Abstract: An apparatus, for distributing granular material stored in a container having an outlet, includes a housing comprising a bracket mountable to the container and a vane hingedly connected to a side of said central bracket. The housing has means for fixably positioning the vane relative to the bracket to adjust an angle of the vane relative to the bracket. The central bracket is configured to support a power source having a driving shaft extending along an axis aligned with the bracket, a spreader plate coupled to the shaft for rotation therewith, and a return spring around the shaft and between the spreader plate and the power source. When ON, the power source drives the shaft causing the spreader plate to rotate and translate along the shaft axis between a closed and open position. When the power source is OFF, the return spring biases the spreader plate in the closed position.

Abstract: A spreader accessory mountable below the extension rack of an ATV. In another aspect, an improved spreader mechanism that automatically starts and stops the feed of material from a storage container in conjunction with the distribution of material therefrom.

Abstract: An accessory mountable to an ATV includes an extension rack that provides a substantially flat storage bed. A spreader assembly for storing and distributing granular material therefrom is supported in a position below the extension rack. In the preferred embodiment, the extension rack is mounted to the carrier rack of the ATV, and the spreader is mounted to the extension rack such that it is positioned under the extension rack. The extension rack preferably includes a door that provides a passageway to the spreader assembly and also includes side walls that are vertically disposed with respect to the substantially flat storage bed.

Abstract: A spreader accessory mountable below the extension rack of an ATV. In another aspect, an improved spreader mechanism that automatically starts and stops the feed of material from a storage container in conjunction with the distribution of material therefrom.

Abstract: A spreader accessory mountable below the extension rack of an ATV. In another aspect, an improved spreader mechanism that automatically starts and stops the feed of material from a storage container in conjunction with the distribution of material therefrom.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for coupling two similar or different types of bus bar conductors, where a conductor strap of each bus bar is submersed in a low melting point conductive alloy contained in a chamber. One of the conductor straps may be fabricated to include the chamber for containing the alloy. The chamber is preferably designed to provide ample room for movement of the conductor straps resulting from expansion or contraction of the bus bars. By providing sufficient room and depth in the chamber, the system can maintain its connection even when subjected to seismic shocks. According to different aspects of the invention, the chamber containing the low melting point conductive alloy can be used: to effect an aluminum to copper conductor coupling; to avoid corrosion problems; to act as an electrical coupler for vibration producing electrical equipment such as motors, generators, transformers, etc.; and to act as an electrical switch or circuit breaker.

Abstract: An external electrical metal conductor strap mounted a spaced distance from the external steel wall of an electrolytic cell where the steel wall is internally joined to the cathodes of the cell with the interspace between the external metal conductor strap and the external steel wall filled with an electrical conductor filler metal so that the external metal conductor strap and the external steel wall of the cell is in continuous electrical contact across the entire surface area interface between the external metal conductor strap and the external steel wall of the electrolytic cell. The filler metal may be a metal alloy that melts and becomes liquid at the normal operating temperature of the cell, or the filler metal may be chosen so that it remains solid at the normal operating temperature of the cell.

Abstract: The invention is an inflatable portable decoy for attracting geese and other game fowl, in which wind serves to continuously maintain the body of the decoy in an inflated condition, with the decoy body fastened to a portable stake. The invention comprises a shaped stake unit and a wind-inflatable body unit which may be detachably fastened to the stake. The body unit is shaped as an open inflatable bag, made of flexible sheeting, and may be completely wrapped about the stake unit for transport and stowage purposes. Alternatively, the body unit may be a non-inflatable flexible sheet that is attachable to the stake unit and which is flared away from the stake unit by wind action to simulate a decoy body. A looped tie member which may be mounted to the body unit serves to fasten ballast to the body unit in the assembled mode, and alternatively to fasten the body member about the stake member when the unit is disassembled for storage purposes.

Abstract: A goose or other fowl decoy unit may be assembled to simulate a sentinel or feeding bird. The head and neck of the unit is joined to a stake portion for staking into the ground. The body of the unit is provided with a slot through which the head passes and engages with a notch on the neck in such a manner that sideward rocking of the body due to wind is permitted to simulate a feeding bird. When disassembled, a plurality of units may be rested together in a stack which may be in the form of a back pack.

Abstract: A back pack for carrying a plurality of stacked goose decoys in the disassembled condition to enable a hunter to easily carry a supply of the decoys for field use. The back pack is in the form of an inverted hollow conic section, open at the top only with a pair of spaced flat bars, each parallel to the axis of the conic section, fixed to each other and to the conic section and located at a spaced distance from the conic section. Padding is fixed to the exterior of each bar so that it may comfortably rest against the back of the user. A flexible harness unit is attached to each of two spaced points on each bar and shaped so as to fit about each shoulder and the chest of a user, when the back pack is worn. The back pack, when rested on the bars in the empty condition on the ground serves itself as the body of a decoy, to which a detachable head unit may be fixed.

Abstract: A goose decoy which may be readily stacked in the disassembled condition to enable a hunter to easily carry a supply of the decoys for field use. Each decoy is formed of a detachable flat section shaped as a head and neck of a goose, a curved body section of sheet material shaped as a partial conical surface, and a shaped stake for assembly of the two sections together and mounting to the ground. A number of such decoys may be stacked, one within-the-other and carried in a specially designed quiver mounted as a back pack.