Abstract: A material conveying system, comprising: one or more material sources for providing material to be transferred; one or more destination locations for receiving material from the one or more material sources; one or more material conveying lines; one or more vacuum pumps wherein each vacuum pump is operatively connected to one or more of the one or more destination locations via one or more vacuum source lines; a sensor disposed on, in or near each of the one or more material conveying lines; a programmable electronic control unit (ECU) connected, via wires or wirelessly, to each component of the material conveying system including the one or more material sources, the one or more destination locations, the one or more vacuum pumps and to the one or more sensors; wherein the ECU uses data from the one or more sensors to (i) determine flow patterns and/or stream density of the material being conveyed through the one or more material conveying lines; and (ii) make automatic adjustments for optimizing and maintai

Abstract: A material conveying system, comprising: a plurality of material sources for providing material to be transferred; a plurality of destination locations for receiving material from one or more of the plurality of material sources, wherein each destination location has a destination material inlet valve and a destination vacuum valve; a plurality of material conveying tubes; a plurality of vacuum pumps wherein each vacuum pump is operatively connected to one or more of the destination vacuum valves via one or more vacuum source tubes, and wherein each of the vacuum pumps is operatively connected to one or more of the material sources through the one or more vacuum source tubes and respective destination vacuum valves, the one or more destination locations and one or more of the plurality of material conveying tubes; a first sensor disposed on or near each destination vacuum valve; a second sensor disposed on or near each material inlet valve; a third sensor disposed on or near a vacuum outlet of each of the vac

Abstract: A material conveying system, comprising: one or more material sources for providing material to be transferred; one or more destination locations for receiving material from the one or more material sources, wherein each destination location has a destination material inlet valve and a destination vacuum valve; one or more material conveying tubes each configured to connect a source to one or more destination locations; a vacuum pump operatively connected to each of the destination vacuum valves via one or more vacuum source tubes, and wherein the vacuum pump is operatively connected to one or more of the material sources through the one or more vacuum source tubes and respective destination vacuum valves, the one or more destination locations and the one or more material conveyor tubes; a first sensor disposed on or near each destination vacuum valve; a second sensor disposed on or near each material inlet valve; a third sensor disposed on or near a vacuum outlet of the vacuum pump; a programmable system con

Abstract: A material conveying system, comprising: a plurality of material sources for providing material to be transferred; a plurality of destination locations for receiving material from one or more of the plurality of material sources, wherein each destination location has a destination material inlet valve and a destination vacuum valve; a plurality of material conveying tubes; a plurality of vacuum pumps wherein each vacuum pump is operatively connected to one or more of the destination vacuum valves via one or more vacuum source tubes, and wherein each of the vacuum pumps is operatively connected to one or more of the material sources through the one or more vacuum source tubes and respective destination vacuum valves, the one or more destination locations and one or more of the plurality of material conveying tubes; a first sensor disposed on or near each destination vacuum valve; a second sensor disposed on or near each material inlet valve; a third sensor disposed on or near a vacuum outlet of each of the vac

Abstract: A travelling planetary cutter (10), comprising: a cutting head assembly (11) comprising a rotating cutting assembly (30) comprising a blade guide block (32) carrying a cutting blade (34), wherein the blade guide block (32) is disposed for axial movement on a cutting block (33) so that cutting blade (34) may be moved towards and away from bearings (36) disposed on the cutting block (33); a blade cam block (42) also comprising part of the rotating cutting assembly (30) and itself comprising a blade cam (44) defining a cam surface (45), wherein axial movement of blade cam (44) of blade cam block (42) in direction (43) forces cam surface (45) to act upon a bearing (46) on blade guide block (32) to cause blade guide block (32) to move towards a workpiece to be cut (14) until cutting blade (34) engages workpiece (14) against bearings (36) while cutting blade (34) is rotated as part of rotating cutting assembly (30) to cut workpiece (14) wherein a speed of rotation of cutting blade (34) is maintained constant even w

Abstract: The invention relates to material delivery systems and particularly to pulse controlled material delivery systems.

Abstract: A hopper loader having a hopper connected to a vacuum source for applying a vacuum to the hopper to convey material into the hopper through a material inlet. A material separator is disposed between the material inlet and the vacuum source for filtering the material. A material discharge assembly is connected to the hopper and disposed for controlling downwardly gravity flow of the material from the hopper, the material discharge assembly having a material outlet configured to be opened and closed to control the discharge of material from the hopper. A vacuum detector is disposed between the material separator and the vacuum source. A vacuum activated control operatively connected to the vacuum detector and configured to turn off the vacuum source in response to a signal from the vacuum detector.

Abstract: The invention relates to material delivery systems and particularly to pulse controlled material delivery systems.

Abstract: A material handling system. The system includes a plurality of material sources for providing material to be transferred and a plurality of destination locations for receiving material from the material sources, wherein each destination location has a destination valve. The system further includes a distribution mechanism, a plurality of source conveying tubes each connecting a source location to an opening on the distribution mechanism, and a plurality of destination conveying tubes each connecting an opening on the distribution mechanism to a destination location. The system further includes a vacuum source operatively connected to each of the destination valves, a vacuum sensor disposed on each of the source conveying tubes configured to sense a change in pressure in the source conveying tube, and a programmable controller connected to each of the vacuum sensors for determining if a correct connection has been made.

Abstract: Manufacturing and industrial processes that involve the transfer of materials from source locations to destination location may utilize the presently described system and process to verify that the correct physical connections are established and maintained in a material handling system. The system collects information related to individual physical connections, including machine-identifiable indicia, and compares this information to data that defines the intended connections within the material handling system. In doing so, the system and process verify whether the proper physical connections are in place.