Abstract: An apparatus for sampling particulate material, such as wood chips as they fall through an unloading chute, includes a tube mounted in a wall of the chute and having an upper end extending into the path of chip flow. The upper end includes a generally semi-cylindrical extension terminating in a generally quarter-spherical section in provision of a chip receiving opening to one side of the tube and a chip deflector to the opposite side of the tube. The lower end of the tube extends outside the chute and communicates with a chip-collecting container, and the tube is selectively rotatable by a timed motor and gear arrangement to present the one side of the tube upwardly to receive chips for sampling or the other side upwardly to deflect chips and prevent their entry into the tube for collection in the chip container.

Abstract: The tail of a roll of fibrous web material is secured to underlying layers through penetration of the layers by a row of needles extending tangentially of the roll and in the same direction that the tail extends or is presented. Penetration is to a depth of about 6 layers, and is accompanied by punching out a very small tab of each layer and pushing it into the opening of the successive, underlying layer thereby to lock the tail in place. Pulling the tail to unwind layers from the roll pulls the tabs from succeeding layers in the direction of unwinding, without tearing the outer layer.

Abstract: Direct, but guided, natural convection circulates the treatment solution in a treatment tank during an exothermic reaction because the exothermic-reaction zone is horizontally isolated from a heat transfer or solution temperature adjustment zone. A vertically extending partition system in the middle portion (top-to-bottom) of the tank prevents the solution from flowing direclty between the exothermic-reaction zone and the heat transfer zone thereby limiting solution flow between these zones to the portions of the tank above and below the flow obstructing part of the partition system. This induces macroconvective circulation of the solution within the tank and obviates the need for mechanical stirring during material treatment.

Abstract: A synchronized wrapping machine which receives a series of articles to be wrapped and forms and heat seals a wrap of heat sealable material around each article. The incoming articles are longitudinally aligned and are thereafter conveyed in preselected spaced relation into a tube continuously formed of longitudinally overlapped heat sealable material, with the tube thereafter being heat sealed together and severed intermediate adjacent articles. The overwrapped articles are engaged by upper and lower article carrier holding cups and are transported longitudinally between upper and lower indexing conveyors which drive the article carriers. During traverse of the indexing conveyors, the overwrapped articles are turned 90.degree. by the article carriers and the severed ends of the wrapping are tucked and folded before engagement with an end sealer which heat seals the ends together.