Abstract: A conveyor assembly comprises a main conveyor and a boom conveyor. A mounting is pivotally connected at the discharge end of said main conveyor for movement about a transverse axis relative to said main conveyor, said mounting having a rotatable support on which the boom conveyor is mounted for pivotal movement laterally. A linkage retains said mounting in a horizontal position extended outwardly beyond said discharge end with said rotatable support upright. The support has an attachment device at its upper end providing for pivotal connection about a transverse axis of said boom conveyor for movement thereof in a vertical plane, the boom conveyor being supported by a length-adjustable tie from said mounting. The linkage comprises a series of interconnected pivotal links between said mounting and said main conveyor to provide for synchronized adjustment of the mounting to maintain the support upright on alteration of the inclination of said main conveyor.

Abstract: Apparatus for aligning and orienting moving glass sheets immediately prior to their treatment. This invention is especially suitable for use with glass sheets heated while conveyed through a furnace on a roller conveyor where the glass becomes misaligned or misoriented prior to entry into a shaping station. However, the invention is also capable of use with any type of conveyor defining an enclosed conveyor path for said glass sheets where the glass is liable to lose its orientation and/or alignment and must be oriented and/or aligned preparatory to processing and is also suitable to orient and align rigid sheets other than glass.The apparatus includes a pair of truncated conical rollers which engage the edge of the glass sheet and, due to their shape, substantially reduce chipping thereof. These rollers are mounted on a carriage in a manner to permit lateral movement relative to the carriage by cams. The carriage reciprocates along the path in a manner to move with the sheets.

Abstract: A high capacity device for reliably sorting pieces of fruit from a bulk supply into individual cups for processing. The fruit is received in bulk in a hopper, a side of which is open to a center hub of a connected pair of feed wheels revolving coaxially in spaced horizontal relation. Each feed wheel carries a plurality of radially-extending through passages about its periphery. Each passage carries at least two individual pieces of said fruit simultaneously. An outward, exit end of each passage is normally blocked by cammable gate fingers. The feed wheels are rotatably synchronized with a pair of chains engaged with sprockets attached to the feed wheels and carrying therebetween a conveyor carrying the fruit cups. The speed of revolution of the feed wheels is sufficient to keep an outermost one of the fruit pieces lodged adjacent the gate fingers.

Abstract: A reversible arrangement for transporting bulk materials includes a plurality of buckets mounted on a bucket wheel for rotation therewith and for pivoting between respective end positions in which the open ends of the buckets face in respective circumferential directions of the bucket wheel. The buckets are mounted on levers which are interconnected by flexible elements for coordinated displacement of the buckets between the end positions. The bucket wheel carries two circumferentially and radially spaced cams which control the extent of displacement of cam followers of respective switches between their respective retracted and extended positions. A detaining arrangement is situated along the path of movement of the buckets and engages one of the buckets during the reverse motion of the bucket wheel to detain the bucket while the bucket wheel continues to rotate so that the buckets are angularly displaced between their end positions.

Abstract: Apparatus for introducing fabric article parts to an assembling machine which comprises a first slide assembly incorporating a device for entraining the parts along the slide assembly and thence into the machine. The fabric article parts are initially suspended from a second slide assembly and a caliper which are movable along separate, but substantially parallel, paths leading to the intake of the first slide assembly.

Abstract: A luggage merging device comprising a luggage carrying conveyor belt, two luggage guiding conveyor belts disposed generally perpendicularly to the luggage carrying conveyor belt and defining a converging path for the luggage, and a buck roller. One of the luggage guiding conveyor belts is powered at least generally in the direction of the luggage carrying conveyor belt, the other is powered at least generally in the opposite direction, and the buck roller is located at the upstream end of the latter.

Abstract: In a stepwise drive mechanism of the type comprising a pair of endless coying members, such as for example metal chains, which are formed of a magnetic or magnetizable material, with gripping elements mounted thereon and in which the conveying members are located parallel to one another with the gripping elements fixed temporarily to a plastic film in which receptacles are formed and traverse a machine for processing food and/or pharmaceutical products having different work stations positioned at intervals whose length is a multiple of the feed steps of the drive mechanism, a drive is provided for synchronously driving the conveying members. This drive includes drive wheels respectively located in contact with a corresponding conveying member or chain along a predetermined arc and a drive arrangement for intermittently rotating the drive wheels through an elementary angular displacement which corresponds to a feed step of the conveying members.

Abstract: A device for orienting filled and seamed two piece cans, in which a single line of randomly oriented cans is divided into two lines, all of the cans in one line being oriented in an upright position and all of the cans in the other line being oriented in an inverted position. The cans in one of the lines are then inverted and the lines combined to provide a single stream of cans oriented in one direction.The device has a rotatable turret body having a plurality of can receiving pockets around its periphery. A lever arm is pivotally mounted above each of the pockets and is adapted to engage the seamed end of the can in the pocket when the outer end of the lever arm is pivoted to a horizontal position. Cam means are provided to pivot the outer end of the lever arm from an elevated position to a horizontal position while the can is carried from a point adjacent a can inlet chute on a short arcuate path to one of a pair of can outlet chutes.

Abstract: A belt-type conveyor having an endless belt supported on a pair of spaced end rollers. The upper reach of the belt is adapted to have articles supported thereon for transporting thereof. A drive system is interconnected to both end rollers to simultaneously rotatably drive same, which end rollers in turn drive the belt. This drive system permits the upper reach of the belt to be maintained relatively free of tension so that the upper reach will readily conform to a guide structure which is positioned thereunder for slidably supporting same. The conveyor is particularly suitable for use as an inclined conveyor to permit lifting of articles on the upper belt reach, which upper reach can be bent upwardly from a horizontal position without requiring top guide rails or other hold-down devices.

Abstract: A device for transferring rows of products from moulds to a delivering table while turning over and setting the spacing of the products during transfer comprises telescopic assemblies of suction-cup supports mounted on diametrically opposed tubular arms rotatable on a fixed suction pipe with which the suction cups communicate. The angular position of the suction-cup supports relative to the arms is controlled during rotation to facilitate unmoulding of the products, and the spacing of the suction-cup supports is set, by a sliding sun-and-planet pinion arrangement controlled by two cam systems.

Abstract: A workpiece transfer mechanism having a walking beam carried by a slide mounted for reciprocal movement on a bed or table. A particular bell crank linkage is provided so that a single hydraulic cylinder both raises and lowers the walking beam with respect to the slide and also moves the slide longitudinally with respect to the table. The table is carried by a second slide for reciprocation of the table by a second hydraulic cylinder.

Abstract: An object accumulator and feeder uses a relatively long path divided into a series of independently operable sections. The upper surface of the path is covered with a pile material having bristles with tips supporting the objects and inclined toward a direction of feed, and sections of the path are vibrated to vibrate the bristles against the objects to feed the objects through the sections. A sensor is arranged along the path in each section, and the sensors have one output when an object is present in the sensing region and another output when no object is present in the sensing region. Timers respond to the two-state outputs from the sensors and are in circuit with vibrators for switching vibrators on and off to accumulate the objects by successively filling up the sections from the output end toward the input end of the device, to feed the objects out on demand, and to shut off selected vibrators for intervals during which the vibrators are not needed for advancing the objects.

Abstract: A chain drum for a chain conveyor, in particular a chain flight conveyor mounted on the cutting jib of a cutter-loader, consists of a split sprocket removably mounted on a non-divided drum which is connected to and rotates together with its shaft. The drum is provided with external teeth which mesh with internal teeth on both sprocket halves. Both sprocket halves are held together by locking disks which extend over shoulders on the sprocket halves, which latter are fixed to the drum by means of circlips or the like.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCutter-loaders of various designs are known for excavating tunnels, adits and so on, as well as for mining minerals such as clay. A cutter-loader may be provided with a swinging cutter jib, on the free end of which is mounted a rotary cutting drum or the like. The jib may also have a conveyor onto which the broken rock excavated at the face by the cutter drum is loaded in order for it to be carried to the next transporter.

Abstract: A magnetic roller conveyor wherein a plurality of magnetic rollers are arranged in a row, each of which includes an outer drum and an inner drum disposed in the outer drum and having magnets mounted thereon. The outer drum is rotated while the inner drum is fixed, whereby objects are conveyed by making use of magnetic forces of the magnets. Each roller includes a dampingly magnetized segment mounted past the vertex of the roller, the force of the segment decreasing in the direction of travel to facilitate transfer to the adjacent roller.

Abstract: A conveyor system for moving structural steel beams and the like to a saw made up of a first conveyor for moving the beams to the saw and the second spaced conveyor members connected to the first conveyor at right angles thereto and a lifting and moving mechanism on second conveyor for lifting beams laid on second conveyor, moving them onto the first conveyor and lowering them onto the first conveyor.

Abstract: An apparatus for orienting a flat workpiece has upper and lower hubs rotatable on a support about respective spaced-apart upper and lower rotation axes. Respective radially extending elongated upper and lower arms are mounted on the upper and lower hubs and carry respective upper and lower levers pivotal on these arms about respective upper and lower pivot axes parallel to the upper and lower arms at locations thereon spaced from the upper and lower rotation axes. Respective upper and lower workpiece-engaging needles are mounted on the upper and lower levers at substantially like spacings from the upper and lower rotation axes. Each lever is pivotal between an operative position with the respective needle engageable with the workpiece and an inoperative position unengageable with the workpiece and can be locked in the operative position by locking means.

Abstract: Apparatus for transferring pouches from a conveyor into product buckets of a cartoner. The pouches are deposited in shingled fashion in spaced groups on two slow moving parallel conveyors. Mounted on the same frame are two fast-moving conveyors which overlap the slower conveyors. At the junctions of the conveyors check and release mechanisms are provided which in the load engaging position raise the level of the slow conveyors above the fast ones and in the disengaged position raise the fast conveyors above the slow conveyors to facilitate the transfer. The pouches are transferred to the fast moving conveyors to increase the longitudinal separation between pouches. Two side-by-side groups of pouches are marshalled at the end of the fast moving conveyors by another check and release mechanism. The fast moving conveyors are swung alongside continuously moving product buckets, and during such swinging movement the pouches are deposited into the product buckets.

Abstract: A mobile pump for pumping moist compressible materials such as plaster, concrete, mortar and the like constructed integrally with a motor vehicle to be powered and transported thereby. The pump is provided with integral conveying apparatus redefining the material loading positions to lower elevations than possible with present day mobile pumps without modifying the conventional frame work or vehicle beds. The conveying apparatus may be a power driven auger rotatably secured to the pump proper for defining convenient loading positions for present day concrete trucks or the like.

Abstract: An improved accumulator and storage device for metal containers provided with open and closed ends, wherein one of the major wall areas of the accumulator and storage device is of acoustical construction and wherein the containers are deposited in the accumulator and storage device in such a way that their open ends face the acoustical wall structure.

Abstract: Installation for the thermal treatment of container-packed commodities, comprising an endless conveyor with carriers for the containers, each carrier having a cover closing its entrance, said cover being shiftable from a locked to an unlocked position and being tiltable over a limited arc in the unlocked position, a retractable abutment being provided for unlocking and opening the cover, while a further abutment is present for relocking and closing the cover.