor via the cathode-to-gate electrode of the GTO. A diode in the charging path of the capacitor becomes back-biased during discharge of the capacitor, thereby preventing the load in the cathode circuit of the rectifier from bypassing any of the discharge current.