Abstract: The machine for ordering textile tubes for entry into the distributor of a continuous spinning machine includes mechanisms that perform that ordering so that, independently, the textile tubes can be delivered to one side or the other of the spinning machine and devices for ordering tubes of different dimensions automatically. The ordering machine has a hopper, containing textile tubes, two parallel vertical conveyor belts provided with textile tube holders for the tubes which move the tubes from one end at the hopper to another end remote from it, a bottom discharge device for feeding the ordered tubes to the spinning machine and lateral guides for guiding the tubes to the bottom discharge devices. The textile tube holders are advantageously rubber sections vulcanized onto the conveyor belt of various transverse cross-sections or metallic angular sections fastened to the conveyor belts.

Abstract: A disc-type coin sorter for sorting coin mixtures which include coin denominations of substantially similar diameters, the sorter has a rotatable disc having a resilient top surface, a drive motor for rotating the disc, a stationary sorting head having a lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to the upper surface of the disc and having an opening in the central region thereof for feeding coins between the opposed surfaces of the disc and sorting head, the lower surface of the sorting head is contoured to align the coins in a single file and single layer, the contoured lower surface extends downwardly between exit channels at a common radial position providing a positive guide wall which maintains the radial alignment of coins as they pass between exit channels and tapers upwardly in a radial direction from the area traversed by the inner edges of the largest-diameter coins, to the top edge of the guide wall that extends between adjacent exit channels.

Abstract: A tow trailer assembly for towing a single pallet of material behind an automobile or truck and having a substantially rigid fork frame with apparatus for connecting the trailer to the towing vehicle at one end and forks for engaging and lifting the pallet at the other end. A wheel support frame is pivotally connected to the fork frame and a hydraulic lifting cylinder is provided for moving the wheels downward relative to the fork frame to raise the fork frame into a towing position with the load substantially centered over the trailer's wheels.

Abstract: A break-out attachment (2) configured for connection to a vehicle, such as a lift truck (20), for retrieving, transporting and releasing cotton bales. The break-out attachment comprises a shaft (24) rotatably mounted to a base frame (4), two lower horizontally spaced support arms (10, 12) extending outward from the shaft for supporting a cotton bale and an upper arm (6) extending from the shaft between the support arms for engaging the cotton bale. A rotary actuator (52) is coupled to the shaft for rotating the shaft and the three arms around the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The upper arm has a hydraulic cylinder (88) for telescoping toward and away from the shaft. The hydraulic cylinder provides more flexibility in the positioning of the truck and allows the operator to initially engage the cotton bale with only the upper arm, thus facilitating the process of retrieving the bale.

Abstract: A transportation system is adapted for transporting and removing roll on/roll off containers from a trailer surface. A tractor having a fifth wheel is used to tow the trailer. The tractor carries a supplemental platform, which is placed over the fifth wheel area to permit transfer of a container from the trailer onto the platform of the towing tractor for transportation of the container to a delivery site. The container and tractor also include mating members to permit raising one end of the container relative to the other to facilitate dumping of the contents from the container while it is carried on the supplemental platform on the tractor. A specific form of container, particularly suitable for use in the transportation system, is a double walled, insulated container for carrying hot mix asphalt.

Abstract: A device for handling an automobile seat having a bar suspended from a cable and a rotor connected to the bottom end of the bar with the output shaft of the rotor used to rotate a clamp-like device. The clamp-like device has a pair of blades which are moved together and apart using piston-cylinders. The blades have a first portion and an angularly offset second portion specifically designed to be utilized for handling an automobile seat without damage to the seat.

Abstract: A device for placing transversely aligned spacing-sticks onto a top surface of a lumber stack. The device having a longitudinally translatable conveyor with stick supporting hooks depending therefrom, the conveyor and the supporting hooks adapted to convey longitudinally the spacing-sticks extending transversely across the conveyor and the stack of lumber, having a stick transferring device for transferring the spacing-sticks from the stick supporting hooks to the upper surface of the lumber stack. The stick transferring device having a first and a second vertically translatable frame, the second vertically translatable frame selectively longitudinally translatable relative to the first vertically translatable frame.

Abstract: An apparatus for stacking bundles of sheets includes an elongate stacking table capable of movement upwardly and downwardly, the stacking table being lowered in accordance with an increase in stacking amount of the bundles of sheets. A single-side-openable type shutter member is located above the stacking table and is adapted to support the bundles of sheets arranged in a row, the shutter member being capable of opening only in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the bundles of sheets being arranged in a row, so that the bundles of sheets are simultaneously dropped onto the stacking table. A stationary ruler member is adapted to restrict only one side surface of the bundles of sheets at the openable side of the shutter member and prevent the bundles of sheets from movement following the opening action of the shutter member so that the bundles of sheets are dropped to a predetermined location.

Abstract: A dump truck spreads material to form a layer of material to form a structure such as a road by tilting a dump body pivoted on the truck and allowing a tailgate to open a gap through which the material flows as the dump truck moves forward. Typically, a pair of chains determine the width of the gap. In order to release the chains and allow the tailgate to swing freely if the material becomes jammed and does not freely flow through the gap, a pair of toggle-type chain releases are provided. The toggle-type chain releases comprise chain-retaining plates with slots therein for receiving one link of the chains. The retaining plates are rotatable from a chain-retaining position to a chain-releasing position. The toggles which operate the chain retaining plates include levers which are unitary with one link of the toggles and serve as operating handles which when pulled releases the chains.

Abstract: A commissioning device has several shift-out magazines arranged on a conveying path for accommodating items stacked therein. The items are introduced in insert spaces of the shift-out magazines in the form of item stacks. The shift-out magazines are preceded by an item stack throughput storage device each equipped with an itermittently operated advancing device, and when the advancing device is triggered, a row of item stacks present in said throughput storage device is moved forward by one receiving space, and the at least one foremost item stack is introduced into the insert space of the respective shift-out magazine. In the shift-out magazines, the insert spaces are located beside the shift-out spaces, and a transverse slide is arranged in the insert space for shifting the item stacks into an adjacent shift-out space.

Abstract: An assembly for attaching a coin separator to a coin stacker, wherein the coin stacker has a plurality of coin storage boxes for storing coins therein, and the coin separator assorts the plurality of sorts of coins supplied from outside and then delivers the assorted coins to the corresponding coin storage boxes. The assembly capable of attaching the coin separator to the coin stacker with ease comprises a main frame which is fixed to the coin stacker; a subframe which is movably coupled to the main frame, which holds the coin separator so as to be detachable, and which guides the coin separator between an engagement position where the coin separator and part of the coin stacker are held in engagement and a non-engagement position where they are not held in engagement; and a fixing member which fixes the coin separator and the subframe to the main frame at the engagement position.

Abstract: A component mounting device adapted to mount components such IC or the like on a printed circuit board that includes replaceable pick up nozzles to accommodate different types of components to be picked up. A sensing station is provided that permits the pick up nozzle to be verified as the correct one and also to determine, if desired, its orientation and misalignments in its axis of rotation so as to permit adjustment in the mounted to accommodate for errors. In addition, a reference height position may be set so that the same sensing station can be employed to sense both the orientation of a component that is picked up and also whether the component is correctly oriented for deposit. This is done by measuring projected lengths in a plane with a photo sensitive device and by making calculations in accordance with trigonometric relationships.

Abstract: A process for a packing system for rolling-mill stock in which the packing system includes a continuous conveyor, an overhead transfer with a suspended electromagnet, and a lifter positioned below the conveyor in association with the overhead transfer. The process includes the steps of stopping an advancement of a first rolling-mill stock below an electromagnet collector an a multilayered rolling-mill stock below the overhead transfer, raising the first rolling-mill stock by the collector from the conveyor, lifting the multilayered rolling-mill stock toward the electromagnet, advancing a second rolling-mill stock while the overhead transfer deposits the multi-layer rolling mill stock into a packing pocket, stopping the advancement of the second rolling-mill stock below the collector, and depositing the first rolling-mill stock onto the second rolling-mill stock while the overhead transfer returns to a position above the lifter.

Abstract: An intermediate storage apparatus for the storage of sheets has an acceptance cycle and a transportation cycle and includes a feed system and a transportation system. In the acceptance cycle the intermediate storage apparatus waits until a first detector detects the presence of a sheet at an entry and triggers off an acceptance operation in the feed system by way of a control device. The feed system stacks the sheets which are fed by a conveyor system to provide a stack in the transportation system which is locked in the acceptance cycle. As soon as the acceptance cycle is concluded, the control device decides whether the transportation system is to pass the stack into a box or into a return dish and switches on a drive unit of the transportation system to transport the stack. The intermediate storage apparatus then returns to the acceptance cycle.

Abstract: A coin detection and identifying apparatus and method, utilizes three closely aligned electric coils. The center coil is actively driven by an alternating current to generate a magnetic field that surrounds the center coil. The two outer coils are symmetrically disposed within the magnetic field generated by the center coil, and voltages are induced across the terminals of the outer coils which are indicative of the relative field strengths of the magnetic fields within the outer coils. A sample coin and test coin are interposed between the center coil and each of the outer coils, the coins operative to attenuate the surrounding magnetic fields. A controller compares the voltages across the terminals of the two outer coils to effectively compare the likeness of the sample and test coins. A coin sensing apparatus, located downstream of the coils, provides a plurality of optic emitter-detector pairs to detect the valid passage of a coin.

Abstract: An apparatus for stacking sheet-like products delivered one after another in a spaced relationship to each other with a transporting device, including a conveyor arranged above a transporting plane of the transporting device for conveying the delivered sheet-like products to a stacking position, and a braking device located beneath the conveyor, with the conveyor having a conveying surface provided with suction openings or magnets for lifting the sheet-like products off the transporting device and for retaining the sheet-like products as they are conveyed to the stacking position.

Abstract: Low aerodynamic noise type current collection equipment is provided for reducing variations in aerodynamic force applied to a current collector during train operation. A central region (2a) of a current collector (1) having a collector head (2) with a top surface in which a contact strip (3) is embedded is rectangular in cross-section, and each side region is shaped convex in cross-section in the front and rear directions, with e.g. an elliptical shape. The rectangular shape has characteristics such that the magnitude of the aerodynamic lift force would be kept substantially constant even if the inclination angle against the aerial flow would be changed.

Abstract: Document registration apparatus, including: a deck for supporting documents along a document path from an upstream position to a downstream position; a pair of transport belts for transporting the documents along the document path; a plurality of laterally spaced registration stops defining a document registration position in the document path, the stops being located at a downstream position substantially perpendicular to the document path for both stopping the documents at the document registration position and for aligning the documents relative to the document path; a pinch roller situated above each of the pair of transport belts at an upstream position for urging the stopped documents against the transport belts; and a pair of laterally spaced belt/paper supports secured to the deck.

Abstract: A device has a sliding tube assembly which can be mounted to a motor vehicle. The tube assembly has three tubes which coaxially telescope between a lowered loading/unloading position and either a raised storage position or a raised loaded position. A pivotable platform attached to the tube assembly is controlled by a logic mechanism which senses whether cargo is present on the platform. If cargo is present, the platform may be raised and a locking mechanism secures the cargo to the platform. If no cargo is present as the platform is raised, it pivots into a folded storage position and is held securely by the locking mechanism. When the platform is in one of the two raised positions, the tube assembly and platform tilt forward. The device is driven by a motor activated linear actuator extending down through the tube assembly. A control system governs operation of the device.

Abstract: A current collector for a railway trolley vehicle includes a current collecting member having a contact strip, a driving system for moving the current collecting member into and out of contact with a trolley wire, a load cell for detecting force acting between the current collecting member and the driving system, a displacement meter for detecting displacement of the driving system, first and second estimating circuits, and a control circuit. The first estimating circuit provides an estimated value of the contact force between the current collector and the trolley wire by estimating values of first parameters of the contact strip, the current collecting member, and the trolley wire and summing products of each of these values and a corresponding weighting factor.