Abstract: A trailer for selectively transporting either a first or second substance is disclosed. The trailer includes a substantially flat bed and has two containers disposed thereon, each of which is capable of storing a different type of substance. An operator may choose to transport materials in either one of the two containers. Accordingly, the container to transport the substance is shifted toward a balanced load distribution point along the trailer while the empty container is moved to one end of the trailer. In the preferred embodiment, the two containers are coupled together so that the movement of one container along the trailer automatically causes a corresponding movement in the other. One container moves along the trailer by virtue of a plurality of wheels while the other slides along rails separated by a bearing.

Abstract: An automatic optoelectronic inspection device is located at a position downstream from a cigarette making machine and upstream from cigarette packaging machinery, and cigarettes are conveyed in groups to the inspection device where each group is inspected. The inspection device includes a plurality of photodetectors arranged so that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the position of a photodetector and the position occupied by each cigarette in a normally formed group. Each photodetector includes a light-emitting source for illuminating the end portion of a cigarette and a photoelectric transducer for sensing light reflected from the end portion of a cigarette in registration with the photodetector. The power to the light-emitting sources is controlled in such a way that the intensity of the light emanating from each light-emitting source is modulated at a high frequency.