Abstract:
A fiber optic zoom-and-dim pins-pot luminaire includes a tubular housing having a proximal end and a distal end having a composite macro lens on an optical axis. A light emitter slidably disposed in a support tube at the proximal end of the housing is a fiber optic light guide having a first end accepting light from a remote source of illumination and a second emitting light on the optical axis. The composite macro lens forms a principal focus at a first focal plane to produce a narrow beam. The macro lens includes a plurality of micro lenses contiguous with portions of the macro lens, each micro lens having a focus at a second focal plane axially displaced from the principal focus of the macro lens. The luminaire is zoomed to a progressively wider beam of uniform intensity by moving the light emitter along the optical axis from the first focal plane, at which the second focal plane is out of focus; to the second focal plane, at which the first focal plane is out of focus. By retracting the light emitter into the support tube, the light may be dimmed at any position in the zoom range, or may be zoomed to another beam width at any desired brightness.
Abstract:
An adjustable resistance upper body exerciser includes a generally arcuate belt (2) encircling the waist of a user and having a generally flat, rigid posterior central portion 3 and flexible anterior portions (4, 4a) including buckling means (5). A flexible inelastic cord (7) having a length and left and right ends (8, 8a) passes through an elongated guide means (12) attached to the belt, slidably retaining a central portion of the length the cord and leaving the right and left ends of the cord extending in the anterior direction. A snubber (15) is attached to the rigid posterior portion of the belt, contacting the slidable cord and applying an adjustable friction load to the slidably retained cord. A pair of handles (18, 18a) are attached to left and right ends of the cord, whereby a user wearing the belt encircling the waist may alternately pull said left and right handles with a tension force generally proportional to the friction load applied to the cord by the snubber.
Abstract:
A device for exercising the abdominal muscles which facilitates movement of the lower torso against a resistive force and in a complex arc which conforms to the normal forward arc of rotation of the spine comprising: a rigid shaft slidably disposed within a housing; arcuate thigh supports for maintaining the housing stationary with respect to a person's thighs; a handle generally transverse to and attached to a first shaft end; an elastic band positioned intermediate the ends of the shaft and for connecting the housing to a second shaft end so as to generate a resistive restoring force by pressing on the handle so as to displace the shaft relative to the housing in a direction from the first shaft end to the second shaft end, thereby executing a downstroke; a pivot positioned intermediate the ends of the shaft and for pivoting the upper portion of the shaft away from the torso as a downstroke is executed; a stop member for limiting displacement of the shaft with respect to the housing as the shaft moves in a direction from the second shaft end to the first shaft end, as an upstroke is completed; and a plurality of elastic bands for altering the amount of resistive restoring force.
Abstract:
A method for manufacturing a sculpture having simulated hair includes forming a rigid body of an animal figure having a plurality of small holes, cutting a plurality of lengths of metallic link chain to the desired length of hair strands for the body, soldering at least some of the chain links together with a metallic matrix having a lower melting temperature than the metal of the chain links, orienting the bonded chain links to style the chain into a preferred hair pattern, finishing the styled hair pattern chain with decorative metal plating or patina, and bonding the styled and plated chain hair pattern into the holes of the animal body.
Abstract:
A lighting fixture includes a reflector lamp having a bulb, a reflector and a bayonet base, a lampholder for holding and connecting the lamp having a proximal end connected to an external source of electrical power and a distal end supporting the base of the lamp. A generally radial flange is contiguous with the distal end of the lampholder and supports a contiguous cylindrical bulb reflector housing coaxially with the lampholder and extends beyond the bulb reflector in the distal direction. The bulb reflector has one or more rotational engagement notches engageable with a tool for installation or removal of the bayonet base of the lamp from the lampholder. A preferred embodiment has a torsion spring is disposed about a screw installed in each of two threaded transverse holes, with the springs having legs resiliently biased towards the distal end of the fixture. The cylindrical bulb reflector housing extends beyond the bulb reflector and is provided with an external radial flange at its distal end; whereby the fixture may be installed in a hole in a ceiling panel that closely fits the bulb reflector housing and the legs of the torsion spring apply force to a top surface of the ceiling panel to pull the external radial flange against the bottom surface of the ceiling panel to retain the fixture in the panel.
Abstract:
A tamper-evident child-resistant screw cap for a bottle has an internally threaded closure portion and a depending cylindrical skirt portion having a pair of diametrically spaced arc segments, frangibly attached to the skirt and flexurally attached to the open end of the closure portion. The arc segments have downward-facing ratchet dogs engaged with upward-facing ratchet teeth on the bottle neck. Each arc segment has an upstanding rigid lever which may be inwardly depressed to disengage the ratchet dogs from the ratchet teeth of the bottle neck, permitting first removal of the cap only after breaking the frangible attachments and depressing the levers while unscrewing the cap; thereafter permitting removal only by depressing the levers while unscrewing the cap, or by breaking off the levers and arc segments at their flexural attachments, thereby converting the cap to a non child-resistant configuration.
Abstract:
An elastic resistance exerciser comprises an an elongated elastic member having a loop formed at each end, a tubular handle slidably fit onto each loop of the elastic member, and a self-locking slider having three holes; with the elastic member slidably threaded through two of the holes and terminating the end of each loop in the third hole of each slider; the slider being adjustable along the elastic member, whereby the size of the loop may be varied by moving the slider with no tension on the loop, but self-locking by the application of tension to the loop. A preferred embodiment provides a band of flexible material attached approximately to the center of the length of an elastic member having more than one elastic element.
Abstract:
The invention comprises a surrogate weapon for simulating the sound and flash of gunfire having a combustion chamber system in which a primary chamber is an elongated cavity, having a proximal end closed with a head and an open distal end. A combustible mixture is injected via electronically timed hydrocarbon fuel and oxidizer pulses into the combustion chamber near the closed end through an annular injector having a plurality of spaced apart fuel and oxidizer nozzles. The fuel nozzles are axially spaced from the oxidizer nozzles and are closer to the head. Thus the injected fuel/oxidizer charge is stratified with a fuel concentration distribution preferentially being richer at an ignition source near the head. The open distal end of the combustion chamber is in the form of an annular convergent nozzle which also comprises the proximal end of a secondary chamber that is acoustically tuned and provided at its open distal end with an annular muzzle having a cross-sectional shape capable of controlling the fundamental frequency and modifying tuned frequency overtones of the acoustic signature.One embodiment provides the fuel nozzles as a plurality of radial grooves on the proximal side of a generally flat plate transverse to the primary combustion chamber cavity and having an aperture therethrough, the aperture being flush with the inner surface of the combustion chamber cavity, and also providing oxidizer nozzles as a plurality of radial grooves on the distal side of the flat plate.