Abstract: A hammer mill apparatus for comminuting materials such as wood, branches, twigs, leaves, grasses, hay, and the like, features a reciprocating batch feeder for feeding the materials to be comminuted into a rotary grinder. Adjustable and spring biased feed drum and metering roller meters the material into the hammer mill. The positions of a series of adjustable curved grinding teeth changes the sizes of the comminuted particles.

Abstract: A self-contained reciprocating action miller having a grinding mill housed within a mill housing and rotating about a grinding axis. A refuse hopper mounted above the mill housing has a convex floor with an opening therein to expose the grinding mill. Reciprocating feed apparatus mounted within the refuse hopper reciprocates two parallel, spaced-apart vertical walls along an axis parallel to the grinding axis to gradually feed the refuse into the grinding mill at a steady rate to prevent jamming of the mill when grinding tough refuse. Shear plates in the form of segments of a circle are positioned adjacent the rotor for comminuting shreddable or grindable material while guiding noncomminutable materials through the mill. A reversible rotor, stator, and discharge chute allow the comminuted material to be discharged from either side of the mill with no loss of grinding efficiency.

Abstract: Apparatus and a method for transferring one or more workpieces from a first location to a second location in an automated fashion. The apparatus includes a wafer transfer arm having a vacuum means at one end thereof for removable attachment to the underside of a workpiece to cause the workpiece to be moved from a first location to a second location. The transfer arm is coupled at the opposite end thereof to a post which is coupled to drive means for moving the arm in three degrees of freedom, namely along an X direction, along a Z direction and in a rotative direction. A reversible drive motor is provided for each degree of freedom and the motors are mounted on a carriage in a manner such that the motors can be simultaneously actuated under the control of a computerized control means. Thus, with a program coupled to the control means, the transfer arm can be made to perform a series of steps sequentially to move one or more workpieces from a first location, such as a wafer cassette, to a processing station.