Other

Alton Dean Medical

Eric Steckel

Larry D Rigby

Dixon Ford

Utility rack attachments for rack systems used with automobiles, trailers, or stationary objects are used to conveniently transport or store the same. The invented rack system is basically comprised of an easily mountable and slidable assembly unit designed for quick locking to a rail mounted to a vehicle or trailer that is in tow by a vehicle. In a typical setup a quick locking and unlocking assembly unit is mounted to each of two rails that are separated by a distance that is spanned by the load it is carrying or by a platform which carries the load. The slidable and fixable nature of a complete assembly enables a person to quickly mount and dismount it to a rail and position and reposition a load at any location along the rail thus making it very versatile to accommodate a range of objects to be transported.

Utility slidable rack-rail system

Bite-valves are synonymous with personal hydration systems. Their action is to provide regulation of fluid that is drawn from the hydration reservoir by supplying a vacuum or by sucking like on a straw. Bite valves are placed in line and usually at the end of the line with the tube or hose that communicates with the reservoir. Bite-valves are normally closed and are opened when the person performs a biting action on the valve itself. Bite valves should provide the user with a perfect seal, high flow characteristics, and be small in size. Slit-type valves today are kinematically inefficient and as a consequence their flow rates are relatively slow compared to the inventor's bite-valve. This valve made of elastomeric material incorporates two angled slits along opposing vertical edges that are perpendicular to the biting direction or action. The general shape of the cross section at the site of the slitted septum is rectangular. The rectangular geometric shape is important in the flow dynamics of this valve. The septum, set back from the orifice's edge, is concavely biased towards the exit and is slit vertically at an angle such that the aperture is narrower on the exit side than on the fluid side and its purpose is to promote sealing at positive fluid pressures. When the bite-valve is pinched as from a biting action the concavely biased septum folds on itself while the side walls bulge away from each other, and form two fluid paths of a semi-circular cross section, one on each side. In addition to the formation of two fluid paths they are smooth in transition from the tubular central path and allow for flow rates almost twice that of bite-valves with a single slit of similar size.

Angled-slit bite-valve

An endoscopic probe

A multi-functional endoscopic probe apparatus to selectively apply either a low or high frequency voltage to cut and cauterize. The apparatus has an elongated multi-lumen tube that is attached to a pistol grip having a multiplicity of functions contained thereon. The multi-lumen tube has a first lumen for the passage of either a high or a low pressure irrigation stream therethrough, a second lumen for suction to remove excess fluid and debris, and a third lumen for the passage of a slidably extendable and retractable electro-surgical cutting tip. The pistol grip handle has a wheel which enables the surgeon to rotate the multi-lumen tube containing the surgical cutting tip relative to the pistol grip. A plurality of push-button valves enable the selective application a negative pressure for withdrawing excess fluids and removing incident tissue debris from the surgical site and to operatively apply a flood irrigation stream or a precise irrigation stream to the surgical site to wash and cleanse the tissue. A multi-position electric switch directs either a low or a high frequency voltage to an electro-surgical cutting tip in order to cut and/or cauterized the tissue in contact therewith.

Growing community of inventors

Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America

Eric Steckel