Abstract: A tilting mechanism for precisely controlling the pouring of metal from a melting crucible is disclosed. The mechanism utilizes a pressure roller journalled in an adjustable bearing mount to clearance-free urge a rack against a pinion to tilt the crucible. At least one boom is disposed on the adjustable bearing mount to pivot the hydraulic cylinder in a parallel direction relative to the tilting shaft.

Abstract: Apparatus for use in grabbing a refuse container such that the container can be emptied into a refuse collection truck. The grabbing apparatus includes a pair of opposed articulated grabbing arms which have the capability of securely grabbing containers of substantially different sizes without crushing or otherwise damaging those containers.

Abstract: A refuse collection vehicle has a chassis, a cab mounted to the front of the chassis, a body mounted to the chassis behind the cab for conventional dumping or for modular box transfer and a loading device or assembly. The loading device or assembly comprising forks mounted on a carriage which travels vertically along a mast. The mast being pivotally mounted to arms which are mounted for pivotal movement about an axis located above the cab. The arms rotate the mast rearwardly toward the body. The contents of the container are emptied into the body of the vehicle by moving the forks upwardly along the mast,rotating the lift arm upwardly and rearwardly toward the vehicle body, arm and tilting the forks into the vehicle body. In a preferred embodiment, the forks are attached along the mast arm by a chain drive mechanism carried with the mast.

Abstract: A car dumping apparatus intended for open top railway cars or other containers which are moved sequentially through a supporting frame and are rotated upwardly and to one side about a single horizontal axis to discharge the contents onto a dumping area located on one side. A first hydraulic piston motor rotates the frame and railroad car as a combination about the horizontal axis. Thereafter a second hydraulic piston motor advances the combination of frame, railroad car, an intermediate support member and the first hydraulic piston motor, as a combination, about the same horizontal axis until the open top of the railroad car confronts the dumping area whereby the contents of the railway car are spilled onto the dumping area. Economies of construction and operation are achieved as a result of the rotation about a single horizontal axis.

Abstract: A hydraulic system for a mobile vehicle that supports and positions a load relative to a docking structure, such as a patient relative to a medical diagnostic apparatus. The mobile vehicle includes a wheeled base, a carriage on the base, a hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering the carriage relative to the base, a load supporting cradle slidably mounted on the carriage for movement in a longitudinal direction between an operative extended position and an inoperative retracted position on the carriage, and a hydraulic system for controlling the operation of the vehicle and its components. The vehicle includes co-operating members on the base and on the docking structure for properly aligning and positioning the vehicle with respect to the docking structure. The movement of the carriage may be accomplished either manually through a foot pump or through a hydraulic power interlock between the vehicle base and docking structure which is engageable upon docking.

Abstract: In a plant for making concrete roof tiles, the tiles are loaded on to racks and cured in a curing chamber. Apparatus for unloading the tiles on their pallets from shelves in the racks on to an outfeed conveyor comprises a descending conveyor means having pairs of supports, the spacing of the pairs of supports being equal to the spacing of the shelves. A pusher moves columns of tiles from the shelves on to the pairs of supports which engage the edges of the tiles. A cam moves the descending conveyor away from the rack and the conveyor then is activated to deposit the tiles on to an outfeed conveyor in spaced relationship.

Abstract: An attachment apparatus is arranged to be suspended from an overhead travelling crane or other similar means and is employed for a cargo handling operation, for example, unloading an article placed on a shelf or rack. The attachment apparatus includes a frame section adapted to be suspended from a hook attached to a crane, a fork section movably mounted on the frame section and adapted to scoope up an article, and a driving section for driving the fork section. The frame section has a ceiling member equipped with a suspension member, the mounting position of the suspension member being adjustable. The fork section has a pair of fork members, the distance therebetween being adjustable.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically de-packaging products and separating the product from its package wihtout contamination of the product and having an improved, continuous feed agitating hopper, a product-orienting feed chute and being adaptable for operation without tumbling the product and package together.

Abstract: A refuse compactor body has a tank section of an irregular polygonal right section that is uniform from end to end. The tank wall is made of rectangular pieces of thin very high tensile strength sheet metal and externally reinforced at spaced intervals longitudinally of the tank by polygonal peripherally continuous girth reinforcements, made up of straight short sections of metal tubes, to make a semi-monocoque structure. A floor portion of the tank is recessed between the longitudinal body support beams, which are the sole body support, to provide a relatively low center of gravity when mounted on a truck chassis. A hopper section of the body has a packer that obturates about two-thirds of the opening to the tank and is fitted at its upper edge with a follower that pivots to a shallower slope to keep refuse from falling behind the packer blade during a compaction stroke of the packer.

Abstract: A cassette-type container for a sheet-like member, includes a lower member for carrying the sheet-like member, an upper member engageable with the lower member to define a closed chamber, a guide channel formed in the upper member, for guiding rectilinear movement of the upper member when it is engaged by or disengaged from the lower member, a guide pin formed on the lower member and engageable with the guide channel so that the upper member is pivotally movable relative to the lower member, and a member for holding the upper member and lower member against separation.

Abstract: The invention is a highly maneuverable prime mover adapted for normal or orthogonal steering modes. In the normal mode true Ackermann steering is achieved. Either two or four wheel steering may be chosen. When in the orthogonal mode the vehicle is hybrid skid steered. In hybrid steering only one wheel of a side-by-side pair is steered. This greatly simplifies the necessary shifting mechanisms. Each wheel is driven by an individual hydraulic motor supplied from a main system. In the preferred version the prime mover has a turret capable of 360.degree. rotation. This turret preferably has a universal mounting capable of holding various types of lifting tools. The prime mover is especially well adapted for use with a tool head comprising an array of parallel screws or chains which can rapidly pick up, transport, and deposit objects such as container grown nursery plants.

Abstract: The wheeled frame remaining after removal therefrom of the detachable cargo container, is gripped by clamping mechanism of a carrying unit mounted on a tractor or lift truck, then elevated above the ground and pivoted from its normal horizontal disposition to vertical position, and then transported to a multiple storage unit where it is deposited and retained in said vertical position removably in one of a plurality of compartments making up the storage unit. A plurality of such wheeled frames may be stored in this manner by deposit in successive ones of the compartments, and they are removed from the compartment in the reverse order of deposit.

Abstract: A straddle carrier which may be driven over either end of a load to be lifted, the carrier having a chassis including spaced parallel elongated frame members which are connected together adjacent their ends by vertically disposed structural arches to form a rigid rectangular frame enclosing an unobstructed load bay. At least two pairs of wheels are disposed on each side of the chassis and a compressed air over oil suspension system is provided for attaching each wheel to the chassis. The compressed air over oil suspension system provides for decreasing the air space in the system to thereby enhance the stability of the carrier. A rectangular load lifting structure is disposed between the frame members and provides for guiding the load lifting structure during ascent and descent are provided to facilitate positioning of the load lifting structure from side to side between the frame members of the chassis.

Abstract: Miniature electronic component parts such as capacitors or resistors are end conductively coated by use of a part handling plate having a multiplicity of passageways therethrough with walls coated by resilient material to grip the parts. A bank of pins in a press (a) are used to move the parts in the passageways, (b) are used to load the parts into the passageways through the use of a loading plate housing part receiving openings filled with parts by the use of vibration equipment, and (c) are used to discharge the parts from the passageways into the recesses of an unloading plate. The parts are moved in the passageways first to expose one end to be coated and then second to expose the other end of the parts to be coated.

Abstract: The crop discharge spout of an agricultural machine is continuously adjusted so that the crop material discharge therefrom is always directed into an associated, but not necessarily connected, collector vehicle. An electro optical device affixed to the crop discharge spout illuminates a scanning area with an optical signal. A passive retroreflective target affixed to the collector vehicle and disposed within the scanning area reflects the optical signal back to the electro optical device. The electro optical device receives the reflected optical signal and causes logic means to generate control signals, such that appropriate utilization means aligns the crop discharge spout with the associated but not necessarily attached collector vehicle.

Abstract: A system for orientating a railway spike of the type having a head provided with a lip which projects at one location from the head. It is important to ensure that the lip is aligned in a predetermined angular position so that when the spike is driven in a tie by means of an automatic spike driver the lip will overlie the rail flange. The system involves a holding device, such as an electromagnet for holding a spike and a drive motor rotating the holding device and spike until a light path defined between a stationary source and detector is interrupted by the lip of the spike and at which point the drive motor is deenergized, in addition, a switch indicating a complete 90.degree. rotation of the spike is also activated so that one of the flat faces of the square section shank will face the rail.

Abstract: A transport machine includes a frame for cyclically receiving a plurality of containers from an unloading station and for transporting them to the discharge region. The discharge region is spaced apart from the unloading station by a predetermined distance. The machine includes a platform connected to the frame, and is operable in a first position thereof adjacent the unloadiing station for accepting the containers, and pivotably movable thereafter about an axis to a second position angularly spaced away from the unloading station; it is movable subsequently from the second position to a third position adjacent the discharge region for temporarily storing the containers thereat; the platform is operable thereafter, and upon having temporarily stored the containers at the third position, to move to a fourth position spaced away from the discharge region, and similar to said second position, and thereafter operable to execute a pivotable return movement from the fourth position to the first position.

Abstract: A stacker/unstacker for receptacles such as bread pans or baskets or the like includes a pair of laterally spaced-apart endless chains having receptacle carriers mounted therebetween for conveying receptacles between an infeed-outfeed conveyor and the top of a receptacle stack. The conveyor chains are horizontally spaced-apart in a direction perpendicular to the lateral direction with the carriers mounted for rotation about two spaced-apart axes which are respectively fixed with respect to the chains so that the carriers are stably held in a predetermined orientation and undergo only translational movement along the conveyor path. The path has a transfer portion at the top of the stack wherein the carriers and carried receptacles remain stationary for a time during which the carriers are moved between support and release conditions to pick up or deposit receptacles at the top of the stack. Indexing mechanism moves the transfer portion vertically to keep it at the top of the stack as the stack height changes.

Abstract: A hopper car discharge gate operating mechanism providing a toggle or over center linkage mechanism with one link having a roller extending outwardly of the hopper vehicle and engageable with a trackside operating cam for opening and closing the hopper gates. The roller is mounted on a support arm that is carried by a mechanism link and held with a locking pin in such a manner to allow the locking pin to break and release the arm in the event the doors are jammed closed. The operating mechanism also includes a biasing spring for automatically returning the doors to a closed position after the hoppers are emptied.

Abstract: Trays containing stacks of cigarettes are moved to an evacuating station above a vertically movable platform which descends as soon as the movable bottom of a filled tray is moved to its open position. The platform then lowers a stack of cigarettes from the interior of a filled tray onto the upper stretches of two intermittently driven endless belts in a magazine. The latter serves for temporary storage of such stacks prior to transport of cigarettes into a reservoir which feeds cigarettes into the hopper of a packing machine. The supply of cigarettes in the reservoir is monitored.[.,.]. and.Iadd., .Iaddend.when the supply is depleted to a certain minimum permissible value, a switch produces a signal which starts a motor for the belts so as to transfer a stack from the magazine into the reservoir.