Abstract: Universal belted chain including a first belt, a second belt, a first rod, a first fastener and a second fastener. The first belt has a first upper surface and a first lower surface. The first lower surface has a first channel formed therein. The second belt has a second upper surface and a second lower surface. The second lower surface has a second channel formed therein. The first fastener attaches the first rod to the first upper surface by extending the first fastener through the first belt. An end of the first fastener opposite the first rod is recessed in the first channel with respect to the first lower surface. The second fastener attaches the first rod to the second upper surface by extending the second fastener through the second belt. An end of the second fastener opposite the first rod is recessed in the second channel with respect to the second lower surface.

Abstract: A wheeled hand truck incorporating a footplate; a segmented retainer flange; a left pin pivotally mounting a left segment of the retainer flange and allowing sliding flange motion to a clearance elevation; a right pin pivotally mounting a right segment of the retainer flange and allowing sliding flange motion to the clearance elevation; left and right stops extending downwardly from the left and right flange segments; and left and right pairs of sockets positioned for, upon alternative motions of the left and right flange segments toward and away from the clearance elevation, and upon forward and rearward pivoting of the left and right flange segments, alternately holding the left and right flange segments at laterally and forwardly extending positions.

Abstract: A garbage separation and recovery machine for beach cleaning that has mobility and can perform a garbage separation and recovery work according to the situation is provided. The garbage separation and recovery machine has a drum type sieve body (54) that is freely rotatably secured to a vehicle body frame (51) towed by a vehicle, a driving gear (92) that is freely rotatably supported by the vehicle body frame (51) and secured to an axle (52) to which right and left wheels are secured, and a mechanism portion (91) for transmitting the driving force of the driving gear (92) to the drum type sieve body (54). The mechanism portion (91) has a gear switching mechanism (95) for performing a switching operation between an automatic rotation mode in which the drum type sieve body (54) is rotated by the rotational force of the wheels (53) and a manual rotation mode in which the drum type sieve body (54) is released from the rotational force of the wheel (53) and allowed to be manually freely rotatable.

Abstract: In general terms, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuses for cleaning, grooming, and otherwise maintaining sand and sandy surfaces. For example, some embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus for cleaning a sandy surface, where the sandy surface includes unsifted sand, and where the unsifted sand includes sand and unwanted material.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a table-free technique for detecting all temporal and spatial memory access errors in programs supporting general pointers. Embodiments of the invention provide such error checking using constant-time operations. Embodiments of the invention rely on fat pointers, whose size is contained within standard scalar sizes (up to two words) so that atomic hardware support for operations upon the pointers is obtained along with meaningful casts in-between pointers and other scalars. Optimized compilation of code becomes possible since the scalarized-for-free encoded pointers get register allocated and manipulated. Backward compatibility is enabled by the scalar pointer sizes, with automatic support provided for encoding and decoding of fat pointers in place for interaction with unprotected code.

Abstract: A padding machine (10, 100) is disclosed which is capable of separating materials in a spoils bank beside a trench into coarser materials, which are redeposited in the spoils bank behind the machine, and finer materials which are conveyed to the trench for padding the pipeline. The machine includes a conveyor with a conveyor chain which moves around the perimeter of the machine. Material caught by the scraper blade (28) is conveyed by the conveyor chain along a belly pan (70) and thereafter over a plurality of grizzly bars (72). Coarser material which will not pass through the grizzly bars is conveyed by the conveyor chain (56) to the rearward end of the machine and dumped off the rearward end of the machine back to the ground. The finer materials passing through the grizzly bars are again separated by a vibrator unit (76, 104).

Abstract: An apparatus for separating potatoes from other materials such as soil, clods, stones, herbage, etc., particularly for potato harvesting machines, has a number of roller bodies, which are disposed side by side with parallel axes, form revolving groups driven in pairs in opposite directions and jointly take in a separating segment, which extends from a charging end to a potato-discharging end. The roller bodies are aligned at right angles to the separating segment.

Abstract: An improved belted chain is described in which there are a plurality of pairs of chain rods secured to spaced-apart carriers and a central belt. The inner ends of the chain rods in each pair are aligned end-to-end with each other and then secured to the central belt. The outer ends are secured to the spaced-apart carriers. Preferably the central belt is composed of rubber. The chain rods in each pair are able to be flexed relative to each other without danger of breaking the rods.

Abstract: A method and related apparatus is provided for size reduction and separation of soil clods mixed with a root crop. The method includes the steps of feeding the mixture along an enclosed operative path, manipulating the mixture so as to change the shape of the conveyed mass and break up the soil clods sufficiently to reduce the size and separating the clods from the crop. The manipulation preferably takes the form of shifting the clods longitudinally and laterally with respect to each other. The operative path is preferably serpentine in shape with the clods/crop expanding along the outside of bends and contracting along the inside of bends. The serpentine path is oriented in a substantially vertical direction and may provide differential speeds along the boundaries of the path. The optimum mixture is approximately 50% soil clods at the entry end, with the range being between 35% and 65%.

Abstract: A potato harvester comprises a screening conveyor belt following a lifting device, an elevator disposed after the screening conveyor belt, a haulm separating device and a stone separating device. The elevator is formed from a double conveyor having an internally rotating bar-type conveyor belt with narrow openings and an externally rotating bar-type conveyor belt with wide openings. The two conveyor belts rotate in the same direction and are guided parallel to one another at least in the region of the conveying run of the elevator. One bar-type conveyor belt is further equipped with transversely directed entrainment webs which divide the gap between the conveying runs of the two conveyors into conveying compartments.

Abstract: The belts of a screening band have entrained cleats on one side, and on the other side have recesses into which crossrods are inserted. These crossrods are each connected by a rivet to the belt. The entrained cleats do not run over the entire width of the belt, but rather leave a flat region free in the middle of the belt, so that the rivets can pass there without regard to the positions of the entrained cleats.

Abstract: In a ballast cleaning machine which comprises a machine frame, a ballast excavating and conveying chain mounted on the machine frame, the chain having a discharge end for the excavated and conveyed ballast, ballast screening apparatus arranged to receive the ballast from the discharge end of the chain and to separate a waste component from the clean ballast, a conveyor band system mounted below the screening apparatus for receiving the clean ballast component and redistributing it to the track, and an endless conveyor band mounted below the screening apparatus for receiving and conveying the waste component: a sifting conveyor band mounted between the discharge end of the chain and the screening apparatus, the sifting conveyor band having an upper stringer receiving the excavated and conveyed ballast from the discharge end and defining openings permitting a portion of the waste component to pass through the sifting conveyor band, and a drive connected to the sifting conveyor band for driving the band whereby

Abstract: A device for separating clods and stones from the soil includes a frame adapted to be drawn or carried across the land and one or more elements carried by the frame for raising the surface layer of material from the land and passing it to a first conveyor having apertures therethrough to permit material on the conveyor to pass through the conveyor and to be returned to the land, there being disposed above the conveyor a surface adapted to bear against material on the conveyor so as to crush and/or abrade material on the conveyor and thereby reduce its particle size to permit it to pass through the apertures. The first conveyor is adapted to discharge particles of material retained thereon to a device for returning those particles to the land on either or both sides of the device. The surface and/or the first conveyor are adapted to move apart from one another to permit the passage therebetween of resistent material.

Abstract: Disclosed is a potato harvesting apparatus for removing practically all the dirt from harvested potatoes without bruising or damaging them. The apparatus has disk coulters that cut potato vines between rows, three each of primary, secondary and rubber-coated cylindrical cages arranged in order for harvesting material flow of the potatoes with the cages rotating at the same material-flow speed, a share that digs up the potatoes for pick up and transfer by the first primary cage, a cylinder raker to pick up and move excess vines, dirt and potatoes onto the second primary cage, shaker-tine assemblies that remove dirt and separate vines from the potatoes, a grinder suction fan that sucks up and deposits chopped up vines in the harvesting track where same are covered by dirt sifting down and through the cages that remove most of the dirt and break up the dirt clods.

Abstract: A harvesting device for separating round root crops, such as potatoes, from soil and other unwanted material. The crop and the soil in which it is growing is uplifted into the harvesting device by the forward movement of the device. The uplifted material is delivered into two conveyors, one positioned above the other and one running at a different speed from the other. The upper conveyor has a series of transverse members, such as fingers and flaps, which break up the uplifted material into discrete portions and these transverse members form with the lower conveyor a series of pockets so that each discrete portion of uplifted material lies in a pocket. The conveyors are inclined and this combined with the differential speed causes the material to be tumbled and the round root crops to roll free of unwanted material.

Abstract: A rock picker in the form of a wheeled vehicle for travel over a field that has rocks scattered superficially and/or near superficially therein, comprises a wheeled chassis that supports two coacting, endless chain conveyors of draper chain type having their working runs in confronting relationship and widths extending transversely of the chassis. One of the conveyors is elongate and disposed below the other, which is relatively short. The short upper conveyor has its working run of widespread, substantially V configuration, with the vertex of the V extending transversely of the lower conveyor at or near its lower end, which is disposed at or near ground level, thus forming entry and exit bights therewith. The forward, entry bight receives rocks lifted thereinto by a scraper blade, which is mounted on the frame immediately in advance of the conveyors as a ramp leading substantially smoothly into the throat between the two conveyors.