Abstract: A nozzle system for a carpet drying machine includes two or more planar diffusion plates each having a manifold side and a carpet side. The diffusion plates each include a plurality of apertures traversing from the manifold side to the carpet side. Each aperture is wider at the manifold side than at the carpet side so as to define a concentrating nozzle through the diffusion plate. Preferably the concentrating nozzles of each diffusion plate flare outwardly progressively increasingly from the carpet side of the diffusion plate to the manifold side of the diffusion plate. As such, with the two or more diffusion plates mounted in two or more manifolds of the carpet drying machine, with the manifold side of the diffusion plate facing away from the carpet web, hot air blown into the manifolds is concentrated into a laminar flow towards the carpet web to dry the carpet web.

Abstract: An apparatus for coating carpet webs in a coating apparatus with varying adhesives includes a controller, one or more sensors for detecting a volume of a puddle of the adhesive pooled in front of an application roller, and an electronic valve in fluid communication with each of a plurality of mixers. The electronic valve directs flow of the adhesive from any of the mixers to the coating apparatus. To switch from one of the adhesives to new adhesive as a next carpet web passes through the coating apparatus, the controller calculates a remaining length of the carpet web that can be coated with the adhesive in the puddle of adhesive based on the volume of the puddle, so that the puddle of the adhesive coats the carpet web, and then proximate a seam to the next carpet web, the new adhesive begins to coat the next carpet web.

Abstract: A modular continuous mixer includes a rigid casing having an inlet adjacent to an annular inlet end thereof and an outlet adjacent an opposing annular outlet end thereof. The casing further includes a cylindrical exterior casing wall that, together with the ends, define a volume therein. The ends each include a plurality of concentric rings of mixing pins projecting into the volume. One or more rotor disks are rotationally fixed within the casing between distal ends of the opposing pins. Each rotor disk includes a plurality of the concentric rings of mixing pins projecting from both sides thereof toward the inlet and outlet ends. A drive shaft is rotatably mounted in the casing and fixed through the center of each rotor disk. Additional casing extensions can be mounted between the inlet and outlet ends of the casing to facilitate further mixing.

Abstract: An approach for creation of an electrical vault cover that is able to generate power that is stored in a battery for use by a heater to maintain the temperature above a minimum in a utility vault.

Abstract: A carpet backing system for applying a coating to a roll of carpet includes elongated upper deck having a first end and a second end. An elongated lower deck is situated below and aligned with the upper deck. The upper deck includes a staging and unrolling station at a first end thereof, a pre-coat applicator for applying a pre-coat to the carpet, and an oven station to cure the pre-coat and allow the carpet to exit a second end of the upper deck. The lower deck includes a polymer applicator at a first end thereof for receiving the carpet and the pre-coat from the second end of the upper deck. The polymer applicator is adapted to apply the coating to the carpet. The lower deck further includes a heating platen conveyor, a plurality of cooling rolls, and optionally a carpet rolling station at a second end of the lower deck.

Abstract: An applicator device applies at least one liquid to a first side of a flexible web, such as a web of carpet material. A pair of application stations each comprises at least a pair of parallel rollers each driven by a roller motor arrangement. A platen directs the web between the rollers. Two dams are each laterally adjustable with respect to a top roller and conform to the shape of the top roller at a forward end thereof. Each of the dams, the top roller, and the web define a puddle area to which one of the at least one liquid is applied for application to the web as the web moves between the pair of rollers. A rigid frame fixes a first application station in a substantially horizontal orientation, and a second of the application stations in a substantially vertical orientation, with a turning roller situated therebetween.

Abstract: A sewing system is disclosed for facilitating the sewing together with a sewing machine ends of at least two webs that are held by a spooling machine. A substantially horizontal carriage rail is supported by a support mounting means in fixed relationship with the spooling machine and itself slidably supports a sewing carriage adapted to hold the sewing machine. A trimming carriage is also slidably supported on the carriage rail and supports a conventional trimming machine that trims the ends of each web ahead of the sewing machine. The trimming carriage is selectively and mechanically fixed with the sewing carriage with a mechanical fastener, so that as the sewing carriage is moved along the carriage rail, the trimming carriage is also moved along thereby. A substantially horizontal support platform is fixed with the carriage rail and adapted to hold each web fixed with respect thereto with a plurality of vertically-movable pins that traverse each web in a raised position.

Abstract: In a method useful for calculating timeouts for messages sent by a network management system, a first network device stores a retry time and a retry value for each network device in a plurality of network devices. In order to determine when to execute a timeout for a first message sent from the first network device to a second network device which is in the plurality of network devices, the retry time and the retry value for the second network device are used. While a response to the first message is not received by the first network device from the second network device, the first message from the first network device to the second network device is resent a number of times equal to the retry value for the second network device. The elapsed time between each resending of the first message is equal to the retry value for the second network device. When a response to the first message is still not received by the first network device, a timeout is executed.