An attenuated hinge spring assembly for a trunk lid of an automotive vehicle includes a coiled spring which is connected to a bracket secured to the vehicle, a threaded stud which is secured to the bracket, a plate which is slidably mounted on the bracket and the stud, a nut rotatably attached to said threaded stud and selectively secured to an arm, and a washer which lies between the plate and the nut. The plate lies adjacent to the coiled spring. The arm is pivotally connected to the trunk lid...

A self-drilling fastener for use with medium density wood panels, such as oriented strand board (OSB), having a head and first and second shank portions where the first shank portion includes threads for mating engagement with an OSB panel and the second shank portion substantially is formed as a taper shank flat drill which forms the drilling end of the fastener, the taper shank flat drill having conical shaped tapered portions, a triangular drill tip and a pair of wing portions formed on oppos...

For a combustion-powered, fastener-driving tool, a combined ignition and fuel system comprises a battery, two normally opened switches connected to the battery, namely a head switch and a trigger switch, a fuel injector including a solenoid and an associated circuit controlling the fuel injector to enable the fuel injector to inject a combustible fuel for a first time interval, a circuit for producing ignition, and a circuit for monitoring the head and trigger switches, for disabling the injecto...

For tying a compressed bale tending to expand primarily along a major axis, a bale tie made preferably from steel wire or alternatively from steel strap is bent to form two marcelled portions, which are characterized by sinusoidal undulations, which are oriented so as to be generally parallel to the major axis, and along which the tie can straighten to absorb tensile forces. A joint is formed at the opposite ends of the tie. Where bent to form the marcelled portions, the tie has an ultimate stre...

A moisture-resistant fastener, which may be incorporated as part of a bag, pouch, wrapper, or liner, or which may be used as a protective garment closure, includes a pair of flexible closure strips. The strips include interlocking ribs and channels of complementary cross-sectional shape which lock together in an interference fit. The ribs have enlarged heads, and, complementarily, the channels have enlarged bottoms. At least one of the enlarged heads and enlarged bottoms has an integrally formed...

An arrangement for mounting a gasket to a vehicle door handle housing is provided whereby the gasket and the housing can be easily and rapidly assembled together without requiring the use of a separate fastening operation. The handle housing is provided with grooves, and the gasket is provided with rib members. The rib members are adapted so as to be press fitted into the grooves so as to securely mount the gasket to the housing.

A seamless tube useful in making a roofing batten is extruded from a polymeric material consisting essentially of a major amount of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and a minor amount of at least one polyolefin, flattened in a vacuum sizer so as to define two plies, and milled and drawn so as to orient the tube longitudinally. As milled and drawn, the tube is oriented so as to have a tensile strength of at least about 25,000 psi in a longitudinal direction. The plies are punched so as to have holes ...

In a machine for dispensing stackable roofing washers individually and for driving fasteners through such washers, a shuttle is actuatable to displace a lowermost washer of one from a stack, either a small, circular or large, square washer. A gate is biased toward a lowermost position wherein it provides sufficient clearance for the lowermost washer but not any overlying washer to pass beneath it. A pawl mounted pivotally to the gate is biased to a lowermost position wherein the pawl engages a s...

A voltage protector and ground bar arrangement is provided for use with a telephone terminal block having at least two rows of terminals which are spaced apart from each other so as to form an elongated opening therebetween, The arrangement includes a housing for receiving a voltage suppressor, four terminal/fuse contacts, and a ground contact, A plug-in fuse carrier is disposed in the upper fuse portion of the housing, A grounding bar is disposed within the elongated opening of the terminal blo...

Improvements are disclosed in a machine for applying carrier stock of resilient polymeric material to substantially identical containers, each having an upper rim of a given diameter and a side wall of a larger diameter. The carrier stock has container-receiving apertures in longitudinal rows. A conveyor conveys the containers in longitudinal rows. A wheel assembly comprising two wheels with paired jaws receives the stock, stretches the stock transversely, and moves the stock downwardly past the...