Abstract: A conveyor for transporting substantially flat articles, such as mail, along a trough by pusher fingers. The pusher fingers are individually mounted to carriers which are connected to pulling mechanism and guided by guide rails. The present conveyor design causes reduced operational noise and need for maintenance.

Abstract: A transport device for displacement of filter plates embodying a transport pawl pivotally mounted on a drawing element disposed to move the plates in the direction of opening. The pawl has a recess which cooperates with upwardly extending catches and a forward deflector surface which cooperates with the catch of an adjacent plate in a stack of plates to prevent the pawl from dropping into operative position. At least one additional pawl is pivotally mounted on the drawing element and has an additional deflector surface rearwardly of the recess therein which cooperates with the catch of an adjacent plate. The recess in the pawl may be of a length to engage two catches carried by two adjacent plates.

Abstract: In a packaging machine having a load transfer station and a packaging station there is provided an improved mechanism for loading articles onto a main conveyor for movement through the packaging station. A plurality of article receiving compartments are carried by the main conveyor at longitudinally spaced intervals thereon, each compartment having a front wall and a back wall projecting outwardly from and spaced longitudinally with respect to the main conveyor, the compartments opening upwardly away from the main conveyor. A loading platform is located in the load transfer station and disposed in a transfer plane. The loading platform has a discharge edge at one end thereof. A mechanism is provided for depositing articles onto the loading platform.

Abstract: A container control mechanism for use in certain types of package forming machines which produce packages of a plurality of containers. The certain package forming machines are those where three or more rows of containers are continuously delivered through the machine, and in which the machine applies a strip of carrier stock circumferentially about the upper end of each of the containers. The containers in rank and file with the applied carrier stock are delivered to a cutting mechanism adjacent the output end of the machine where the stock is severed between certain predetermined ranks to form individual packages of a predetermined plurality of ranks of the containers.

Abstract: A vehicle conveyor is provided with an upper wheel engaging active track and a lower inactive track. Rollers can be moved up by a roller up guide into the active track to engage the wheel of a vehicle for moving the vehicle along a path. The length of the conveyor is reduced by providing a roller down guide which can remove a roller from the active track along the length of the conveyor and by cycling the rollers such that the first roller on the active track engages the front wheel of a vehicle until the rear wheel of the vehicle is beyond the roller up guide, then an additional roller is raised to the active track behind the rear wheel of the vehicle and the first active roller is removed from the active track. Consequently, the vehicle is first moved by engagement by its front wheel and subsequently moved by engagement with its rear wheel to reduce the length of the conveyor.

Abstract: In a conveyor system for forwarding trays along a support, the trays are engaged by pusher mechanisms attached to an endless driven chain supported on a track adjacent to the tray's support. Each pusher mechanism has a pivotally mounted pusher member that is associated with a pivoted control member located forwardly of the pusher member and connected thereto by a horizontally sliding connecting member. The pusher member and the control member are normally urged to positions in which the pusher member is drivingly engageable with a tray and the control member is engageable with an object such as a preceding tray overtaken by the control member; such engagement resulting in movement of the pusher member to a non-driving position and enabling trays to be stopped and accumulated.

Abstract: A freight handling system particularly adapted to transfer palletized loads from one side of a freight dock to another. There is an endless closed loop conveyor comprising an endless chain defining a closed loop path, along which are unidirectional rollers. At spaced locations along the conveying path, there are a number of transfer stations each having a plurality of multidirectional rollers, in the form of casters, which permit pallet loads to be moved onto and from the conveying path. A plurality of pushing devices, particularly adapted for use in the present invention, are mounted to the chain at regularly spaced locations. Each pushing device comprises a push arm which in its operative position has an upwardly and rearwardly moderately sloped push surface which engages a palletized load at a transfer station to move it along the conveying path over the rollers.