Abstract: A machine is disclosed for canning meat, tuna fish and the like and in particular a device for cutting and shaping the slices as well as their insertion in cans. The device comprises essentially means for feeding the meat vertically to a horizontal shaping channel wherein the meat is pressed by a compactor against a suitably lobed end of the channel, each lobe being provided with a passage bore inside which runs a die that cuts a cylindrical pellet of meat which is pushed into a can lying underneath, through a gate placed under said bore, by a piston running inside the die. The empty cans are brought under the passage bore by a rotating horizontal star shaped plate which simultaneously discharges the filled cans laterally.

Abstract: A compact pedestal crane having a boom pivoted at a front edge of a main frame with a winch frame aligned with the boom and a plurality of winches mounted on the winch frame. An A-frame gantry is mounted on and extends above the winch frame and an engine drawingly connected to a plurality of hydraulic pump is mounted on the frame underneath the winch frame to conserve space. A cab is supported from the main frame to one side of the boom and forward of the front edge.

Abstract: A fluid control valve for protecting a cryogenic fluid circuit comprising a spring biased plug-type control element that is held closed by a spacer meltalile in the presence of fire.

Abstract: A hydraulic circuit for a self-undecking crane having retractable legs with extendable jacks for elevating and supporting the crane upper. Hydraulic cylinders move the legs between a retracted position and an extended position in which the jacks are engageable with the ground and isolation valve devices in the hydraulic circuit prevent retraction of said legs when the crane upper is supported on the extendable jacks.

Abstract: A retractable leg structure for undecking a crane's upper from its carrier including a box member having a circular cross section and a longitudinal axis affixed to the upper, a beam retained within the box and rotatable about the longitudinal axis relative thereto, and an L-shaped leg, including a tubular member having a free end hinged to the beam, the leg being manually swingable about the hinged connection between a stowed position in which the tubular member is oriented horizontal and inboard of the upper and a deployed position in which the tubular member is horizontal and outboard of the upper. There is a lock pin device for selectively securing the leg in one of the deployed and stowed positions, and an extendable jack secured to the fee end of the tubular member along with a crank arm attached to the beam. A hydraulic ram connected to the crank arm moves the leg between the deployed position and an operative position wherein the tubular member is oriented vertically adjacent to the ground.

Abstract: A check valve is provided for use in a fluid pump wherein the check valve is associated with a valve spyder providing a means for rapidly removing the check valve from the host valve receiving bore.

Abstract: A sight gauge for a towed sprayer having a channel formed in a shroud, which is inclined more from the vertical in its upper portion, with a plastic tube mounted in the channel. A visual indicator is trapped within the tube to indicate liquid level in the sprayer tank.

Abstract: A side guide for an aircraft belt loader including a guide rail positioned laterally adjacent to the belt loader conveyor and pivotally supported on the belt loader conveyor frame by a plurality of links. A bell crank attached to the guide rail and the conveyor frame includes a control lever for manual rotation of the bell crank to move the guide rail between lowered and elevated positions relative to the belt loader conveyor.

Abstract: A programmable parts reorienter and feeder utilizing a fiber-optic array in a sensing head to determine an initial orientation of a part passing through a parts handling unit. The sensing head is coupled to a microprocessor that has been programmed to recognize properly oriented as well as misoriented parts. After determining the initial orientation of the part the microprocessor will direct a reorienter device to either pass the part in the first orientation, orient the part to a preferred orientation or, in some cases, reject the part.

Abstract: A hinge assembly having a polytetrafluorine block affixed to a support member with a guide rod having an enlarged head extending through a guide bore. A compression spring is trapped on the guide rod between the guide block and a nut affixed to the free end thereof. A tube is affixed to the head of a pin extending through the tube and aligned holes and a pair of ears positioned on each side of the tube and attached to the hinged member.

Abstract: A pipe connector especially suitable for interconnecting a marine riser to a subsea wellhead, the connector comprising an annular body that telescopes over the wellhead, and a plurality of lockdown screw assemblies extending through radial ports in the body to releasably grip and secure the connector to the wellhead. Each screw assembly comprises a lockdown dog for engaging the recess beneath the wellhead hub flange, a bolt-like dog retainer secured to the dog and slidably extending into a lockdown screw that is threaded into one of the radial ports, and a spring system for biasing the dog away from the lockdown screw towards engagement with the wellhead.

Abstract: A centering device for aligning those portions of the swing mechanism, e.g. the swing pinion on the upper with the ring gear on the carrier, to permit the redecking of a crane upper on its carrier, the device including a plurality of sockets on the carrier which are engageable by frustoconical ends on a plurality of pins slidably mounted on the upper. A latch holds the pins in an extended position so that the retraction of the legs supporting the upper above the carrier will cause lateral shifting as necessary to align the swing mechanism.

Abstract: A hydraulic circuit for a crane having both lift and boom hoist pumps driven by the same engine with appropriate control valves to independently control the lift hooks and the boom angle. An unloading valve is interposed in the boom hoise circuit and dumps the boom hoise pump directly to reservoir when the pressure in the left pump circuit becomes excessive. A boom limit valve, actuated as the boom reaches both upper and lower limits, also causes the unloading valve to dump the boom hoise pump to reservoir.

Abstract: A subsea well casing suspension system whereby each of a plurality of concentric casing strings and its hanger is directly and totally supported on the wellhead housing, independently of all the other strings and their hangers, by a plurality of load ring slips that are components of a packoff assembly for an earlier installed casing string. When the packoff assembly is pressure tested following its installation, the load ring slips rise off the assembly and expand into their mating wellhead housing groove wherein they function to transmit the total hang load of the next casing string and hanger directly to that housing.

Abstract: A hoseless arrangement for supplying pressure and tank passages in remote hydraulic device including an extend tube, with pressure and tank passages, and an extend cylinder each reciprocably mounted on a base with a pair of concentric tubes attached to the extend cylinder and to the extend tube, the inner tube communicating with one side of the extend cylinder and the outer tube with the other side thereof. A shuttle valve on the extend tube is connected to shift so that the pressure passage is always subjected to high pressure and the tank passage is always subjected to low pressure.

Abstract: A drive arrangement for an aircraft belt loader having a frame, an electric motor with a releasable mounting ring, a vertical support plate affixed to the frame with a circular opening, the center thereof being elevated above the frame, a flange positioned in the opening and secured to the support plate and releasably secured to the ring, and a planetary reducer with an output housing and a mounting plate, the reducer being driven by the motor; the mounting plate releasably secured to the flange and a drive wheel affixed to the housing.

Abstract: A modularized pedestal mount crane having a base frame with a pair of fore and aft extending flanges with a boom pinned to the forward end of the flanges and an engine is mounted on the rearward portion of the flanges. A winch frame, carrying a plurality of winches, is pinned to the flanges and extends over the engine with vertical links connected between the rearward end of the winch frame and the flanges. A gantry is pinned to the winch frame, and cat walks are cantilever from three sides of the base frame, a cab included on one cat walk.

Abstract: The disclosed frozen confection machine is provided with a series of mold bars each of which contain a plurality of cavities for containing confection material which is frozen in said cavities. The machine is provided with a mechanism for inserting sticks into the partially frozen confection material, means for defrosting the exterior of the cavities to facilitate removal of the frozen confections and a selectively operable device responsive to the inadvertent retention of confection material in one or more cavities to remove the retained confection material by inverting the mold bar and spraying hot water into the cavities to remove the confection material. Moreover the confection machine provides laterally opposed to chains circulating in a closed path in which one reach of the chain, the working reach, associated with filling, freezing, stick insertion and confection removal devices and a return reach.

Abstract: A fluid packing comprising a stacked assembly of V-ring seal elements, special backup/energizing rings interspersed between the seal elements, and a spring-energized lip seal ring that is retained in functional position by an adapter ring having a generally tee-shaped cross-sectional configuration. As the assembly is installed in a stem packing chamber of a valve or choke, or in the packing chamber of a wellhead lockdown screw, with the T-adapter ring at one end of the assembly and a backup ring for the V-ring seal elements at the other end, the lip seal ring and the V-ring seal elements are radially compressed to establish an initial seal between the stem or screw and the chamber wall.

Abstract: A sewer cleaner having a water pump with a clutch-less connection to an engine draws water from a tank having a baffle with an orifice. A valve arrangement directs the output from the pump to either a hose on a reel or recirculates to the tank. The flow rate through the orifice is less than the operating output of the pump so that the recirculated water combines with that flowing through the orifice to permit operation of a hydraulic system to rotate the hose reel.