Abstract: A light weight, low cost grinder assembly for a pepper grinder includes male and female rotary grinding members spaced to create between them a gap which determines the size of the ground pepper. Each of the male and female members is a composite of a polymer part and a corrugated steel grinding member which is advantageously produced by pressing.

Abstract: A grinder for condiments such as pepper has a grinding rotor mounted to rotate relative to a grinding stator for grinding the condiment therebetween. An speed-reducing epicyclic geartrain is connected for transmitting torque between a motor and the rotor. The geartrain includes a plurality of spur gear epicyclic gearsets, each gearset comprising planet gears meshed with a sun gear, the planet gears of each gearset supported upon a planet carrier, the gearsets stacked within a common ring gear with the sun gears coaxial, adjacent sun gears and planet carriers of adjacent gearsets being rotationally fast for transmitting torque between the adjacent gearsets. The adjacent sun gears and planet carriers of adjacent gearsets are integrally formed a melt processable polymer. The gearsets are held between an end wall and a closure at axially opposing ends of the ring gear to form a gearbox, the end wall being formed integrally with the ring gear and the closure being fixed to the ring gear.

Abstract: A light weight, low cost grinder assembly for a pepper grinder includes male and female rotary grinding members spaced to create between them a gap which determines the size of the ground pepper. Each of the male and female members is a composite of a polymer part and a corrugated steel grinding member which is advantageously produced by pressing.

Abstract: A portable lighting device, such as a flashlight, having a rotatable band disposed around the exterior of the flashlight is disclosed. Rotational movement of the band is converted to lateral movement of the light emitting element within the flashlight. The structural integrity of the flashlight is not compromised when the rotatable band is rotated around the flashlight to adjust the width of the projected pattern of light.

Abstract: A portable lighting device, such as a flashlight, having a rotatable band disposed around the exterior of the flashlight is disclosed. Rotational movement of the band is converted to lateral movement of the light emitting element within the flashlight. The structural integrity of the flashlight is not compromised when the rotatable band is rotated around the flashlight to adjust the width of the projected pattern of light.

Abstract: A tapered inner grinding element is spaced apart from an outer grinding element with a space therebetween which defines the size of the ground product. A shaft is connected at its bottom end to the inner element for operating the grinder. Screw threads formed on the shaft and an adjuster knob are engaged such that rotation of the adjuster knob directly moves the inner grinding element axially for adjusting the size of the ground condiment. A sleeve fixed to the inner grinding element slides axially on the shaft but is fixed to rotate with the shaft. Mating snap-acting connectors on the sleeve and the adjuster knob are joined by elastic deformation.

Abstract: A grinder for condiments such as pepper has a grinding rotor mounted to rotate relative to a grinding stator for grinding the condiment therebetween. An speed-reducing epicyclic geartrain is connected for transmitting torque between a motor and the rotor. The geartrain includes a plurality of spur gear epicyclic gearsets, each gearset comprising planet gears meshed with a sun gear, the planet gears of each gearset supported upon a planet carrier, the gearsets stacked within a common ring gear with the sun gears coaxial, adjacent sun gears and planet carriers of adjacent gearsets being rotationally fast for transmitting torque between the adjacent gearsets. The adjacent sun gears and planet carriers of adjacent gearsets are integrally formed a melt processable polymer. The gearsets are held between an end wall and a closure at axially opposing ends of the ring gear to form a gearbox, the end wall being formed integrally with the ring gear and the closure being fixed to the ring gear.

Abstract: Inner and outer grinding elements have a space therebetween which defines the size of the ground product. A shaft is connected at its bottom end to the inner element for operating the grinder. A sleeve extends about the outer grinding element and is mounted for rotation about the central axis of the grinding elements. Mating screw threads are formed on the sleeve and outer grinding element such that rotation of the sleeve moves the outer grinding element axially for adjusting the size of the ground condiment. A knob accessible from the exterior of the lower housing is fixed to the sleeve and rotates in a circumferential slot in the lower housing.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a novel method of making high performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) using stabilized concentrated suspensions of solvents, uniformly dispersed polymer stabilized molecular sieves, and at least two different types of polymers as the continuous blend polymer matrix. MMMs as dense films or asymmetric flat sheet or hollow fiber membranes fabricated by the method described in the current invention exhibit significantly enhanced permeation performance for separations over the polymer membranes made from the continuous blend polymer matrix. MMMs of the present invention are suitable for a wide range of gas, vapor, and liquid separations such as alcohol/water, CO2/CH4, H2/CH4, O2/N2, CO2/N2, olefin/paraffin, iso/normal paraffins, and other light gases separations.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a novel method of making high performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) using stabilized concentrated suspensions of solvents, uniformly dispersed polymer stabilized molecular sieves, and at least two different types of polymers as the continuous blend polymer matrix. MMMs as dense films or asymmetric flat sheet or hollow fiber membranes fabricated by the method described in the current invention exhibit significantly enhanced permeation performance for separations over the polymer membranes made from the continuous blend polymer matrix. MMMs of the present invention are suitable for a wide range of gas, vapor, and liquid separations such as alcohol/water, CO2/CH4, H2/CH4, O2/N2, CO2/N2, olefin/paraffin, iso/normal paraffins, and other light gases separations.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of making flat sheet asymmetric membranes, including cellulose diacetate/cellulose triacetate blended membranes, polyimide membranes, and polyimide/polyethersulfone blended membranes by formulating the polymer or the blended polymers dopes in a dual solvent mixture containing 1,3 dioxolane and a second solvent, such as N,N?-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP). The dopes are tailored to be closed to the point of phase separation with or without suitable non-solvent additives such as methanol, acetone, decane or a mixture of these non-solvents. The flat sheet asymmetric membranes are cast by the phase inversion processes using water as the coagulation bath and annealing bath. The dried membranes are coated with UV curable silicone rubber. The resulting asymmetric membranes exhibit excellent permeability and selectivity compared to the intrinsic dense film performances.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a novel method of making high performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) using stabilized concentrated suspensions of solvents, uniformly dispersed polymer stabilized molecular sieves, and at least two different types of polymers as the continuous blend polymer matrix. MMMs as dense films or asymmetric flat sheet or hollow fiber membranes fabricated by the method described in the current invention exhibit significantly enhanced permeation performance for separations over the polymer membranes made from the continuous blend polymer matrix. MMMs of the present invention are suitable for a wide range of gas, vapor, and liquid separations such as alcohol/water, CO2/CH4, H2/CH4, O2/N2, CO2/N2, olefin/paraffin, iso/normal paraffins, and other light gases separations.

Abstract: A portable lighting device, such as a flashlight, having a rotatable band disposed around the exterior of the flashlight is disclosed. Rotational movement of the band is converted to lateral movement of the light emitting element within the flashlight. The structural integrity of the flashlight is not compromised when the rotatable band is rotated around the flashlight to adjust the width of the projected pattern of light.

Abstract: A portable lighting device, such as a flashlight, having a rotatable band disposed around the exterior of the flashlight is disclosed. Rotational movement of the band is converted to lateral movement of the light emitting element within the flashlight. The structural integrity of the flashlight is not compromised when the rotatable band is rotated around the flashlight to adjust the width of the projected pattern of light.

Abstract: A slider in a disk drive is shock-protected with an overcoat layer of either metal or polymer directly on the areas of the slider that are prone to contact the disk when the slider is loaded off the platform, or when the slider is shocked while in operation over the data zone of the disk. The material used to form the layer absorbs shock and reduces wear, and is bonded or sputtered to the head in a region other than the pads of the air bearing surface. This region is typically the reactive ion etched (RIE) surface area and is slightly below the pads of the air bearing surface of the head. In an alternate version of the invention, the slider is protected by covering only the edges of the slider with a suitable material. Finally, the entire slider may be encased with the overcoating except for the pads of the air bearing surface.

Abstract: A slider in a disk drive is shock-protected with an overcoat layer of either metal or polymer directly on the areas of the slider that are prone to contact the disk when the slider is loaded off the platform, or when the slider is shocked while in operation over the data zone of the disk. The material used to form the layer absorbs shock and reduces wear, and is bonded or sputtered to the head in a region other than the pads of the air bearing surface. This region is typically the reactive ion etched (RIE) surface area and is slightly below the pads of the air bearing surface of the head. In an alternate version of the invention, the slider is protected by covering only the edges of the slider with a suitable material. Finally, the entire slider may be encased with the overcoating except for the pads of the air bearing surface.

Abstract: A portable lighting device, such as a flashlight, having a rotatable band disposed around the exterior of the flashlight is disclosed. Rotational movement of the band is converted to lateral movement of the light emitting element within the flashlight. The structural integrity of the flashlight is not compromised when the rotatable band is rotated around the flashlight to adjust the width of the projected pattern of light.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting and correcting motion artifacts in interlaced video signal converted for progressive video display. A correction is applied where interlaced video material is determined to originate from film source, thereby having been converted to video using a process known as 3-2 pulldown. Where the video material is not a result of the 3-2 pulldown process, a check is made for the presence of “pixel motion” so that corrections may be applied to smooth out the pixel motion. To determine 3-2 pulldown or field motion, a video field is compared to the field prior to the previous field to generate field error. Field errors are generated for five consecutive fields and a local minimum error repeated every five fields indicate the origination of the video material from film source using the 3-2 pulldown process.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for maintaining the humidity of an enclosed space within an acceptable operational range of relative humidity to minimize static electricity while passively removing at least a portion of organic contaminants from the enclosed space. The invention provides a simple, low cost solution to preventing damage to electronic disk drives using an adsorbent sheet material which requires less than about one-tenth the volume of adsorbent carriers which enclose the adsorbent material in a supporting envelope. The process employs a weak adsorbent such as high silica zeolite which effectively controls humidity at low operating temperatures and as the operating temperature increases is enabled to adsorb contaminants by reduced affinity for water.