This invention relates to a nuclear power plant, the reactor being of the pressurized-water coolant type and its coolant being circulated through a steam generator having a feed water inlet and in which the feed water generates steam which is used to power a steam engine, such as a turbine, having a low pressure stage and a high pressure stage, the mechanical rotary power produced by the turbine driving a generator producing electric power, for example.
The steam generator is in the form of a vertical cylindrical casing containing a horizontal circular tube sheet in which the ends of the vertical legs of an inverted U-shaped nest of heat exchanging tubes are mounted, the casing below this tube sheet being constructed to form a coolant inlet manifold for the inlet end of the tube nest, and a coolant outlet manifold for the outlet end of the next. The manifolds are in circuit with the coolant circuit of the reactor, the coolant 2 passing through the tube nest. The casing extends above the tube sheet and its upper portion is provided with a steam outlet, a feed water inlet supplying feed water to the casing above the tube sheet and which vaporizes and generates steam. The feed water must be pumped into the casing against the steam pressure by one or more feed water pumps and the feed water is introduced to the water already in the casing, through a feed water reheater inside of the casing and receiving heat from the outlet leg of the tube nest. Above the tube nest the steam generator's casing contains at least one water separator for removing water from the generated steam before leaving the steam generator, and possibly a coarse water separator followed by a fine water separator.
The steam from the steam generator goes to the high pressure stage of a turbine, the exhaust from there then going through a reheater and to a low pressure stage of the turbine, the exhaust of which is handled in a normal manner.
The above steam reheater is a heat exchanger of the counter flow type requiring a supply of hot fluid, and this supply has heretofore been steam taken from the output of the steam generator, thus placing on the latter an extra load above that required to power the turbine. When the turbine load changed unstable operation was possible, condensate shock or backup of the steam condensate discharged from the reheater necessitating the reheater being designed as a heat exchanger of larger size when might otherwise have been necessary. Also, the additional load on the steam generator required the latter to be operated at higher capacity, placing undesirable stress on the steam lines and fittings and on the water separators within the steam generator. Because more steam was required than was necessary to power the turbine, more feed water had to be constantly introduced to the steam generator, requiring a larger capacity feed water pump than what otherwise would have been necessary. Using steam as the heating medium for the reheater, the latter had to be provided a condensate cooler for the exhausting steam, a condensate decompressor and other equipment.
Because of the need for additional steam required by the reheater, a larger amount of water was required to be boiled off in the steam generator, leaving undesirable deposits of salts and the like unavoidably included by the feed water. To constantly circulate the water in the steam generator, the latter had to be provided with an annular descent space surrounding the tube nest with its lower end spaced above the tube sheet to provide for thermal circulation, requiring the generator casing to be larger and therefore more expensive.
During start-up and shut-down of the nuclear reactor, a complicated system of multiple emergency feed water pump equipment, emergency feed water lines and deionate supply tanks, were required to remove the residual heat via the steam generator functioning as a heat exchanger.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to underground manhole assemblies and more particularly to a method and arrangement for preventing the assembly from moving upwards in response to a change in surrounding soil conditions.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
As is generally known, manhole assemblies are often provided as a juncture for joining underground sewer pipes which extend in different directions therefrom. Typically, a manhole assembly will include a base which sits directly against the soil beneath it. In relatively dry or warm climates, the soil surrounding the manhole assembly and particularly the soil beneath its base will remain in an unfrozen and/or unexpanded state. However, in moist climates where freeze and thaw conditions prevail, moisture directly beneath and directly against the manhole assembly tends to freeze, causing the soil to expand in an upward direction against the base of the manhole assembly. This, in turn, can force the assembly towards ground level.
When the frozen soil thaws, the side pressures exerted against the assembly prevent the ladder from moving back to its original position and eventually there is further soil build-up beneath the base. Hence, at the next freeze period, this procedure is repeated. While each increment of upward movement of the assembly is small, after many freeze-thaw cycles, the entire manhole assembly can move upwards a substantial distance.
The foregoing creates two major problems. Firstly, if the manhole assembly is located beneath a street or sidewalk, which is generally the case, upward movement of the assembly can cause substantial damage to the street or sidewalk. This, of course, can create hazardous conditions. Secondly, since the manhole acts as an extension or juncture to sewer pipes, substantial movement of the manhole produces misalignment which, in turn, interferes with the otherwise smooth flow through the sewer pipes. This, in turn, can produce a pressure problem within the sewer pipes and also can create a static condition within the latter, causing sewage to settle in the manhole, thereby creating a maintenance problem.
The aforedescribed freeze-thaw conditions can also exist along the sides of the manhole assembly. In this regard, many manhole assemblies are constructed in sections which are stacked on top of one another. It has been discovered that ice along the periphery of a given section of the assembly, during the freeze cycle, grips the assembly section as the ice expands and raises the section upward. As this occurs, gravel and/or other debris may collect between the raised section and the section directly below it, preventing the raised section from returning to its normal position. After many freeze-thaw cycles, the overall upward movement of any given manhole section may be substantial, resulting in the same problems discussed above.


The present invention refers to a reinforced concrete pile of the type having a collar or similar fitting at least at one of its end, to which axially running reinforcing bars are attached. The invention also refers to a method of manufacturing such piles, as well as to the collar provided at the pile.
The collars fitted at one or both ends of a concrete pile, may be shaped as points, shoes or joint elements, and must be attached to the pile in such a manner that they can also take care of tensile strain loads in the pile. Hitherto the attaching of the collar has usually been made by means of anchor bolts, threaded into the collar and arranged parallel to the axial reinforcing bars in the pile. The anchor bolts usually have length of about one meter, and as many bolts as axial reinforcing bars are provided, fitted intermediate the ends thereof. Hereby a rather tight basket structure is obtained, which makes the introduction of the concrete compound at the ends of the pile difficult. When such a pile is subjected to tensile strain the axial forces cannot be transferred directly from the reinforcing bars to the collar, but must pass over to the anchor bolts by way of the concrete. This is not well suited for such action, so the actual transfer capacity is limited. Similarly the power strokes, when driving the pile, will largely have to be transferred from the anchor bolts to the reinforcing bars by way of the concrete.
It has been proposed to weld the axial reinforcing bars to the collar, but on the one end such welding will not provide the necessary strength, and on the other hand the collar is often made of nodular cast iron and the reinforcing bars of high class steel, so a welding will be generally difficult.
For a long time a desire to attach the reinforcing bars directly to the collar has been felt, but no simple, reliable solution has been found.


I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dynamic ballast and stabilization systems for deep-sea applications, and, in particular, the present invention relates to a dynamic ballast and stabilization system for off-shore platform structures.
II. Description of the Prior Art
To be both practical and useful, off-shore platforms utilized for the exploration and production of crude oil and gas sources must not only perform a desired function but do so under adverse operating conditions. Primarily among such conditions is a virtually unpredictable source of trouble at any off-shore platform by the continuously changing pattern of wave intensity which reflects widespread weather conditions. For example, weather situations in one part of the world may have a decided effect on the water and wave conditions in a remote section thousands of miles away. In the design and construction of off-shore platforms most weather conditions can be accounted for through the expediency of fabricating the platform of sufficient strength to satisfactorily support the required constant and expected load and to overcome and to resist the most adverse storm conditions. Thus, a platform might be engineered to be sufficiently rugged by sheer massiveness to resist hurricane forces at the water surface without collapse or even to avoid excessive damage. The ideal situation would be to design the platforms to safely resist maximum forces as would be instituted by a hurricane or other severe storm. What is more difficullt to overcome, however, is the problem instituted by the pulsating forces resulting from periodic wave movement. While such movement may be particularly intense, the periodic forces generated by the waves may be of such frequency that, if counted over a period of time, will prompt and amplify an oscillatory movement of the floor-anchored platform structure. This vibrational tendency will be a function of the platform structure and the intensity and frequency of the wave forces.
While it is possible through engineering techniques to adequately design a platform to overcome the normal and expected wave forces, it is highly impractical in both structural and economical terms to design a platform when vibration and oscillation forces are taken into consideration. It can be readily appreciated that for platforms usable in deep waters the design problems are sharply aggravated as the platform height increases. For example, for extreme depths having an order of magnitude of 400 to 1,000 feet, it is virtually impossible to design and engineer a safe, practical platform. To overcome constantly imposed vibrations or oscillation inducing forces as well as the ordinary natural forces acting against an off-shore platform structure, many expedients have been resorted to such as internal bracing and external anchoring. In the absence of the latter, structures in relatively deep water often utilize an anchoring system including chains and cables both of which elements present troublesome handling problems and are not entirely effective. Furthermore, since the present trend in oil exploratory and production efforts is towards deeper waters, and anchoring systems tend to become more expensive and unwieldly, thereby amplifying the above-noted susceptibility to sway and vibrational tendencies.
An example of one solution of the aforementioned problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,553,968.


Double-wall vessels are commonly provided for the storage of low-temperature liquefied gases under pressure or at standard or ambient pressure, with suitable means for insulating the space between the two walls or shells of the vessel.
In an early version, such vessels were provided in accordance with Dewar principles and consisted of inner and outer shells or walls defining a space between them which was maintained under a high vacuum to prevent the development of convection currents tending to cause heat transfer from the outer wall to the inner wall or cold loss from the interior to the exterior. The or each wall could be provided with a highly reflective coating to prevent radiation transfer of energy between the interior and the exterior. Such systems had the obvious disadvantage that loss of the vacuum in the space between the two walls caused an immediate breakdown of the insulation space and substantial heat transfer between interior and exterior. Such heat transfer is disadvantageous for the storage of low-temperature liquefied gases at ambient pressure, causing substantially immediate vaporization of the liquefied gas.
It has been proposed to modify such systems for the storage of such liquefied gases as hydrogen and helium at temperatures below about 30.degree.K by providing within the evacuated space between the two walls, a so-called superinsulation consisting of alternating layers of woven or nonwoven fabric web of low thermal conductivity and metal foil layers. The interstices of the fabric web further reduce convective flow of heat while the metal foil constitutes a reflection barrier to radiation transfer. While such systems are effective for the purposes stated, they are relatively expensive and difficult to manufacture and are highly sensitive to handling of the vessel. Furthermore, there is the disadvantage that leakage of the vacuum will occur and render the system ineffective. With gases such as hydrogen and helium even the slightest loss of insulating capacity can result in spontaneous vaporization of the stored liquid.
With the development of improved techniques for the storage, transport and utilization of liquefied gas, relatively low cost systems have been devised for insulating vessel and compartments containing the liquefied gas. One such system makes use of a filling of perlite, a porous insulator in the space between the two walls of a double wall vessel. This system, while effective for such relatively high-boiling liquefied gases as methane, are not suitable in the prior-art technique for use in the storage of hydrogen or helium in a liquid state because of thermal leakage and the effects of the heat capacity of the perlite.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to well known plastic molded generally flexible ice cube trays and more particularly to such a tray having protruberances on opposing corners of each individual ice cube forming pocket to alter the ice cube upon its release from the tray to the extent that it will not be reseated in the tray in its as-molded orientation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flexible plastic ice cube trays are well known in the prior art. Such flexible trays have the advantage of being relatively inexpensively molded from a plastic such as polypropylene that easily releases the ice cubes once the initial adhesion force established during freezing is broken. To do this, the tray is generally grasped at each end and twisted to the extent there is sufficient flexing of each individual pocket to release the cube. However, after such flexing, if the cubes are to remain in the tray as opposed to the tray being dumped into a separate storage bin, the cubes settle back into their respective pockets and assume the as-molded orientation providing generally continuous smooth surfaces between the tray and the ice cubes making it difficult to manually grasp any individual cube to remove it.
One manner of altering the cube orientation with respect to the pocket of an ice cube tray is to utilize the expansive forces of freezing to move the cube to an accessible position with respect to the tray while it remains therein. Such is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,025,682 and 2,704,927.
The present invention however, provides certain stress concentrating structure in each pocket so that upon flexing the tray each individual cube is caused to fracture to the extent its outward dimension is altered so that it will not be reseated in its as-molded orientation. This produces a generally discontinuous surface between the cubes and the tray permitting each cube to be individually grasped.


This invention relates generally to ice making and storage apparatus and more particularly, to an ice transport system for conveying ice between remotely located ice producing machines and storage containers or bins.
It has heretofore been the practice to communicate ice which is produced, for example, by means of a flaked ice machine, to a remotely located storage chamber through an elongated continuous hose or conduit. Such hoses or conduits have been satisfactory from the standpoint of providing for a smooth, uninterrupted communication of ice; however, such continuous conduits have been objectionable from a maintenance and cleaning standpoint due to the fact that it is extremely difficult to effectively clean relatively long sections of conduit so as to satisfy the rigorous sanitary standards imposed by federal, state and municipal regulatory authorities.
The applicant's conduit structure will find particularly useful application in that the structure is designed so as to be compatible with conventional conduit couplings which must be secured to relative linear, i.e., non-curved, conduit sections. Toward this end, the applicant's conduit structure is designed such that it may be severed at an intermediate portion thereof to provide two conduit elements, each of which is adapted to provide for a change in direction, as well as provide for convenient assembly or operative association with the standard conduit coupling assemblies.
It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved ice transport system.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a new and improved ice transport system for use in flaked ice producing and storing systems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved conduit structure for use in ice transport systems which minimizes back pressure resistance to the extreme and provides for compatible assembly of the conduit structure with coupling assemblies of the type well known in the art.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved conduit structure which is of a simple design, is economical to manufacture and will have long and durable operational life.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved conduit structure that will find universality of application in various types of ice making machines.


The present invention relates to an axially-displaceable and angularly-movable, evenly-running universal coupling, in which the torque is transmitted by three rolling parts which are distributed equiangularly. The rolling parts are connected to the inner part of the coupling in a rotatable and radially movable manner. The rolling parts, furthermore, project into grooves in the outer part of the coupling, which are straight and parallel to the axis. To achieve even running, the displacement of the rolling parts required during an angular movement is accomplished with the aid of a force, pushing the rolling part outward. This force is a spring derived or spring-actuated force.
Universal couplings of the preceding species and known in the art, have the inner part of the coupling constructed of three-legged form. In this arrangement, so-called thrust stones are supported on the corresponding studs, in a slidable and rotatable manner for torque transmission. In contrast to the prior art, in which the thrust stones are coated with relatively thin discs of elastic material, an arrangement disclosed in the German Patent No. 2,216,345 operates in the following manner: For exerting an outward-directed force on the thrust stones, a ring is provided on one or both sides of the three-legged structure. This ring is in contact with each of the thrust stones when force is exerted parallel to the axis of each.
The difficulty of arriving at an effective solution with the aid of elastic discs, in the prior art, has been extensively described in a review of the state of the art in the German Patent No. 2,216,345. The arrangement disclosed by this German patent, has the disadvantage of requiring costlier construction and manufacture, and it is also associated with the danger that breakage of the highly-stressed rings could cause the pieces to destroy the universal coupling.
The two arrangements above of the prior art, also have the common disadvantage that the relatively large controlling force applied by the spring elements, does not act near the center of the axis of rotation of the thrust stones. Instead, the force acts substantially far out therefrom. A large braking torque results, thereby, and the thrust stones, prevented from rotating, cause wear, heating, and ineffectiveness.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a universal coupling of the character described above, and which avoids the disadvantages mentioned supra.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal coupling of the foregoing character, which is simple in design and may be economically fabricated.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a universal coupling, as described, which has a substantially long operating life and may be readily maintained.


The present invention relates to an equalizing and compensating coupling for transfer of large torques, and more particularly the invention relates to a coupling interposed between the output shaft of a transmission gear and the propellor shaft of a ship.
Couplings used for transmission of large torques, particularly in ships drive systems, may have primary and secondary parts which have coaxial disposition to each other and to the respective axis of the couplings, and the two parts are interconnected by rubber-elastic elements. In a particular construction, a coupler sleeve may be interposed, and the primary and secondary clutch parts each connect to the sleeve through these resilient elements.
It is, however, necessary to consider the operating conditions for such a clutch or coupling in some detail. If the transmission of the ships drive is located near the stern, the propeller shaft will be rather short and exhibit rather high flexural stiffness and bending strength. On the other hand the higher strength of sheet metal as it is used for construction of ships hulls today permits employment of thinner sheet stock for that purpose so that the hulls are more resilient. Such increase in resiliency is particularly noticeable in the stern because the buyoncy differs for different loads. The resulting change in shape of the hull must not influence the position of the ship's drive generally and must not cause any change in gearing operation.
Ships gears are quite heavy, and for this reason they cannot merely be connected to the respective propeller shaft. Rather, the transmission must be mounted in some fashion to the frame of the ship. If, however, the propellor shaft moves with flexing of the hull, displacement of gear parts must be expected and has, in fact, been observed.
Several different solutions have been advanced to solve that problem. In accordance with a first solution, a thrust bearing is directly connected to the transmission gear; the latter has a small base bolted to the base of the thrust bearing. The base of the thrust bearing has usually significant strength.
In accordance with a second solution to the problem thrust bearing and transmission are separated, and the transmission is solely responsible for radially guiding the propellor shaft. Any vertical displacements of the bases of the thrust bearing and of the transmission gear is to be compensated in that manner.
In accordance with a third solution the transmission is mounted on level controlled cylinders so that changes in the location of its base are not transmitted to the transmission. Finally, it has been proposed to provide a transversely displaceable jaw clutch between propeller shaft and gearing, which clutch does not only transfer torque but compensates also for disposition changes as between thrust bearing and gearing.
All of these proposals for solving the problem have one drawback or another and are, therefore, not quite suitable, at least not to the desired extent.
A small base in accordance with the first proposal leads invariably to overhanging parts, particularly in twin gear systems. Moreover, a small base is not well suited to take up the reaction forces if the power transmitted is quite large. The separation of transmission and thrust bearing in accordance with the second proposed solution may suffice in the case of vertical, mutual displacement, but not when the angle between propeller shaft and transmission output shaft tends to change.
The levelled positioning of the transmission casing, also known as active positioning, is very complicated and too amenable to break down. The final solution was found to cause increasing stiffening of the jaw clutch with increasing torque while for low torques the clutch my start to rattle.


For a long time, universal joints of the type comprising telescopically overlapped yoke members, interconnected by a centrally disposed coupling block carrying pivot pins or stub shafts rotationally received in either the block or the yoke members, have been utilized for transmitting rotational drive from one line shaft to another in a drive train where requirements call for axial misalignment of the line shafts. The torque loads to which such universal joints are subjected are commonly rather high, resulting in rapid mechanical wear at points of pivotal movement, especially if there is much articulation of the coupling block due to substantial axial offset of the interconnected shafts. Considerable effort has been directed to designing low-frictional pivots for the joints, as by use of needle bearings and through improvement in lubrication of the pivot points. Compactness of size of the universal joint in order to reduce inertia and momentum effects, as well as to mechanically accommodate a higher degree of misalignment of the coupled shafts, dictates against increasing the size of the universal joint to permit enlarging the bearing surfaces. Even with low friction bearing design and improved lubrication, an undesirably high rate of wear has often been unavoidable. A worn universal joint produces inefficient and inexact transmission of torsional load due to backlash or play at the pivot points. This necessitates either complete replacement of the universal joint, an economically expensive solution, or repair and rebuilding of the worn joint. The designs of universal joints heretofore proposed do not permit easy, inexpensive rebuilding or repair by semi-skilled routine maintenance personnel who usually are the only immediately available personnel at the point of use.


The present invention relates generally to the knitting machine art, and more particularly, is directed to a circular knitting machine having a self-balancing bobbin table.
Circular knitting machines of the multi-feed type include means to mount a plurality of yarn supply bobbins thereon, at least one supply bobbin being provided for each feed. The bobbins are mounted outwardly from the central machine axis and may be arranged at the outer end of radially oriented arms which radiate outwardly from a central mounting hub which is concentric with and which rotates about the axis of the machine. Optionally, the yarn supply bobbins may be mounted upon a solid, disc like table similar to that disclosed in my copending patent application Ser. No. 283,787, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,433. Due to the speed of rotation of prior art bobbin mounting means, any unbalance in the system construction will result in unwanted vibration, the imposition of unbalanced forces or other unwanted unbalanced conditions which interfere with quiet, trouble-free operation and which can result in undue bearing wear, fatigue cracks and other mechanical failures.


The invention relates to plating feeders for use in circular knitting machines and in particular knitting machines having arrangements for exchanging feeders during knitting.
Plating may be effected by feeding a pair of individual yarns with one yarn having a lead over the other at a plating angle. The plating angle is critical and requires the yarns to be fed along converging paths from the feeder. Separate mouths are provided on plating feeders for each of the yarns which are spaced from one another.
Feeders on knitting machines may be exchanged during knitting. This involves moving the feeder, trapping and cutting the yarn to separate the last part of the knitted yarn from the feeder, when taking a feeder out of action. When inserting a feeder, the exchange involves laying the yarn between the active needles or licking the new yarn into the hooks of the needles by means of latches.
When applying plating feeders to machines having facilities for exchanging feeders, the requirement for separate and spaced feeder mouths conflicts with the need for precise location of the last part of the knitting yarn for trapping and cutting and of the new yarn for initially feeding it to the needles. In double cylinder machines the problem is more acute as feeder movement up or down is restricted by the cylinders and the only free movement used in exchanging feeders is in a direction tangential to the cylinders.
Another problem arises when plating during reciprocation of a circular machine. In that case the plating angle must be reversed when reversing the direction of knitting so as to maintain the yarns in proper relationship. Whatever the application of a plating feeder, it should also be capable of adjusting the plating angle to adapt it to different requirements. The adjustment is often critical and requires great skill.
It is an object of the invention to provide a plating feeder or a method of control of such a feeder which enables it to be exchanged for another feeder.
It is a further object to provide a plating feeder suitable for use in reciprocatory plating and which is easily adjustable.
It is also an object to provide such plating feeders which may be used on double cylinder machines.


The field of this invention relates to locking devices and more particularly to a locking device for a vehicle gasoline filler pipe cap.
Gasoline, which is the most common fuel for operating vehicles, is rapidly becoming a commodity in short supply. Due to the shortness of supply, the cost of gasoline has substantially increased.
Because of these two factors, the unauthorized syphoning of gasoline from vehicles is becoming quite common. Almost all private and commercial vehicles employ a gasoline filler pipe within the vehicle which connects to the gasoline tank. The filler pipe is normally closed by a gasoline cap. It is not uncommon for a person to remove this gasoline cap and syphon gasoline from the gasoline tank.
In the past, there has been substantial effort expended on the designed of a structure which will prevent the unauthorized syphoning of gasoline from the vehicle. One such prior art apparatus is a spring which fits within the filler pipe. The spring will permit gasoline to be conducted into the gasoline tank but will prevent any syphoning hose from moving into the tank. However, such springs have been found to have one major disadvantage in that they tend to restrict the flow of fuel into the vehicle. As a result, it takes a substantial longer period of time to fill the gasoline tank of the vehicle than was previously required.
One other common type of prior art device is a gasoline cap which includes a key actuated locking mechanism. Such gasoline caps, because of the included locking mechanism, are quite expensive when compared to a conventional gasoline cap. As a result, there has never been a wide spread use of a gasoline cap which includes therein a key actuated locking device.


This invention is for a new and improved lock and support device, and more particularly, to a lock and support device having a valve cap, a valve cap locking bar to secure the valve cap on a fuel tank, and a lock connecting portion or ring for providing a means to hold the fuel tank in an upright secured position and for providing a means to lock the tank to a fixed object.
In the past fuel tanks have been positioned in an upright position by standing them on their bases. Fuel tanks have been secured to fixed objects by wrapping chains around them or providing specially made tank racks. Fuel tanks are easily knocked over if left unsecured to a fixed object. Fuel tanks that are not held in an upright position are safety hazards.


Straightening machines have been proposed including those operating on a planetary principle. One straightening machine for poppet valves included two rotary dies of similar diameter with spaced axes and slightly different peripheral speeds engaging the stem of the poppet valve so that the workpiece passed between the nip of the die rollers. One die roller had a straightening disc freely journalled coaxially thereon to engage the underside of the head of the poppet valve as the valve gradually passed through the nip. Any wobble to the head of the poppet valve was removed by engagement with the free running straightening disc. Such prior art machine had the difficulty of not being able to satisfactorily control the attitude of the workpiece because of the limited area of contact of the workpiece stem with the two separated roller dies, both of which have convex faces. The poppet valve stem would easily become cocked at an angle other than parallel to the two roller dies, especially because of the unbalanced force caused by the straightening disc cyclically engaging the poppet valve head. The problem to be solved then is how to establish a flanged stem workpiece straightening machine to overcome this deficiency.
An object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine for flanged stem workpieces wherein the workpiece is securely held during travel through the machine.
Another object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine wherein a flange of a stemmed workpiece is cyclically bent more and more to a midpoint of a die and is then bent in decreasing amounts until the flange is straight, namely, perpendicular to the stem.
Another object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine wherein the flange of the stemmed workpiece moves in a first path and a straightening roller moves in a second path intersecting the first path so as to engage and bend the workpiece.
Another object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine wherein the phase position of a straightening roller relative to a workpiece flange is gradually changed so that the straightening roller engages and straightens the workpiece flange.
Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:


1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the field of tools for metal forming and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of die assemblies adapted for use in crimping or otherwise deforming metallic terminals for joining or splicing articles to one another, two principle modes of operation are generally utilized. The more conventional devices generally comprise a pair of mating die members movable towards one another along a common axis to provide a given compressive force to a deformable terminal or like element seated therebetween. Proliferous examples of such die assemblies may be found in the prior art and are sufficiently well known to those skilled in the art. The other mode of operation utilizes longitudinal displacement of the connector through a restrictive orifice to extrudably deform the terminal or connector about one or more contained wires or conductors. An example of such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,470 issued June 19, 1973 to applicant and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. In the latter method, the terminal must be fabricated from special material which must be extrudably deformable without fracture or damage occurring thereto in order to preserve the integrity of the connection. Furthermore, by virtue of the extrusion process, both the terminal and enclosed wires are elongated and reduced in cross-section to a significant degree upon completion of the operation, a condition which may be undesirable in many applications where the cross-sectional area of the completed joint or connection is of principle importance. The former conventional method of direct crimping, although used quite successfully in many applications, has the distinct drawback of requiring relatively high crimping forces when employed with the larger size conductors and associated terminals, thereby requiring the use of relatively bulky and expensive drive sources for use therewith. In many cases where such connections must be made in remote locations removed from a worksite, convenience of portability may become a major factor in the use thereof, whereby the weight and size of such prior art devices may seriously limit their applicability under such conditions.


The present invention relates generally to tube drawing and more particularly, it relates to plug rolling mills for drawing seamless tubes and taking them off a plug after drawing over the long movable plug.
As compared with other types of tube drawing operations, tube drawing on long movable plugs has an important advantage, namely, the possibility of attaining considerable tube reduction per pass and drawing tubes (with wall reduction) of small diameters (down to capillary ones).
A main disadvantage of this method of drawing tubes on a long movable plug, restricting its application, is a need for labor-consuming additional technological operations, such as: plugging the drawn tube over the plug for withdrawing the latter out of the tube and the plug extraction process as such.
Mills for plugging tubes and taking them off a long movable plug after drawing are known in the art, comprising a plug head adapted to plug the tubes over the plug with the aid of idle tube-reducing members, a pulling device with guides for moving pulling elements therealong, the elements drawing the tube with the plug through the plug head, a gear for taking the tubes off the plug, two pockets wherein the tubes and plugs are placed after the tubes have been taken off the plugs and a drive for the pulling device.
The known designs of the mills aimed at further improvement of the long-lug drawing process as regards tube plugging and taking them off the plugs comprise, as a rule, apart from a drawing line, two additional working lines parallel with one another, namely, a tube plugging line and another line for taking the tubes off the plug.
Mills comprising two pulling devices arranged in line are also applicable, with one of the pulling devices being adapted in this case for pulling the tube together with the plug through a plug arrangement and the other one for extracting the plug from the tube. The time needed for returning the plug (after the tube has been taken off) to the drawing mill is an important factor governing the production rate of the plugging and drawing mills. When using two additional working lines or a single working line with two pulling devices, the flow sheets related to plugging and taking the tubes off the plug envisage periodical stoppage of the mills, reversal of the tube travelling with the plug or turning the plug with the tube through 180.degree..
The above additional operations diminish materially the production of both the plugging and drawing mills.
On the known mills for extracting the plugs from the tubes use is made of thrust plates with a calibrated opening, forks or clamps of the pulling devices gripping the tube fore part on one side and the plug end on the other.
The above operations involved in the extraction of the plugs from the tubes are responsible for the appearance of various defects on the tubes (scratches, galling, corrugation) and for the sticking of tube metal to the plugs.
The arrangement of equipment for plugging and taking the tubes off the plugs when using two additional lines or a single additional working line with two pulling devices requires considerable floor area. For further general details of a typical -- plug rolling mill -- see: The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel, Chapter XXIX, Manufacturing of Steel - Tubular Products, pp. 1150-1152; a complete revision based on the original text by J. M. Camp and C. B. Francis, Sixth Ed., 2nd Impression, published by United States Steel Company, Copyright 1951 by U.S. Steel Company.


It is well known that the productive capacity of a multiple wire-rod rolling mill train is mainly determined by four factors; it depends on the base cross section of the billet within the roughing line, on the length of the billets entering the roughing line, on the number of rolling lines, and finally on the rod delivery speed.
Practical experience, however, has indicated that certain problems are encountered with all these factors during the operation of a continuous rod mill. The base cross-section of the billets on a multi-pass rod train are subject to the so-called Konti law and cannot be made of unlimited size, because each enlargement of the billet also requires an increase in number and a reduced billet entrance speed into the pre-roll line. For that reason not only is the passing time of the billet through the entire rolling train extended (which has an unfavorable influence on the heat balance) but lowering the entrance speed into the pre-roll line under 0.07 m/sec. presents the additional danger of creating heat cracks on the rolls.
The length of the rolled billets may theoretically be of any dimension, because billets from a given base cross section may as a practical matter be welded to any length. This type of operation, however, is not practical when a multi-wire rod train is to be used.
The delivery speed can theoretically be increased. Practically, however, there are limits, because the necessary auxiliary equipment such as shears, reels, etc. at the end of the train can operate safely (in the present state of the art) only up to maximum output speed of 60 m/sec.
Finally, the number of rolling lines cannot be chosen arbitrarily based on the machinery available; the limit with today's state of development lies in a four-line train.
There have been made several attempts to operate multi-line trains to obtain high production capacity and large bundle weights. For example, in German patent DT-OS No. 1,527,694 a continuous light-section steel train was revealed and has, following a furnace, a roughing train, intermediate train, and finish train, wherein the rough train and/or the intermediate train each have a single rolling line operation, but the finish train is arranged for multi-strand rolling operation and wherein each line has an added special bundle storage. The bundle storage is interchangeably supplied from the intermediate train with a rod line and is designed as after-furnace or equalization-furnace. In that way the roughing train and the intermediate train can be driven independently of the rolling speed of the finish train and the bundle storage acts as a buffer for the finish train. The base cross section of the billet entering the roughing train can thereby be enlarged without the entrance speed into the roughing train being lowered below the critical speed of 0.07 m/sec., because of the fact that the after-furnace or equalization-furnace operates as a buffer, so that the so-called Konti law is not operative.
A multi-strand roll train which is similar with respect to the after- or equalization-furnaces, but somewhat modified, has been taught by German patent DT-AS No. 1,808,822. In the arrangement shown in that patent the after- or equalization-furnace is positioned between the roughing train and the intermediate train, so that, instead of a bundle storage, a roll-through storage is provided. The multi-strand line operation also begins here in the intermediate train of the mill.
In spite of the fact that these known, continuous multi-strand trains provide an intermediate storage by the provision of the after- or equalization-furnace located in an area between one or the other successive rolling lines allow the so-called Konti law to be inoperative and thereby the possibility is presented of introducing billets into the roughing train with a base cross section of approximately 180 mm with an entrance speed of at least 0.07 m/sec., nevertheless, considerable disadvantage is still present with these known designs. Since obviously the achieveable pass reduction within the individual roller stands is limited, practically every increase of the base bar cross section requires a certain increase in the number of stands, at least within the roughing train. In case one achieves a high production capacity with large bundle weights by replacing the standard billet cross section of 100 mm with an enlarged billet cross section of 180 mm, then the plant investment for the roughing train line is more than doubled. Because of the increase in the number of stands, an extension of the roughing train is necessary, and, consequently, a longer shop for the housing of the machinery is also required. Additionally, the after- or equalization-furnaces (which serve as intermediate storage) have to be introduced into the mill to guarantee constant temperatures of the rod stock during intermediate storage; this introduction also increases still further the total expenditure because of the corresponding necessary increase of the length of the shop.
The design of the intermediate storage as after- or equalization-furnace has, in addition to the increased energy expenditure, the disadvantage that the after-heating of the rod leads to the danger of scale formation. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention not only to eliminate all the disadvantages previously described in continuous multi-strand rod rolling mills, but also make it possible to use billets of large base cross section for achieving high production output and larger bundle weights.
Another object of this invention is to create a multi-strand rod rolling mill with high production capacity to produce large bundle weights, the mill having a furnace after which is provided a roughing train and a separate intermediate and finish train for each individual rod rolling line and using intermediate and finish train as used in rolling with the classic billet cross section of, for example, 100 mm and capable within the roughing train of rolling large billet cross sections up to 200 mm with a minimum number of stands without the entrance speed of the billets going below the critical speed of 0.07 m/sec. and without an increase in billet residence time in the roughing train, which increase could endanger the entire heat balance in the rod rolling mill.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.


Drawn and ironed can bodies are conventionally formed while carried on a punch through a set of dies including at least one ironing ring which thins and lengthens the side wall. This operation is repeated through the same set of dies at the rate of more than 100 can bodies per minute. One problem is to supply cooling and lubricating liquid to assist in the ironing operation, and to avoid build-up of aluminum oxide on the ironing ring to the point where it scratches the exterior surface of the can body side wall.


1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to the area of liquid chromatography and specifically to continuous detection of viscosity of column effluent in such systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Liquid chromatography pertains to a particular variety of equipment and techniques for analyzing the components of an unknown sample of liquid material.
Liquid chromatography is a process wherein a sample having unknown components is forced to migrate through an elongated "column." The column contains a material held statically inside it, called a "stationary phase." The stationary phase is chosen for its ability to selectively retain the various potential components of the sample with which it comes in contact with differing degrees of tenacity. The sample is forced to migrate through the column by injecting it into a solvent upstream of the column and subsequently pumping the solvent and dissolved sample through the column.
When the dissolved sample is forced through the column, each of its components migrates through the column in a particular time related pattern, which pattern is a function of the degree of the tendency of the stationary phase to retain that component.
Some properties of the column effluent are affected by the concentration of sample in the emergent fluid. One of the properties which may be affected is the viscosity of the effluent. By detecting variations in this property of the effluent, and plotting these variations against time, certain information can be derived as to the nature and amount of the components in the sample.
For example, for predetermined column conditions and flow rate, it may be known that a particular hypothetical component, if present in the sample, will reach a maximum concentration in the column effluent at a specific time following introduction of the sample to the column. This time is known as the "retention time" of the component. This phenomenon occurs because of the existence of the particular degree of retention of that component by the stationary phase. By measuring a property of the effluent known to be affected by the hypothetical component, and observing whether a maximum occurs at the "retention time" for that component, presence of the component can be verified or negated.
It is evident that in liquid chromatography there exists a necessity for accurately detecting and measuring, on a continuous basis, properties of the liquid emerging from the column, such as viscosity.
It is known in liquid chromatography to measure many properties of the column effluent to derive information relating to the nature and quantity of the components in a sample. Among the properties measured are visible light and ultraviolet ray absorption, refractive index, heat of absorption and flame ionization of the sample.


Viscosimeters are generally known, for example, the Ostwald viscosimeter (Glasstone, Textbook of Physical Chemistry, 2nd Ed., 10th Printing (1954) D. vam Nostrand Co., page 498), comprising a capillary adapted to the flow of the liquid to be determined. Such a viscosimeter is adapted only to measurements on liquids having a constant viscosity and it cannot be used for measurements of liquids having a varying viscosity, e.g. due to a reaction in the liquid, such as an enzymatically decomposing starch or protein solution having a decreasing viscosity, a polymerizing solution having an increasing viscosity, or a DNA solution in which the viscosity varies due to influences of temperature, pH or ion concentration.
The generally known method of the falling ball (Glasstone, loc. cit. page 498 and 499) is not suitable for this purpose either.
It is an object of the invention to provide a low feed, fast response, very low time of delay viscosimeter which, in particular, is suitable for continuous measurements of liquids showing a viscosity varying with the time.
Thus, the invention provides a viscosimeter comprising a flow system for the liquid to be tested, having a narrow zone, zones for determining the pressure of the liquid to be tested located before and after the said narrow zone, said zones for determining the pressure of the liquid to be tested being surrounded by tubes of a thin-walled material adapted to transfer the pressure of the liquid within the tubes to pressure transduction liquids outside each of the tubes, each of said pressure transduction liquids being in contact with one of two pressure chambers of a pressure difference recording means in such a manner that the pressures of the liquid to be tested at both sides of the narrow zone are transferred to said pressure chambers.
The tubes of thin-walled material are within chambers containing the pressure transduction liquid, said chambers being connected to connecting tubes, each of them leading one of the two pressure chambers of the pressure difference recording means.
The viscosimeter according to the invention enables in an easy manner to follow continuously the viscosity of a liquid flowing through the narrow zone, preferably a capillary, at constant speed.
The relationship between the viscosity and the pressure gradient over a capillary may be derived from the Hagen-Poiseuille equation for a liquid flowing through a capillary: 8n ##EQU1## in which .eta. = viscosity of the liquid
R = radius of the cross-section of the capillary PA1 V = volume of the liquid flowing through the capillary within a period t PA1 P.sub.1 - p.sub.2 = pressure difference of the liquids at both sides of the capillary PA1 L = length of the capillary
From this equation, which is a good approximation when a laminary flow is maintained in the capillary, it may easily be concluded that, at constant flow speed, the viscosity is proportional to the pressure difference, and that variations in viscosity thus are indicated by the variations of the pressure difference which may be transferred, for example, into an electrical signal by means of a device acting according to the inductive, capacitive or piezoelectrical principle, which signal may be made visible by a recorder.
An advantage of the application of an additional liquid located between the spaces with the zones surrounded by the thin-walled, pressure-transferring material and the pressure difference meter, is that the liquid to be determined cannot remain in dead spaces and influence the measurement wrongly in this manner.
When, for example, quick changes occur in the viscosity of the liquid to be determined, the liquid present in the connecting tubes and diffusing into the liquid to be tested, would give rise to false measurements, and this may be avoided by the device of the invention.
Since the viscosity is generally highly dependent on the temperature, the capillary of the viscosimeter according to the invention is preferably provided with a jacket through which thermostatted liquid may be passed. It is also possible to place the whole viscosimeter in a thermostatted zone. Further, the liquid to be tested is preferably heated to the desired temperature by means of a thermostat before it is carried through the viscosimeter according to the invention.
The above-mentioned thin-walled, pressure-transferring material is preferably a flexible thin-walled rubber which is very useful for viscosity measurements in aqueous media. Another suitable material is, for example, polyvinylalcohol, enabling measurements is several organic solvents.
According to a preferred embodiment, the ends of the capillary are funnel-shaped and the zones surrounded by the tubes of thin-walled material are located in line with the capillary. Thus, the capillary may easily be cleaned by, e.g. mechanical means, without the necessity of demounting the apparatus.
It is appreciated that the viscosimeter according to the invention may also be used for measurements of the absolute viscosity; in that case, the viscosimeter has to be calibrated by means of two or more liquids having a known viscosity.


The measurement of material thickness by the use of ultrasonics is a common inspection technique. Generally, there are two types of ultrasonic thickness measurement techniques comprising the resonance method and the pulse-echo technique. Resonance tests are limited in application, particularly in the tubing industry, because of the low measurement sampling rates that are used by instruments employing this technique. Use of the pulse-echo thickness measurement technique, is more prevalent today than the resonance method primarily because of its higher measurement sampling rate.
An air gage technique is commonly employed for measuring inside and outside tube diameters. Although the accuracy of this technique is high, it is quite slow and requires an internal probe, which may scratch the tube. It is not possible to measure wall thickness by the air gaging technique.
One technique which is used to perform the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness measurements simultaneously relies on the use of capacitance probes. This particular technique also requires contacting an inside probe to measure the internal diameter of the tubing. Generally, such a probe would have a tendency to scratch the tube surface and also restricts the speed at which the tube can be rotated while passing the transducers. Measurement of the wall thickness requires maintaining a very precise relative alignment between the inside and outside capacitance probes while the tube is conveyed past the probe. This is exceedingly difficult, particularly if the tube is rotated at a relatively high rpm.
Other disclosures of prior art ultrasonic techniques primarily used for measuring thickness of a workpiece are typified by the disclosure in the Berg et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,014. Other patents considered in connection with this invention include: Zemanek et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,585; Mitchell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,664; Weinbaum, U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,478.


An acoustic emission is a generally nonaudible noise caused by minute changes in a material or object due to stresses imposed thereon. Thus, when a material undergoes a permanent plastic deformation, it will generate a sound which may be monitored by ultrasensitive means.
This phenomenon can be used, for example, to monitor nuclear reactor vessels for material and structural failures such as fuel rod cracks. Since the bulk of acoustic emissions are inaudible, it is necessary to detect them by means of transducers which are placed at various locations on the surface of the object or vessel to be tested. The more sensors which can be present, then the greater the likelihood of detecting and locating a material failure. Therefore, the range of response and the cost of each individual transducer becomes of prime importance. Presently available transducers of sufficient sensitivity, typically piezoelectric crystals, usually only provide a narrow band of frequency response to acoustic emissions and are relatively quite expensive.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a transducer device for detecting acoustic emissions from objects.
Another object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive broadband detector of acoustic emissions.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method for detecting acoustic emissions from objects.


This invention relates to a maximum mileage indicator for providing information about the maximum mileage driving condition for the desired vehicle speed.
When a vehicle is intended to be driven under the maximum mileage condition, the reading of a vacuum gauge mounted on an instrument panel has been utilized since it has been believed that as the vacuum gauge indicates higher vacuum, the mileage becomes higher value. The term "mileage" herein used is defined as the ratio of the distance traveled to the fuel consumed (killometer per liter). However, the above relationship between mileage and vacuum holds only for the same gear ratio, since the same vehicle speed may have different gear ratios from the first gear (low gear) to the fourth gear (top gear). At the same vehicle speed, the first gear offers the highest vacuum reading and the fourth gear offers the lowest vacuum reading, so that it is most preferable for the maximum mileage driving to take the lowest gear ratio and to drive a vehicle at a speed as low as possible. This does not meet the primary requirement for a vehicle design that it is to be driven at the desired vehicle speed with the proper gear ratio selected as occasion demands. Therefore, the reading to the vacuum gauge has been able to be used only for a mere reference.


This invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the quantity of a liquid or gas flow, especially a low-boiling liquid gas, through liquid outlet means of a storage tank provided with liquid inlet and outlet means.
A method for measuring the quantity of flow of a liquid is known wherein a baffle is disposed in the current flow, whereby there is a pressure drop in the flow of the liquid past the baffle and this pressure drop can be measured by conventional means. The pressure drop, along with the known throughflow rate of the baffle, can be utilized with the aid of Bernoulli's theorem and the continuity relation for calculating the fluid quantity.
A disadvantage of this method is the inaccurate measurement of smaller quantities of fluid flows. Furthermore, in measuring the quantity of fluid flow of a low-boiling liquid gas which is near its boiling point, increased evaporation losses occur due to the pressure drop in the baffle, having a disadvantageous effect on the result of the measurement.


This invention relates to electromechanical transducers and, more particularly, to a transducer configuration employing a number of separate transducers for monitoring a plurality of different pressure sensitive areas.
Pressure transducers employing semiconductor devices as piezoresistors are in wide-spread use and serve to measure force or pressure in a number of different environments.
One particular application is the use of such devices for measuring pressures or forces exerted on a model placed in a wind tunnel to define flow phenomenon. As such, the ultra-minature transducers or those employing piezoresistive bridge configurations, mounted on silicon diaphragms of between 0.25 to 0.03 inches or less, have received widespread use in wind tunnel applications for measuring pressure fluctuations in the local outside area of inlet/engine subsystems.
There are many considerations employed in the design and fabrication of transducers for such environments and a good review of such requirements may be had by referring to a publication entitled NOTES ON APPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATED SENSOR (IS) PRESSURE TRANSDUCER, Published by Kulite Semiconductor Products, Inc. as Application Note KPS-AN11. This publication contains a series of articles depicting and defining transducer requirements for wind tunnel tests and the like.
In any event, a wind tunnel or similar test on an engine, or an airplane part requires the measuring and monitoring of pressure at a relatively large number of points about and along the test object.
The prior art utilized many approaches to accomplish this. Separate transducers for each point could be employed, but present a problem in regard to calibration of each device, offset differences between each transducer due to manufacturing techniques and so on.
Another widely used approach was employing one or more high quality transducer assemblies and using the single assembly to monitor a plurality of points by mechanically switching a plurality of pressure tubes coupled between the transducer and each point to be monitored.
This system employed mechanical scanners, valves to close or open the pressure ports and so on. The mechanical switching assemblies and the valves experience high failure rate and are difficult and expensive to maintain.
Furthermore, the rate of mechanical scanning is substantially limited due to mechanical operation as well as the necessity of allowing the transducer to equalize each time a new pressure point is accessed. For example, if one high quality transducer is switched between varying pressure points, it is possible that the point may be at a pressure of 100 psi and the next succeeding point may be at a pressure of 10 psi or ten times less.
The transducer employs a moving diaphragm, has hysteresis and the system has inertia. Hence, if the scanning rate is fast, the output will be incorrect since the reading of the transducer will be determined by the previous pressure.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a multiple pressure transducer configuration having the capability of monitoring a plurality of pressure points by a plurality of individual transducers, fabricated by similar techniques and mounted in a common housing, thus subjecting all the transducers to a similar environment.


This invention relates to sampling of fluid within a closed system, and more particularly, to a fitting of the type which allows sampling of said fluid, meanwhile maintaining the system in its closed condition.
The testing or trouble shooting of a mechanical apparatus such as power plant or engine often involves sampling the temperature and/or pressure of fluids within a closed system of the apparatus. These fluids may take the form of cooling, lubricating, or fuel agents, and variations in their temperature and/or pressure can indicate if the apparatus is functioning properly.
In order to sample a closed system fluid, it is the general practice to attach a fitting or valve of some type to a portion of the system carrying the fluid. Since the fluid will, of necessity, be exposed to the atmosphere for some limited period of time during connection of the fitting, the system or apparatus must be shut down to prevent loss of fluid and/or to prevent a safety hazard to personnel working on the system. Shutdown of the system or apparatus is time-consuming and often requires an additional running time to ring the fluid back to operating temperature or pressure after shutdown.
Additionally, connection of a fitting to the system generally results in some loss of fluid which must be replaced after the connection is completed.


The desire for the conversion of rotary motions to cyclic linear motions or the reverse has realized its value in various arts. The object of several of these arts has been to pump or deliver fluid with a mechanical rotary input and conversely, to rotate a shaft with a cyclic linear input force. In many of these devices, the pressure flow and torque-speed concept is of primary importance and the ability to provide a smooth power transmission during the conversion process has also been a problem. With applicant's device the basic objects are to provide a mechanism that may be operated at relatively rather low speed and a unit wherein the timing situation is automatically compensated for by the motor output-speed demands if necessary.
The basic object of applicant's invention is to provide a device which will convert rotary motion to a cyclic linear motion but wherein the cyclical situation will not provide a horsepower ripple that would result in any deterring factors.
It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a unit which is capable of converting a linear input whether the input be mechanical or by other means, to a rotary output.
It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a motion converting device which is capable of utilization as a pump or motor but which more important thatn that consideration is the conversion of a linear motion to a rotary motion.
It is still a further object of applicant's invention to provide a motion converting device capable of converting linear to rotary or rotary to linear motion with a minimal energy transformation ripple.


The endless power transmission belt industry is a highly competitive one and there is a continuing effort to provide endless belts suitable for their associated applications yet at minimum cost. Many of such belts are expensive because numerous comparatively expensive materials are employed to arrive at the desired belt performance. Others of such belts are expensive because the materials employed are not compatible with each other and there is considerable processing required to arrive at an acceptable belt structure.
This invention provides a simple and economical endless power transmission belt structure and method of making same wherein a plurality of thermoplastic elastomeric layers are employed which are compatible with each other and built up to define a belt structure and such layers having properties which are different from properties of adjoining layers with each layer being particularly suited for the location and arrangement thereof in the belt structure.
Other details, uses, and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent from the embodiments thereof presented in the accompanying specification, claims, and drawing.


The invention relates to power transmission belts, but more particularly, the invention relates to an endless tensile member for power transmission belts.
Textile cords have been used as a tensile member in power transmission belts. Cord bundles for early belts were spun or twisted from staple fibers such as cotton. The tensile strength of such cord bundles is greatly influenced by the frictional forces achieved by twisting the staple fibers together. In many cases, the cord bundles with a greater tensile strength also had longer staple fiber lengths. The prickly ends of the fibers extending from the cord bundles formed a mechanical bond with the polymeric material of the belt which improved the tension carrying capacity of the cord by increasing the force at which the fibers would slip relative to each other.
The load carrying capacity of power transmission belts was greatly improved with the advent of cord bundles made from synthetic yarns of continuous multi-filaments. It was and currently is theorized that improved belt performance results from the substitution of staple fibers with filaments that extend continuously throughout the length of the belt to substantially eliminate slippage between filaments forming the cord bundle.
While the multi-filament synthetics greatly improved the load carrying performance of a power transmission belt, the early synthetics introduced some problems. Synthetic materials such as rayon were produced in multi-filament fashion and then purposely chopped, combed, oriented and twisted into a synthetic staple cord bundle. The fibers of this synthetic staple were purposely made longer to reduce slip between the twisted fibers. Although the twisted staple cord bundle did not have the tensile strength of its corresponding multi-filament counterpart, belts produced with such cord bundles were smoother running because of a reduced cord modulus.
For example, ten belts with a staple rayon cord bundle tensile member and ten belts with a multi-filament rayon cord bundle tensile member were built and tested. Except for the tensile members, the belts had substantially the same constructions. In accelerated tests, the belts with the multi-filament rayon tensile member had average lives of 195 hours whereas the belts with the staple rayon tensile member had average lives of 48 hours.
Newer synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester have a more satisfactory modulus which eliminates the need for producing staple cords for belts where shock loading is a problem. The new synthetic fibers lead the way for producing belts of even higher load carrying capacity than was formerly achieved. Most power transmission belts presently produced use cord bundles of the continuous multi-filament type.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,870 to Schnackenberg discloses a cord bundle, a combination of continuous multi-filament and pseudo staple fibers for use with power transmission belts. The cord is produced by disassociating a plurality of end portions from a multi-filament cord bundle. Improved belt performance is believed to result from improved mechanical bonding of the tensile member with the polymeric material of the power transmission belt. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that a multi-filament cord bundle with a predominate number of continuous filaments is better as a tensile member than a cord bundle of twisted staple fibers.
The present art also uses adhesives and chemical agents to further enhance bonding between the polymeric material of a belt and the tensile member of spirally wound cord. Thus, the present belt art takes advantage of continuous multi-filament cord bundles and chemical agents or adhesives to effect power transmission belts of high performance.
Perhaps one reason why belts with staple fiber cord bundles do not have the equivalent load carrying capacity as belts having a multi-filament cord bundle, is that the individual staple fibers are stressed past their yield point when power is transmitted. For example, assume that two such staple fibers are twisted together. If the fibers are tensioned, each end of the fiber will be unstressed while the center portions of the fiber are stressed. The tensile load stresses must be less than that force which is required to separate adjacently twisted fibers.
Next assume that two staple fibers in pseudo being parallel and twisted together at their end portions where the center portion of one fiber is taut while the center portion of the fiber is slackened. When a tensile load is applied to the fibers, the taut fiber will be overstressed while the slackened fiber will have zero stresses. If this tension load is that which is required to transmit power with a V-belt, the taut fiber may become over-stressed and break. A cord bundle of twisted, staple fibers will have a multitude of fibers in such an arrangement.
When staple fibers are adhered together such as with polymeric material of a power transmission belt, they do not easily slip relative to one another to give each fiber its proportional share of a tensile load. The originally taut fibers may be relatively over-stressed so that slack will be taken from the slackened staple fibers so they can share in transmitting a load. Thus, some fibers will be highly stressed whereas other staple fibers of the cord bundle will be lowly stressed.
Belt life may be increased in some drives by lowering the modulus of the tensile member. Generally, the type of drive where increased belt life may be accomplished is those drives where small diameter sheaves are used. An example of such a drive is a front end automotive drive. Belt life may be increased by lowering the modulus provided that the reduction in stresses achieved by lowering the modulus is greater than the strength loss resulting from the change to a lower modulus material.
A reduction in modulus may be achieved in generally two ways. First, a lower modulus material may be used for the multi-filament cord bundle. Any gain in belt life because of a lower modulus may be predicted.
Secondly, a staple cord bundle may be made from a synthetic fiber of substantially the same modulus. When this is done the modulus of the cord bundles is reduced. Heretofore, the loss in modulus from use of staple fibers has always been greater than the reduction in stress concentrations that may have been gained. It is believed that this is because of the parallel filament loading concept discussed above. Thus, prior art power transmission belts with staple fibers have not had as good of belt life as power transmission belts built with multi-filaments of the same material.


This invention generally relates to safety devices for vehicle drivers, and more particularly to a steering wheel having means for protecting a driver from shocks or impacts which would otherwise be imposed on the head of the driver during an accident such as vehicle collision.
Where a steering wheel of a shock absorbing construction is used in combination with a three-point restraining seat belt system for the purpose of protecting a vehicle driver against impacts or shocks as would occur as a result of a vehicle collision or other dangerous accidents, the body of the driver is retrained in the seated position by the seat belt system at the time of, for example, collision, while the head of the driver is turned around at the neck portion and thrown violently against the hub or spokes of the steering wheel. The turned head of the driver undergoes a sudden deceleration when hit upon the steering wheel and receives a serious damage as a consequence.
More particularly, the prior art steering wheels with a shock absorbing construction invariably contemplate to protect drivers against possible damages by means of a resilient material which is provided on the steering wheel to give cushioning effects and to act as a shock absorber at the time of vehicle collision. However, it has been found that sufficient shock absorption cannot be expected with the cushioning action of the resilient material alone and the driver's head still undergoes a sudden deceleration as a result of crashing on the hub or spoke of the steering wheel.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a power transmission apparatus comprising two control systems for transmitting power to the power shaft connected to a load shaft, one of the two systems being an automatic control system for transmitting power from a motor and the other being a manual control system for manually transmitting power, wherein the power transmission through the manual control system precedes that through the automatic control system and the power transmission through said manual control system can be automatically switched, when it is stopped, to that through the automatic control system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most of the conventional apparatus of this type are provided with automatic-manual switching mechanisms for determining whether to transmit the power to the power shaft either through the automatic control system or through manual control system. However, the apparatus provided with such automatic-manual switching mechanisms are likely to result in mis-switching action by an unexpected external force applied thereto. In order to prevent the accidents that may be caused by such mis-switching operations, a power transmission apparatus has been proposed which transmits the power to the power shaft through either of the automatic or manual control without utilizing the automatic-manual switching mechanisms (for instance, Japanese Pat. No. 605,743). Such apparatus, however, have extremely complicated structures, require high accuracy in the fabrication and are, consequently, expensive.


The thread rolling process has been widely accepted as a means of forming external threads accurately, quickly and inexpensively. Production rates have reached six hundred parts per minute. The product so manufactured has superior physical qualities to that produced by machining. Significant material savings are realized since a blank is utilized having an outside diameter which is less than the outside diameter of the threaded fastener to be formed. This invention relates primarily to flat dies for such thread rolling processes and particularly to dies for rolling those threaded fasteners which have both a straight section and a point section. Other applications may include planetary dies for the rolling of such dies.
Such dies have been relatively expensive to manufacture because of the necessity of making multiple passes either with a grinding wheel or a milling cutter to individually produce each groove. The individual machining or grinding has been necessary because the face surface of the die which contacted the workpiece comprises two generally planar surfaces; the first generally planar surface disposed on the face of the die in substantially parallel relationship to the axis of the straight section of the workpiece and the second generally planar surface also disposed on the face of the die which contacts the workpiece. As viewed from one end of the die, the angular relationship between the two generally planar surfaces is equal to the angle between the straight section and point section of the finished screw.
The intersection of the first and second generally planar surfaces defined a line parallel to the direction of relative movement between the pair of dies utilized to form a single screw. Because the ridges disposed on the first and second generally planar surfaces of the face are obliquely disposed with respect to the intersection of the first and second generally planar surfaces, each ridge in the first generally planar surface was disposed in the same plane as the intersection of the first and second generally planar surfaces, which is sometimes referred to as the heel line, and each ridge is disposed at an angle to the direction of movement substantially equal to the helix angle of the thread to be rolled. Each ridge on the second generally planar surface is an extension of a ridge on the first generally planar surface. It is not feasible to use a multipoint cutter or grinding wheel to simultaneously generate all of the ridges in this configuration because the multipoint tool, as it progresses obliquely with respect to the heel line, will generate grooves of unequal depth if any attempt is made to obliquely pass over the "heel line."
The single point tools which have been typically utilized are controlled by means of cams or other mechanical apparatus to follow a predetermined rise and fall path which imparts a contoured thread forming surface into the die working face. The number of milling cuts or grinding cuts that must be made in single point generation of the die working face is determined by the length and pitch of the thread which is to be rolled by the die being made.
It is apparent that the mechanism for imparting the described rise and fall path, as well as the time involved in repetitively cutting each individual groove while describing the referred to rise and fall path, results in a relatively expensive manufacturing process.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for screwing and unscrewing the bottoms of watch casings, comprising a stand bearing a rotatable spindle provided with a tool for tightening and untightening watch-case bottoms.
The apparatus of the above mentioned type are known per se. They are generally provided with means, in most of the cases screw means, permitting rapid adjustment in the height of the spindle. However, when the apparatus is in use, the spindle rotates freely in the stand, without effecting any axial movement. The result is that, during the screwing of a bottom of a watch casing, it is necessary, after a certain number of revolutions, to adjust the axial position of the spindle, by means of the rapid adjusting means, otherwise the bottom disengages itself from the tool so that it slips within the tool. Such improper tool engagement results, on the one hand, in failure of the watch-case bottom to be correctly tightened and, on the other hand, gives rise to the danger of damaging the outer surface of the bottom. During the unscrewing of the bottom, it is also necessary to adjust the axial position of the spindle, after a certain number of revolutions, otherwise the bottom moves axially up against the tool and binds against it.
The purpose of the present invention is to remove these drawbacks.


1. Field of the Invention:
The theft resistant combination lug nut apparatus of the present invention relates to a nut for locking a tire rim to a wheel and which requires a special key device for removal thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
As disclosed in my parent application, with the polularity of relatively expensive custom-made tire rims, many efforts have been made to provide a convenient means for locking such rims to the wheel but which provide for convenient and rapid removal thereof in the advent of a flat tire on such rim, thus necessitating replacement thereof by a spare tire. Since flat tires are frequently experienced in darkness and in inclement conditions, it is important that any key device to be used on a combination lug nut be easily fitted thereon with a minimum of inconvenience and tend to remain engaged with the nut during tightening thereof to avoid disengagement and consequent cracking of the operator's knuckles. Many efforts have been made to solve this problem and one such effort led to the proposal of a cylindrical nut having axially extending and radially outwardly opening grooves along one side thereof and registerable with a key device having complementarily positioned axially extending ribs formed on the interior thereof. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,447,564 and a somewhat similar groove and rib construction was shown in my parent application. However, I have learned that devices of this type suffer the shortcoming that there must be a close fit between the nut and key device, thus requiring critical axial and rotative alignment between the nut and key device in order to start the key device onto the nut and to prevent galling between the ribs and grooves during telescoping of such key device onto the nut. While a shroud may be installed over a lug nut of this type to assist in axially aligning the key device with the nut, such an arrangement would be practically unfeasible because of the inconvenience of installing such shroud and the likelihood of such shroud being deformed during use, thus preventing insertion of the key device. Obviously, acorn nuts having bell-shaped bonnets thereon are not formed with bearing rings having facets arranged in a selected pattern thereon so would present little difficulty in removal by a would-be thief.


Electronic music systems of the keyboard-type heretofore constructed have been primarily of the analog type in that most of the signals to be processed are analog signals. As a result it has been difficult to provide for the programming of certain operations such as the operation of the envelope generators.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electronic musical system that is under digital control by means of a voice code that controls many variables and interconnections associated with the system. Regarding the envelope generators, for example, in the present invention memory means, preferably in the form of read only memories, are associated with the generators for controlling such variables as envelope wave-form attack and decay. The attack time constant, for example, is varied in dependence upon the selected voice code which in turn usually corresponds to the desired instrument voice.
Another object of this invention is to provide digital keyboard circuitry that is compatible with the digital voice code control of the system and that is characterized by a sequential interrogation scheme for determining which key is being played which is in turn represented by a predetermined key and octave code.
A further object of this invention is to provide improved keyboard circuitry for generating a key and octave code and which is readily adaptable for use in a polyphonic musical system.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved audio waveform generator comprising a digital controlled oscillator having components thereof that are required to operate only over a one octave range thereby providing improved operation consistent with the ability to apply variable portamento or glissento across several octaves (three octaves in illustrated case).


In organs generally, it is conventional to actuate a number of tones upon depressing a given key. In many types of electrical organs, electrical tone generators may be keyed by means of an electrical switch connected between the tone generator and a source of direct current potential, the switch being actuated in response to depressing of one of the keys of the keyboard of the musical instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,603 of Nov. 2, 1971, entitled "CHIFF CIRCUITS FOR ELECTRONIC ORGANS" of Wayne and Meyer, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,587 of May 2, 1972, entitled "ELECTRONIC ORGAN KEYING CIRCUITS" of Martin disclose an electrical organ in which a single pole single throw key switch activates two photoelectric tone sources, corresponding, for example, to a main tone component and a chiff tone component of the organ tone through two parallel envelope circuits. As more fully described hereinafter, FIG. 1 illustrates such a system.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,223 to Wayne discloses an electrical organ in which certain pipe organ simulated tones decay at a pitch which is flat with respect to the steady-state pitch. In the organ of the Wayne patent, however, this is accomplished by driving, at the steady-state pitch, a resonant circuit which is tuned flat with respect to the steady-state pitch, so that when the key switch is opened and the driving signal terminates, the resonant circuit produces a decaying electrical signal at the resonant frequency of the circuit which is flat with respect to the steady-state pitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,413 to Markowitz entitled "ELECTRIC ORGAN WITH TRANSIENT SPEECH EFFECTS" is also an example of an electrical organ in which a single key is utilized to excite a plurality of tone sources through separate keying circuits connected in parallel with the keying circuit of the principal tone.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hydraulic controller for controlling the operation of a plurality of hydraulically operated devices in a predetermined sequence of individually adjustable timed intervals of operation for each such device. Machine operations, operated by such hydraulically operated devices, may be controlled in predetermined sequence with the timed interval of each given operation being controlled by corresponding control members of the controller which are individually adjustable for varying the length of intervals of operation for each of the machine operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of control devices have been developed heretofore for controlling the operation of pilot valves, switches and other similar devices. Examplary of such controllers are the prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,404,227; 3,428,085 and 3,444,896. In these prior controllers, means have been provided for controlling the operation of associated pilot valves or switches in response to the operation of electrical motors, pneumatic motors and hydraulic motors. However, none of these devices have been found to be acceptable, or suitable, for use in controlling the operation of hydraulically operated devices such as are present in many presently used complex machines used in various production operations. By way of example, various known machines are employed in performing injection molding vacuum forming, blow forming, rotational molding and similar production operations which require the operation of various hydraulically operated mechanisms in a predetermined sequence. Generally, the hydraulic ram and cylinder utilized for opening and closing molds, moving turrets, etc. are in turn operated by hydraulically operated pilot valves. Such pilot valves typically are in turn operated by various solenoids, relays and associated electrical circuitry. The typical system for operating a complicated vacuum forming machine, or the like, usually includes a very complex electrical and hydraulic system including a large number of such relays, solenoids, pilot valves, etc. in addition to the main operated hydraulic devices performing the machine operations.
In view of the foregoing, it has been recognized that there is a real need for a hydraulically operated control device, suitable for being powered from the hydraulic fluid supply of the machine, for directly operating the various hydraulically operated devices of the machine which are performing the machine operations. Such a hydraulic controller would eliminate the necessity of complicated electrical circuitry, solenoids, relays and other associated electrical equipment as well as the inherent time delay attendant the necessary step-by-step operation of such components in a complicated electrical system. It has further been recognized that such hydraulic controller should be relatively easy to operate and should provide for the operation of the various machine operations in timed intervals, in a predetermined sequence and wherein the individual machine operations can be operated for selectable intervals of operating time.


There is disclosed in the patent application, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,471, issued May 25, 1971, in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 143,391, filed May 14, 1971, now abandoned and in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 433,978, filed Jan. 16, 1974, a collapsible cellular box partition and the method and apparatus for the continuous manufacture of such partition respectively. Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 293,941, filed Oct. 2, 1972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,999, issued June 4, 1974, discloses and claims the apparatus for combining such collapsible cellular partitions with a box blank to form a collapsed shipping container which can be set up into a partition box while the present application discloses and claims the method carried out by the apparatus of the copending application Ser. No. 293,941 and the new uses of such apparatus for combining other forms of partitions with a box blank and making a double wall thickness box.


The present invention relates to a new and improved method of applying data to a workpiece, especially to a bevel gear, wherein determination of the data occurs at a testing machine, especially a contact reflection testing machine, and the data is further transmitted to a marking or designation device and by means of such marking or designation device is applied to the workpiece. Furthermore, the invention is concerned with a new and improved construction of apparatus for the performance of the aforesaid method.
It is known for the application of data or other significant information to workpieces to imprint such workpieces with the data at the testing machine where such data has been ascertained, ink being used as the printing agent. A drawback of this technique is that the marking unit or device must be mounted at the testing machine, rendering more difficult actuation and supervising of the testing machine. A further drawback resides in the fact that the function of the marking unit is impaired. Additionally, when ink is used as the printing agent such does not furnish any really resistant labeling or marking, and a durable printing agent, such as for instance an etching agent a cannot be employed because of the danger of corrosion when the marking unit is mounted at the testing machine, e.g. the contact reflection testing machine. Finally, the testing machine is occupied for a much longer period of time by a workpiece, for instance the pair of bevel gears, when the marking operation occurs at the testing location.


The present invention relates to printing presses, e.g. a lithographic printing press having an ink fountain, and relates in particular to apparatus for displaying the performance of a printing press to an operator for purposes, for example, of adjusting the press. In the prior art, printing presses commonly have been made employing a plurality of ink rate adjustment devices, such as ink keys distributed laterally across the width of the press, to adjust the rate at which ink is supplied to various lateral portions of the rolls of the press, and therefore to the paper being printed. One such system displays simultaneously the settings of all of the ink control devices of a printing unit, with the settings displayed side by side in the same order as the ink control devices themselves are arranged across the width of the printing press, and with an interpolating dot at the end of each setting display when appropriate, but not in combination with a density deviation display as herein.
Printing presses have been equipped in the past with optical densitometers that measure the reflection density of printed areas on the paper to monitor the ink density. A densitometer of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,725 issued Sept. 4, 1973, made a part hereof by reference, in which presettable reference levels are provided for automatic comparison with reflection density readings that are made by the densitometer. In still other equipment of the prior art, analog strip chart recorders have been connected with the printing presses to record traces of deviations of densitometer measurements from predetermined set points; these charts give the user a visual indication of a number of recent measurements of reflection density.


The present invention relates generally to site markers, distress signals, rescue beacons and the like, and more particularly, to a rocket-deployed, tethered signal balloon as a pin-point location marker.
At present, no reliable system exists to deploy a long duration rescue signal, such as a balloon, under extreme conditions. The need for such a signaling device becomes evident when one considers the problems of locating a pilot downed, for example, in a hostile environment or dense jungle terrain. Existing systems include smoke bombs, parachute flares shot from a pistol, radio beacons, xenon flashers and the like, but these are not effective in all situations. Smoke bombs and parachute flares are not particularly of long duration and, therefore, must be employed when a rescue craft is in sight. Radio beacons and xenon flashers are longer lasting, but may be employed only in open areas to be effective. Present balloons are unsatisfactory since they are inflated at ground level and must be deployed manually to a height that can be seen by rescue craft, thus precluding their use in densely overgrown locations since the inflated balloon will probably be snagged or snarled by the vegetation before an effective deployment height can be achieved. Automatic balloon deployment systems have the additional disadvantages of not permitting the user the flexibility of when and where to deploy the marker, an important consideration if the user is under hostile surveillance at the distress location.
The instant invention obviates the disadvantages of existing signaling systems by providing a long-duration, balloon marker packaged into a self-contained, compact, portable system which is deployed from a tube by a hand-fired rocket to a considerable height before inflation is automatically initiated and remains tethered to the tube. This permits marker deployment when and where desired by the user, and the rocket deployment of the packaged balloon ensures clearance of all obstacles before inflation.