Abstract: A hot-water boiler of the direct-heating type basically comprising a combustion chamber and a heat-exchange chamber which encircles the lower half part of the combustion chamber and which has a number of reticulate plates therein. Combustion gas generated in the combustion chamber effuses into the heat-exchange chamber where water to be boiled is stored. The combustion gas goes through the water in the heat-exchange chamber and is broken up into smaller bubbles by the reticulate plates; thereby facilitating a prompt and efficient heat-exchange between the gas and water.

Abstract: A depalletizing system of depalletizing articles which have been stacked in layers and separating them one by one so that loading work of those articles onto trucks or freight cars can be carried out more easily and in a shorter time than when carried out manually. The system includes hoisting means comprising a tiltable mast and a loading table, a chute secured to the upper portion of the hoisting means substantially in parallel with the plane of each layer of the articles, control means for controlling the upward movement of the loading table, selecting means for blocking the passage of the articles whenever required, and separating means for separating them one by one. The system further includes means for arranging those articles in the same orientation. Accordingly, all work from depalletizing to conveying them onto trucks or freight cars can be completely mechanized.

Abstract: A two-masted lifting apparatus particularly adapted to lift a weighty object such as a vehicle or the like to a desired height and then incline it at a desired angle in either direction. The two-masted lifting apparatus comprises two opposing upright masts on each of which a carriage for supporting the object is slidably mounted and a height-difference detecting means. Both carriages are independently hoisted up or down along the respective masts by separate driving means, and the height-difference detecting means is adapted to detect the height-difference between the two carriages and restrict the further ascent or descent of one of the two carriages when the height difference between them has reached a predetermined limit.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for packing a stack of loads with synthetic resin films each possessing heat contractility. A plurality of loads are stacked on a pair of synthetic resin films placed in crossed relationship on an elevating table. The elevating table is movable downward from its upper extreme position so that the synthetic resin films are continuously supplied to cover side peripheries of the loads. Adjacent rib portions formed by side edges of the synthetic resin films covering the side peripheries of the loads are joined during downward movement of the elevating table. Upper opposing portions of each of the synthetic resin films are bent toward each other and joined together on the upper surface of the stacked loads on the elevating table. The synthetic resin films covering the loads are heated so that the films shrink.