Abstract: Carriers are disclosed for supporting a plurality of agricultural cores on a plurality of core supports for coating by a flexible film. The plurality of core supports may include a pedestal for supporting a respective agricultural core and a core periphery region having a plurality of bridge elements which couple the pedestal to the connecting structure between the plurality of core supports. The carriers may include a vacuum system that independently communicates a partial vacuum to an aperture in each respective pedestal and a plurality of apertures in the core periphery region of a respective core support between the bridge elements.

Abstract: Carriers are disclosed for supporting a plurality of agricultural cores on a plurality of core supports for coating by a flexible film. The plurality of core supports may include a pedestal for supporting a respective agricultural core and a core periphery region having a plurality of bridge elements which couple the pedestal to the connecting structure between the plurality of core supports. The carriers may include a vacuum system that independently communicates a partial vacuum to an aperture in each respective pedestal and a plurality of apertures in the core periphery region of a respective core support between the bridge elements.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance fro the food product to pass.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance fro the food product to pass.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance fro the food product to pass.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance fro the food product to pass.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance for the food product to pass.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance for the food product to pass.

Abstract: The cutting blade of a continuous motion saw is mounted on a skew arm which rotates about an axis which is skewed relative to the path along which the product to be cut is advanced. The blade rotates about an axis which is parallel to the path. The blade orbits in a planetary manner to compensate for the skew angle and to ensure that the blade remains perpendicular to the path. Grinding stones for the blade are mounted radially inwardly of the blade throughout the entire orbit of the blade.

Abstract: An apparatus for supporting an elongated circular product during cutting includes a fixed lower support frame and a movable upper support frame. Right and left bottom support links include a lower end which is pivotally connected to the lower frame. Right and left side support links include a lower end which is slidably supported by a slot in the lower frame, an intermediate pivot point which is pivotally connected to the upper end of one of the bottom support links, and an upper end which is engageable with the product. The upper frame includes right and left guide surfaces which are engageable with the product. When the upper frame is moved downwardly toward the lower frame, the guide surfaces of the upper frame move the upper ends of the side support links closer to the center of the product.

Abstract: The cutting blade of a continuous motion saw is mounted on a skew arm which rotates about an axis which is skewed relative to the path along which the product to be cut is advanced. The blade rotates about an axis which is parallel to the path. The blade orbits in a planetary manner to compensate for the skew angle and to ensure that the blade remains perpendicular to the path. Grinding stones for the blade are mounted radially inwardly of the blade throughout the entire orbit of the blade.

Abstract: An apparatus for supporting an elongated circular product during cutting includes a fixed lower support frame and a movable upper support frame. Right and left bottom support links include a lower end which is pivotally connected to the lower frame. Right and left side support links include a lower end which is slidably supported by a slot in the lower frame, an intermediate pivot point which is pivotally connected to the upper end of one of the bottom support links, and an upper end which is engageable with the product. The upper frame includes right and left guide surfaces which are engageable with the product. When the upper frame is moved downwardly toward the lower frame, the guide surfaces of the upper frame move the upper ends of the side support links closer to the center of the product.

Abstract: A transport apparatus for handling rows of units of multi-ply material such as rolls of bathroom tissue or paper toweling and stacks of folding facial tissue or toweling includes a pair of movable shuttles which can be moved together to provide a bridge for conveying the units over an opening and which can be moved apart to provide a gap so that trim pieces or selected units can fall through the opening. When the shuttles are moved to an upstream position, the shuttles bridge the opening, and units can be moved over the shuttles and over the opening. When a trim piece or selected unit is positioned just upstream of the downstream shuttle, the downstream shuttle is moved in a downstream direction away from the upstream shuttle to provide a gap between the shuttles so that the trim piece or selected unit falls through the gap and the opening. The upstream shuttle can then be moved in a downstream direction toward the downstream shuttle to close the gap.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for sharpening a disc blade includes a grinding wheel mounted on a housing. The housing is mounted on a drive shaft so that the housing rotates with the drive shaft but can move axially relative to the drive shaft. A transversely extending projection on the housing extends into a space between two axially spaced spacers on the drive shaft. A spring is positioned between each spacer and the projection for resiliently biasing the housing in an axial direction.

Abstract: A method of operating an orbital saw to transversely sever superposed elongated web plies into shorter length products which includes advancing along a linear path superposed elongated web plies having a cross sectional area of at least about 3.5 square inches (2200 mm.sup.

Abstract: A stack of folded sheets includes right and left Z folded sheets and right and left V folded sheets which are arranged and interfolded so that the stack is balanced and has uniform bulk across its width. Withdrawal of the top sheet of the stack lifts the next sheet into position for withdrawal.

Abstract: A method of operating an orbital saw for transversely severing elongated, superposed, multi-ply web material which includes advancing the web material along a path into a cutting station having a skew arm adjacent said path, rotating said arm about an axis skewed with respect to the path, the skew arm having a disc blade coupling means, such as a 4-bar linkage, mounted thereon and carrying a rotating disc blade with the blade axis spaced from the arm axis to cause the blade to intersect the path and cut the web material during the blade orbit, maintaining the blade axis at an angle skewed relative to the arm axis to position the disc blade continually perpendicular to the path whereby the disc blade makes a square cut through the web material, providing the coupling means with a grinding stone for the blade and a control for contacting the grinding stone and blade, and positioning the grinding stone radially inwardly throughout the entirety of the blade orbit whereby centrifugal forces are reduced and cyclic

Abstract: A compensating linkage for a continuous motion saw for elongated web plies wherein a skew arm is pivotally connected at its ends to a drive arm and where the drive arm at its ends carries disc blades and sharpening grinding stones for the blades, the ends of the drive arm being pivotally connected for two degrees of freedom with brackets which in turn are connected to an eccentrically mounted control arm, the linkage resulting in compensation for the skew angle to provide a cut perpendicular to the movement of the web plies and reduction of centrifugal forces and elimination of cyclic centrifugal loading on the blade grinding systems.

Abstract: A method of cutting an elongated multi-ply flat surfaced ribbon of web material which includes advancing the ribbon along a linear path while rotating a pair of cantilever-mounted drums on opposite sides of the path to flank the ribbon flat surfaces, the drums each having a plurality of axially extending slots in the periphery thereof. A saw blade is adjacent the path and orbits through the path so as to have the blade orbit intersect the drum slot orbits to transversely cut the ribbon while the saw is advancing parallel to the linear path.

Abstract: Trim eliminator for log saw and method in connection with the rewinding of webs into logs and rolls or toilet tissue and toweling wherein two independently adjustable suspensions systems are employed for each log/roll lane so as to suspend rolls over a cull area but not the trim annuli generated from cutting the log ends.