Other

Rincon Industries, Inc.

John G Bowen

Stephen G Hauser

Eugene N Kovalenko

John M Groome

Apparatus and method for providing a self priming, self evacuating, cyclicly operating system in which liquid is disposed in a closed, fluid tight heating chamber for sterilization. Only a single parameter, temperature, is monitored to accomplish a desired liquid SAL. A pair of valves are singly and sequentially opened and closed within four phases (steps) to provide for liquid displacement. Operation cycles through four phases which include opening an inlet valve for filling the heating chamber, heating liquid to a predetermined temperature at which the liquid is sterilized to the desired SAL, opening an outlet valve whereby internally generated pressure delivers sterilized liquid to a dispensing container and a delay for keeping valve opening separate.

Self priming and evacuating liquid sterilizing system

A decor apparatus is based on a flexible panel. In the apparatus, a support structure includes a rail, and a flexible panel having an edge is attached to the rail, with the attachment between the rail and the edge including a plurality of discrete attachment points. A trim piece for the flexible panel is connected to the rail from between the attachment points. The trim piece overlays the attachment between the rail and the edge outside of a plane of the flexible panel.

Trim assembly for a flexible panel in a false ceiling

A method for flow-through aqueous liquid sterilization which employs apparatus operating at substantially fixed temperatures and pressures and variable flow rates through the apparatus for controllably processing aqueous liquids to achieve predetermined values of Sterility Assurance Levels (SAL's).

Methods for variably sterilizing aqueous liquids

A flow through aqueous liquid sterilization apparatus which employs substantially fixed temperatures and pressures and variable flow rates through the apparatus for controllably processing aqueous liquids to achieve predetermined values of SALs. This apparatus is also self-contained and self-cleaning using steam generated by reducing pressure during normal operation, as well as inhibiting growth of contaminating species during intermittent system shut-down periods.

Self-contained, self-cleaning aqueous liquid sterilizer

A flow through aqueous liquid sterilization apparatus which employs substantially fixed temperatures and pressures and variable flow rates through the apparatus for controllably processing aqueous liquids to achieve predetermined values of SALs.

Apparatus and method for variably sterilizing aqueous liquids

A false ceiling having flexible material connected to an elongate U-shaped beam or rail, the beam fixedly connected to existing trusses via clamps. The U-shaped beam has a pair of vertical flanges with inner surfaces for receiving an end portion of the flexible material. Strips of hook-and-loop material are fixed on the inner surfaces of the vertical flanges for gripping corresponding hook-and-loop material strips on the end portions of the flexible material. Lightweight foam blocks are sized to tightly fit between the pair of vertical flanges to assist the connection of the hook-and-loop material strips on the flexible material to the vertical flanges. A decorative cap is connected to the beam to cover the connections of the beam to the truss and to the flexible material.

Method of hanging a false cloth ceiling

A self-contained, single manual step unit for thermally sterilizing dental and medical instruments is disclosed. The unit, which requires only activation of a single manual switch and which controls an autoclaving cycle by monitoring temperature of matter which changes states between solid and liquid at a predetermined temperature, provides an effective autoclaving instrument. In disclosed embodiments, each unit comprises a protective housing with a pressure containing releasible lid, a heated vessel and a cooling assembly. Thermal regulation and autoclaving timing is determined by mass and thermal characteristics of the matter and by an electrical control circuit comprised primarily of electric heaters and thermally controlled switches. Steam for autoclaving is provided by capsules or other water containers disposed within a well of the vessel at the beginning of an autoclaving cycle. Also disclosed are parts containers or transporters or which may be displaced into the well along with contents to be sterilized. Such parts containers or transporters may be sharps containers, bags and medical device wraps. The bags may be bicompartmental in form wherein one of the compartments contains water and is perforateable to deliver autoclaving steam for sterilizing items disposed in the other compartment. Parts of sharps containers may be sealed together as a result of melting of synthetic resinous material resident on the sharps container during a sterilization cycle.

Methods and apparatus for sterilizing contaminated devices

A sterilization unit for dental handpieces and other instruments, and which finds utility in the sterilization of any surgical instrument, or the like, which breaks the skin or comes into contact with body fluids, and which are too delicate or have sharp edges which could become damaged in conventional present day autoclaves. The sterilization unit of the present invention combines heat, steam pressure and time in a precisely controlled manner so that the handpieces, or other surgical instruments are not damaged during the sterilization procedure. This is achieved by providing a total cycle time including cooling to a patient-ready condition of less than 20 minutes. A unique control system places the sterilizing chamber at a temperature which creates steam and pressure in a time frame that sterilizes the handpiece without damage to the turbine. Mineral-free water is flushed through the piping and turbine to clear out debris and insure sterilization and de-scaling of the inside as well as outside of each handpiece.

Sterilization unit for dental handpieces and other instruments

An electrically energized vaporizing unit for medications, room deodorizers, room scenting compounds, room insecticides, and the like, which is simple and inexpensive in its construction and which is compact in size. The vaporizing unit includes a housing having a central slot for holding a compressed paper fiber pad which is impregnated with the substance to be vaporized. The pad is heated by a pair of electrical heating elements which are located in the housing and positioned on opposite sides of the slot for maximum vaporizing efficiency of the pad. The housing may also contain paraffin wax. The melting point of the wax is selected to correspond to the vaporizing temperature of the particular substance in the pad. The vaporizing unit is provided with an electric plug which may be directly plugged into an electric receptacle to energize the PTC heating elements, and it does not require a switch or protective thermostat.

Vaporizing unit

An electrically energized soft contact lens disinfecting unit formed of a surfactant resistant plastic material to render the unit immune from attack by detergents used to clean the lenses prior to placing the lenses in the unit.

Soft contact lens disinfecting unit

An electrically energized evaporator and/or soft lens heating and disinfecting unit is provided which is compact in size in that it does not require a separate holder for the lenses. Instead, the unit itself forms the lens holder, and the holder has compartments for the left and right lenses and which are adapted to be filled with an appropriate saline solution, the compartments being heated by electrical heating elements to perform the desired disinfecting and sterilizing functions. These heating elements may take the form of positive temperature coefficient (PTC) elements. The unit is equipped with an electric plug which may be directly plugged into an electric receptacle to energize the heating elements.

A spare tank system for a motor vehicle is provided which may conveniently be coupled into the normal fuel line of the vehicle, and which comprises a conduit in which a valve and a fitting are mounted. During normal operation of the motor vehicle, the valve is in a first operating position, and the fuel from the normal fuel system flows through the fuel line and through the conduit to the engine without being impeded in any way. One or more closed cylinders, or other pressurized containers of fuel, such as gasoline, are also provided which may normally be carried in the trunk of the vehicle. Should the vehicle run out of gas, the valve is set to a second operating position, and the nozzle of the container is inserted into the fitting, so that fuel from the container may now flow through the conduit to the engine, with the normal fuel system being shut off.

Spare tank system for motor vehicle

An electrically energized heater is provided which has particular application as a dry disinfecting and sterilizing device for items such as soft lenses, dental handpieces, baby bottles, or the like, which cannot be placed in sterilizing solutions, and which cannot be subjected to excessive temperatures. The unit includes a housing, and a heat conductive substance such as wax, oil, or both, contained in the housing and used as a uniform heat transfer medium between electrical heating elements in the housing and the surface of a well which also is supported in the housing. The heater is generally applicable, and may be used to advantage, when it is desired to raise the temperature of an object or material to a particular disinfecting or sterilizing temperature for a given time period, and then to allow the temperature to cool down and return to ambient temperature condition, all without exceeding a critical temperature level, and without unnecessarily restricting the time period at which the particular disinfecting or sterilizing temperature is maintained. This is achieved in the heater of the invention by providing a manually resettable thermostatic switch immersed in the heat conductive substance which snaps off at the end of the given time period, and by also providing an automatic thermostatic switch immersed in the heat conductive substance and connected in series with the manual switch. The automatic thermostatic switch switches on and off during the given time period to hold the temperature below the critical level.

Heating unit for disinfecting purposes

A stationary display member which is mounted on the rotating hub cap of a wheel of a vehicle, such as an automobile, or other rotating member, is provided, which comprises a disc-like member coaxially mounted on the hub cap to be freely rotatable about the axis of rotation of the hub cap. The disc-like member has an internal chamber which is partially filled with a flowable material, such as mercury. The flowable material collects at the bottom of the chamber, and it forms an off-set weight which prevents the disc-like member from turning as the hub cap turns about is axis of rotation. A damping device is included in the chamber which coacts with the flowable material, and which damps out any tendency for the disc-like member to oscillate about the axis of rotation of the hub cap. An appropriate insignia, design, message, or other inscription, is imprinted or attached to the outer face of the disc-like member and which remains stationary as the hub cap rotates.

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Santa Ana, CA, United States of America

John G Bowen