Acceleration indicator

Claim 1

ACCELERATION-RESPONSIVE APPARATUS COMPRISING A TUBULAR CASING INCLUDING TRANSPPRENT MATERIAL AND HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL OPENING THERETHROUGH, AN ELONGATED MASS MEMBER OF GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL OUTLINE DISPOSED WITHIN SAID OPENING WITH RADIAL CLEARANCE FOR MOVEMENT ALONG THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID OPENING RESPONSIVE TO ACCELERATION HAVING AT LEAST A COMPONENT ALONG SAID AXIS, END CAPS CLOSING SAID OPENING, A SPRING WITHIN SAID OPENING RESILIENTLY BIASING SAID MASS MEMBER IN ONE DIRECTION ALONG SAID AXIS, SAID MASS MEMBER HAVING AT LEAST ONE CAGING SECTION REDUCED DIAMETER AND OF TRUNCATED SUBSTANTIALLY CONICAL FORM WITH THE CONICAL TAPER THEREOF IN SAID ONE DIRECTION ALONG SAID AXIS, A PLURALITY OF CAGING BALLS DISPOSED ABOUT SAID CONICAL CAGING SECTION AND CONFINED AXIALLY AND RADIALLY IN RELATION TO SAID MASS MEMBER BETWEEN OUTER SURFACES OF SAID REDUCED-DIAMETER CONICAL CAGING SECTION AND INNER SURFACES OF SAID CASING ABOUT SAID OPENING, SAID BALLS BEING OF DIAMETER GREATER THAN THE LEAST LATERAL SPACING BETWEEN SAID INNER AND OUTER SURFACES AND OF DIAMETER LESS THAN THE GREATEST LATERAL SPACING BETWEEN SAID INNER AND OUTER SURFACES, THE DIAMETER OF SAID BALLS ALSO BEING SLIGHTLY IN EXCESS OF THE RADIAL SPACING BETWEEN THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID MASS MEMBER AND THE POINTS ALONG SAID OUTER SURFACES AT WHICH THE BALLS CONTACT SAID OUTER SURFACES WHEN THEY ARE IN THEIR INNERMOST POSITIONS NEAREST THE SMALLER BASE OF SAID TRUNCATED CONICAL SECTION, WHEREBY SAID BALLS TEND TO WEDGE BETWEEN SAID INNER AND OUTER SURFACES ONLY WHEN AXIALLY NEAREST THE LARGER BASE OF SAID TRUNCATED CONICAL SECTION, AND WHEREBY SAID BALLS TEND TO ROLL WITH LOW FRICTION UPON SAID INNER SURFACE OF SAID TUBE WHEN SAID BALLS ARE NEAREST SAID SMALLER BASE TRUNCATED CONICAL SECTION, AN INDEX ON SAID MASS MEMBER VISIBLE THROUGH THE TRANSPARENT MATERIAL OF SAID CASING, AND ACCELERATION INDICIA DISTRIBUTED ALONG SAID TUBULAR CASING, WHEREBY REGISTRATIONS OF SAID INDEX WITH SAID INDICIA CHARACTERIZE MAXIMUM ACCELERATIONS PRODUCING MOVEMENTS OF SAID MASS MEMBER RELATIVE TO SAID CASING IN THE DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO SAID ONE DIRECTION ALONG SAID AXIS.