Abstract: A pipe handler trailer assists with the handling of very large and heavy pipes that are regularly raised to and lowered from an elevated surfaces. At least one wedge is removably coupled to an intermediate location within the pipe handler boom. The wedge is operative to change a longitudinal direction of the non-linear boom. The wedge has a pipe-receiving trough configured to cooperate with the pipe handler skidway and support pipes through longitudinal movement thereon. Front and rear faces are rigidly affixed to an undersurface of the wedge skidway, and are offset from parallel to each other. A pair of support hooks protrude from the wedge front face, and are designed to drop into and engage with a pair of mating slots. Once the support hooks are engaged with the slots, fasteners such as bolts and nuts are used to secure the wedge to the pipe handler boom.

Abstract: In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to improve delivery vehicles with storage compartments for items and product containers. In some embodiments, the storage compartments have a plurality of horizontally-mounted support rails mounted on opposite sides of the storage compartment to receive the product containers and retractable retaining elements disposed adjacent ends of the support rails proximate storage compartment openings to help retain the product containers. In another configuration, the horizontally-mounted support rails are movable, such that the product containers supported by the support rails permit are movable. By one approach, the delivery vehicle includes a conveyor mechanism to move the horizontally-mounted support rails.

Abstract: A method and device to balance a tiltable arm comprising a free extremity and having a pivot point on a mounting structure which is supported by a floating object, by providing the arm with suspension and/or support means for controlling the arm's inclination with respect to the horizon, and by providing said suspension and/or support means with at least one spring, wherein the spring connects to the arm and to said mounting structure, and embodying the spring as a passive spring which is arranged to balance the arm so as to stabilize a position of a free extremity of the arm during movements of the floating object.

Abstract: A case manipulator receives cases from an infeed conveyer and manipulates individual cases or groups of cases and transfers the manipulated cases to a row accumulator platform in a desired and pre-determined orientation and positioned on the accumulator platform to a desired and pre-determined location. The manipulation of individual cases, or groups of cases, is continued in a sequential operation until a complete row is formed on the accumulator platform according to a pre-determined build menu. The case manipulator includes a swing plate pivotal on a first axis and a paddle arm that is attached to the swing plate and pivotal on a second axis that is transverse to the first axis. The invention allows the palletizer to have the next case in a row transferred from the infeed conveyer to the row-build staging area while the case manipulator is operating on an already-delivered case.

Abstract: Methods and systems for assembling and using a hydraulic pallet jack box actuation system for a refuse truck are disclosed. The system includes an assembly that supports a pallet jack box sized and configured to contain at least a portion of a pallet jack. The assembly includes a top portion including a linkage connection portion that connects to a cross member of a truck frame, a bottom portion that includes a pallet box support member configured to be raised and lowered between the truck frame and a ground, and a hydraulic cylinder disposed between and connecting the top portion and the bottom portion. The hydraulic cylinder includes a top cylinder portion and a bottom portion configured to extend between an extended position to place the assembly in an extended configuration closer to the ground and a retracted position to place the assembly in a retracted configuration.

Abstract: A control unit performs first loading control that is to be performed when a target article that has been determined by a determination unit as being an article that is in an appropriate orientation is to be loaded onto a first supporting member in the appropriate orientation, and second loading control that is to be performed when a target article that has been determined by the determination unit as being an article that is in an inappropriate orientation is to be loaded onto the first supporting member in the appropriate orientation.

Abstract: A transport apparatus including a robot drive; an arm having a first end connected to the robot drive; and at least one end effector connected to a second end of the arm. The arm includes at least three links connected in series to form the arm. The arm is configured to be moved by the robot drive to move the at least one end effector among load locks and two or more sets of opposing process modules.

Abstract: An automatic egg tray stacking apparatus turns alternate egg trays through the operation of movable guides at the junction with a loading conveyor before conveying the egg trays toward a stacking mechanism that first stops the egg tray and then lowers the stack on top of the egg tray before re-elevating the partially formed stack to permit the entrance of a new egg tray into the stacking mechanism. Once the stack of egg trays is completed, the stack is allowed to move onto a stack conveyor and is moved forwardly for shipment. The stacking mechanism is operated by a single actuator having dual pneumatic cylinders that provide a three position operation of the lifting function with the stacking mechanism having lifter members engaging all four sides of the lowermost egg tray of the elevated stack. A control mechanism operates the apparatus with input from appropriately positioned sensors.

Abstract: An apparatus includes an arch-support system configured to support an archway above a work surface during construction of the archway. A rail assembly is configured to selectively receive and support the arch-support system in such a way that the rail assembly, in use, supports the arch-support system once the rail assembly selectively receives the arch-support system.

Abstract: A counter-ejector comprises: an elevator including a table displaceable in a forward-backward direction parallel to a feeding-out direction; a backward restriction member for restricting a situation where backward edges of corrugated paperboard sheets in a batch are displaced in a direction opposite to the feeding-out direction; table upward-downward movement drive device; a table displacement drive device; and a control device. The control device executes a table downward movement control processing such that the table is displaced backwardly in at least part of a time period when the table is moved downwardly from the hopper part to a table stop position and a time period when the table is stopped at the table stop position, and a table upward movement control processing such that the table is displaced forwardly in a time period when the table is moved upwardly from the table stop position to the hopper part.

Abstract: A method for loading blanks from a stack of blanks to a head press of a stamping press line is provided. The method may include: providing a loading robot; providing one or more separating robots configured to separate one blank at the top of a stack of blanks from the underlying blanks; providing a stack of blanks and applying separating robots to at least one side of the stack; recognizing the position of the stack of blanks using the position of the separating robots; picking up the blank located at the top of the stack of blanks with the loading robot, using the recognized position of the stack; loading the blank to the head press of the stamping press line using the loading robot. Furthermore disclosed is a system for loading blanks to a head press of a stamping press line.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a feeder and a backlight production apparatus. The feeder includes: a storing assembly configured to store a material tray on which a plurality of elements to be fed are placed; a fetching assembly configured to obtain the material tray from the storing assembly by sucking and transport the material tray; a distributing assembly configured to obtain at least one element to be fed by sucking from the material tray transported by the fetching assembly, and distribute the at least one element to be fed; and a turn-over assembly configured to turn over the at least one element to be fed distributed by the distributing assembly, and transport the at least one element to be fed to a next process unit.

Abstract: A first leading end plate and a first rear end plate are provided at an upper part of a rotary table. When a conductor piece contacts the first leading end plate, a first contact detection sensor detects a contact of the conductor piece, and transmits a contact detection signal to a storage control unit. Upon receiving the contact detection signal, the storage control unit drives an air supply device for a predetermined period to spray air toward the conductor piece from a first air nozzle. The air spray brings the conductor piece into a tilted state with the rear end thereof moved downward. Even when the conductor piece contacts the first leading end plate and rebounds, the rear end thereof contacts an inner wall surface of the first rear end plate, thereby preventing the rear end of the conductor piece from getting over the first rear end plate.

Abstract: A system for transporting substrates and precisely alignment the substrates to shadow masks. The system decouples the functions of transporting the substrates, vertically aligning the substrates, and horizontally aligning the substrates. The transport system includes a carriage upon which plurality of pedestals are loosely positioned, each of the pedestals includes a base having vertical alignment wheels to place the substrate in precise vertical alignment. Two sidebars are configured to freely slide on the base. Each of the sidebars includes a set of horizontal alignment wheels that precisely align the substrate in the horizontal direction. Substrate support claws are attached to the sidebars in precise alignment to the vertical alignment wheels and the horizontal alignment wheels.

Abstract: An apparatus that denests a stack of containers and methods of separating a stack of containers and making the apparatus are disclosed. The apparatus includes a denester and a counting device. The denester is configured to separate a first stack of at least 2 containers into a plurality of second stacks of containers. Each of the second stacks includes an exact number of containers, the exact number being a positive integer less than m. The counting device is configured to count the exact number of containers in the first stack. The method of separating containers includes counting an exact number of containers in a first stack of m containers using the counting device, and separating the exact number of containers from the first stack using the denester.

Abstract: A dispensing device that comprises vertical guidings for receiving a stack of a plurality of trays, a separating device for dispensing individual trays in a downward direction and a tray discharge device that has multiple rotating lifting elements. The dispensing device includes lifting elements that are formed cylindrically and have a comb structure with at least two immersing protrusions that extend in parallel to one another.

Abstract: When sheet products 1 are discharged, the sheet products are collided against shutter bars 5 so as to fall and stack on a feed conveyor 4. Then, each of protrusion bodies 7 and 8 are lowered by a first drive 9 so as to nip the sheet products between the protrusion bodies and the feed conveyor. Then, coming products are successively discharged and stacked on the protrusion bodies. And then, a second drive 12 is operated in conjunction with the feed conveyor so as to feed the sheet products nipped between the protrusion bodies and the feed conveyor 4. The shutter bars 5 are elevated and lowered by a third drive for adjusting the height position thereof.

Abstract: Disclosed is an accumulation device, for accumulating products conveyed within an industrial treatment line, including a set of horizontal trays, arranged in a tray zone as a vertical stack, further including a manipulator, such as a robot, for transferring products between a substantially horizontal closed belt type conveyor and the uppermost tray of the bottom portion of the stack. The trays are movable in the vertical direction, at least in order to bring at a predetermined height the tray to be loaded or unloaded. Also disclosed is a corresponding conveying installation and method.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for rapid loading stacks of items aboard vessels which can include rotating palletized items to depalletize the items, and then placing the items on a lifting robot, lifting the robot and items into the hold of a vessel, removing the items from the robot using a load push lift truck, and then using the load push lift truck to stow the items in a stowage location. The empty robot can be removed from the hold of the vessel and put in a position to receive a another depalletized stack of cartons. In one option the robot has a plurality of fork channels for receiving the blades of a load push lift truck along with receiving the blades or a rotating lift truck.

Abstract: Disclosed are an automatic continuous operation robot for laying large-diameter pipelines and an operating method therefor. The operation robot comprises a platform, a main frame (1), an operation room, a navigation subsystem (1002), a pipe grabbing and conveying subsystem (3), a pipe end face pre-treatment subsystem (4), an on-line measurement subsystem, a pipe supporting subsystem, a welding and welding quality inspection subsystem (5), and a control system. The operating method comprises: first detecting and grabbing a pipe, then performing groove machining on the pipe, fitting the welding end faces of the current pipe and a previous pipe, then putting down the pipe, finely adjusting and fixedly connecting the two pipes, and finally, welding the two pipes. The automatic continuous operation robot for laying large-diameter pipelines has a high degree of automation and high working efficiency, and the laying period is short.