Electric Power Research Institute Incorporated

Other

The United States of America As Represented by the United States

Battelle Memorial Institute

The United States of America

Exxon Nuclear Company, Inc.

Thomas J Davis

Charles B Perry

James T Russell

H Dale Collins

Gerald J Posakony

James M Prince

B Percy Hildebrand

Ralph R Harvey

A bucket waste bag holder accessory that includes a support ring with a pendent skirt with at least two legs attached or formed on the front surface of the support ring or pendent skirt. Formed on the distal ends of each leg is a U-shaped clip configured to snap fit over the rounded top edge of a bucket. During installation, the top edge of a plastic bag is folded over the support ring and the pendent skirt and the closed end of the plastic bag is extended through a center opening. The legs are sufficiently spaced apart and extend downward from the support ring to support the top opening of the bag is a suspended, elevated position above the bucket while the closed end of the plastic bag rests inside the bucket. In one embodiment, the legs are configured to selectively rotate enabling them to attach to buckets with different top edges. An optional elastic strap may hold the plastic bag on the support ring and pendent skirt when filling the plastic bag with waste.

Bag accessory holder

A rodent trap system for alerting a user that a rodent has been trapped having a base panel, a top surface, three lips extending upwardly from three ends of the base panel wherein the lips create an enclosure, a lid pivotally attached to the second and third lips, an alarm housing on the base panel, a flange extending outwardly from the alarm housing formed by the lips which can pivot; a first half contact on a bottom surface of the flange, a second half contact on the top surface of the base panel, the contacts are connected to the actuator or solenoid and to a speaker in the alarm housing, wherein when the contacts contact each other they send an electrical signal causing the actuator or solenoid to pull a plunger to move the lid to the closed position and causing the speaker to emit the sound.

Rodent trap system with alarm

A portable yard waste bag system that includes a bag holding accessory that attaches to the top edge of a wheelbarrow that temporarily holds a yard waste bag in an opened position in the bucket. The accessory includes a top ring with a pendent skirt. The lower edges of the front section of the skirt curves around and connects to the top edge of a wheelbarrow. When assembled on the wheelbarrow, the lower edge of the skirt engages the bucket's front top edge while the top ring is held in a forward extending, diagonally position directly over the wheel. A waste bag is unfolded and extends through the top ring's center opening so that the bag's bottom end rests inside the bucket. The top edge of the bag is folded over the top ring. An optional lid is provided and connects over the top ring to close the bag.

Wheelbarrow mounted yard waste bag system

Counterbalancing mechanism for a garage door or other device in which a torsion spring end member is fastened to a second member to which it is connected during normal operation of the counterbalance by cooperating interfitting elements on the members which allow longitudinal movement of the end of the spring during a spring adjusting operation. The counterbalance hardware includes a self-locking winding mechanism for winding or unwinding one or more torsion springs which operates to fix one end of the spring connected thereto against movement during normal operation of the counterbalance. The structure connecting the ends of each torsion spring into the hardware is such that each end of the spring is always connected for rotation with either the torsion shaft of the counterbalance or the self-locking mechanism including during the adjustment or setting of the torsion in the springs. The mechanism is used in a novel method of setting or adjusting torsion spring tension in which the door is initially in a down position with the door unlocked and springs unwound. The springs are then wound to initially partly fit the door and then unwound to seat the door to establish the proper tension in the springs. Two springs are connected to the winding mechanism and are adjusted simultaneously.

Counterbalancing torsion spring mechanism for devices which move up and

An apparatus and method for imaging of structural characteristics in test objects using radiation amenable to coherent signal processing methods. Frequency and phase multiplication of received flaw signals is used to simulate a test wavelength at least one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the actual wavelength. The apparent reduction in wavelength between the illumination and recording radiation performs a frequency translation hologram. The hologram constructed with a high synthetic frequency and flaw phase multiplication is similar to a conventional acoustic hologram construction at the high frequency.

Non-destructive testing method and apparatus utilizing phase

An eddy current test apparatus and method in which multiple sequential test frequencies are employed. The voltage induced in a sensing coil at said test frequencies are multiplexed and frequency translated to provide a single frequency for processing. The apparatus employs a single channel to process the induced voltages.

Multi frequency eddy current test apparatus with intermediate frequency

Digitally controlled eddy current test apparatus for detecting flaws, their extent and location. The apparatus provides absolute and differential measurements. The apparatus employs multi-frequencies with the signals from the test coils mixed in a predetermined manner to reduce unwanted signals such as may be introduced by wobble (lift-off) and support plates.

Digitally controlled multifrequency eddy current test apparatus and

A system including a sensor and electronic instrumentation for measuring fission gas pressures inside a pressurized system or device or the like, such as a nuclear fuel rod. The system is based primarily on what is commonly known as the Villari effect which is the dependence of the magnetic permeability of certain magnetic materials upon applied stress, and permits pressure measurements to be made without any mechanical or physical penetration of the fuel cladding or end cap of the fuel rod. In a preferred embodiment pressure sensing is implemented by locating a sensor made from Villari sensitive material inside the pressurized system. The pressure places a stress loading on the sensor which in turn produces electrical output signals proportional to the applied stress. By sensing the initial magnetic permeability of the sensor, the difference between that sensed information and subsequently sensed similar information can be obtained, thereby providing an indication of any change in system pressure and the degree of such change. Such measurements can be made sequentially at multiple locations by placing an external electromagnetic search coil adjacent the internal sensor in the pressurized system such that the magnetic field of the search coil penetrates the containment wall of the pressurized system, thus interrogating the sensor and providing an appropriate readout which can be calibrated in terms of system pressure.

Magnetostrictive non-contacting pressure detection system

Method and apparatus for non-destructively testing fabricated metal components with eddy currents. The apparatus includes a coil for generating a magnetic field and means for concentrating the magnetic field into a small inspection volume in the component being tested. The magnetic field induces eddy currents in the component. The coil and the field concentrating means are moved in a manner to scan the component in a predetermined manner with the concentrated eddy currents.

Method and apparatus for non-destructively testing electrically

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for the precise linear rectification and envelope detection of oscillatory signals. The signal is applied to a voltage-to-current converter which supplies current to a constant current sink. The connection between the converter and the sink is also applied through a diode and an output load resistor to a ground connection. The connection is also connected to ground through a second diode of opposite polarity from the diode in series with the load resistor. Very small amplitude voltage signals applied to the converter will cause a small change in the output current of the converter, and the difference between the output current and the constant current sink will be applied either directly to ground through the single diode, or across the output load resistor, dependent upon the polarity. Disclosed also is a full-wave rectifier utilizing constant current sinks and voltage-to-current converters. Additionally, disclosed is a combination of the voltage-to-current converters with differential integrated circuit preamplifiers to boost the initial signal amplitude, and with low pass filtering applied so as to obtain a video or signal envelope output.

Precision envelope detector and linear rectifier circuitry

A method and apparatus for rotating cartesian coordinate signals x, y about an angle .theta..degree.. The apparatus converts the x, y signals into polar coordinate signals .sigma., .phi. and then changes the angle .phi. by .theta..degree..Theapparatus then converts the resulting signals back into cartesian coordinate signals x', y'.

Method and apparatus for rotating cartesian coordinate signals

A linear transducer array for transmitting and receiving acoustic waves in both pulse-echo and holographic modes of operation. For pulse-echo acoustic imaging the array includes a linear subarray of transmitting transducer elements disposed in a plane along a longitudinal axis. Each transmitting element has an elongate shape and a principal axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the array. For holographic imaging the apparatus further includes a removable mechanical shutter for blocking a predetermined portion of the principal axis of each of the transmitting elements so that a dispersive acoustic beam can be generated. The array also includes a linear subarray of receiving transducer elements coplanar with the transmitting subarray and disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis. The subarray of receiving elements is used to detect the reflected acoustic waves for both holographic and pulse-echo imaging.

Linear transducer array and method for both pulse-echo and holographic

A method and apparatus for amplitude sorting of oscillatory burst signals is described in which the burst signal is detected to produce a burst envelope signal and an intermediate or midportion of such envelope signal is sampled to provide a sample pulse output. The height of the sample pulse is proportional to the amplitude of the envelope signal and to the maximum burst signal amplitude. The sample pulses are fed to a pulse height analyzer for sorting. The present invention is used in an acoustic emission testing system to convert the amplitude of the acoustic emission burst signals into sample pulse heights which are measured by a pulse height analyzer for sorting the pulses in groups according to their height in order to identify the material anomalies in the test material which emit the acoustic signals.

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Richland, WA, United States of America

Thomas J Davis