Author: claimsbot

1. A frame kit comprising, in combination:
a plurality of rail members, each one of said rail members having a plurality of holes;
a plurality of corner connectors, each one of said plurality of corner connectors including a base member having a plurality of holes and a reinforcing rib coupled to said base member, a pair of leg members, each having a plurality of holes, each one of said pair of leg members including a reinforcing rib coupled to each one of said pair of leg members, a first leg member of said pair of leg members substantially perpendicular to a second leg member of said pair of leg members, each one of said pair of leg members substantially perpendicular to said base member, a portion of said base member and a portion of said first leg member of said pair of leg members having a first inner slot, a portion of said base member and a portion of said second leg member of said pair of leg members having a second inner slot, a portion of said first leg member and a portion of said second leg member having a third inner slot, and a portion of said base member including a rail stop adjacent to a portion of each one of said pair of leg members;
said first inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a first rail member of said plurality of rail members, said second inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a second rail member of said plurality of rail members and said third inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a third rail member of said plurality of rail members, said rail stop preventing contact of said one end of said first rail member with both said one end of said second rail member and said one end of said third rail member;
a plurality of fasteners adapted to selectively couple each one of said plurality of rail members to said base member and to each one of said pair of leg members of each one of said plurality of corner connectors thereby providing at least a portion of a frame assembly; and
at least one container, said plurality of corner members, said plurality of rail members and said plurality of fasteners located in said at least one container thereby providing the frame kit.
2. The frame kit according to claim 1 further comprising at least one of a plurality of leveling feet, a plurality of casters and a plurality of accessory members located in said at least one container.
3. The frame kit according to claim 1 further comprising at least one reinforcing member for coupling to two of said rail members thereby providing further structural rigidity for said frame assembly, said at least one reinforcing member located in said at least one container.
4. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein said base member of each one of said plurality of corner connectors includes a reinforcing rib coupled to a portion of said base member and each one of said pair of leg members of each one of said plurality of corner connectors includes a reinforcing rib coupled to a portion of each one of said pair of leg members thereby strengthening each one of said plurality of corner connectors of said frame assembly.
5. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein said frame assembly comprises at least eight corner connectors of said plurality of corner connectors, at least twelve rail members of said plurality of rail members and at least ninety-six fasteners of said plurality of fasteners.
6. The frame kit according to claim 5 wherein each one of said at least twelve rail members of said plurality of rail members having the same length thereby providing a cube shaped frame assembly.
7. The frame kit according to claim 5 wherein each one of a first set of four rail members of said twelve rail members having the same length and each one of a second set of eight rail members of said twelve rail members having the same length, said first set of said twelve rail members being of different length to said second set of said twelve rail members thereby providing a rectangular prismatic shaped frame assembly.
8. The frame kit according to claim 5 wherein each one of a first set of four rail members of said twelve rail members having the same length, each one of a second set of four rail members of said twelve rail members having the same length and a third set of four rail members of said twelve rail members having the same length, said first set of said twelve rail members being of different length to said second set of said twelve rail members, and said third set of said twelve rail members being of different length to both said first set of four rail members and said second set of four rail members thereby providing a rectangular prismatic shaped frame assembly.
9. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein said base member of each one of said plurality of corner connectors having at least one threaded hole and said base member of each one of said plurality of corner connectors is selectively coupled to one of a leveling foot, a caster and an accessory member.
10. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein each one of said plurality of corner connectors comprises a material selected from the group consisting of a metal, a plastic and a fiber reinforced plastic.
11. The frame kit according to claim 10 wherein said metal is aluminum.
12. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein both said plurality of holes of said base member and said plurality of holes of said pair of leg members of each one of said plurality of corner connectors has a counter sunk shape to accommodate a head portion of each one of said plurality of fasteners.
13. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein each one of said plurality of rail members is substantially L-shaped and thereby adapted to conform to each one of said inner slots of each one of said plurality of corner connectors.
14. The frame kit according to claim 1 wherein a first frame assembly comprises a first set of said plurality of corner members, said plurality of rail members and said plurality of fasteners located in said at least one container and a second frame assembly comprises a second set of said plurality of corner members, said plurality of rail members and said plurality of fasteners located in at least a second container, each one of a co-planar set of said plurality of corner members of said first frame assembly coupled to each one of a co-planar set of said plurality of corner members of said second frame assembly providing a multiple frame assembly.
15. A method for assembling a frame kit comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of rail members, each one of said rail members having a plurality of holes;
providing a plurality of corner connectors, each one of said plurality of corner connectors including a base member having a plurality of holes and a reinforcing rib coupled to said base member, a pair of leg members, each having a plurality of holes, each one of said pair of leg members including a reinforcing rib coupled to each one of said pair of leg members, a first leg member of said pair of leg members substantially perpendicular to a second leg member of said pair of leg members, each one of said pair of leg members substantially perpendicular to said base member, a portion of said base member and a portion of said first leg member of said pair of leg members having a first inner slot, a portion of said base member and a portion of said second leg member of said pair of leg members having a second inner slot, a portion of said first leg member and a portion of said second leg member having a third inner slot, and a portion of said base member including a rail stop adjacent to a portion of each one of said pair of leg members;
providing said first inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a first rail member of said plurality of rail members, said second inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a second rail member of said plurality of rail members and said third inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a third rail member of said plurality of rail members, said rail stop preventing contact of said one end of said first rail member with both said one end of said second rail member and said one end of said third rail member;
providing a plurality of fasteners adapted to selectively couple each one of said plurality of rail members to said base member and to each one of said pair of leg members of each one of said plurality of corner connectors thereby providing at least a portion of at least one frame assembly;
providing at least one container; and
locating said plurality of corner members, said plurality of rail members and said plurality of fasteners in said at least one container thereby providing said frame kit in preparation for constructing said at least one frame assembly.
16. The method according to claim 15 further comprising the steps of:
providing at least one of a plurality of leveling feet, a plurality of casters and a plurality of accessory members; and
locating said at least one of a plurality of leveling feet, said plurality of casters and said plurality of accessory members in said at least one container of said frame kit thereby extending the usability of said at least one frame assembly.
17. The method according to claim 15 further comprising the steps of:
providing at least one reinforcing member for coupling to two of said rail members thereby providing further structural rigidity for said frame assembly; and
locating said at least one reinforcing member in said at least one container of said frame kit.
18. A method for constructing a frame assembly from a frame kit comprising the steps of:
providing said frame kit comprising a plurality of rail members, each one of said rail members having a plurality of holes;
providing said frame kit further comprising a plurality of corner connectors, each one of said plurality of corner connectors including a base member having a plurality of holes and a reinforcing rib coupled to said base member, a pair of leg members, each having a plurality of holes, each one of said pair of leg members including a reinforcing rib coupled to each one of said pair of leg members, a first leg member of said pair of leg members substantially perpendicular to a second leg member of said pair of leg members, each one of said pair of leg members substantially perpendicular to said base member, a portion of said base member and a portion of said first leg member of said pair of leg members having a first inner slot, a portion of said base member and a portion of said second leg member of said pair of leg members having a second inner slot, a portion of said first leg member and a portion of said second leg member having a third inner slot, and a portion of said base member including a rail stop adjacent to a portion of each one of said pair of leg members;
providing said frame kit further comprising said first inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a first rail member of said plurality of rail members, said second inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a second rail member of said plurality of rail members and said third inner slot of each one of said plurality of corner connectors receiving one end of a third rail member of said plurality of rail members, said rail stop preventing contact of said one end of said first rail member with both said one end of said second rail member and said one end of said third rail member;
providing said frame kit further comprising a plurality of fasteners adapted to selectively couple each one of said plurality of rail members to said base member and to each one of said pair of leg members of each one of said plurality of corner connectors thereby providing at least a portion of at least one frame assembly;
providing said frame kit comprising at least one container housing said plurality of corner members, said plurality of rail members, said plurality of fasteners and at least one set of instructions for constructing said at least one frame assembly;
unpacking said plurality of corner members, said plurality of rail members, said plurality of fasteners and said one set of instructions from said at least one container; and
constructing said at least one frame assembly according to said at least one set of instructions.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An apparatus for converting a continuous-time, continuously variable signal into a sampled and quantized signal, comprising:
an input line for accepting an input signal that is continuous in time and continuously variable;
a continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit;
a samplingquantization circuit coupled to an output of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit;
a digital bandpass filter coupled to an output of the samplingquantization circuit; and
a line coupling the output of the samplingquantization circuit back into the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit,
wherein the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit comprises an adder that includes a plurality of inputs and an output, with the input signal being coupled to one of the inputs of the adder, the output of the adder being coupled to one of the inputs of the adder through a first filter, the output of the samplingquantization circuit in the same processing branch being coupled to one of the inputs of the adder through a second filter, and the second filter having a different transfer function than the first filter,
wherein the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit has a noise transfer function with a minimum at a particular frequency, and
wherein the minimum in the quantization-noise transfer function of the quantization-noise-shaping continuous-time circuit corresponds to a frequency band selected by the digital bandpass filter.
2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit has a noise transfer function that shapes quantization noise in the frequency band selected by the digital bandpass filter with an equivalent of a second-order response.
3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit has a noise transfer function that shapes quantization noise in the frequency band selected by the digital bandpass filter with an equivalent of a fourth-order response.
4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the samplingquantization circuit is a single-bit quantizer.
5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the samplingquantization circuit is a multi-bit quantizer.
6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit includes a nonlinear bit-mapping component that converts a binary-weighted, digital input to a higher-precision digital output having other than perfect binary weighting.
7. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the nonlinear bit-mapping component applies input-bit weighting factors to the digital input and at least one of the input-bit weighting factors applied by the nonlinear bit-mapping circuit is programmable.
8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the input-bit weighting factors are independently adjusted to minimize at least one of a mean absolute value or a variance of a residual quantization noise of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit.
9. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an active calibration component that adjusts a parameter of at least one component of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit.
10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein parameter adjustments are made to minimize at least one of a mean absolute value or a variance of a residual quantization noise of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit.
11. An apparatus for converting a continuous-time, continuously variable signal into a sampled and quantized signal, comprising:
an input line for accepting an input signal that is continuous in time and continuously variable;
a plurality of processing branches coupled to the input line, each of said processing branches including: (a) a continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit, (b) a samplingquantization circuit coupled to an output of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit, (c) a digital bandpass filter coupled to an output of the samplingquantization circuit, and (d) a line coupling the output of the samplingquantization circuit back into the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit; and
an adder coupled to outputs of the plurality of processing branches,
wherein a center frequency of the digital bandpass filter in each said processing branch corresponds to a minimum in a quantization noise transfer function for the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit in the same processing branch, and
wherein each of said digital bandpass filters includes: (a) a quadrature frequency downconverter that has in-phase and quadrature outputs, (b) a first moving-average filter coupled to the in-phase output of the quadrature frequency downconverter, (c) a second moving-average filter coupled to the quadrature output of the quadrature frequency downconverter, and (d) a quadrature frequency upconverter coupled to outputs of the first and second moving-average filters.
12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the moving-average filters is implemented as a recursive structure.
13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said at least one moving-average filter recursive structure incorporates a differentiator transfer function with a difference delay greater than one sample period.
14. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the moving-average filters is comprised of at least three cascaded moving-average components.
15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein a number of samples averaged by each of the cascaded moving-average components is independently programmable to vary a bandwidth of the corresponding digital bandpass filter.
16. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the digital bandpass filters is implemented as a polyphase decomposition structure.
17. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a polyphase decomposition factor, m, of the polyphase decomposition structure is a submultiple of the total number of processing branches, M.
18. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving-average filter is comprised of a number of cascaded moving-average filter stages, wherein each of the stages averages the same number of samples, and wherein the number of stages is greater than one and other than one plus an effective noise-shaping order of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit response.
19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the moving-average filter is comprised of cascaded moving-average filter stages that collectively provide spectral minima at frequencies other than multiples of a conversion rate of said apparatus.
20. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the number of moving-average stages is zero, two, three, or four plus an effective noise-shaping order of a response of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit.
21. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving-average filter is comprised of cascaded moving-average filter stages, and wherein at least one of the stages averages a number of samples that is different by more than one from a number of samples averaged by at least one of the other stages.
22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the number of samples averaged by one of the stages is different from at least one of the other stages by more than \xbc\xb7M\xb7W and less than 2\xb7M\xb7N, where N is an excess-rate oversampling ratio of said apparatus and M is the number of processing branches.
23. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving-average filter is comprised of cascaded moving-average filter stages having an impulse response length that is at least 2\xb7N\xb7M\u22125, where N is an excess-rate oversampling ratio of said apparatus and M is the number of processing branches.
24. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving-average filter is comprised of cascaded moving-average filter stages having an impulse response length that is at least 4\xb7N\xb7M\u22125, where N is an excess-rate oversampling ratio of said apparatus and M is the number of processing branches.
25. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the digital bandpass filter further includes an equalizer.
26. An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the equalizer has a single complex tap.
27. An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the equalizer has a single real tap.
28. An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the equalizer has plural complex taps.
29. An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the equalizer has plural real taps.
30. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein sine and cosine sequences are used by the quadrature frequency downconverter and the quadrature frequency upconverter for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively, and are generated through direct digital synthesis using digital accumulators and sinusoid lookup.
31. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein sine and cosine sequences are used by the quadrature frequency downconverter and the quadrature frequency upconverter for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively, and are generated using recursive structures.
32. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein sine and cosine sequences are used by the frequency downconverter and the frequency upconverter for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively, and wherein at least one of an amplitude or phase of the sine and cosine sequences is adjustable.
33. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein sine and cosine sequences are used by the frequency downconverter and the frequency upconverter for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively, and wherein the period of the sine and cosine sequences is adjustable.
34. An apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a configuration means for converting a first signal sample rate generated by the samplingquantization circuit in at least one of the various processing branches to a second signal sample rate that is different than the first signal sample rate.
35. An apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the configuration means includes at least one digital interpolator.
36. An apparatus according to claim 35, wherein interpolation used by the at least one digital interpolator is at least second-order.
37. An apparatus according to claim 35, wherein interpolation used by the at least one digital interpolator is first-order.
38. An apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the at least one digital interpolator is implemented as a polyphase decomposition structure.
39. An apparatus according to claim 35, wherein an interpolant used by the at least one digital interpolator is generated using a numerically-controlled oscillator.
40. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a configuration means is provided to enable plural modes of operation, including: (i) a mode for operation as a single, wideband converter with high output data rate, and (ii) a mode for operation as plural, independent converters having an arbitrary mix of narrowband and wideband outputs at various sample rates.
41. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the configuration means comprises an add-multiplex array.
42. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the number of processing branches M is a power of two.
43. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of processing branches includes at least 4 said processing branches, and in each of a plurality of said processing branches: the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit includes at least a second-order feedback filter, the samplingquantization circuit samples at a frequency of at least 1 gigahertz (GHz), and the digital bandpass filter attenuates shaped quantization noise by at least 40 dB and introduces total aliasing distortion power limited to less than 40 dB below data converter signal level.
44. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein each of a plurality of the processing branches includes at least one quadrature downconverter that decreases, by a factor of at least two, a center frequency of the frequency band selected for said processing branch.
45. An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the digital bandpass filter includes at least one of a downconverter and an upconverter having at least one parameter that can be adjusted to compensate for at least one of amplitude or phase imbalance of the quadrature frequency downconverter.
46. An apparatus for converting a continuous-time, continuously variable signal into a sampled and quantized signal, comprising:
an input line for accepting an input signal that is continuous in time and continuously variable;
a plurality of processing branches coupled to the input line, each of said processing branches including: (a) a continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit, (b) a multi-bit samplingquantization circuit coupled to an output of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit, (c) a nonlinear bit-mapping circuit coupled to an output of the multi-bit samplingquantization circuit, (d) a digital bandpass filter coupled to an output of the nonlinear bit-mapping circuit, (e) a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit coupled to the output of the multi-bit samplingquantization circuit, and (f) a line coupling an output of the digital-to-analog converter circuit back into the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit; and
an adder coupled to outputs of the plurality of processing branches,
wherein a center frequency of the digital bandpass filter in each said processing branch corresponds to a minimum in a quantization noise transfer function for the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit in the same processing branch, and
wherein the nonlinear bit-mapping circuit in each of said processing branches performs a scaling operation, on a bit-by-bit basis, that matches imperfections in a binary scaling response of the digital-to-analog converter in the same processing branch.
47. An apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the nonlinear bit-mapping circuit converts a digital input to a higher-precision digital output having other than perfect binary weighting.
48. An apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the nonlinear bit-mapping circuit applies input-bit weighting factors to the digital input and at least one of the input-bit weighting factors applied by the nonlinear bit-mapping circuit is programmable.
49. An apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the input-bit weighting factors are independently adjusted to minimize at least one of a mean absolute value or a variance of a residual quantization noise of the continuous-time quantization-noise-shaping circuit.
50. An apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the digital-to-analog converter circuit operates in an unclocked mode.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The most simple and positive shell retainer and dispenser ever designed or invented and made using heavy duty nylon fabric or canvas like material for comfort and durability.
2. The quickest, safest and most economical retainer and dispenser to manufacture.
3. Faster fumble free loading with the shells primer end dropping into your palm.
4. Positive gravity feed system throughout all fifty (50) shells.
5. Equal speed in releasing shells for right or left handed shooters whether standing or sitting.
6. May remove one shell at a time or two side by side or any number desired to be released at one time.
7. Different shot sizes or velocity of shells can be removed without looking even in the dark.
8. No bulging pockets with shells bumping and bruising your legs when walking and no more shells rattling in your pockets, all quiet and compact.
9. No more transferring shells to empty shooters side pockets from the other side pockets.
10. Release mechanism closes the bottom of the tube preventing loss of shells while readying the next shell for release.
11. Vest will handle a wide variety of shell sizes; 12-gauge, 16-gauge and 20-gauge with equal proficiency.
13. The spring mechanism requires very little movement to release a shell into your palm with simple finger-thumb pressure to compress the springs.
14. You have complete freedom of movement in the arms and shoulders with the vest fully loaded for weight is evenly distributed to the back and shoulders.
15. A woman or young person can easily handle the weight and shell release.
16. Wearing gloves on cold days will not hamper release of shells into your palm.
17. Specially designed stainless steel springs with an eye or circle on each end acts as a ball bearing in the fabric and will not rust or cut the fabric.
18. The most shells (50) carried in a vest on your chest comfortably ever designed. You hardly know you are carrying two boxes of shells.
19. Shells are shielded from the elements in a vest with removable straps or harness that is adjustable for all to use, large or small.
20. This invention provides a shell retainer and dispensing vest that can be worn under or over the shooters favorite hunting jacket or vest if he so desires.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An automated system for performing repeated testing using an impactor which comprises a cup manifold defining multiple impaction cups, an impactor head defining transfer passages, and a nozzle manifold which defines multiple nozzles and is disposable between the cup manifold and the impactor head, so that in the assembled impactor a route is defined for through-flow via the impaction cups, the nozzles and the transfer passages, the system comprising
an impaction station for performing impaction testing using the assembled impactor;
a cup manifold recovery station for recovering sample material from the impactor cups in a solvent;
an impactor head cleaning station; and
at least one handling system for assembling the impactor for impaction, and for subsequently disassembling the impactor and delivering the cup manifold and the impactor head to their respective stations.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a nozzle manifold cleaning station, the handling system being adapted to disassemble the nozzle manifold from the impactor head and deliver the nozzle manifold to its cleaning station.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising an impactor head handling device having a movable support for carrying the impactor head between stations and an engagement device for releasably coupling the nozzle manifold to the impactor head.
4. A system as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a nozzle manifold cleaning station and a handling system for delivering the nozzle manifold to the nozzle manifold cleaning station.
5. A system as claimed in claim 3 in which the engagement device comprises at least one movable finger for engaging a peripheral region of the nozzle manifold, to couple it to the impactor head.
6. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising an impactor head handling device having a movable support for carrying the impactor head, the support having a first axis of motion for advancingretracting the impactor head with respect to the cup manifold to assembledisassemble the impactor.
7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the impactor head has a second axis of motion for moving the impactor head from one station to another.
8. A system as claimed in claim 6, in which the impactor head handling device is adapted to exert a controlled biasing force upon the impactor head, to urge it toward the cup manifold.
9. A system as claimed in claim 8, comprising an impactor head position sensor for determining when the impactor head is in an acceptable position with respect to the cup manifold.
10. A system as claimed in claim 8 in which one of the impactor head and the cup manifold has a resilient mounting for equalising pressure across the area of contact of the impactor head and the cup manifold.
11. A system as claimed in claim 8 in which the impactor head is fixedly coupled to the movable support and is separated from it by resilient spacers for equalising pressure across the area of contact of the impactor head and the cup manifold.
12. Apparatus for use in an impaction testing arrangement, the apparatus comprising an impactor which has a cup manifold defining multiple impaction cups and an impactor head defining transfer passages each communicating with a respective nozzle, so that in the assembled impactor a route is defined for through-flow via the impaction cups, the nozzles and the transfer passages, the apparatus further comprising an impactor head clean up device having an exposed contact plate provided with multiple fluid outlet apertures connected to a fluid source, the fluid outlet apertures being positioned to correspond to openings of the transfer passages in the impactor head, so that when the impactor head is presented to the seal plate, fluid is able to be output into the transfer passages to clean them.
13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, in which the fluid outlet apertures communicate with recess formed in the contact plate.
14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, in which the contact plate is provided with a mounting which prevents it from moving.
15. Apparatus for use in an impaction testing arrangement, the apparatus comprising an impactor which comprises a cup manifold defining multiple impaction cups, an impactor head defining transfer passages, and a nozzle manifold which defines multiple nozzles and is disposable between the cup manifold and the impactor head, so that in the assembled impactor a route is defined for through-flow via the impaction cups, the nozzles and the transfer passages, the apparatus further comprising a nozzle manifold wash module comprising first and second wash manifolds shaped to receive the nozzle manifold between themselves, an opening mechanism for moving the first and second wash manifolds with respect to each other between (a) an open configuration which permits the nozzle manifold to be introduced between them and (b) a closed configuration in which each nozzle is contained in a sealed enclosure defined between the first and second wash manifolds, and ports which communicate with the said sealed enclosures formed by the first and second wash manifolds in their closed configuration and which are connectable to a fluid source for passing fluid through the sealed enclosures to carry out washing of the nozzle manifold.
16. A device for cleaning and preparing an impactor preseparator having two ports for through-flow of material being tested, and an internal impaction cup which is to be at least partially filled with liquid for use, the device comprising
a preseparator support structure adapted to receive and mount the preseparator and provided with a first closure for closing one of the preseparator ports;
a support mounting which provides for a tumbling motion of the support structure;
a drive for driving the tumbling motion of the support structure; and
a second closure for closing the other of the preseparator ports, the second closure communicating with a fluid reservoir and having at least one opening through which the fluid reservoir communicates, when the second closure is used to close the said preseparator port, with the interior of the preseparator, so that by means of the said drive, the preseparator is movable between (a) an inverted position in which the fluid reservoir is filled with fluid from the interior of the preseparator and (b) an upright position in which fluid is released from the fluid reservoir through the said opening into the internal impaction cup.
17. A device as claimed in claim 16 further comprising a fluid outlet for dispensing fluid into the preseparator.
18. A device as claimed in claim 14 in which the second closure incorporates the fluid reservoir.