Abstract: A planar tine plate having a number of tines. The tine plate is configured to be arranged on a rotor shaft of a rotor cutter apparatus of an agricultural baler. The tine plate is for moving or conveying crop material collected by the agricultural baler, for example by a pickup apparatus of the agricultural baler. The tine plate has at least one first tine and at least one second tine spaced angularly from the at least one first tine. The at least one first tine has a length greater than that of the at least one second tine. An increase in the cleaning efficiency and the crop conveying efficiency of an area to be swept by the tine plate as the rotor shaft rotates may be achieved.

Abstract: A system includes a solid feed fuel pump configured to route a solid fuel flow from an inlet to an outlet. The solid feed fuel pump includes an actuated valve that is disposed within the outlet. The actuated valve is configured to adjust a compaction of the solid fuel flow while in the outlet. The actuated valve adjusts the compaction in response to active control based on sensed feedback from the system.

Abstract: Various systems for compressing and loading an expandable medical device into a sheath are disclosed. One system comprises an array of moveable blades radially disposed about a central axis and forming a radially contractible aperture. The blade array includes at least a first plurality of blades and a second plurality of blades. The first plurality of blades is independently moveable with respect to the second plurality of blades. Additional aspects of the invention include methods of using the various compressor systems to compress and load an expandable medical device into a sheath.

Abstract: An unloader for a cotton compacting structure such as a module builder, including loose cotton retaining apparatus configured and operable for retaining loose cotton carried from, and returning the loose cotton to, the compacting structure. Apparatus of the invention can include an array or arrays of individual upstanding filaments, or flaps, located on a cotton conveying surface of a door arrangement or ramp extending from the compacting structure and over which a mass of compacted cotton or module is unloaded. The apparatus is configured to allow passage of a mass or module of compacted cotton thereover, while preventing passage of at least a substantial portion of any loose cotton following the mass or module along the surface. The apparatus is also configured for returning the loose cotton to the compacting structure upon folding or closing of the door or ramp.

Abstract: Compacting machine comprising a compaction chamber connected to introduction means arranged to forcedly introduce a predetermined quantity of material to be compacted into the compaction chamber by conferring on the material a substantially rotary movement, the compaction chamber comprising at least one plate made to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the plate and arranged to at least partly close the compaction chamber laterally.

Abstract: Bellows structure for a cotton module builder or packager, for enclosing or covering slots or passages through walls of a cotton module builder, for preventing entry of cotton into the slots or passages, to allow free movement of cross members therethrough of apparatus for distributing and compacting cotton within the module builder. The bellows can include telescoping rigid members below the cross members, and more flexible bellows thereabove.

Abstract: Compactor apparatus for an on-board module builder, including single cylinders and guide members on opposite sides of the module builder for guiding and effecting a cotton compacting process. The compactor apparatus includes a frame disposed in a cotton module builder chamber, movable downwardly within the chamber against the cotton for compacting the cotton against the floor and walls of the chamber. The frame includes cross members which extend across the chamber and protrude outwardly therefrom through upwardly and downwardly extending slots or passages through the sides of the module builder. The ends on each side are connected together by an exterior side structure which is movable upwardly and downwardly by a suitable driver, guided by at least one vertically extending guide member.

Abstract: A combined baler/bale wrapper (1) comprises a chassis (5) on which a baler (10) and a bale wrapper (11) are mounted. The baler (10) comprises a stationary segment (18), a lower segment (19) and an upper segment (20) all of which carry bale forming rollers (25) which define a bale forming chamber (15) within which a round bale (2) is formed. The lower segment (19) and the upper segment (20) are pivotal about first and second pivot axes (35,40), respectively from a bale forming position (FIG. 5) to a discharge position (FIG. 1) for transferring a bale upwardly rearwardly from of the bale forming chamber (15) directly onto first and second bale supporting rollers (50) of the bale wrapper (11). The bale supporting rollers (50) rotate the bale (2) about a first wrapping axis (53) while a carrier ring (55) simultaneously revolves a pair of wrapping material dispensers (54) about a second horizontal wrapping axis (56) for dispensing wrapping material onto the bale (2) for wrapping thereof.

Abstract: An arrangement is proposed that responds to the upward movement of a discharge gate, which forms a rear housing section of a baling chamber to the cylindrical bale in such a way that contact elements of the arrangement are pressed into the surface of the cylindrical bale, preferably by means of a servo motor, in order to reliably grasp the cylindrical bale and move it together with the gate until the bale is free of a fixed forward section of the baling chamber.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for discharging a bale from a baler including a bale ramp that is capable of moving a formed cylindrical bale away from the bale-forming machine. The bale ramp is capable of supporting the formed bale, and utilizing power from a linkage to the bale discharge gate to provide initial horizontal travel of the bale prior to the bale losing significant potential energy. The linkage between the bale discharge gate and the bale ramp includes a lost motion device including a spring that allows energy to be stored from the hydraulic system that powers the bale discharge gate open. That stored energy is applied to the bale, at the appropriate time, as it is able to move. A second stage is provided, which utilizes a traditional spring-loaded ramp. As the bale drops a portion of its potential energy is translated into horizontal momentum and the bale will be caused to move away from the baler.

Abstract: A method for forming a cotton module on a mobile cotton harvester, including the steps of: (a) removing cotton from cotton plants as the harvester is moved across a cotton field; (b) conveying the removed cotton into a cotton receiver structure including a plurality of surfaces of known extent defining and substantially enclosing an interior space; (c) distributing the cotton in the cotton receiver structure substantially evenly with respect to a selected one of the surfaces of the receiver structure; and (d) periodically compacting the cotton in the cotton receiver structure substantially evenly against the selected one of the surfaces by forceably moving a compacting element having an extent only marginally smaller than the extent of the selected one of the surfaces against the distributed cotton and toward the selected one of the surfaces.

Abstract: An enclosed type two-stage garbage compaction and storage structure, in particular a structure having both a hydraulic cylinder and a rotary inner cylinder provided with guide plates to compact garbage in two stages. The structure includes a housing, the hydraulic cylinder, and the inner cylinder. The housing is provided with a plurality of garbage slots to achieve quick collection of garbage. The housing has a front outlet and a lid. A slide plate is provided in front of the front outlet. The hydraulic cylinder is disposed horizontally, and has a piston rod at a front end and a push stop plate connected to the piston rod for pushing dumped-in garbage into the inner cylinder. The inner cylinder has a gate at an entrance thereof and a plurality of guide plates on its inner wall. When the inner cylinder rotates, a compaction effect is generated.

Abstract: A multi-slot closed type powerful garbage compression structure including a housing, an inner cylinder internally provided with guide plates and being inclined forwardly, and a push bar behind the inner cylinder. The housing is provided with four slots at a rear section adapted to receive garbage, and a garbage outlet at a front end, the outlet being provided with a slide plate, and a waste water receiving trough at a bottom side. When garbage is dumped into the housing via the slots, the push bar rotates to push the garbage into the inner cylinder which rotates to compress the garbage. When the garbage inside the inner cylinder is full, the push bar may prevent reverse flow of the garbage. By the use of both the push bar and the guide plates inside the inner cylinder, better compression effects are achievable to reduce garbage storage space and eliminate use of hydraulic cylinders and thrust devices.

Abstract: Installation for compacting waste. This installation consists of a partition pump fitted in a chamber, the changing volume being determined by the partitions and the wall of the chamber. A closable inlet is fitted, while the wall of the chamber can be designed as a hinged wall in the vicinity of the outlet. Scrapers can be provided to ensure that all of the waste remains in the outlet. The outlet can open into a conventional waste container.

Abstract: A rotor arrangement for a bagging machine includes a tooth configuration providing both uniform power requirements and well directed compaction forces for uniform distribution of compacted crop material within a storage bag. The rotor arrangement includes right lead and left lead tooth groups wherein members of each right lead and left lead tooth groups sequentially enter a slot of a stripping comb beginning with the right and left, respectively, member of the group. The right lead groups occupy the same length portion of the rotor arrangement as corresponding left lead groups, but are angularly offset whereby rightward compaction forces of one group are followed by leftward compaction forces of the other group. The right and left tooth groups may be organized according to double-helix mounting patterns upon a mounting member. The net compaction force is substantially straight away from the rotor arrangement and has substantially uniform power requirements for uniform compaction within the storage bag.

Abstract: A compacting apparatus is provided for compressing material within a flexible bag including a pair of compression rollers which move from an upper to a lower position within the apparatus while contacting the bag. Vertically extending guide rails are provided for guiding the rollers in their movement and the rails are oriented in diverging relationship to each other to allow the rollers to move outwardly as they move downwardly. In addition, the guide rails are mounted to permit at least one of the rollers to pivot outwardly as the bag is filled with material and as the material is compacted.

Abstract: In a compression device 100 (FIG. 1), two shafts 4,6 carry double lobed packers 5,101 which force crop through a throat formed by static elements 7,8 into a chamber 9. The packers are intermeshed and angularly displaced around their shafts to reduce the driving torque of the device.

Abstract: A removable tooth cap for use on the rotor of an agricultural feed bagger comprising a pusher plate selectively movably secured to each of the teeth on the rotor. The inner end of each of the pusher plates are removably received in an elongated opening formed in the leading edge of the associated rotor tooth. The outer end of each of the pusher plates embrace a portion of the outer end of the associated rotor tooth.

Abstract: A press for expressing liquids from liquid-containing substances, especially musts, contains an at least partially cylindrical sieve wall and a pressing apparatus disposed therein which has a rotatable shaft and separators radially fastened to the latter which form a plurality of press chambers. These are separated by a radially acting pressing means into a pressure chamber and a press chamber. To fill and empty the press chambers a charging station and a discharge station are provided. The sieve wall is stationary and the pressure chambers are sealed hermetically one from the other. Lastly, means are provided for rotating the shaft step-wise and thereby placing the press chambers step-wise successively at the charging station and at the discharge station.

Abstract: A baling machine of comparatively non-complex construction is disclosed. The baling machine comprises a baling chamber, which is of adjustable size in which can be mounted a ventillating hole making tube; and an eccentrically mounted circular or oval element. The eccentrically mounted circular or oval element is located at the entrance of the baling chamber, and as it rotates causes entering hay or other forage to be entered into the baling chamber and formed into a bale.

Abstract: A refuse compaction unit comprises a refuse inlet, a compactor located below the refuse inlet and communicating therewith and an outlet communicating with the compactor on the opposite side thereof from the refuse inlet, the compactor being constituted of at least one comb-like rotor consited of a plurality of outwardly projecting blades and at least one comb-like stator acting as a partition between the refuse inlet and refuse outlet and having a plurality of teeth with which the blades of the comb-like rotor interdigitate.

Abstract: A press for the preparation of raw plastic material blanks is described. It has a feed device connected to a rotor housing in which a circular rotor is eccentrically supported for the generation of pressure and the transport of the material. Rotor housing and rotor form a tapering channel. The circular rotor has at least one axially extending material transport ridge forcibly guided along a guide rail located in the rotor housing. At its smaller end the tapering channel forms an extrusion gap which opens into an outlet opening for the plastic material, to which a nozzle is attached.

Abstract: The compression molding of sections, bars, molded articles, or similar, consisting of vegetable particles mixed with binding media was uneconomical, because the relatively short molding time was overlapped by the disproportionate curing time. In order to considerably improve upon this deficiency, the inventor proposes to feed the molded section, or similar, along its longitudinal axis into a curing unit, while the sections between the molding jaws should remain in clamped position. The molding jaws, together with the cured section, are then returned through the press and the section is ejected after the unlocking of the molding jaws. Within the framework of the cyclic work, the individual operating processes can be adjusted to one another.

Abstract: A refuse compaction unit comprises a refuse inlet, a compactor located below the refuse inlet and communicating therewith and an outlet communicating with the compactor on the opposite side thereof from the refuse inlet, the compactor being constituted of at least one comb-like rotor consisted of a plurality of outwardly projecting blades and at least one comb-like stator acting as a partition between the refuse inlet and refuse outlet and having a plurality of teeth with which the blades of the comb-like rotor interdigitate.

Abstract: A loading apparatus for loading feed stock into agricultural bags wherein the loading apparatus has a housing with a hopper, a passageway communicating with the hopper and a tunnel communicating with the passageway. The tunnel supports the open mouth of an agricultural bag to be filled. A rotor is drivingly located in the passageway. The rotor and passageway have widths approximately two thirds the width of the tunnel. The tunnel has an expanding chamber, a forming chamber and a guide member. The expanding chamber has a rear wall extending substantially vertically and has side walls diverging outwardly all with the view to accommodating the mass of feed stock received from the rotor in the passageway. The rotor has flanges on the ends within the passageway and mount plural pairs of teeth spaced about the circumference thereof.

Abstract: A compression drum (1) for orderly groups of cigarettes (G) in automatic cigarette-packing machines has one or more compression pockets (2). Each compression pocket has a substantially rectangular cross-section and includes at least partly, movable sidewalls (3, 3', 4, 4') permitting the cross-section of a pocket to be varied between a maximum expansion condition, wherein an orderly group of cigarettes (G) to be packed is introduced thereinto, and a maximum compression condition, wherein the group of cigarettes (G) received in the pocket (2) is compressed.

Abstract: A solid material pump or conveyance apparatus and method including a pump housing an inlet and an outlet with a passageway between them. The passageway is formed and defined by a friction drive wall which is movable relative the pump housing towards the outlet and a wall stationary relative the pump housing. The friction drive wall has a greater surface area for contacting the solid material than the stationary wall. The friction drive wall exerts frictional forces upon the solids material introduced through the housing inlet which exceed the frictional drag exerted upon the material by the stationary wall, so that the net frictional force drives the material in a forward direction toward the housing outlet. The solid material is compacted or compressed prior to or upon entry into the pumping apparatus to a sufficient level so that the solid material exhibits some of the properties of a liquid.

Abstract: A filtration/separation apparatus in which a filter cloth is arranged to travel and face a rotor so that a partitioned space chamber defined by the cloth and rotor is gradually narrowed in accordance with the rotation of the rotor. The space chamber defined is partitioned by vanes provided on the rotor, so that the positional relations in contact between the tip ends of the vanes and the filter cloth are maintained desirable with a high accuracy.

Abstract: Charges of loosely bunched crop material are swept along an arcuate wall section leading to the inlet opening of a baling chamber while their volumes are decreased by compressing them radially outwardly against the arcuate wall section. The feeding and compressing mechanism is in the form of a rotary drum having radial partitions defining the feeding and compressing chambers and hinged plate portions to effect the compressing.

Abstract: An improved brake mechanism is disclosed for use on an agricultural bag loading apparatus (10) having a pair of cable drums (20, 21) secured to the loading apparatus for deploying cables (18, 19) attached to the filled end of an agricultural bag (12). The brake mechanism comprises a disc brake rotor (23) rigidly secured to one end of a brake drum (20), a plurality of disc brake calipers (25) secured to the loading apparatus (10) and a hydraulic fluid pressurizer (29). Braking action between the rotor (23) and the calipers (25) permits control of the compression of the material packed within the agricultural bag (12).

Abstract: An automatic bagging system useful for packaging a stack of a compressible material, such as a stack of folded disposable diapers into a drawstring type plastic bag. The apparatus includes means for compressing gradually the stack of diapers while reorienting the stack so that when the stack is packaged, the diapers will fit snugly in the bag with the folded portion of the diaper near the open end of the bag, for convenience in removing each diaper from the bag. Further the apparatus comprises means for handling and conditioning the bag for the insertion of the diaper stack that includes collapsible funnels for holding the bag open in a box-like shape in order to receive the compressed stack of diapers.

Abstract: Containers having their bodies made from laminate material, such as paper board/plastic foil/metal foil laminates, readily tend to distort and this results in unreliable application of metal foil closure caps used to seal the mouths of the containers. The present invention provides apparatus for successively advancing cylindrical containers of this type beneath a cap-applying device and for restoring distorted containers to their true circular cross-sectional to enable correct application of the caps to the container mouths. The apparatus comprises two star wheels, having equal pitch circle diameters, which are mounted side-by-side with their axes of rotation parallel and spaced apart by a distance less than the common pitch circle diameter of the two wheels. The latter have equal numbers of part-circular recesses in their peripheries for engaging containers.

Abstract: An improved juice extractor is adapted to separate the juice of a fruit pomace from the pulp thereof. The juice extractor has an elongated flexible open-ended sleeve positioned adjacent a bearing or backup surface, and having an entrance end adapted to receive the pomace. The sleeve is formed of a foraminous material permeable to the juice to be extracted, but substantially impermeable to the pulp of such fruit. The cross-sectional area of this sleeve decreases toward its exit end. A plurality of roller members are adapted to press proximate portions of the sleeve against the bearing surface, and are also mounted for movement along the sleeve. The action of the moving roller members causes the pomace to be advanced along the sleeve. Such movement of the roller members, coupled with the decreasing cross-sectional area of the sleeve, gently squeezes the pomace to separate the juice from the pulp. The juice passes through the sleeve and is collected. The pulp is discharged through the exit end of the sleeve.

Abstract: A method of frying noodles which comprises filling raw noodles in a frying vessel whose volume has been temporarily enlarged by being fitted with a frame; closing the opening of the frame by a cap board; dipping the raw noodles together with the frying vessel in a frying oil to fry the raw noodles; and progressively reducing the inner volume of the frying vessel temporarily enlarged by the fitting of the frame, thereby compressing the fried noodles with a uniform density into a lump assuming a prescribed shape.Also disclosed is an apparatus for frying noodles.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the continuous filtration of material impregnated with liquid. This method is characterized in that pressure is exerted discontinuously on successive portions of the material to be filtered travelling continuously such that this pressure is applied to each portion of the material as it moves, over a predetermined distance, after which the pressure is no longer applied to this portion in order to be applied to the following portion of material.

Abstract: A wool press having a receptacle and means at the mouth of the receptacle for forcing wool at high pressure through the mouth into the receptacle so as to form a bale therein, the mouth being relatively narrow so that notwithstanding high pressure of wool contained in the receptacle the wool does not disgorge from the mouth.

Abstract: In a cartoning machine, a series of L-shaped product buckets mounted on a chain conveyor and a series of inverted L-shaped tamper-confiner elements mounted on a conveyor chain overlying the product buckets, the tamper confiner elements being cammed to form, with the product buckets, a gradually closing, generally rectangular compartment whose inside dimensions are substantially the same as the carton into which the product is to be inserted. One leg of the tamper-confiner element is articulated to engage the bottom wall of the product bucket before the tamper-confiner is in its final position, thereby preventing pinching of the product.

Abstract: Apparatus for shaping fodder feed and the like for flat storage thereof and having a molding channel mounted upon an undercarriage and compression roller means disposed therein. The compression roller means includes a roller having a shaft provided with a plurality of rigid tines or teeth arranged progressively spiraled about the circumference thereof for almost the entire length of the shaft. Said teeth are arranged in two adjacent sets or groups, each set or group completing part of a circumscription of the shaft. The teeth are arranged to cooperate with a stripping basket formed of spaced metal strips. Each set of teeth may be divided into outer and inner ones relative the ends of the roller. The tips of the teeth in the inner group have a smaller angular displacement relative to the adjacent teeth when compared with the angular displacement of the outer teeth, which are adjacent the sides of the channel walls when the roller is installed.

Abstract: An improved brake mechanism is disclosed for use on an agricultural bag loading apparatus (10) having a pair of cable drums (20, 21) secured to the loading apparatus for deploying cables (18, 19) attached to the filled end of an agricultural bag (12). The brake mechanism comprises a disc brake rotor (23) rigidly secured to one end of a brake drum (20), a plurality of disc brake calipers (25) secured to the loading apparatus (10) and a hydraulic fluid pressurizer (29). Braking action between the rotor (23) and the calipers (25) permits control of the compression of the material packed within the agricultural bag (12).