Abstract: A fall impact reducing apparatus for reducing an impact on a falling chip component includes a wire assembly which is formed by stacking a plurality of wire jigs. The wire jig includes a plurality of wires arranged parallel to each other at intervals which allows the chip component C to pass through the wire jig, and the wire jig is formed of an integral body by working a base material having a predetermined thickness, the integral body constituted of a pair of frame portions and the plurality of wires extending parallel to each other between the frame portions. When the chip component is made to fall on the wire assembly, the chip component collides with the wire of any one of wire jigs.

Abstract: An apparatus (1) for feeding components has a downwardly inclined guide path (6), a mobile component carrier (4), which is connected in a releasable manner to the guide path (6), and interacting rolling bodies and rails (15, 16) on the guide path (6) and on the component carrier (4). The feed apparatus (1) has a loading location (10), at which a component carrier (4) is connected to the guide path (6), and possibly loaded with one or more components (3), by a worker (12), using a manually operable transfer apparatus (14), which can be actuated by applying manual force counter to a restoring element (31, 40). The transfer apparatus (14) is designed as a preliminary-positioning apparatus (20) for a loose component carrier (4).

Abstract: A wear indicator apparatus, system and method are provided for allowing wear information from an internal flow surface of a chute to be obtained from outside the chute so as not to require access to the interior thereof for wear inspection purposes. In one form, the wear indicator apparatus has a wear indicator portion that is configured to be fit into a through opening in the chute wall assembly. The wear indicator portion has a layer of wear material that is of the same material as an inner liner of the chute wall assembly, and a mounting portion that is configured to be removably fixed to an exterior surface of the wall assembly. Preferably, the wear indicator apparatus includes a removal mechanism connected to the mounting portion that is operated outside of the chute for retracting the wear indicator portion out from the wall assembly through opening.

Abstract: A laundry chute for attachment to the brackets supporting a handrail in a stairway without affecting use of the handrail or foot traffic on the stairway. The chute is formed of sections suspended from the brackets on supports that permit the angle of the chute to be adjusted such that dirty clothes slide more readily down the chute into a laundry basket below. The chute sections can be linked end-to-end and packaged for storage, transport and store display in a compact stacked or nested form. The laundry chute is easy to install, easy to remove and facilitates compliance with the house rule that there be no dirty laundry on the bathroom and bedroom floors.

Abstract: An abrasion resistant and chemical resistant damper is provided for installation in the sludge transport section of a wastewater treatment system of the type having a damper inlet chute and a damper outlet chute and a damper between the damper inlet chute and the damper outlet chute. The damper is formed from a fabric woven substantially of yarns of high performance material selected from the group consisting of aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and liquid crystal polymer. The damper includes a body having an inlet end and an outlet end, whereby the body creates a volume for sludge to move through. An inlet flange is formed about the inlet end and an outlet flange is formed about the outlet end.

Abstract: An implement to be used by a fruit picker person to gently deposit the fruits in a box, directly from climbed positions near the box, irrespective of the level of fruits in the box, with easy and readily removal from among the fruits when the box has been filled, and with readily disconnectable components for convenient assembly and dessassembly in the orchard. This fruit picking implement comprises a support fitting onto a conventional orchard box, a frame removably mountable on the support, a hanger bracket removably connecting to the frame, fruit braking shelves pivotally attached to the hanger bracket, and a flexible tube having one end hooking to the belt of one fruit picker person and having another end entering into a whirling eductor overlying the uppermost shelf to gently drop fruits successively onto that uppermost shelf and dropping of the fruits serially through the vertically spaced apart shelves.