Abstract: A reclaimer for moving grains and other bulk material in a desired direction includes a substantially cylindrical column upstanding within a storage silo. A track, mounted on the storage silo above the floor, concentrically encircles the column. A motorized carriage is mounted on the track so as to selectively move thereon. Extending between the top end of the column and the carriage is a boom. The proximal end of the boom is rotatably mounted to the column such that movement of the carriage on the tack results in the boom rotating around the column. Suspended from the boom by a pair of winch activated cables is a scraper. The scraper includes an elongated frame having a proximal end that is rotatably and slidably mounted on the column below the boom. Secured along the length of the frame is one or more rotatable augers.

Abstract: A transport cradle for a skid-supported helicopter having a pair of laterally spaced and generally parallel support skids. The transport cradle has a main frame (10) supported by transport wheels (16) and a pair of laterally spaced elongate supports (11) extending generally parallel to each other and forming part of the frame. The supports are each intended to engage and to lift a respective helicopter skid after the cradle has been presented to a helicopter supported on the ground by its skids. The cradle also comprises devices (13) for adjusting the spacing apart of the supports to correspond with the spacing apart of the helicopter skids. The cradle also has clamping devices (14, 15) provided on each support and operative to engage and clamp the respective skid to the support.

Abstract: A vehicular wheelchair lift with a power controlled safety barrier for physically blocking a wheelchair from inadvertently rolling off a platform of the wheelchair lift during use. The power safety barrier utilizes a linkage mechanism to open or close a roll stop. The linkage mechanism includes a pair of linkage bars and a flexible linkage member to mechanically connect the roll stop to a power actuating device. The roll stop is pivotably mounted to an outer end of the platform. The roll stop is required to open and close relative to the platform according to the relative platform positions. When the platform is in the ground position, the roll stop is opened substantially in a horizontal plane and is an extension of the platform for unloading the wheelchair. In the powered control aspects, during the wheelchair lift transition period when platform is off the ground position, the roll stop is actuated to the closed position before the wheelchair lift can be operated.

Abstract: A rolling floor for a truck or trailer box for hauling, then unloading objects. The rolling floor for a truck or trailer box includes a floor portion and a pair of wall portions upwardly extending from lateral sides of said floor portion. The floor portion has a plurality of rollers extending thereacross. An endless belt wraps around the floor portion and rests on the rollers of the floor portion. A drive mechanism drives the belt.

Abstract: A tape feeder 200 includes a sprocket 201 having a plurality of teeth 202 for engaging holes of a tape. A pawl 205 engages selected teeth of sprocket 201. A first lever 203 is coupled to pawl 205 and a second lever 204 is coupled to first lever 203 and a source 208 of a driving force. First lever 203 and second lever 204 operate by a toggle action to selectively engage pawl 205 with ones of teeth 202 and thereby index sprocket 201.

Abstract: A system includes an interface for receiving a pod having a carrier that receives wafers, and that is initially enclosed within a base and a pod cover. The system also includes a mechanism that transfers an exposed carrier between the interface and a platform of a mass-transfer machine included in the system. The machine includes a gantry arm for transferring the carrier between the platform and a transfer station. A retainer assembly is positionable over the carrier at the transfer station, and over a process carrier that is used in a processing tool. Moveable retainers of the assembly receive and hold wafers. The machine includes an elevator that moves between the transfer station and the process carrier. The elevator extends and retracts for transferring wafers between the retainers and either the carrier or the process carrier. A turntable, that receives the process carrier, permits automatically reorienting wafers.

Abstract: A wafer support device is provided. The wafer support device includes a susceptor having a surface configured to support a bottom surface of a wafer. The susceptor has a plurality of guiding recesses. The wafer support device also includes a pin lift that has a plurality of pins extending therefrom. The plurality of pins is configured to be passed via the plurality of guiding recesses of the susceptor to engage the bottom surface of the wafer. The susceptor is configured to be moved relative to the plurality of pins in a direction substantially orthogonal to the surface of the susceptor.

Abstract: A two way operated storage system including a container storage area in the form of a multi-rack, multi-tier rotary storage carousel, a vertical lift for transporting containers vertically to a shuttle that transfers containers to and from the storage carousel. Storage carousel is supported on two straight tracks separated by a non-supporting distance. The rotary storage carousel and the shuttle are mechanically and synchronously interlocked such that the storage system can be operated in two different directions.

Abstract: A lifting device that can be installed in the frame of a motor vehicle is disclosed. A portion of the frame is removed to accommodate the lifting device and the motor vehicle has a subframe attached under the existing frame across the location where the lifting device is installed to structurally support the motor vehicle. In order to fit within the space provided by removal of a portion of the frame, and provide clearance for the van underneath, the lifting device has a movable frame and a platform having a telescoping movable portion. A single driving unit is used to move the telescoping portion out from the stationary portion of the platform and then extend the movable frame from a stored configuration to an extended configuration.

Abstract: An apparatus (10) for simultaneously inverting a plurality of semiconductor devices includes a conveyor (12) for conveying an input tray below a frame (32) having a primer tray captured therein by tray captivators (64). The input tray is elevated by an elevator (20) and the primer tray is lowered by lowering the frame (32) until the trays are closely adjacent. After the tray captivators (64) release the primer tray, tray clamps (44) are moved inwardly to extend over the sides of the trays, and jaws (52, 56) are moved to clamp the trays together. The frame (32) is rotated to invert the clamped trays. The input tray s then captured by the tray captivators (64) as the tray lamps (44) are released and acts as the primer tray for the next operation. After release of the tray clamps (44), the ay including the devices in an inverted orientation is lowered to be conveyed by the conveyor (12).

Abstract: A rotary-type circuit-component supplying apparatus including a plurality of feeders each of which stores a plurality of circuit components of a same sort and which supplies the components one by one from a component-supply portion thereof, at least one rotary table which is rotatable about a first axis line which is substantially vertical and which holds the feeders such that the respective component-supply portions of the feeders are arranged along a circle having a center on the first axis line, and a table-driving device which rotates and stops the rotary table to position the component-supply portion of each of the feeders at a predetermined component-supplying position, the feeders including at least one pendent feeder which includes a main portion which is held by the rotary table such that the main portion extends in a substantially horizontal direction, and which supports a tape-feeding mechanism which feeds a tape carrying the circuit components to the component-supply portion of the pendent feeder,

Abstract: An apparatus suitable for producing semiconductors. The apparatus includes a processing chamber, a first preparatory chamber, and a second preparatory chamber. Workpieces are transferred to the processing chamber for processing in a vacuum. The first and second preparatory chambers are used for transferring the workpiece between the processing chamber and an exterior exposed to atmospheric pressure without exposing the processing chamber to the atmospheric pressure. The first and second preparatory chambers are aligned vertically, which reduces the floor space occupied by the apparatus.

Abstract: A computer-controlled storage device for packaged goods has a storage area with parallel storage tracks having a first and a second end, wherein each one of the storage tracks stores only one type of packaged goods. A supply area is positioned at the first end of the storage tracks. The supply area has a feeding device feeding newly arriving packaged goods into a respective one of the storage tracks. An order filling area is positioned at the second end of the storage tracks, wherein in the order filling area packaged goods are compiled to fill a customer order. The order filling area has independently operated removal devices for each one of the storage tracks.

Abstract: The dump body of a dump truck includes a tailgate having an opening through which material in the receptacle can be dispensed by an endless conveyor in the dump body, and a feedgate for adjusting the rate of discharge is removably mounted on one of the tailgate and the bottom of the dump body and has a passageway through which the conveyor belt extends and a door displaceable toward and away from the conveyor to adjust the size of the passageway and thus the rate of material discharge when the conveyor is in operation.

Abstract: Wafers from cassettes placed in a cassette holder at a loading station are transferred by a loader to a conveyor and through a wafer processing stage. From the conveyer, the wafers are delivered to an unloader at an unloading station. The unloader transfers the wafers to cassettes held in a cassette holder at the unloading station. The cassettes may be loaded into the rear of the loading station and removed from the rear of the unloading station. The cassette holders support plural stacks of at least two cassettes which are independently indexed upwardly and downwardly. The stacks of cassettes are also carried by a cassette positioner which is transversely shiftable to position a first stack in a wafer transfer zone while a second stack is in a cassette transfer zone spaced from the wafer transfer zone and vice versa. The loader may include an arm which is linearly translated and is rotated about its longitudinal axis to invert the wafer for delivery to a destination location.

Abstract: A work transport system having an overhead travelling carriage that runs along a rail arranged near the ceiling, arranged with a storage rack member upon which work may be loaded, between the floor and the rail. As the storage rack member upon which work may be loaded is arranged between the floor and the rail, the space of the processing station and floor may be decreased and the transfer time of the work by the overhead travelling carriage may be reduced.

Abstract: A dual-arm wafer hand-off assembly includes a pair of pickup arms for transferring wafers within a wafer processing system. The two pickup arms are adapted to move such that the wafer on one of the arms can be positioned over the other arm and handed off. In one version, a Bernoulli-style wand translates along a linear guideway and may be positioned over a paddle-style pickup arm. The wafer carried by the Bernoulli wand can be handed off to the paddle by shutting off the flow of gas from the Bernoulli wand jets. The two pickup arms may be mounted on linear slides and adapted to translate between a load/unload chamber and a processing chamber, or the guideway may be adapted to rotate to allow transfer of wafers to multiple processing chambers in a cluster system. One of the pickup arms is preferably an all-quartz Bernoulli-style pickup arm having a proximal arm portion and a distal wand.

Abstract: A flip-over ramp assembly is normally stowed in a horizontal position in a recess in a vehicle floor, and can be pivoted upward and outwards to a downward sloping deployed position, after the vehicle door has been opened. The flip-over ramp assembly comprises a mounting enclosure and a ramp which are pivotably connected at their adjacent edges by a hinge which provides a horizontal axis for movement of the ramp between deployed and stowed positions. A driving mechanism comprises an actuator and a driving shaft which is rotatably connected to the actuator. A pair of linkage assemblies are connected to the driving shaft, where the actuator drives the driving shaft which in turn moves the linkage assemblies to lift the ramp to the stowed or deployed position. A positioning cam rotates with the driving shaft for indicating the position of the ramp.

Abstract: The present invention provides a robust, highly stable and vertically compact when folded-up wheelchair lift suitable for placement on a variety of vehicles such as vans and mini-vans. The lift has an elongate horizontal support member that is pivotally attached to a post fixed to the undercarriage of a vehicle. The horizontal support member supports the lifting mechanism and the wheelchair platform and is powered to swing the platform and lifting mechanism between a use position and a storage position. The lifting mechanism uses a pair of connecting links spaced lengthwise on the support member and connecting to the wheelchair platform in a four bar linkage arrangement generally in the form of a parallelogram. Both connecting links are rotated by bell cranks both of which are powered by the same hydraulic cylinder.

Abstract: A method for loading a moving railroad car from front to back with a target weight of particulate material from a loading unit having a silo and first and second weigh bin, which bin means have a combined material weight capacity of less than the target weight, the method comprising the steps of: (a) making a first charge of material into the first bin; (b) discharging a first quantity of material from the first bin into a forward portion of the car; (c) making a second charge of material into the first bin; (d) discharging a second quantity of material from the first bin into a rearward portion of the car, wherein the weights of the first and second quantities are determined and, as a combined weight, is less than the target weight; (e) making a charge of material into the second bin; (f) discharging from the second bin into the car a topping quantity of material equal in weight, to within about 0.