Abstract: An apparatus for forming, filling and closing bags has a hollow mandrel on which a hose is continuously formed from a sheet; two vertically reciprocating and horizontally oppositely movable shoes underneath the mandrel for cyclically pressing together a first hose portion and providing a transverse seam thereacross as the hose and the shoes move downwardly in unison; a folding device cyclically forming bottom flaps from a second hose portion at opposite sides of the hose at the lower end of the mandrel above the first hose portion; a clamping device for firmly grasping the hose at the second hose portion and backing the bottom flaps along the entire hose cross section as it pulls the hose downwardly from the mandrel while moving simultaneously downwardly with the shoes and while the hose part that terminates at the bottom flaps is being filled with goods by gravity; and a cutting device for cutting through the transverse seam when the shoes and the clamping device have pulled the hose to a predetermined low p

Abstract: In a system including a bag forming apparatus for forming a succession of bags, bag filling and closing apparatus, and a conveying apparatus for conveying each bag, after it is formed, along a conveying path from the bag forming apparatus to the filling and closing apparatus, the system production speed is increased by disposing the bag forming apparatus laterally to one side of the conveying path and associating the bag forming apparatus with a bag transporting member arranged to transport each bag, after it has been formed, into the conveying path, whereby the conveying apparatus can convey bags which were previously formed along the conveying path during at least a portion of the bag forming operating cycle of the bag forming apparatus.

Abstract: Fluidic amplifier, particularly a hydraulic linear amplifier for converting a low-energy rotary movement of a control member into a linear setting movement of the piston rod of an operating piston, wherein: the control member is connected with a threaded spindle whose free end extends into an axial bore in the piston rod of the operating piston and mates with a spindle nut provided in the axial bore; the pressure fluid for charging the operating piston to produce the setting movement of the piston rod is controllable by means of an axial deflection of the control piston of a control valve, which deflection is effected by the control member and the threading of the threaded spindle into the spindle nut, and this setting movement causes the control piston to be repositioned to its starting position. A protective device is provided within the amplifier for the automatic separation of the mechanical connection between the operating piston and the control piston during a malfunction.

Abstract: A package arranged to be opened at its top and composed of a flexible inner bag of sealable material having a flat sealed top, a jacket having a rectangular cross section and made of a stiff material, the jacket enclosing the bag and having an open end located at the top of the package and protruding beyond the flat sealed top of the bag, and a lid of stiff material having a flat portion of rectangular shape corresponding to the cross section of the jacket and adhesively secured to the flat bag top and bent edge strips joined to the flat portion and adhesively secured to the inner surfaces to the protruding portion of the jacket to join the inner bag and the jacket together.

Abstract: An apparatus for eliminating excessively thick elongated articles medially positioned on and advanced by a first conveyor in an orientation transverse to the direction of advance, comprises a sensor arranged above the first conveyor and responding to an article having a thickness exceeding a predetermined magnitude; and an impact mechanism connected to the sensor and having a striker positioned for delivering a blow to the excessively thick article for shifting the same into an eccentric position on and with respect to the first conveyor. The impact mechanism further has an actuating arrangement operating the striker upon receipt of a signal of response from the sensor. The apparatus also has a second conveyor formed of two parallel narrow conveyor belts extending from a discharge end of the first conveyor. The distance between the conveyor belts is less than the length of the articles.

Abstract: In a conveying device including an endless chain guided around sprockets to follow a conveying path and to present a loop which is located out of the conveying path and which creates a gap in the conveying path, the length of the loop being adjustable to vary the length of the conveying path and the chain being arranged to convey a plurality of carriers along the conveying path with the carriers spaced at uniform intervals therealong, there are provided an auxiliary conveyor to convey the carriers across the gap and guide members for transferring the carriers to the auxiliary conveyor ahead of the gap and back to the chain beyond the gap.

Abstract: An apparatus for the periodic transverse welding and severing of longitudinally advanced superposed wrapper sheets has two oppositely rotating, cooperating welding shoes, at least one of which is provided with a heater and at least one of which is displaced towards its rotary axis by virtue of the engagement between the welding shoes during each revolution thereof. One welding shoe has a tapered terminal head which includes leading and trailing flanks as well as a cutting edge. The other welding shoe has a counterface cooperating with the cutting edge and two elastic, rod-like members arranged adjacent and parallel to the counterface. As the welding shoes simultaneously engage the superposed wrapper sheets from opposite sides, the leading flank of the tapered head, cooperating with one of the elastic rod-like members pinches the wrapper sheets and provides a first transverse weld seam.

Abstract: An apparatus for counting and grouping articles has a discharge end through which the articles are discharged in consecutive groups, each having a predetermined number of articles; a first conveyor carrying the articles in random distribution; a second conveyor having a plurality of parallel-arranged counting channels; a transfer arrangement for advancing the articles onto the counting channels from the first conveyor; a counter associated with each counting channel to monitor, from a zero count, the total number of articles passing the counter in the second conveyor to determine article groups having a predetermined number of articles; and a third conveyor having pusher assemblies associated with each counting channel for cyclically taking over the conveyance of the articles from the second conveyor at a location which is downstream of the counter as viewed in the conveying direction of the articles.

Abstract: A safety mechanism to prevent the accidental discharge of a firearm such as an automatic pistol when the firearm impacts on a hard surface utilizes a second spring loaded slide bolt as an impact safety in addition to a conventional, trigger-activated spring biased slide bolt. The second safety bolt and its bias spring are structured and located so that an impact which causes the trigger-activated safety bolt to move out of its normal "safety-on" position also causes the second slide to move against its bias spring to engage a recess on a firing pin and thereby prevent the weapon from firing. Also, when the firing pin is located in a slide of an automatic pistol, the slide, firing pin and hammer are structured so that a movement of the slide on impact towards the hammer causes the rear edge of the slide to strike the hammer with the firing pin spaced from the hammer.

Abstract: A device for conveying and separating articles which are moved, while in engagement with each other, by an input conveyor and are transferred by a periodically operating transfer member onto an output conveyor which operates in synchronism with the transfer member and which engages the articles during their conveying movement and conveys them with a speed which is greater than the speed of the input conveyor. The transfer member is composed of a first pusher which moves transverse to the conveying direction for transferring each item from the output end of the input conveyor onto the output conveyor, and a second pusher which is driven independently of the first pusher for holding back the item immediately following the item being transferred until the first pusher returns to its starting position.

Abstract: A muffler for exhaust systems of internal combustion engines, pneumatic tools and the like, in which at least two parallel conduction channels are provided each having a conducting device for applying a torque about the channel axis for the entering partial flow of gas only along a short upstream initial section thereof, but is free of any components along the remainder of its length, the conduction channels being so arranged at their downstream ends that the partial flows of the gas come together from opposite directions and then flow together to a common outlet.

Abstract: An apparatus for periodically forming transverse seams in a longitudinally advanced wrapper hose for transversely sealing the wrapper hose between articles previously arranged therein, has cooperating rotary upper and lower sealing shoes between which the wrapper hose passes and which periodically pinch the wrapper hose walls together and transversely seal them to one another. There is further provided a flexible bar grate arranged to support the wrapper hose in the zone of the sealing shoes. The bar grate is formed of a plurality of parallel-spaced interconnected bars which include two end bars, each articulated to a connecting rod. The connecting rods, in turn, are articulated to one another by a joint pin. A drive arm is affixed to the shaft of the lower sealing shoe spaced from and aligned with the latter. The drive arm has a radial guide groove into which projects the joint pin of the connecting rods. The lower sealing shoe projects into the space between the two end bars.

Abstract: In a method for precisely advancing a printed packaging strip provided with markings at uniformly spaced distances and which is to be cut into length portions corresponding to such distances, a sensor head being provided along the feed path of the strip to produce an indication, each time a marking reaches a predetermined location, the strip being advanced during successive operating cycles, with each cycle corresponding to the cutting of a successive length portion of the strip, precise strip advance is effected by, during each operating cycle: advancing the strip first through a predetermined distance which reliably differs from the distance between successive markings; subsequently imparting to the strip, by movement of a carrying device, a correcting movement over a distance and in a direction which brings a marking to such predetermined location and causes the sensor head to produce such indication; causing the indication produced by the sensor head to actuate a clamping mechanism to cause that mechanism

Abstract: In bag making, a web of sealable material is wrapped around a forming tube of rectangular cross section, the adjoining edges of the web are bonded to one another to form a hose, a transversal seam is provided to form a hose bottom continuing in ears, drawing the hose off the forming tube in the direction of its length by grasping solely the hose ears and transversely severing the hose below the forming tube for obtaining an individual bag.

Abstract: A wrapper assembly for packaging articles includes a carrier element supporting the articles and a sleeve surrounding the carrier element and the articles. The carrier element comprises two compartments, each formed of a separate bottom wall, a separate lateral wall and at least one separate end wall. The two lateral walls are in a face-to-face contacting relationship.

Abstract: In a continuously operating packaging machine for packaging items at uniform intervals in a tube of sealable packaging material, the narrow sides of the tube are folded inwardly in the region between successive items, where a transverse seam is subsequently formed, by blowing a jet of gaseous medium against the center line of each narrow side, from two nozzles, in each such region.

Abstract: In apparatus for aligning a stream of elongate articles, such as chocolate bars, delivered in a randomly ordered arrangement to a turntable, the apparatus including a stationary guide rail disposed above the turntable and extending along a path which spirals outwardly away from the axis of turntable rotation, the speed and reliability of the aligning operation are improved by forming the guide rail to have a series of breaks in the guide path which it defines and by disposing the rail so that articles come to abut only against the surface thereof which faces away from the turntable axis.

Abstract: Apparatus for conveying a continuous series of flat items along a path while in an upright position and in contact with one another and for dividing the series of items into successive separate groups at the end of the conveying path by insertion of a separator member behind the last item of the group then being separated, with the separation into groups being facilitated by causing the end portion of the conveying path, which carries the items being separated into a group, to be pivotal about an axis transverse to the conveying direction and lying in the plane of insertion movement of the separator member, and by constituting the separator member of a first component movable only perpendicularly to the fixed portion of the conveying path for retaining the items upstream of the group being formed, and a second component movable perpendicularly to the end portion of the conveying path and pivotal therewith for engaging the last item of the group being formed.