Abstract: An automated apparatus (100), a system (1000), and method (M) for packing leafy produce (10) into a tray (20) involving a plunger (30), the plunger (30) having an actuator arm (40) and a footpad (50), the footpad (50) having an upper surface (50a) and a lower surface (50b), being in moveable relation to the actuator arm (40), for contacting the leafy produce (10).

Abstract: An internal combustion engine having intake and exhaust manifolds and a cylinder defining a combustion chamber in which a piston reciprocates and having a wall formed with a port has a combined poppet/slide valve. This valve has a lift valve having a head sealingly engageable in the port and movable in a predetermined direction between a raised position permitting flow past the head through the port and a closed position blocking flow through the port and a stem extending from the head in the direction and having an outer tappet end. It also has a sleeve centered on and rotatable about an axis generally perpendicular to the direction and formed with a radially contoured cam radially engaging the tappet end of the stem so that rotation of the sleeve about its axis displaces the valve between its positions. The sleeve is formed with a pair of axially offset and radially throughgoing apertures.

Abstract: A watering device for a tree stand has a reservoir with an upper opening. A cover having a port is mounted on the upper opening of the reservoir. The cover encloses closes the reservoir. A shelf is mounted in the reservoir below the cover and is shaped to allow water to bypass the shelf. A length of tube communicating with the reservoir supplies water to the reservoir below the shelf. A valve is reciprocatively mounted between the shelf and the cover for controlling water flow through the port. A float is attached atop the valve means and above the cover for floating and operating the valve means to seal the port of the cover. Thus, water flowing out of the reservoir and into the tree stand is regulated by the floating and the operation of the valve.

Abstract: A push button shift control for a bicycle and the like is provided and consists of a plurality of push buttons extending upwardly through top of a housing to be clamped typically onto a downtube of the bicycle. A locking mechanism keeps each of the push buttons in a down position when each of the push buttons is pushed in sequence to move a control cable a predetermined distance to operate gears of the bicycle. A releasing mechanism releases the push buttons so that the push buttons and the control cable can return to their previous positions.