Abstract: Hazardous substances are separated from used foundry sand by means of a triple fluid bed thermal reactor, second stage sand cooler and third stage pneumatic attrition scrubber. Temperatures in each of the reactor's beds are precisely controlled, depending upon the nature of the sand being treated, so that hazardous substances can be separated and disposed of, rather than fixing the substances onto the sand grains in insoluble form.

Abstract: A container holding device intended for use with a chain conveyor for conveying containers such as bottles. The container holding device for receiving and gripping open-ended containers includes an elongated spindle and a chuck mounted for telescoping movement on the spindle. The chuck includes jaws arranged around the spindle and engageable by a cam on the spindle which controls radial expansion and contraction of the jaws. The jaws support radially outwardly thereof one or more resilient members such as O-rings for applying resilient gripping and friction holding force to the interior surface of the container telescoped over the jaws. For use with an overhead chain conveyor, the container holding device may be attached to a pin depending from the chain.

Abstract: A pipeline pig bypassing assembly is provided which remvoes a pipe pig from a pipeline system and which reintroduces a pig into the system when a second pig enters the assembly. Preferably, the bypassing assembly includes a tubular receiving means connected between two pipes of a pipeline system, a diverter for diverting a pig moving through a first pipe into the assembly, and releasing means for retaining a pipe pig in the receiver and for releasing the pig into a second pipe when a second pig enters the assembly. The receiving means sealingly engages a pipe pig therein to prevent passage therethrough of the material being transported by the pipeline system.

Abstract: A collector shoe assembly for transmitting current from an electrified rail to a mobile unit such as a trolley, crane, conveyor, or the like. In a preferred embodiment the electrical collector comprises an electrically conductive shoe for slidably engaging an electrified rail, and a bracket assembly to support and guide the shoe along the rail. The bracket assembly comprises a parallel pair of pivotally supported brackets with a transversely extending support and pivot pin extending between the outer ends. Supported on the pin between the brackets is the shoe which includes a U-shape top channel adapted to receive the pin. The pin is loosely captured within the channel by a pair of readily removable bolt and washer assemblies which are threadedly secured into the top of the shoe.

Abstract: A glass bottle inspection unit includes an endless conveyor having a series of spaced roller members defining therebetween grooves for receiving glass bottles for inspection. The conveyor member carries the bottles through an inspection station and means are provided for rotating the rollers and bottles several times as they move through the inspection station to facilitate inspection. An inspection unit module may be tilted between horizontal and vertical positions to facilitate viewing at the inspection station. Illumination is provided as an aid to visual inspection of the bottles.

Abstract: The present invention provides an automatic blanket wash system that recirculates a separable mix of water and solvent. The mix is selectively applied to the blanket cylinders by closing a pressure valve in the recirculation system return line and selectively opening valves to spray bars at the blankets. The pressure valve closing causes a pressure build up in the system for the spraying of the mix onto the blankets.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for transferring can bodies from forming to washing equipment and for collecting the excess oil that drains from the can bodies in transit. In one form the invention includes a horizontal infeed conveyor for receiving can bodies in upright orientation, a vertical or elevator conveyor for bringing the cans to a second elevation and to a mass accumulating conveyor. The conveyors have perforated conveying surfaces and subjacent evacuated plenum chambers for drawing surface bound oil from the can bodies.

Abstract: A pin oven is disclosed for curing coated or decorated can bodies travelling in a serpentine path wtih jets of a curing medium. The pin oven chamber is divided by an interior louver wall into a curing medium supply plenum chamber and a curing chamber. The cans move through the oven on a pin conveyor and jet nozzles in the louver wall are arranged in a pattern for instantaneously confronting moving can bodies with substantially the same number of nozzles for immersing the can bases in a substantially uniform air stream in order to minimize can flip-flopping on the pin conveyor in order to achieve oven speeds in excess of 1000-1200 cans per minute. The louver wall is provided with chambers for uniformly distributing the pressure and velocity of air jets to reduce the tendency of cans to pulsate as they pass through the oven. The louver walls are of modular construction for application of the oven to a variety of can sizes and decorating or coating technologies.

Abstract: A rotational and retractable container holding device and conveyor therefor in which a conveyor member is supported in cantilever fashion by support members extending along the conveying path. A plurality of container holding devices extends in a generally horizontal orientation from one side of the conveyor member and include an inner housing slidably mounted on a supporting spindle, an outer housing rotatably mounted with respect to the inner housing and slidably mounted with respect to the spindle, and a container gripping member at the outer end of the outer housing for gripping a container by its neck. The container holding device and its conveyor are particularly suited for receiving newly formed containers and for conveying the containers through a series of bottle forming operations including coating, decorating and so forth.

Abstract: A container transfer system in which containers such as plastic bottles having been newly formed are brought to a transfer conveyor in upright condition, reoriented to a horizontal position along a transfer conveyor and are engaged by their necks by carrier members on a carrier conveyor, removed from the transfer conveyor, and carried to subsequent container operations with substantially the entire exterior surface of the container exposed for subsequent operations such as coating or decorating.

Abstract: Disclosed is a reversible cross flow drying or curing oven including first and second ducts on opposite sides of the heated oven chamber. A fan forces heated air through a main supply passage into one or the other of the first and second ducts for transmission into the oven chamber. The air in the oven chamber is returned to a main return passage through the other of the first and second ducts thereby establishing a cross flow of heated air in the oven chamber from one duct to the opposite duct. The main return passage communicates with the main supply passage for recirculation of the heated oven air. Flow control devices are provided in the supply and return passage to alternate the direction of the flow of air across the oven chamber between the ducts to provide for even drying or curing of the articles in the oven chamber.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for heating semiconductor wafers characterized by the release of preheated nitrogen into an oven to considerably reduce heating time for the wafers. The oven is evacuated prior to the release of the preheated nitrogen.

Abstract: Credit cards to be used with automated systems such as vending machines or the like have various identification and other data encoded on them for use with a particular system for which they are intended. To prevent persons familiar with the system operation and the manner of encoding data on such credit cards from developing unauthorized cards which will work in the system, a random number generator is used to produce a mask for relocating the bits of encoded data in a random manner to various locations on the credit card. This mask is stored in a microprocessor memory and is used both in encoding and decoding such cards.

Abstract: Disclosed is an overvarnish unit for applying varnish to a web of printed material as a protective overlay. The overvarnish unit includes a varnish fountain for receiving paste varnish, a form roller, and a plurality of rollers intermediate the fountain and form roller. The form roller engages an impression cylinder roller forming part of a printing assembly. The varnish is transferred from the fountain to the form roller by the intermediate rollers which also mill the varnish as it is being transferred to reduce its viscosity. The form roller is driven at a peripheral speed greater than the linear speed of the web over the impression cylinder roller. This form roller overspeed provides a smearing action in applying the varnish to the web rather than a one to one or line by line printing action thus achieving control over the thickness of the applied varnish and the appearance of the final product.

Abstract: In an information computer and data processing system where transactions controlled by the system are initiated and set up by a card inserted to a magnetic strip card reader, provisions are made to terminate the transaction and set the card out of the reader in response to certain conditions of the data supplied by the card reader to the system. Each card to be used with the system has a start character encoded at the beginning of characters corresponding to unique variable data identified by that card. An end character always appears at the end of the unique variable data, followed by an LRC (longitudinal redundancy check) character. Each character on the card also is provided with a parity check bit and a provision is made for detecting a parity or LRC error to terminate the transaction and to set the card out of the reader and to similarly terminate the transaction and set the card out of the reader whenever an end character is detected before a start character.

Abstract: A process and system are set forth for improving an oxygen-enriched Claus plant by recycling effluent from the first condenser back to the reaction furnace to moderate oxygen induced high temperatures and thus allow additional oxygen-enrichment and attendant throughput in the Claus plant.

Abstract: To reduce the number of different software packages required for document controlled systems of the type used in automated fueling systems, automated bank teller systems, and the like, a "format" character is encoded in a preestablished location on the card used to activate the system. Typically, the system activation cards include an identity section having a maximum number of characters in it which may be utilized to perform the identity function. Different system users, however, frequently divide this identity section into different formats of groups of characters separated by "space" characters. Insertion of space characters into the encoded indentification field on the card, however, uses valuable space which otherwise may be required for the full identification functions in the system. By employing a separate format identity character, a wide variety of formats may be possible while using all of the characters possible in the identity field for their chosen function.

Abstract: An electronic control system particularly suited for use with an automatic fuel dispensing system uses a centrally located computer to supply serial polling signals to various sub-stations. At the sub-stations, the polling signals are decoded into signals used to control the operation of specific system relays operated by the system. The status of the decoded polling signals as well as the operating status of the relays is supplied back to the computer for verification. A time-out control circuit continuously monitors the input polling signals applied to the relay terminal. If activity does not appear on the input signal line at the terminal after a pre-established time interval, all of the system relays at that terminal are turned off or rendered inoperative, irrespective of the status of the relay control signal obtained from the output of the polling signal decoding circuit.

Abstract: A punched card reader for use in systems such as bulk fuel terminal dispensing systems, automated unattended bank teller machines and the like includes security provisions to prevent operation of such systems by counterfeit cards. Specifically, the system operates with a punched card made of laminated plastic or the like having a rectangular plate made of magnetic material sandwiched between the card layers. This plate is located in an area of the card adjacent the portion encoded with the variable data uniquely identifying the card and the controlling its function, etc. The card entry throat of the tape reader is modified to have a pair of spaced-apart, magnetically actuated reed switches on one side of the card entry slot. On the opposite side of the card entry slot a pair of corresponding permanent magnets are located.

Abstract: A remotely controlled verification lockout of the verification memory used in conjunction with fuel dispensing systems, service dispensing systems (such as automatic bank tellers), and the like is provided. At each user location, a verification memory is provided in which a single binary data bit is stored at each different verification address location. Each document or credit card used with the system has unique identifying information encoded on it for addressing a specific location in the memory which corresponds to the verification check for that credit card. Provision is made for automatically initializing the status of all of the information stored in all of the verification memories in the system by the transmission of an initializing signal to those memories from a central processor by way of suitable communications lines.