Abstract: An inventory-handling system can receive inventory containers filled with inventory items. The inventory containers can be received between guides and advanced through the inventory-handling system. The guides can be curved to rotate the inventory containers being advanced through the inventory-handling system. The inventory containers can be rotated from an upright orientation to an inverted orientation for emptying the inventory items.

Abstract: A method of transporting and storing an oilfield proppant is provided that includes transporting the proppant to a storage facility by use of a dump truck; providing a load assembly at the storage facility which comprises a load hopper and a load conveyor; transferring the proppant from the dump truck to the load hopper; and operating the load conveyor to transport the proppant from the load hopper to a proppant storage area of the storage facility to form an accumulation of stored proppant therein.

Abstract: Ample spaces are secured on a rotating table frame, in front of and behind a control valve. A rotary working machine where a step (12) is placed on a rotating table frame (5), at the front of the frame (5), and a control valve (25) is placed below the step (12). The step (12) has operation levers (69, 69) and pedals (66, 67, 68) mounted on it. The control valve (25) is connected to the operation levers (69, 69) and the pedals (66, 67, 68) to perform drive control of a hydraulic actuator, and is placed inclined so as to be high at the front and low at the rear.

Abstract: System for transporting and unloading bulk materials, wherein a side-dumping container is mounted on a railroad car. A tilting mechanism at the unloading site tilts one side of the container on the car to unload bulk materials into a hopper through a top-hinged door on the other side of the container.

Abstract: A transportation arrangement includes a closed track with a chain running along the closed track. A plurality of base frames are arranged on the chain and move along the track by the chain which is powered by a motor. A plurality of counter frames are each pivotally connected to a pivot edge of one of the base frames where the pivot edge of the base frames is arranged at a radially inside edge of the base frames with respect to the closed track. A lifting station is arranged at the closed track, with the chains moving the base frames into and away from the lifting station. A lifting jack in the lifting station raises a lifting edge of the counter frames located at the lifting station. The lifting jack pivots the counter frame about the pivot edge of the base frame. The base frames are attached to a portion of the chain, and are rotatable with respect to the portion of the chain to which the respective base frames are attached.

Abstract: A conveyor (20) for transporting and inverting strap pans (22) or other pans used for baking. The conveyor includes a closed-loop drive chain (26) to which a number of pan cars (54) are pivotally attached. The pan cars are provided with magnetic bars (36) that create attractive force to hold the strap pans to the pan cars. The conveyor also includes an incline guide (204). When the conveyor is actuated, the pan cars run against the incline guide so as to cause the initial inversion of the pan cars. As the pans cars are inverted they abut against a positioning rail located along side of the drive chain. The positioning rail is shaped to control both the rate at which the pan cars are inverted from their normal upright position and then it is further shaped to force the pan cars to then return to their initial upright position. The inversion of the pan cars causes a like inversion of the strap pans secured to the pan cars.

Abstract: The invention is a monotract conveyor which has a pivotal tray which is selectively lockable to either pivot to either side of a track which the conveyor runs on, or to stay in an upright position. The tray is mounted to an upper portion of the conveyor unit which is mounted to the main body of the unit by a male/female key member connection. This connection enables one end of the upper portion to be lifted from lower portion, while the key members lock the upper and lower portions of the other end together.

Abstract: A sample moving apparatus for positioning wafers with high accuracy, which apparatus comprises a fine adjustment actuator having a drive stroke to finely move the wafer, a fine adjustment stage driven by the fine adjustment actuator, a coarse adjustment actuator having a drive stroke to relatively coarsely move the wafer, a coarse adjustment stage driven by the coarse adjustment actuator, and a holder arrangement for attractively holding the wafer onto the wafer bearing surfaces of the respective stages. Upon selective energization of the holder arrangement of the respective stages, the wafer is moved while being attracted to the coarse adjustment stage or while being attracted to the coarse adjustment stage.

Abstract: The present invention provides a novel train and track which can be used in an automated, tracked soration system which is capable of sorting and transporting high volumes ofgoods efficiently and which gives flexible system design, easy set-up, easy servicing with minimum down time, centralized control and a minimum of wiring complexity. The train includes "smart" cars and a locomotive for pulling the cars around the track. The trains are loaded with goods to be sorted and given destination addresses for the goods at a loading or master station. Once a train has left the master station, all functions including keeping track of position, regulating speed and dumping cars are to be controlled by a microprocessor placed aboard each locomotive. This "smart" design allows the track to be very simple as it need only provide a path and lower supply for the trains to run on and the train can wait at the loading station until it has a full or partial load to deliver.

Abstract: An unloading mechanism for a goods wagon having a container with a cylindrical bottom and rotatably carried at its ends in bearings on bogies comprises an arcuate guide affixed to the container and extending on the underside around the cylindrical bottom of the container in a helical configuration and two rollers respectively rotatably carried on supports at different levels and disposed on opposite sides of a travelling path of the wagon As the wagon is moved to an unloading station the roller at the lower level comes into contact with the underside of the guide and forces the container to turn 180.degree. into an inverted position. The container can then be forced to turn another 180.degree. to a transport position by bringing the roller at the higher level into contact with the upper side of the guide.