Abstract: An apparatus and method for applying covers to seat cushions, including a frame cushion support which is rotatable between a portion in which the cushion covered thereby is compressed to facilitate placing the cover over the cushion and a position which provides access to the bottom of the cushion to facilitate fastening the cover to the cushion.

Abstract: A rack is disclosed for the assembly, inspection, and repairing of vehicle bodies. The rack is formed primarily of rectangular tubing and has two side members which are joined by two cross members. The side members have guide rails and grooves which allow quickly adjustable positioning of various supports and accessories. The side members and cross members have a plurality of formed holes at spaced intervals to accept locating dowels for the proper positioning of supports and base plates. The supports and base plates are mounted with a quick clamping mechanism. Also provided are clamps for holding the bodywork which have a simple height adjustment mechanism. Removable transverse ends allow good access to the interior of the rack and to the vehicle bodywork.

Abstract: Sheet materials and packages capable of holding hard-to-hold products such as methyl salicylate. The preferred embodiments include a foil layer 12 and a layer 14 of EVOH between foil layer 12 and the enclosed product. A carboxy modified adhesive layer 18 is disposed between the EVOH layer 14 and the product 52. Additional layers are used in the sheet material for purposes of adhesion, appearance, protection, body, and the like. One embodiment of the invention is a coextruded film comprising the EVOH layer 514, a surface layer 516, an intervening adhesive layer 518, and a fourth covering layer 519 for covering and protecting the EVOH layer 514, especially from physical abuse. A method is disclosed wherein the sheet materials of the invention may be made into packages using fin seals 54 and lap seals 50.

Abstract: A device for transferring objects, such as filled bags, from a conveyor to a collection device, such as a box, placed below the conveyor comprises two conveyor belts (1, 2) placed adjacent to each other. In the conveying position, the top parts of said conveyor belts together form one conveying face. Each of the conveyor belts (1, 2) is disposed on a tiltable frame (4). In order to make the drive of the conveyor belts (1, 2) extremely simple and to make it possible to adjust the conveyor belts at right angles to their direction of conveyance, the drive comprises a drive pulley (3) acting upon the top part of the belts (1, 2) in the conveying position thereof.

Abstract: A hopper apparatus for folding the end flaps of a film overwrapper across the ends of a carton enclosed in the overwrapper includes a back wall, two parallel side walls, and an access door closing the front side of the hopper. The top horizontal edges of the side walls, back wall, and closed access door define the open top end of the hopper, and the horizontal bottom edges of the back wall, side walls and closed access door define the open bottom end of the hopper. Carton engaging fingers are attached to the back wall for movement into and out of the hopper, and carton engaging fingers are also attached to the access door at the same elevation in the hopper as the engagement fingers on the back wall for movement into and out of the hopper.

Abstract: An apparatus for winding and packaging shoelaces into pairs with a circumscribing label therearound to hold the shoelace pair together in an oblong configured package. The apparatus includes a winding station for winding a pair of shoelaces into a circular coil configuration, a flattening station for flattening the circular shoelace coil into an oblong configuration, a device to transfer the circular configured shoelace pair from the winding station to the flattening station, a label delivery station proximate the flattening station for delivering labels to be wound around the oblong configured shoelace pair across the flattening station, a label wrapping station adjacent the flattening station in alignment with the label for wrapping the label about the oblong configured shoelace pair, and a device for moving the oblong configured shoelace pair and label from the flattening station to the wrapping station. The operation of the various stations of the apparatus are controlled by a central control device.

Abstract: A rack, with a plurality of test tubes arranged on it, in m columns and n rows, is transported into a main housing by a rack-inlet mechanism. In the main housing, tube-extracting mechanism extracts the tubes from rack, row by row, while the rack is being transported by a rack-transporting mechanism. The tubes are then conveyed, one by one, by a tube-conveying mechanism. A plug-extracting mechanism pulls each test tube conveyed by the mechanism and the plug closing this tube, away from each other, while holding the tube and the plug, thereby extracting the plug from the test tube. The test tubes are further conveyed by the tube-conveying mechanism after the plugs have been extracted from them. The tubes are then inserted by a tube-inserting mechanism row by row, into a vacant rack transported by the rack-transporting mechanism. After a predetermined number of rows of test tubes have been inserted into this rack, a rack-outlet mechanism transports the rack from said main housing.

Abstract: A metal tube, such as a valve body sleeve, is cold extruded to form full length and partial length longitudinal channels in its interior wall surface. The channeled tube is formed by extruding a metal, tubular blank, through an open ended die having an extrusion die throat at one end. A punch is inserted in the die and bears against an end of the blank for pushing the blank longitudinally through the die throat. The punch has an extension, having a leading edge section and a trailing edge section that pass through the blank. Longitudinally extending teeth are formed on the two sections, with some of the teeth being continuously longitudinally aligned and others being located only on the trailing section. Initially, the leading section is arranged within the die throat and the leading end portion of the blank is extruded through the die throat, around the extension leading section to form channels therein.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a device for the sealing of a container (10) by means of a wafer (20). The container comprises one or more joining means (14, 16) which are adapted so that by a joint (12), e.g. a welding joint, they are connected in a leakproof manner, to the wafer in an edge zone (21) of the same. The wafer is held against a contact surface (32) of a retaining means so as to be moved by the same until it rests in its edge zone (21) against anyone of the joining means (14, 16). While the contact with the retaining means is maintained, the wafer is connected by a fixing means (50) in its edge zone in a leakproof manner to anyone of the joining means through the fixing means supplying energy to the edge zone so that a joint (12) is formed. The invention makes it possible to fix in a leakproof manner a previously cut wafer to the opening part of a container.

Abstract: Apparatus for applying closures to containers, comprising a first rotating conveyor adapted to move containers to be closed to a second rotating conveyor, and a third rotating conveyor adapted to remove the closed containers from the second conveyor. The second conveyor comprises a rotating supporting element adapted to receive and transfer containers in succession, and grip elements which overlie the supporting element and are adapted to receive in succession closures which are downwardly provided with a tube for extracting the liquid contained in the containers and to screw the closures on the containers after the tubes have entered the containers. The apparatus furthermore comprises grip elements which are adapted to grip the upper portion of the tubes before they are inserted in the containers and to slide toward the lower end of the tubes so as to straighten the tubes and allow them to correctly enter the containers.

Abstract: A device for smoothing out and pressing together the free projecting end extending over the filling material of filled sacks, said sacks comprising side walls which are inwardly folded and there being two movable pairs of fingers engaging in the sack in the plane of the opened sack or a plane being parallel to said plane as well as a plane being lateral to said plane, whereby said fingers of each of said pair of fingers are arranged at a distance in the transverse direction of the sack opening and two rods or knives are arranged, said rods or knives being movable against each other and are extendable from the outer side of the sack between the fingers of each pair of fingers engaging in the sack, and, if necessary, on both sides of a closable loading funnel of a sack filling station.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for sealing the folded over and overlapped end flaps (L1, L2) of the plastics material wrapper for packages (P), particularly for packages of cigaerettes. In this device, the packages (P) to be sealed are passed after each other between the heated sealer bodies (7) of at least a stationary pair of opposite sealer bodies (7--7) the active faces of which engage, in their operative position, the respective ends of the packages (P) with the intermediary of the parallel facing stretches (102) of two endless belts running in the same direction and at the same speed as the packages. According to the invention, the active surface of each sealer body (7) of at least one pair of opposite sealer bodies (7--7) comprises at least two slightly protruding i.e. in-relief zones (8,9; 18,19,20; 108,208,308,109,209,309; 118,119,120,218,219,220) staggered from each other both in the direction (F) of movement of the packages (P) and transversely to said direction.

Abstract: The plant comprises a conveyor (1) above which are disposed a device (3) for injecting liquefied gas into the containers and, on the downstream side of the device relative to the direction of travel of the conveyor, a device (4) for closing the containers, and a tunnel (5) for protecting the containers against the surrounding air and extending between the injecting device (3) and the closing device (4). Application in the packing of non-gaseous beverages and organic products in cans or bottles.

Abstract: A compact wire straightener module having a plurality of curved tubes for simultaneously straightening a large number of wires. Each tube bends its wire in a first plane and then bends the wire in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane. The wires are not pulled through the wire straightener module; but rather, after one end the wires has been secured, the wire straightener module moves in a horizontal direction along the wires to perform the straightening operation. This movement of the wire straightener module allows for use in a compact automatic cable assembly by eliminating the need for a separate mechanism to pull the wires through the wire straightener module. Further, each tube is a continuous assembly so that threading wire through the module is simple and fast.

Abstract: A method of making specified-length wires for wire harness from continuous wires consists of the steps of: fixing a front end of the U-bent continuous wire and pulling the U-bent wire to pay out a predetermined amount thereof; and cutting the U-bent, pulled wire at a portion almost opposite to the fixed front end. An apparatus for putting the above method into practice comprises: a rotatable wire bending head for holding the front end of a continuous wire by wire clamp plates and bending the wire in a U-shape; a wire pulling head for engaging or holding the U-shaped portion and pulling it in the axial direction of the wire to pay out a predetermined amount thereof; and a cutting blade for cutting the U-bent, pulled wire at a position almost opposite to the front end.

Abstract: A zipper guide and spreader device for form, fill and seal apparatus comprises a package material guiding and spreading mechanism wherein a pair of articulated members have zipper guideways. The members are hingedly connected together and one of the members is hingedly connected to a fixed support. An actuator operates the articulated members from a biased relaxed position into an articulated material-spreading position wherein the material is spread for eliminating wrinkles before edge sealing across the material below the discharge end of the forming and filling tube.

Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing bags in which a band of a packing material is shaped into a tube about a shaping mandrel and which comprises a reciprocating transverse sealing device for dividing the tube into separate bags, a rotatable conveying device frictionally engaging the tube in an area of the shaping mandrel for intermittently feeding the tube, and a drive for synchronously moving the rotatable conveying device and the transverse sealing device during feeding the tube by a bag length.

Abstract: Apparatus which eliminates mechanically-moving parts for clasping or releasing a sheet metal can body for moving a can body from a forming station and, which reduces the number of moving parts as well as the type of movements required by such transfer apparatus to enable sheet metal can bodies to be transferred rapidly, in synchronism with movements of tooling in a forming press without damage to sheet metal or coating while controlling orientation and stability of the can body. A shuttle-arm oscillates in the longitudinal direction of the can line, into and out of the area of the press tooling to transfer a can body for continued movement in the line; such shuttle arm moves at a rate which does not obstruct any movement of the forming tooling or the operating rate of the press. A formed can body is attracted to and physically held at the leading end of the shuttle arm in desired orientation without mechanical movement clamping of any type by a stacked array of permanent magnets and flux path bars.

Abstract: The apparatus for closing containers with a sealing lamina comprises a framework for supporting a first conveyor belt for feeding containers to be closed, which is connected to a heat-welding unit and to a second conveyor belt for removing the closed containers. The apparatus has a pusher element which can engage a plurality of containers. First actuation means act on the pusher to move it from a position of engagement of the containers to a position of disengagement therefrom, and second means move it along an axis which is parallel to the direction of advancement of the containers.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a casing of a "Parrot-type" locking device; this kind of locking device is currently used in manufacturing ornamental items. The metallic band from which the flat structure (1) is punched is engraved with the track (2) and the markings (7), then the slot (8) is cut together with the outline of the structure (1) that will later be formed into a hairpin bend along its axis of symmetry in order to house the spring trigger in its central part while the upper end is flattened and bent as a hook thus giving origin to the operating ring (9) of the locking device.