Abstract: A fabric component pickup apparatus or the like having first and second fabric gripping elements defining first and second opposed gripping lines in the plane of the face of the fabric component, the fabric gripping elements adapted for movement relative to each other essentially in the plane with simultaneous components of motion closing the distance between the gripping lines and displacing one gripping line laterally in the plane of the fabric at an angle to the closing motion. As the fabric lying between gripping lines is tensioned by the component of lateral displacement motion of the gripping elements, the fabric is simultaneously gathered by the component of closing motion. In one preferred embodiment, an air blast is directed through the porosity created by tensioning the fabric to impinge upon the underlying layer of fabric.

Abstract: A method for feeding material sheet to a press comprises steps of transferring a material sheet on which print parts and the corresponding positioning marks are printed for a preset distance at least until the positioning mark comes into the field of view of a viewing device provided in a position related to the working position of the press, detecting misalignment between the centers of the positioning mark and a reference mark of the field of view in the X and Y axis directions by the viewing device, and positioning the print part at the press working position automatically and precisely by using the detected amount of the misalignment as a correction value for positioning.

Abstract: The anti-skid device is intended for use on a front-wheel drive vehicle having a braking system consisting of a master cylinder connected to a first and a second hydraulic circuit each connected to the operating cylinders of the brakes of a respective pair of diagonally opposed wheels, of the motor vehicle. The device comprises:a braking sensor,a sensor of the average speed of the front wheels of the motor vehicle,a sensor of the speed of rotation of at least one rear wheel of the motor vehicle,a sensor of the steering angle of the wheels,two electrically controlled changeover valves inserted in the first and the second hydraulic circuit respectively, and which can, upon receiving a command signal, allow at least partial reduction of the braking force of the respective wheels to which they are connected, andan electronic control and command unit which controls the operation of said valves in dependence upon the signals supplied by said sensors.

Abstract: A frictionless hydraulic damper including a cylinder having end walls mounting the opposite ends of a shaft with a clearance in labyrinth seals, bellows seals between each end wall and the portions of the shaft extending beyond each end wall, a piston head on the shaft within the cylinder, hydraulic fluid in the cylinder and in both bellows seals, an orifice construction located relative to the piston head for permitting flow of hydraulic fluid past the piston head to produce damping, and a conduit in the shaft for effecting communication between the two bellows. The damper as described above also functions as a snubber by including a valve construction which selectively closes the orifice construction.

Abstract: A damping device is provided for damping momentum in a rotary member to stop it at a desired normally stopped position without any override therefrom, the device including a friction plate moveable against the rotating member at least in the terminal stage of its travel to produce the stopping effect.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process and to an apparatus for transferring a sheet of material. The process is characterized in that:at least two successive conveyors (11, 12) are connected, the second conveyor having a coefficient of adhesion which is higher than the first conveyor, andfirst, the speeds of said conveyors are adapted to the speed (V.sub.2) prevailing on the sheet as it arrives on the first conveyors, and then,when the sheet covers the second conveyor with a portion deemed adequate, the speed of the second conveyor is modified until it attains the speed (V.sub.2) at which the second conveyor is to deliver the sheet, and,finally, as soon as the sheet has let the second conveyor, the speed of the second conveyor is brought back to that of the first. The method and the apparatus for carrying out the method have particular application to printing and cutting machines.

Abstract: The known delivery device for sheet bodies in which sheet bodies stacked at a standby position are successively delivered one by one as kicked by a kicker, is improved in that the delivery device is additionally provided with a suction plate which sucks and conveys each sheet body as moved jointly with the kicker only during the period when the kicker moves for a predetermined distance after it has been started.

Abstract: This invention relates generally to devices which are designed to prevent loss of shopping carts from shopping center parking lots or other areas where use thereof is expected. More specifically, it relates to a particular wheel design which locks when removal is attempted and thereby provides a braking action under certain circumstances, namely when removal of the shopping cart from a given area is attempted. This locking of the wheel occurs when the longitudinal axis of the cart to which the wheel is attached, which is normally horizontal, is tilted away from the horizontal in order to negotiate curbs or when traversing a sloped surface such as a driveway and the like.

Abstract: In a paper sheet collecting apparatus according to the present invention, paper sheets successively fed from a conveying path are guided and collected into a collecting chamber, held between vanes of a rotating vane wheel, is provided with a separator which can rock around the rotating shaft of the vane wheel and also move in the radial direction of the rotating shaft. In distributing the paper sheets, the separator is rocked through a predetermined angle and then moved radially, so that succeeding paper sheets guided by the vane wheel are temporarily and assortatively collected on the separator.

Abstract: A hydraulic disk brake apparatus especially useful for braking the rotation of a hoisting drum used to support a drill string in a well. The apparatus comprises a hydraulic fluid pump having an actuating lever, a pair of brake calipers having hydraulically actuated friction pads for engaging a brake disk coupled to the drum for rotation therewith, hydraulic fluid lines interconnecting the pump and the friction pads, and a mechanism for converting the braking reaction force caused by the torque applied to the calipers, when the pads engage the rotating disk, to an additional hydraulic force proportional to the amount of torque so applied to the calipers and applying this additional hydraulic force to the pads. This renders the braking action self-energized and provides a physical indication, i.e., a "feel", in the brake actuating lever reflecting the braking action actually take place on the drum.

Abstract: A sheet feeding system of a frictional sheet separation type including a feed roller rotating in a sheet feeding direction, and a separation roller maintained in pressing contact with the feed roller with a path of travel of a sheet therebetween and having applied to it a predetermined torque oriented in a direction opposite the sheet feeding direction. The system further includes a separation roller shaft supporting the separation roller at one end thereof and pivotable at the other end thereof for pivotal movement in a plane including its own axis and the axis of the feed roller, a pivot for biasing the separation roller shaft toward the feed roller, and a slide for guiding the separation roller shaft in such a manner that it rotates in a plane including its own axis and the axis of the feed roller.

Abstract: A bottom sheet feeding apparatus including a sheet separator and feeder and a sheet stacking tray which has a planar base portion defining a base plane, the front of the base portion having an opening within which the bottom sheet separator and feeder is positioned, the tray further including two sloping planar side wings, one at each side of the opening in the base portion. In a preferred embodiment, the sheet separator and feeder includes a slide plate with a vacuum applied thereto. The slide plate has a sloping front portion for more positively separating the bottom sheet in a sheet stack from the remaining sheets.

Abstract: A sheet feeder with a feed wheel assembly for conveying an end sheet from a stack of sheets. The feed wheel assembly has a rotatable engagement wheel positioned to contact the end sheet of the stack, and operable to separate and convey the end sheet from the stack; a horizontally extending first shaft on which the wheel is mounted, with the first shaft being angularly movable in a generally vertical direction; a horizontally extending second shaft positioned spaced apart from the first shaft, the second shaft being mounted in a substantially fixed planar orientation to a support frame; and a pair of laterally spaced-apart first and second arms extending between the first and second shafts. Each of the first and second arms has a first portion retaining the first shaft and a second portion longitudinally spaced from the first portion and pivotally connected to the second shaft.

Abstract: A braking system for a motorcycle employing a multipiston fluid cylinder arranged in series to provide stepped braking from a single input to both the front and rear wheels. Additionally, a proportional pressure reduction valve operates to reduce the proportional braking pressure to the rear wheel of the motorcycle above a threshold or break point pressure level. An anti-locking system is employed with the front braking system. This anti-locking mechanism includes a warning buzzer and light simultaneously activated and deactivated with the anti-locking mechanism. A control mechanism including a control rod having stepped surfaces is employed to increase the threshold pressure of the proportional pressure reduction valve. The control mechanism disables the warning buzzer and the anti-locking mechanism and generates a continuous warning light signal.

Abstract: An anti-locking system is provided for a two-wheel road vehicle which is equipped with electro-hydraulic braking pressure control equipment, which generates the driving signals necessary for appropriate driving or braking pressure control valves by processing wheel rotational speed sensor output signals. In order to obtain both good braking effect and good driving stability when the control equipment responds, the brake slip .lambda..sub.F of the front wheel is controlled to a value which is always less than the rear wheel brake slip .lambda..sub.R. The control responds if, on the one hand, critical values of the wheel deceleration are exceeded and/or, on the other hand, if the brake slip .lambda..sub.F on the front wheel exceeds a threshold value still considered as permissible. As part of the anti-locking system, the braking installation is so designed that for both manual actuation and pedal actuation both wheel brake circuits respond with the installed braking force distribution.

Abstract: A compound electropneumatic brake control system which has a compound brake power command controller for controlling an electric brake system and a fluid brake system on motor cars and trailer cars. A plurality of motor and trailer car weight setters and a plurality of signal summing networks which cause any brake deficiency is either supplemented by both the fluid brake systems on the motor cars and trailer cars or is initially supplemented by the fluid brake system on the trailer cars and then is subsequently supplemented by the fluid brake system on the motor cars.

Abstract: A regulator valve for a hydraulic anti-skid apparatus and which includes a housing provided with a first inlet port for connection to a fluid pump and the anti-skid apparatus, a second inlet port for connection to a master cylinder, and an outlet port for connection to a fluid reservoir, a regulator piston reciprocably disposed within the housing to form a first fluid chamber in open communication with the first inlet and outlet ports and a second fluid chamber in open communication with the second inlet port, and a spring loaded annular valve seat member arranged within the first fluid chamber to cooperate with a valve part of the piston so as to control the fluid flow from the first inlet port to the outlet port in response to the difference in pressure between the fluid chambers. A support member is arranged within the first fluid chamber formed therein with an axial bore in which a large diameter portion of the piston is slidably disposed to form a third annular fluid chamber.

Abstract: A paper feeding device for a copier or the like enables reliable feeding of thicker paper products by providing at least one pivotable holding arm carrying a paper pressing member and a contacted adjacent elastic member. The feeding of the topmost paper effects deformation of the elastic member until a gap is formed sufficient to pass one sheet, following which the sheet is advanced. Further sheets are prevented from being passed together with the first sheet by the size of the gap and frictional resistance. The elastic member may be formed of an elastomer such as natural rubber and may include an upper hollow defining a contact surface of arcuate shape.

Abstract: A playground unit having a rotatable horizontally disposed deck adapted to support at least one passenger is provided with a control device operatively connected to the deck to limit the rotational speed thereof. The control device is a hydraulic governor comprising a fluid reservoir, a pump, and a valve with interconnecting fluid lines and check valves providing appropriate directional flow of fluid between the reservoir, pump and valve. The valve automatically moves between an open and closed position depending upon the rotational speed of the unit. The force required to maintain the rotational speed of the playground unit is much greater when the valve is closed as compared to when the valve is open.

Abstract: Tubular members (22, 24) define a pressure chamber (26) and a reserve chamber (28) between them. A first variable metered hydraulic orifice area is provided between chambers (26, 28) by openings (32) in a metering tube (30). A second metered hydraulic orifice area is provided by fixed orifice (94). In a first mode of operation, both such areas are open during an initial retraction of members (22, 24). Control tube (34) is coaxial with metering tube (30) and has openings (36). In the first mode, latch (62) locks tubes (30, 34) together with openings (32, 36) aligned. Relative extension of members (22, 24) following the initial retraction causes pressure in chamber (28) to rise above pressure in chamber (26) and latch (62) to release control tube (34). Spring (40) moves tube (34) into a closed position in which it blocks openings (32). Shock absorber (20) then operates in its second mode in which fixed orifice (94) remains open and openings (32) remain closed.