Brace

Brace may refer to:

Medical

Construction and industrial arts

Other meanings

Brace (tool)

A brace or brace and bit is a hand tool used to drill holes, usually in wood. Pressure is applied to the top and the tool is rotated with a U-shaped grip.

The U-shaped part is a kind of crankshaft. It gives the brace much greater torque than other kinds of hand drill; a brace can be used to drill much wider, and deeper, holes than can a gear-driven hand drill. The price of the greater torque is lower rotational speed; it is easy for a hand drill to achieve a rotational speed of several hundred revolutions per minute, but it requires considerable effort to achieve even 100 rpm with a brace. Due to the design of the brace it tends to be easier than a power drill to keep at a precise 90 degree angle.

The front part of the brace consists of a chuck spindle with V-shaped brackets or clamps inside. Turning the spindle of the chuck in a clockwise direction tightens the drill bit in the chuck and turning in a counter-clockwise direction loosens the bit for removal.

In most braces, immediately behind the chuck is a three position gear release which allows ratcheting of the handle when in tight spots. Turning the gear release from the center position allows ratcheting the brace in the direction needed. Turning the gear release fully clockwise lets it remove wood in a clockwise direction with the ratchet action going counter-clockwise. Placing the gear release fully counter-clockwise then allows turning the brace and bit in a counter-clockwise direction, usually to remove the drill bit from the hole. The center position of the gear release prohibits the ratcheting effect.

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sports is the achievement of a positive feat three times in a game, or another achievement based on the number three in some sports.

Origin

The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe HH Stephenson's taking three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. Fans held a collection for Stephenson, and presented him with a hat bought with the proceeds. The term was used in print for the first time in 1868. The term was eventually adopted by many other sports including hockey, association football, water polo and team handball.

Association football

A hat-trick occurs in association football when a player scores three goals (not necessarily consecutive) in a single game, whereas scoring two goals constitutes a brace. In common with other official record-keeping rules, goals in a penalty shootout are excluded from the tally. The extra time in a knockout cup match may also be calculated towards a player's potential hat-trick. The fastest recorded time to score a hat-trick is 70 seconds, a record set by Alex Torr in a Sunday league game in 2013. The previous Guinness world record of 90 seconds was held by Tommy Ross playing for Ross County against Nairn County on 28 November 1964.

Airlock

An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it. The lock consists of a small chamber with two airtight doors in series which do not open simultaneously.

An airlock may be used for passage between environments of different gases rather than different pressures, to minimize or prevent the gases from mixing.

An airlock may also be used underwater to allow passage between an air environment in a pressure vessel and the water environment outside, in which case the airlock can contain air or water. This is called a floodable airlock or an underwater airlock, and is used to prevent water from entering a submersible vessel or an underwater habitat.

Use

Before opening either door, the air pressure of the airlock—the space between the doors—is equalized with that of the environment beyond the next door to open. This is analogous to a waterway lock: a section of waterway with two watertight gates, in which the water level is varied to match the water level on either side.

Airlock (parachute)

A parachute airlock (simply airlock in context) is a safety mechanism built into some parachute models which resist it losing its shape while open. It uses a ram air structure to stiffen each section of the outer edge.

The design was pioneered by parachute inventor Brian Germain following a near-fatal ram-air wing collapse in 1994. Germain made a full recovery to personally test many of the airlock prototype parachutes, often in extreme conditions. Specific parachute designs utilizing the Airlock technology include the following: Jedei, Sweptwing, Genesis, Warlock, (AirTimeDesigns.com) Vengeance, (PerformanceDesigns.com) Samurai, Lotus, Sensei R1 (BigAirSportz.com).

While the airlock approach to canopy design has generated an enthusiastic user base, the design also has its problems. For example, a ram-air parachute designed with airlocks will not deflate quickly upon landing on a windy day. This may result in dragging a parachutist across the ground. Parachute packers have also noted that these canopies take longer to pack due to the extra time it takes to squeeze the air out. However, proponents prefer the safety advantages of a stable canopy in flight over inconveniences on the ground.

Airlock (agency)

Airlock is a London based digital agency specialising in multi-platform which was founded in early 2001 and is most notable for its work with Diesel (clothing company), the BBC, Channel 4, Motorola and Heineken.

The founders of the company are Charlie Martin, Joseph Denne and Will Lebens. Chris Mair joined the board of directors from Diesel (clothing company) in early 2006.

Airlock was acquired by Publicis in early 2011 and is now part of Leo Burnett Worldwide.

Awards

The agency won Emmy awards in 2009 and 2010 for their work with Channel 4. The agency's recent work has also won a Radio Academy Award, a Webby and a special commendation at the Webbys, a Banff World Television Award, a BIMA and a Rose d'Or.

One Born Every Minute, a series for Channel 4, was nominated for a Bafta in the New Media category in 2010.Battlefront, also for Channel 4, was nominated in the same category in 2009.

The agency's site for the Teenage Cancer Trust won a Webby in 2010.

Open source

The agency has funded several Open Source projects including the Symphony CMS platform.