Moldable explosives containing chlorinated and/or fluorinated oils and waxes are described which exhibit significant energetic characteristics while at the same time possessing desirable IM character. Such moldable explosives are potential replacements for the C4 compositions known and used in the art.

The present invention discloses a drive device for a rotor of s carousel door, In addition to a main drive motor (10), which has a main-drive-motor shaft (12), the drive device according to the invention comprises a secondary drive motor (12) with a secondary-drive-motor shaft (22). The main-drive-motor shaft (12) is coupled at least indirectly to the secondary-drive-motor shaft (22, 62) in terms of rotation, and therefore the secondary-drive-motor shaft (22, 62) is coupled to the rotor in terms of movement.

A batch reactor process for the synthesis of potassium 5,7-dinitro-[2,1,3]-benzoxadiazol-4-olate-3-oxide (KDNP) from 3-bromo-2,4,6-trinitroanisole (ETNA) includes adding BTNA to a reaction vessel containing potassium azide (KN3) and water (H2O). The resulting mixture is heated to 90° C. followed by cooling to room temperature and agitating the final solution. The precipitate KDNP product is recovered by filtration.

A method for processing explosives containing a high loading of CL-20 may advantageously include a binder system having naphthenic oil and/or paraffinic oil. Solid energetic ingredients are added into the binder system and mixed to form a free-flowing suspension in which the solid energetic ingredients are homogeneously mixed and coated with the binder system. The binder system is then cured and cast to form a cross-linked explosive.

Methods and systems for mixing propellant formulations are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method of mixing a solid propellant formulation includes placing a first component (e.g., a polymer or fuel) and a second component (e.g., an oxidizer of suitable particle size) in a mix vessel. The method further includes mixing the first and second components together by rotating the mix vessel about a first axis and, during at least a portion of the vessel rotation, revolving the vessel about a second axis spaced apart from the first axis. In one embodiment, the first axis can be a vessel spin axis, and the second axis can be spaced apart from the first axis so that the vessel revolves about the second axis in a planetary manner. In another embodiment, the vessel can rotate about the first axis in a first direction while revolving about the second axis in a second direction, opposite to the first direction.

An insensitive crystalline high explosive molding powder, usable as a booster HE. The subject insensitive crystalline high explosive molding powder being manufactured by adding the crystalline high explosive, and a polymer or wax based binder to a solvent to form a solution, spray drying the solution to drive off the solvent, thereby co-precipitating the HE and binder to form granules in which the crystals of HE are uniformly distributed in the binder.

The invention provides for a receptor, capable of binding to a target molecule, linked to a hygroscopic polymer or hydrogel; and the use of this receptor in a device for detecting the target molecule in a gaseous and/or liquid phase. The invention also provides for a method for detecting the presence of a target molecule in the gas phase using the device. In particular, the receptor can be a peptide capable of binding a 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) or 2,4,-dinitrotoluene (DNT).

A gas generating pyrotechnic composition that in addition to a primary fuel component and a primary oxidizer component includes critical relative amounts of elemental carbon and cupric oxide. Also provided are associated methods for producing an inflation gas for an occupant restraint system of a motor vehicle.

The invention is a composition for a high burning-rate solid rocket propellant, where the composition includes a binder compounded with a soluble energetic additive; a metallic fuel; and an oxidative fuel. The resulting composition has a tactical Class 1.3 hazard rating, and a linear regression rate that is substantially equivalent to a tactical Class 1.1 hazard rating obtainable using solid rocket propellants. The composition may include a heat-conducting element, a plasticizer, a curing component, a combustion catalyst, and curing catalyst.

Provided is a gas-generating material which can generate a gas in a large amount per unit time and has high storage stability. The gas-generating material 11a according to the present invention comprises a gas-generating agent that is an azo compound or an azide compound, a tertiary amine, a photosensitizing agent and a binder resin.

An energetic composition with controlled detonation having at least a first organic material and a second material, where the second material is a porous material (micro-, meso-, or macroporous), having a pore ratio of at least 10% and preferably greater than 50%, and the first material is, at least partially, infiltrated into the pores of the second material. A mixture containing such a composition, and a method for manufacturing such a composition and such a mixture. Additionally, a method for fragmenting or expanding a microporous material at nanoscale.

A binary exploding target package, a process of forming an exploding target from the contents of the binary exploding target package, and the exploding target formed therefrom. The binary exploding target package includes a first, target container and a second container. An oxidizer composition is contained within one of the containers and a catalyst composition is contained within the other container. An exploding target is formed by mixing the oxidizer and catalyst compositions, and introducing the mixture into the target container to form an exploding target just prior to using the exploding target as a target for a shooting exercise.

Disclosed is a high performance hydrocarbon fuel characterized by a hydrogen content greater than 14.3% by weight, a hydrogen to carbon atomic ratio greater than 2.0 and/or a heat of combustion greater than 18.7 KBtu/lb. The disclosed fuels generally have a paraffin content that is at least 90% by mass and a C12-C20 isoparaffin content of at least 40% by mass.

A gas generating system (24) is provided including a gas generant container (34) and an initiator (28). A gas generant composition (32) is placed within the container (34) in ignitable communication with the igniter (28). A molecular sieve (33) is positioned within the housing 17 combined within the gas generant composition (32), or external of the gas generant (32) but in reactive proximity or vapor communication therewith. A seatbelt device (150) and a vehicle occupant restraint system (180) incorporating a gas generating system as described herein are also disclosed.

The pyrotechnic smoke kit for generating a smoke screen comprises a mixture of a light-metal powder as the metallic reduction agent; potassium nitrate and, optionally, potassium perchlorate as the main oxidation agent; at least one carbonate as an additional auxiliary oxidation agent; substances splitting off nitrogen as combustion moderators and at least one sublimable and/or evaporable non-toxic smoke-forming substance. A stabilizer from the group of aliphatic and/or aromatic dicarboxylic acids is added to the mixture of the smoke kit to stabilize the smoke kit. Due to this, the formation of gaseous ammonia in the smoke kit can be prevented.

Disclosed is a frame assembly including a framing member and an extrusion member. The frame assembly further includes a sheet having a graphic thereon. The sheet includes a gasket at a perimeter thereof, and the gasket is positioned in a channel of the extrusion member such that the channel supports the sheet.

A system for attaching a shade material to a roller having recesses in its surface includes inserting portions of the shade material into an associated elongated recess and retaining the material in the recess with an attachment member having peaks and valleys along its length for intermittent engagement with the material within the recess.

A wall mounted ironing board cabinet has a door on two-way sliders enabling cabinet “opened-to-the-right,” “closed” and “opened-to-the-left” conditions. The sliding door and ironing board hardware afford a cabinet which maximizes the number of possible locations of the cabinet in a room, minimizes the depth of the protrusion of the closed cabinet into the room and renders the door outer surface adaptable to uses unrelated to the storage and support of an ironing board. The ironing board hardware also allows user selection of the ironing board surface level from multiple available intervals.

A vertical quilt basting frame (100) enables an improved quilting experience. The frame (100) includes four frame members (105, 110, 115, 120) defining a rectangle. At least one leg member (125) extends from at least one of the frame members (105, 110, 115, 120). A plurality of fabric side panels (150, 155, 160, 165) are attached to each of the four frame members (105, 110, 115, 120), wherein the fabric side panels (150, 155, 160, 165) define a workspace window (170) inside of the rectangle.

The method for operating a multi-clothes styler system having a first styler and a second styler each with a hanger for applying vibration to clothes hung therefrom, includes an antiphase control step for controlling a vibration phase of a second hanger of the second styler to become an antiphase of the vibration phase of a first hanger of the first styler, if the first hanger of a first clothes styler and the second hanger of a second clothes styler are operated at the same time, and vibration frequencies of the first hanger and the second hanger are the same, whereby minimizing noise produced from the vibration of a plurality of hangers, and preventing the multi-clothes styler system from damaging due to intense variation to prevent a lifetime thereof from reducing.

A spiral wrapping for an ironer roller for a chest ironer. Chest ironers have at least one rotatably drivable ironer roller, the lower half of which is surrounded by a stationary ironer bed. The ironer roller is surrounded by an outer spiral wrapping which comes into contact with the item of laundry to be treated. The spiral wrapping is provided with an outer layer produced from a coarse woven fabric which has a higher coefficient of friction. The coefficient of friction of the coarse woven fabric does not alter as the age of the spiral wrapping increases. This means that even in the case of older spiral wrappings, there is sufficient frictional engagement between the spiral wrapping, namely the outer layer, and the item of laundry to be smoothed out.

Clothing iron including a sole (1) having a bottom side with a sliding surface (11) coming into contact with cloth and comprising at least one steam-supplied recess (10), the recess (10) being bounded on its entire periphery by the sliding surface (11) in such a manner that the recess (10) forms a steam diffusion cavity that is surrounded by the sliding surface (11) when the sole (1) is applied to the cloth being ironed, characterized in that the depth of the recess (10) is greater than or equal to 1 mm.

An oil-storing electric iron comprises: a flat ironing part including a stainless steel soleplate, a top casing plate, an electric heating tube and a heating conducting oil; and an adjustable temperature controller. The stainless steel soleplate and the top casing plate form an enclosed casing in which the electric heating tube and the heating conducting oil are provided. The thermal capacity of the electric iron soleplate can be effectively increased and the problem of instability and nonuniformity of the electrical iron soleplate temperature can be solved, so as to be uniform in temperature, easy to operate, safe in use and energy saving.

A system for providing bi-directional RF services over a point-to-multipoint Passive Optical Network (PON). A system that can transport upstream RF signals generated by devices such as a set top box or a cable modem, through a passive Optical Network while simultaneously supporting downstream RF video and bi-directional base-band services on the PON.

A boiler having a shell enclosing a space and an inlet for letting water into the shell space. The shell space has two separate sections, wherein a first section is located such as to receive a supply of fresh water to the boiler and wherein a second section is located such as to receive water from the first section when overflow of the first section takes place under the influence of a continuous supply of fresh water. A steam generating process takes place in the second section. Due to the fact that the second section is only indirectly filled with water, it is possible to have an undisturbed process. In particular, the water may be heated in the first section before reaching the second section. The first section may for example include an inner space of a container which is arranged inside the shell, for example.

Fold-away ironing device comprising a frame (12) attached to the wall and in which there is an ironing board surrounded by a mobile frame (18). In a first position, the ornamental front part is visible in the frame fixed to the wall and the ironing board is folded away, and in the second position, the front part is folded away and the ironing board becomes visible. First pivot means comprising a top hinge and a bottom hinge at the right-hand end or at the left-hand end of the frame fixed to the wall forming a vertical axis allowing the ironing board to be pivoted through an angle of around 90° and, on the other hand, two hinges situated at the middle of the horizontal parts of the mobile frame forming the vertical axis (20) allowing the ironing board to pivot so that it becomes visible. Second pivot means allow the ironing board in the second position to be moved from the vertical position into the horizontal position.

Laundry articles are spread out by input machines in front of a feed conveyor which feeds the spread-out laundry article to a mangle. The respective laundry article is previously fed by a transfer device to a draw-on device onto which the laundry article is drawn. In known input machines, relatively complicated transfer devices are provided. According to the invention, the transfer device is provided with a rectilinear conveying section ascending to the draw-on device. The laundry article is thereby transported to the draw-on device by the transfer device in the plane in which it is transferred to the transfer device. Such a transfer device needs to have only a simple set-up. Since the laundry article remains in the plane in which it is fed to the transfer device, it can be brought by the transfer device into a favorable initial position for being drawn reliably onto the draw-on device.

A household appliance (100) comprises a cabinet (105) accommodating a drum for loading items to be dried and a drying air circuit for circulating drying air through the drum for drying the items therein. The drying air circuit comprises air heating elements (415) for heating the drying air fed to the drum, and the cabinet is provided with a worktop (110) defining a surface (130) having a plurality of apertures (135) in fluid communication with an air conveying system (205,225,230) adapted to deliver a flow of air through said apertures. The air conveying system comprises an air duct (230) thermally coupled to the air heating elements in such a way as to cause heat generated by the air heating elements to heat the air to be delivered through the apertures in the drying surface.

A heating appliance including a metal substrate, at least a part of which is covered with a self-cleaning coating including at least one oxidation catalyst selected from the platinoid oxides, and at least one dopant of said oxidation catalyst selected from the rare-earth oxides. The self-cleaning coating is a bilayer coating including: an inner layer at least partially covering the metal substrate and including the dopant; and an outer layer in contact with the ambient air and including the oxidation catalyst. Also provided is a method for producing such a heating appliance.

A piezoelectric element is manufactured in a method including forming an adhesion layer of zirconium above a zirconium oxide insulating film, forming a first electrode above the adhesion layer, forming a piezoelectric layer of a complex oxide containing bismuth above the first electrode, and forming a second electrode above the piezoelectric layer.

A system and method for using color to indicate a state of a home appliance, such as an iron. The iron has a sole plate and a water tank in fluid communication with the sole plate, a heater for heating the sole plate, a sensor for sensing a temperature of the sole plate, a user interface for setting a desired temperature for the sole plate, and a controller in communication with user interface and the sensor for controlling the heater. An illumination device under the control of the controller is provided to illuminate the water tank, particularly the interior thereof, in a color that is representative of a state of the iron, such as a power condition of the iron and/or a temperature of the sole plate.

A stretching system to stretch a canvas or material on a frame without the use of stretching pliers and staples. Special purpose corner clamps are used to secure the stretcher bars into an initial open miter frame to orient the double sided adhesive strip on the side of the stretchers towards the canvas or material while maintaining the adhesive strip from touching the canvas or material. After alignment, the stretching bars are pressed down and attached onto the canvas or material and the corners are released. The corner clamps are removed and canvas or material corners are cut and folded into the open miter ends which also have adhesive strips. By rotating the stretchers axially 90 degrees into the final frame, thus closing the miters, and upon inserting U-shaped fasteners into the grooves placed on the back of the stretcher, the canvas or material is stretched and ready to display.

A sole plate assembly for an electric hand iron, said sole plate assembly comprises a metal outer frame member; a metal retaining ring member shaped to fit inside said metal outer frame member; a flat sole glass or ceramic plate member shaped to fit in said metal retaining ring member; and a flexible seal member arranged to locate in said metal retaining ring member. The construction provides for improved ease of assembly, and a robust sole plate construction.

A handheld telescopic ironing device for pressing clothing, fabric and the like comprising two handles joined at the distal end with a pivotal hinge, each handle comprised of an elongated hollow outer handle housing and at least one elongated hollow inner handle housing concentrically aligned and telescopically mounted within outer handle housing with a locking means to hold the with inner handle housing and outer handle housing at extended or contracted lengths. Attached to the two handles are heads each having a pressing surface mounted on a hollow head housing so that the two pressing surfaces oppose each other. The telescopic ironing device is further comprised of at least one heating element disposed within one or more of internal cavities of the head housing and has an optional steam feature.

A garment ironing assembly includes a panel that has a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter edge. The perimeter edge includes a front edge, a back edge, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge. A pair of first extensions each is hingedly coupled to the bottom side. Each of the first extensions is selectively positionable and releasably retained in an extended position. One of the first extensions is extendable outwardly from the first lateral edge and one of the first extensions is extendable outwardly from the second lateral edge. Each of the first extensions is positioned adjacent to the front edge. Each of the first extensions is angled away from the front end when the first extensions are in the extended position. A support structure is attached to and extends downwardly from the bottom side of the panel to support the panel above a support surface.

A wrinkle removing apparatus for fabric articles is provided. The apparatus includes a casing defining a volume therein and a reservoir received in the casing and containing a liquid for providing treatment to the fabric article. A platen is carried by the casing and defines a plurality of openings for allowing flow-through of liquid. A heater may be proximal the platen for heating the platen to a treatment temperature. A transducer extends into the reservoir and is configured for atomizing the liquid into a vapor.

Ironing board consisting of a top supported by at least one leg with two sections connected to one another by hinge; said hinge allows lower segment of leg to pivot between an unfolded position, in which said lower segment forms an extension of upper segment of leg, and a folded position, in which lower segment is folded in the direction of upper segment, wherein said hinge contains a mechanism to lock the lower segment in an unfolded position and at least one unlocking button to deactivate the locking mechanism to allow lower segment to rotate into the folded position.

Ironing board comprising a frame supporting a top and at least two legs joined to the frame, one of the legs having an upper end pivotably mounted on a back end of the frame, the other leg having an upper end slidably mounted on said frame, the two legs being connected to one another by a pivot linkage and movable between a storage position, and a working position.

An ironing board assembly includes an ironing board having a main board portion and at least one auxiliary board portion that is movably connected to the main board portion such that the auxiliary board portion is movable between operating and collapsed positions. A flexible ironing board cover is attachable to the ironing board so as to cover ironing sides of both the main and the auxiliary board portions, and to provide an ironing surface for a user to iron on. A tensioner is configured to pull the flexible cover taut over the covered ironing sides such that the ironing surface extends seamlessly across any joint or gap between the main and auxiliary board portions.

A device for treating fabrics comprising a cabinet, said cabinet comprising: a shell having an interior surface, said shell forming an opening; the device further comprising: at least a first and a second spray head positioned upon said interior surface of said shell, the first spray head comprising a multitude of spray nozzles and the second spray head comprising at least one spray nozzle, wherein in at least one first direction the first spray head produces a spray pattern comprising a sequence of a first spray-on area, a first spray free area, and a second spray-on area and in said first direction the second spray head produces a spray pattern comprising at least a third spray-on area and wherein the third spray-on area covers at least a portion of the first spray free area.

A steam ironing device (1), comprising: an iron, including a soleplate (18) provided with at least one steam outlet opening (20); soleplate heating means (22) configured to heat the soleplate (18); a steam generator (50) including a heatable steam generation chamber (51) that is fluidly connectable to the at least one steam outlet opening (20) in the soleplate; and control means (24, 56), operably connected to the soleplate heating means (22) and the steam generator (50), and configured to control a soleplate temperature and a steam rate of the steam ironing device, wherein the control means (24, 56) are configured to heat the soleplate to a non user-adjustable temperature in the range of 105-145° C., and to provide for a time-averaged steam rate of at least 50 grams/minute.

The present invention relates to a steamer head for a garment steamer comprising a main body (2) with a front end (8), a steam outlet (11) and an air inlet (25) formed in the front end (8). A suction force is applied to draw air through the air inlet (25) so that a fabric of a garment disposed proximate the front end (8) is drawn against the front end (8) by the suction force. Further, steam is applied to the fabric of a garment through the steam outlet (11). The front end (8) of the main body (2) comprises first and second surfaces (10, 2). The steam outlet (11) is formed in the first surface (10) and the air inlet (25) is formed in the second surface (12), so that the fabric is drawn against the second surface (12) and steam is applied to the fabric at the first surface (10). The first and second surfaces (10, 12) together forma convex surface. The present invention also relates to a garment steamer comprising a 10 steamer head and a method of removing creases from a garment using a garment steamer.

A conveying apparatus includes a first roller that is rotational to convey a nonwoven fabric and a second roller that is rotational to convey the nonwoven fabric and is located on the trailing side of the first roller with respect to the conveying direction of the nonwoven fabric. The conveying apparatus includes a noncontact sensor and a controller. The noncontact sensor detects the distance from the nonwoven fabric at a position between the first roller and the second roller. The controller uses the distance detected by the sensor to compute the slack amount of the nonwoven fabric and controls the rotation speed of the second roller, thereby reducing the difference between the computed slack amount and a predetermined target value.

An iron (1), comprising: —a water reservoir (16), configured to hold liquid water; —a heatable soleplate (20); —at least one water outlet opening (24); —a water atomization and distribution unit (30), configured to atomize water from the water reservoir and to distribute the atomized water to the at least one water outlet opening; —at least one sensor (40,42), configured to monitor at least one motion dependent variable of the iron and to generate a reference signal reflecting said variable; —a control unit (50), operatively connected to both the water atomization and distribution unit (30) and the at least one sensor (40, 42), and configured to control a water outflow rate of the at least one water outlet opening (24) by controlling the operation of the water atomization and distribution unit in dependence of the reference signal generated by the at least one sensor.

The invention concerns a method and corresponding apparatus of transferring a piece of cloth (3) from a pair of spreader clamps (4,5) to a conveyor (1) via a transverse boom, where the piece of cloth is first suspended and straightened between the spreader clamps, then delivered to the transverse boom (8,9), and subsequently delivered from the transverse boom to the conveyor. Apart from that, a straightening of the fore edge of the piece of cloth is performed, seen in the direction of conveyance of the conveyor, after its delivery from the clamps to the transverse boom has been initiated, but before it is delivered to the conveyor.

This invention relates to the ironing of fabrics, such as clothes in particular, and provides a compact, light-weight apparatus suitable also for use in various ironing applications. The ironing apparatus comprises first and second fabric-pressing surfaces, supporting arms to which the surfaces are mounted opposite each other, to define a fabric-receiving gap between the surfaces. The supporting arms operate to urge the first surface toward the second, so to narrow the gap from a first, fabric receiving width, to a second, fabric-compressing width effective for exerting crease-reducing pressure on said fabric in the gap, while permitting relative traversing movement between said surfaces and the fabric. The supporting arms may be in the form of a flexible U-shaped member having opposed ends to which the respective pressing surfaces are mounted to be inwardly opposed, and a generally central portion defining a body.

A panel for tensioning fabric such as a silkscreen mesh is described. The panel includes locking strips secured to the edges using stitching through the mesh and locking strips. A method for fabricating the panel and tensioning the panel on a frame is also described. Locking strips may be stitched to edges of the fabric or mesh.

A screen-printing panel comprising a locking strip sewn to screen-printing mesh is described. The mesh along an edge of the panel is folded around the locking strip and secured using a line of stitching. A gap between the end of the locking strip and the edge of the mesh contributes to corner softening. Another gap between the end of the stitching and the end of the locking strip also contributes to corner softening. Locking strips have various cross sections including rectangular, triangular, and complex curves. Two colors of thread may be used to aid in orienting the panel. An adhesive may be used to hold the mesh to the locking strip for convenience during handling and sewing.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating steam comprising a water heating chamber in which water is heated to generate steam. The apparatus also includes a cavity having an inlet communicating with the water heating chamber so that water in the water heating chamber is received in the cavity and a sealable outlet. The cavity is configured to limit the flow of convection currents in the water received in the cavity so that scales and/or solid particles suspended in the water accumulate in the cavity. Alternatively, a guide member is disposed at the inlet to the cavity which is configured to guide scales and/or solid particles suspended in the water into the cavity.

A hand-held convertible iron is provided that includes a housing, a soleplate disposed on the housing for pressing a garment, the soleplate having a first portion and a second portion, a heating means having a first element and a second element, the first element being disposed adjacent to the first portion of the soleplate and the second element being disposed adjacent to the second portion, wherein the second portion of the soleplate is removably attached to the housing. A quick-disconnect electrical connection provides electrical power to the second element of the heating means when the second portion of the soleplate is attached to the housing.