Abstract: A bag is modified to include an air input port that allows inflation of an interply region of the bag. As the interply region inflates, an inner ply rises and becomes an advancing wall, raising the bulk material level in the bag, inclining the bottom of the bag, and pulling excess material away from the drain port all at the same time. In another embodiment, the bag is made with half the initial number of layers folded in half to create the upper and lower plies and the non-fold edges are bonded. Where corner drain ports are used, the bag can be arranged so that an interlayer bond parallel to the fold is parallel to a diagonal of a tote in which the bag sits and so that the interlayer bond is opposite the drain port to enhance bag evacuation. An additional optional feature of the invention is the inclusion of an integral filling conduit or snout on the top of the bag, a mouth of which acts as a fill port to ease filling of the bag. Junctures can be created in the interply region to guide its inflation.

Abstract: A pillow bag is modified to include an air input port that allows inflation of an interply region of the bag. As the interply region inflates, an inner ply rises and becomes an advancing wall, raising the bulk material level in the bag, inclining the bottom of the bag, and pulling excess material away from the drain port all at the same time. In another embodiment, the pillow bag is made with half the initial number of layers folded in half to create the upper and lower plies and the non-fold edges are bonded. Where corner drain ports are used, the bag can be arranged so that an interlayer bond parallel to the fold is parallel to a diagonal of a tote in which the bag sits and so that the interlayer bond is opposite the drain port to enhance bag evacuation. An additional optional feature of the invention is the inclusion of an integral filling conduit or snout on the top of the bag, a mouth of which acts as a fill port to ease filling of the bag. The invention can also be applied to fitted bags.

Abstract: Layers of material are bonded together to include portions that yield an integral filling conduit or snout in a completed single or multiple-ply bag particularly useful in bag-in-box shipping containers. The layers are bonded to form the preferred shape of a trapezoid whose long base is parallel to and runs into the top of a rectangle, the bonds forming seams on the sides of the trapezoid and the sides and base of the rectangle. Alternatively, half the number of layers can be folded and bonded to yield the trapezoid/rectangle shape, in which case no base seal is required. The trapezoid's short base is the snout opening and, where necessary, interply bonds are formed around the opening circumference. The invention can also be formed with an evacuation enhancement system that uses an inflatable air chamber in an interply region to cause more of the bag contents to be discharged than would otherwise occur.

Abstract: An evacuator for a plastic bag containing viscous liquid within a rectangular, parallelepiped container having a drain positioned at a bottom edge region uses a windlass for drawing and winding an evacuated upper region of the bag to a region above the drain. A bag wall region diagonally opposite the drain is gripped, preferably with a noose; and a windlass positioned on the walls of the container above the drain draws the gripped region of the bag across the top of the container and then winds the evacuated upper regions of the bag onto the windlass to funnel the viscous liquid toward the drain in lower, unevacuated regions of the bag.

Abstract: A roller valve lifter, especially of the hydraulic lash adjusting type for diesel engines, has an enlarged bronze roller shaft journal for extended wear with a diameter at least half that of the surrounding skirt of the lifter body within which it is mounted. The roller/shaft assembly is received in a recess through the open bottom end of the lifter body, the shaft having mounting tangs with flats which engage abutments in the recess to locate the roller in the recess. Retention is preferably by staking portions of the tangs into recesses in the skirt, preferably formed by openings adjacent the ends of the tangs.

Abstract: A variable angle vane stator arrangement of relatively simple design is pided enabling widely variable angular stator vane positioning with little aerodynamic loss. This is accomplished by positioning the leading nose portion of each variable second row vane axially ahead of, and adjacent, the trailing edge of an associated fixed vane of a first row of vanes to produce a slot between the adjacent vanes through which air can flow. The axis of rotation of each variable vane is located off of the variable vane itself in a manner to maintain good slot geometry over a wide range of vane stagger angles. The variation of the rear vane stagger angle creates a variation in the direction of the exit air vector, which in turn enhances the performance of the following rotor blade row.