Abstract: An improved case packer machine is disclosed, of the type where containers are dropped through grid fingers to an empty case positioned on a lift table. The case packer machine of the present invention includes a flap opener which includes a pair of shoes mounted to an air cylinder. The shoes are extended by the air cylinder to contact and open the leading flap. The lifting table of the present invention is motor driven and controlled to limit the shock loading experienced by the containers as they are positioned within the cases. The lifting table includes a pair spur gears driven by the motor in meshing arrangement with a pair rack gears each mounted to a table and a novel gear guide to maintain proper engagement between the racks and gears and further to provide for backlash adjustment between the gears.

Abstract: An improved case packer machine is disclosed, of the type where containers are dropped through grid fingers to an empty case positioned on a lift table. The case packer machine of the present invention includes a flap opener which includes a pair of shoes mounted to an air cylinder. The shoes are extended by the air cylinder to contact and open the leading flap. The lifting table of the present invention is motor driven and controlled to limit the shock loading experienced by the containers as they are positioned within the cases. The lifting table includes a pair spur gears driven by the motor in meshing arrangement with a pair rack gears each mounted to a table and a novel gear guide to maintain proper engagement between the racks and gears and further to provide for backlash adjustment between the gears.

Abstract: An improved case packer machine, of the type where containers are dropped through grid fingers to an empty case positioned on a lift table. The case packer machine of the present invention includes a flap opener which includes a pair of shoes mounted to an air cylinder. The shoes are extended by the air cylinder to contact and open the leading flap. The lifting table of the present invention is motor driven and controlled to limit the shock loading experienced by the containers as they are positioned within the cases. The lifting table includes a pair spur gears driven by the motor in meshing arrangement with a pair rack gears each mounted to a table and a novel gear guide to maintain proper engagement between the racks and gears and further to provide for backlash adjustment between the gears.

Abstract: In an automated machine for cutting cloth or fabric and similar sheet materials the knife is made from a high-alloy tool steel to provide the knife with a sharp cutting edge capable under a given set of conditions to cut sheet material for a far longer period of time before requiring re-sharpening than the case with the knives previously used in such machines. A sharpener is also provided which allows the knife after becoming dull to be returned to a sharp condition while removing only a minimum amount of the knife material, thereby further increasing the service life of the knife.

Abstract: A tool carriage includes a main beam along which a subcarriage carrying the tool travels and is supported above a supporting table by two end parts each associated with opposite ends of the main beam. The main beam has a length sufficient to straddle the widest width of conventional supporting tables and is adjustable at one of the two end parts to accommodate different table widths. The end parts have rollers which support the carriage above the table support surface and against lateral displacement on the table. The lateral rollers on one end of the carriage are capable of being adjusted relative to horizontal and vertically extending directions allowing either end of the carriage to be generically adaptable to any table edge configuration.

Abstract: A vibrational dampening system in a cutter head having an elongate knife reciprocated to cut a ply or a stack of plies of sheet material comprises a drive pulley having an eccentrically mounted pin on which is journalled a linkage connecting the drive pulley to the knife, and two driven pulleys located on either side of the drive pulley synchronously interconnected with the drive pulley by a belt having spaced apart teeth formed on each side. The drive pulley and each of the two laterally disposed driven pulleys has a counterweight which rotates 180 degrees out of phase with the rotation of the eccentric pin in order to cancel the vertical forces generated by the reciprocating knife and its associated connecting linkage. The two laterally disposed driven pulleys rotate in an opposite direction relative to the rotational direction of the drive pulley in order to cancel any side-to-side forces generated when the counterweights move between vertically oriented positions.

Abstract: A capacitive probe for a wall thickness detector comprises a plurality of flexible capacitive elements and an elastomeric body supporting the flexible capacitive elements and biasing them against a dielectric body at an inspection site. A first metallic shield is supported between the elastomeric body and the capacitive elements and a second metallic shield is supported on the other side of the capacitive elements in close proximity thereto and has a window to expose the capacitive elements to the dielectric member.