Abstract: A sheet-feeding mechanism comprises feed rollers attached to a first driving shaft and spaced from each other by a predetermined distance, two of the feed rollers being end feed rollers located at both ends of the first driving shaft. A pair of end ball rollers are attached to a second driving shaft and located in correspondence to the end feed rollers. A double-structure bail roller is attached to the second driving shaft in correspondance to the feed rollers, except for the end feed rollers. The double-structure bail roller includes an inner core and an outer layer having a small friction coefficient. The iner core is elastically deformable in a direction in which the end feed rollers are pressed against the corresponding bail rollers.

Abstract: Bulk material that is difficult to feed, such as glass fibers, is fed from a storage bin into a feeding chute driven by a vibratory drive which vibrates the chute in a longitudinal direction of the chute, that is, in the feed advance direction of the chute. The chute may be a so-called loss-in-weight feeding chute. In order to assure a uniform, constant material flow without any bunching and without any gaps in the flow for an accurate feeding, the material flow is exposed or influenced by a further vibration effective in a direction substantially across the feed advance direction. For the purpose a vibrator with vibrating elements extending in the feed advance direction vibrates in the cross-direction. These vibrating elements are so located that they can make the material flow through the chute more uniform.

Abstract: An inflator for automatically inflating an inflatable article, such as a personal flotation vest, upon immersion in water. A plunger is movably mounted within a housing and is movable with respect to a pressurized gas canister attached to the housing. An internally resettable automatic actuator mechanism, mounted within the housing, acts on the plunger to move the plunger to pierce the canister to release the pressurized gas therefrom through the housing to the inflatable article attached to the housing. A pair of spaced water sensor probes mounted in the housing provide a signal to a control device indicating that the housing is immersed in water. The control device activates the automatic actuator mechanism to release a spring-biased ram from a latched position such that the ram engages and urges the plunger under force into the sealed end of the gas canister.

Abstract: In a system for conveying metal coils or other heavy articles using multiple conveyors, the articles are conveyed on carriers which pass from one conveyor to another and thereby remain associated with the conveyed articles throughout the conveying process. The conveying system comprises an entry conveyor, a lateral feed conveyor and an exit conveyor. Each of the entry and exit conveyors comprises a storage conveyor section for loaded carriers, a return conveyor section for empty carriers, and a traversing section. The storage conveyor section utilizes a set of reciprocating drive frames having pins for selectively engaging and disengaging the carriers to effect stepwise movement of the carriers along the conveyor section. The lateral feed conveyor is a high speed, electrically driven car having the capability of taking on a loaded carrier and discharging an unloaded carrier and vice-versa.

Abstract: Deflecting elements and other elements contacting coins in a coin-checking apparatus are provided with plastic bodies which have a hard metallic coating to reduce wear to the exterior surface of the bodies.

Abstract: A coin to be judged is passed near an oscillation coil excited by an exciting signal containing a plurality of harmonic components, that is nonsinusoidal alternating current, and the coin is sorted in accordance with a signal produced by a receiving coil electromagnetically coupled with the oscillation coil and containing at least two harmonic components. The signal induced in the receiving coil may be a composite signal of at least two harmonic components. This signal may consist of a first signal of a composite of at least two harmonic components and a second signal of a composite of at least two other harmonic components.

Abstract: A dispensing device for dispensing measured doses of liquid during each dispensing cycle. A fluid-tight bottle is provided with a well at its bottom. A hollow shell fits in the well and includes an opening permitting flow of material from the bottle into the shell. A tubular stem extends from the shell through the top of the bottle and terminates in a dispensing spout. A vent tube exceeds from the interior of the bottle adjacent to the shell and terminates in an upper end located outside of the bottle. The vent tube is apertured inside of the bottle, and a shutter is provided to control the aperture exposure to adjust the level at which the liquid can rise in the shell.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for maintaining cold carbonated water in a beverage dispensing device so that unacceptably warm water is not dispensed therefrom. A modified beverage dispensing apparatus is shown including a carbonated water supply, a cold plate, carbonated water supply line extending through the cold plate, and in fluid communication with a carbonated water plenum immediately adjacent and in fluid communication with a plurality of beverage dispensing valves. An electronic control device connected to a temperature sensing thermostat located in the plenum and to a solenoid discharge valve of the plenum. The control device is also connected to a temperature sensing thermostat in the cold plate and to a pressure sensor located in the line between the source of compressed carbon dioxide and the carbonated water reservoir.

Abstract: Sheet feeding apparatus for example for use as a banknote counter comprises a stripper system having a pair of rollers; and a banknote detection system including two pairs of rollers defining respective nips into which single notes are fed by the stripper system. The relative deflection of the sheet detection system rollers due to the passage of a sheet through the nips is monitored in use. The stripper system rollers and the rollers of the sheet detection system are substantially coaxially mounted on a shaft and are driven by a common drive motor.

Abstract: A liquid dispenser having two separate sized dispensing chambers. The first being larger volume dispenser having a piston which is of variable stroke to move within a first chamber to draw liquid into the chamber and then to force the liquid out of said chamber. The second being a smaller volume dispenser which comprises a second piston which is of variable stroke and moves within a bore in said first piston to draw liquid into said bore and to force liquid out of said bore.

Abstract: To control with precision and repeatability the amount of fluid dispensed or aspirated by a pumping system, a volume disk rotates with the output shaft of a DC motor that drives a reciprocating dispensing pump. A sensor detects indicia on the disk and provides periodic signals spaced-apart in time by an amount: (1) an amount proportional to the volume of fluid pumped; (2) proportional to the angle between indicia; (3) less than one-third of the length of the total stroke of the piston as the piston moves linearly in its working portion of a cycle; (4) necessary for the piston to sweep out a volume of less than five milliliters. The speed of the pump is controlled by a second disk having equally spaced indicia that are sensed to provide signals proportional to the motor speed. During dispensing or aspirating large volumes, the motor speed is increased to a high speed, run at the high speed and then decreased before stopping and during dispensing smaller volumes, it is maintained at a constant lower speed.

Abstract: A liquid dispenser having two separate sized dispensing chambers. The first being larger volume dispenser having a piston which is of variable stroke to move within a first chamber to draw liquid into the chamber and then to force the liquid out of said chamber. The second being a smaller volume dispenser which comprises a second piston which is of variable stroke and moves within a bore in said first piston to draw liquid into said bore and to force liquid out of said bore.

Abstract: A plastic cap assembly has a base cap that can be installed on the neck of a container. Within the base cap there is a pour spout that serves as a sealing pin, can be moved axially upwards and downwards, and is closed off at the top. On the base cap there is a screw cap that can be turned. The screw cap has a central opening in which the pour spout that serves as the sealing pin engages when in the closed position. The pour spout has an outside thread that engages with an inside thread beneath the central opening in the screw cap. The advantges of this cap assembly lie in its good sealing characteristics and in the fact that, provided with a suitable penetrator, it can be used on containers sealed with a membrane or a foil.

Abstract: A sheet sorting device having a plurality of bin trays has a resilient member for imparting to a bin tray support member a force in the direction opposite to the direction of gravity and reducing a load applied to a bin tray drive source. A detecting device for stopping the driving of the drive source detects the movement of the drive source when the drive source moves up or down relative to the bin trays. Drive source has two lead portions, smooths the movement of the bin group and makes the amount of opening between the bins always constant.

Abstract: A closure dispensing device or valve and method which may be applied to a liquid container. The preferred closure device includes a channel body with an extending channel portion. The channel portion has an internal channel with an exit port. The exit port may include a circular seat into which an O-ring may be placed. A spring seal mechanism is placed in tension over the channel portion, the spring seal mechanism having a flat surface for engaging and sealing against the O-ring. To actuate the dispenser, the user moves the leg of the pivoted "U" spring away from the O-ring and allows liquid to pass therebetween. When the user releases the leg, the spring tension provided by the pivoted "U" spring restores the seal between the flat surface of the leg and the O-ring.

Abstract: An apparatus for selectively feeding sheets from a stack of sheets in sequence along a paper line, has an endless carrier belt which advances the sheets individually and successively through a feeding zone. A vertically actuated feed gate operates between two opening positions to allow only the lowermost sheet in the stack to advance sequentially through each opening position and the opening of both positions is controlled. A stack lifter moves sequentially in a vertical path above and below the carrier belt so that the lowermost sheet advances when in contact with the carrier belt to advance a portion of the lowermost sheet in the stack through the first opening position. The apparatus also forms a second predetermined opening portion between the lifter and feed gate which moves the gripper surface through which the remaining portion of the sheet advances.

Abstract: A cake decorating dispenser for simultaneously applying a plurality of adjacently positioned or contacting different icings or differently colored icings on cakes. In the decorating of cakes it is desirable to be able to apply a name or a message to the party to whom the cake is being given, such for example as "Happy birthday", and including the name of the party to whom the cake is being given. Hertofore it has been common practice to write the name of the party to whom the cake is being given in icing of a single color. It is recognized that it would be desirable to write the message, and the party's name in two or three or even more colors of icing dispensed in parallel adjacent ribbons of icing. It has been common practice to dispense the icing used to transmit the message from a cake decorating pastry bag having a decorating tip through which the icing is forced to flow to write the message on the cake.

Abstract: A document feeder includes a feed tray which is pivotal about a horizontal axis between an elevated automatic position in which it can be locked and in which the uppermost document of a stack of documents thereon is engaged with an endless belt skimmer to be fed from the stack, and a lowered manual position away from the skimmer for manual feed of a single document. A reverse feed roller is movable with the feed tray and is operative in the automatic position to inhibit feed of documents other than the uppermost document of a stack.

Abstract: An inverter apparatus of the type which may be used on a truck or other vehicle for inverting containers such as refuse containers for dumping their contents into a chamber within the vehicle. The apparatus uses a pair of cylinders having retractable rods which act through torque members to sequentially rotate a pair of pin carrier arms and inverter bars to invert a container having a pair of laterally extending pins. During rotation of the inverter bars the pins are always locked between the pin carrier arms and guide brackets attached to the truck body. The present invention provides a unique container and inverting apparatus interlock feature which is in effect at all times that the container is more than a few inches above the ground, thus rendering it virtually impossible during the inverting process to inadvertently drop or swing the container.

Abstract: A roller track is arranged in sections in that individual groups of carrier rollers can be selectively drivingly connected to and disconnected to and from a drive belt for section stop-and-go operations permitting a buffer location for each section, there being vertically displaceable belt rollers for engaging the belt to obtain driving connection to and disconnection from carrier rollers. The track includes a plurality of control rollers, control bars and control cams. The belt rollers are eccentrically mounted in the control rollers such that depending upon the angular position of the control rollers the respective belt rollers are lifted or lowered for engagement with or disengagement with the belt.