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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8181771 | Positive-drive spiral conveyor A spiral conveyor for positively driving a conveyor belt along a helical path. The spiral conveyor includes a rotating cylindrical tower with parallel drive members extending from the bottom to the top of the tower on its periphery. Each drive member includes an out... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8172088 | Air separator Apparatus and method for separating lightweight waste from product with cyclic pulses of air. An air separator includes a blower duct directing air upward through product conveyed on a foraminous conveyor. A pair of counter-rotating vanes in the blower duct cyclical... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8167119 | Low-pressure accumulation system A low-pressure accumulation system and a conveyor belt in an accumulation conveyor for the use with the system. The belt, which is flanked on opposite sides by lines of gravity rollers, has a longitudinal lane of article-supporting belt rollers arranged in groups al... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8161854 | Box cutter and method Apparatus and method for cutting boxes. The box cutter has a rectangular work area defined by the upper run of an oblique-roller conveyor belt selectively driven forward or reverse in coordination with the actuation and deactuation of the obliquely rotatable belt ro... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8157083 | Self-clearing conveyor transfer system and transfer plate A self-clearing conveyor transfer system for transferring articles between two mutually perpendicular conveyor belts. One version of the transfer system includes a finger transfer plate with fingers at one end extending into the end of a raised-rib belt and powered ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8123021 | Methods for singulating abutting articles Methods for singulating laterally abutting conveyed articles in a conveyor (60). The method includes separating laterally abutting articles by means of a first conveyor section (62) having in-line rollers (64) or oblique rollers rotating at a fi... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8120507 | Two-tier streamer communication system A two-tier communication system for a seismic streamer. The communication system operates over an unshielded twisted-pair communication line extending the length of the streamer. Repeater units having a repeater function and a device controller function divide the t... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8109384 | Conveyor and method for spacing packages A spacing conveyor having article-accelerating rollers and selectively retractable stops to control the gaps between consecutive conveyed packages. A sensor measures the length of a package being fed onto the spacing conveyor. A controller selectively actuates one o... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8028618 | Cooker apparatus and method A continuous cooker having a conveyor capable of repositioning product and cleaning itself of debris and a method for its operation. The cooker includes a conveyor that transports food atop a conveyor belt to a cooking chamber. Upper and lower diverting rollers guid... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8020480 | Self-lubricating ropes useful in the isolation sections of ocean-bottom cables A rope having an outer jacket made of braided fibers surrounding a PTFE core and a method for making the rope. The rope is useful in high-tension, high-friction applications, such as serving as a stress member in an isolation section of an instrumented ocean-bottom ... | 09/20/2011 |
| 7980385 | Plastic conveyor belts and modules with lateral channels An easy-to-clean conveyor belt constructed of a series of rows of belt modules having lateral depressions forming channels across the width of the belt along which water can be sprayed to flush debris off the side edge of the belt. Lateral ridges between the depress... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7971701 | Diagonal sorter In one embodiment, a conveyor system includes a conveyor belt having a plurality of conveyor belt rollers configured to divert articles on the conveyor belt, and a drive mechanism that engages the conveyor belt rollers, the drive mechanism being configured to drive ... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7942257 | Roller-belt conveyor with infeed pull-away A separation conveyor using a roller belt whose rollers are already rotating before receiving an article to provide immediate pull-away from an infeed conveyor. The rollers of a roller belt extend through the thickness of the belt and into contact with a bearing sur... | 05/17/2011 |
| 7931137 | Case turner for a roller conveyor A case turner comprising a powered roller conveyor with a bump turn and a tapered roller just downstream of the bump turn to assist in turning cases completely 90°. The larger diameter of the tapered roller is on the opposite side of the conveyor from the bump turn... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7900768 | Split-level singulator A split-level singulator for arranging and conveying articles in a single file. The singulator comprises a central conveyor and two flanking conveyors advancing in a conveying direction. Rollers in the conveyors protrude through the thickness of the conveyors and ri... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7881160 | Seismic vibrator array and methods of operation An arrangement for conducting a seismic survey and methods for operating a vibrator array in a seismic survey. A signal source coupled to an array of vibrators drives the vibrators with a set of signals to generate seismic signals into a survey area. Each of the sig... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7878319 | Conveyor switch A sorting switch for diverting articles from one or more infeed conveyors to two or more outfeed conveyors. A cannulae pre-alignment conveyor receives articles from one or more infeed conveyors and selectively diverts individual articles into two or more lateral reg... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7863547 | Microwave chamber Microwave apparatus for exposing materials on an elongated member, such as a mandrel, to microwave energy. The apparatus includes a cylindrical microwave exposure chamber (10). Elongated slots (20) spaced about the circumference of the chamber (10 | 01/04/2011 |
| 7861849 | Merge conveyor including high-friction rollers A merge conveyor comprising a timing conveyor feeding a singulating conveyor characterized by a transverse-roller conveyor belt having rollers with a high-friction peripheral surface. The timing conveyor delivers articles to the singulating conveyor one article at a... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7861847 | Roller-belt depalletizer A conveyor and a method for depalletizing and singulating packages. The conveyor comprises, in one version, a set-down conveyor on which pallet layers are deposited and conveyed, a row-separation conveyor that separates the pallet layer into spaced rows, a row-extra... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7811157 | Peeler with self-adjusting rollers Peeling apparatus and a method for biasing lower idle rollers of a roller-type peeling machine against power rollers to maintain the rollers in contact as the rollers wear. The apparatus includes biasing means, such as a cylinder applying upward pressure against the... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7810637 | Positively driven, tracking flat belt and conveyor A flat belt conveyor that is flexible along its length and has a chevron drive and a matching drive drum with helical drive surfaces on its periphery to drive and track the belt. The flat belt may comprise a series of flexible modules, or belt segments, of one or mo... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7793606 | Position controller for a towed array A position controller capable of controlling the depth or lateral position of a towed array. The position controller comprises a tubular fuselage from which a pair of wings may be extended over a range of sweep angles between fully open and stowed positions. In full... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7789221 | Living-hinge conveyor belt A conveyor belt having rodless, living hinges and a method for making such a belt. One version of the belt has spaced apart belt modules joined by tension members spanning the gaps between consecutive modules. The tension members bend in the gaps to allow the belt t... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7784397 | Method and apparatus for heating or cooling of foodstuffs The invention relates to a method and a product for heating or cooling including freezing of food items in a rotating closed pipe serpent. The technology includes a closed non-circular rotating pipe serpent for processing of food items, where the food items are tran... | 08/31/2010 |
| 7776212 | Water screen system with boot seal A boot seal for a vertically traveling water screen and a method forming a boot seal. The boot seal comprises a bent plate that extends from an attachment end to a free end. The attachment end is attached to a frame mounted at the bottom of a channel of water flowin... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7775345 | Conveyor and belt with clutch-driven flights A belt conveyor having clutch-driven flights for extremely low-torque operation. The flights have pivot members that rotate about an axis over a limited range of angles. A clutch mechanism includes a spring pushing a clutch wheel against a pivot member. The clutch w... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7743905 | Transverse-roller-belt conveyor and methods for case turning A conveyor and methods for turning cases. The conveyor includes a pair of side-by-side belts running preferably at different speeds. The different belt speeds cause the leading edge of a package straddling both belts to move toward the slower belt. The two belts inc... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7731010 | Article-rotating belt conveyor A conveyor (20) comprising at least one belt (22) defining an outer conveying surface divided into at least two laterally offset regions in which the rollers (50) in one region rotate in a first direction and the rollers (51) in a second ... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7666235 | Microwave drying of coal A method for drying coal using microwave energy to achieve a controlled aggregate moisture content target range without starting combustion or degrading the coking qualities of the coal. Coal feed stock is first separated into fine grade coal and one or more larger ... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7635060 | Apparatus and method for sensing conditions local to a modular conveyor belt Apparatus and method for sensing conditions local to a modular conveyor belt and wirelessly transmitting signals representing those conditions to an off-belt belt monitoring system. In a preferred version, a load cell pin installed in a clevis formed at a hinge join... | 12/22/2009 |
| 7623411 | Stabilized streamer connection system A connection system for connecting external devices to a streamer. The connection system comprises three outer collars maintained collinearly aligned by a stabilizing member, such as a lightweight, rigid tube, attached to each outer collar. The tube extends parallel... | 11/24/2009 |
| 7617923 | Roller-belt conveyor for moving articles across the conveyor A conveyor using a roller belt with rollers arranged to rotate on oblique axes to urge articles toward a side guide. The conveyor includes an oblique-roller belt supported on a carryway for running in a direction of belt travel. Rollers extend above an outer conveyi... | 11/17/2009 |
| 7616522 | Seismic streamer with irregularly spaced hydrophones A seismic streamer and a method for positioning a group of hydrophones in a seismic streamer. The hydrophones in a group are spaced irregularly along the length of the streamer to reduce the influence of bulge-wave noise and flow noise on the hydrophone group respon... | 11/10/2009 |
| 7607533 | Conveyors and methods for non-uniformly accelerating conveyed articles Conveyors and methods for operating conveyors to accelerate laterally adjacent conveyed articles over different distances. The conveyors provide a conveying surface atop rollers in a conveyor belt. The belt rollers ride on a bearing surface underlying the belt on a ... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7575113 | Screen belt and modules A modular belt constructed of belt modules having a large open area, making the belt suitable for use as a traveling water screen. The modules include an intermediate portion composed of intersecting sets of link elements and transverse elements that form a gridlike... | 08/18/2009 |
| 7556136 | Conveyor belt module with retained rollers A belt module with embedded rollers retained in cavities in the module by retention structure insertable into the module. The rollers and cavities are elongated in the direction of belt travel and closely separated by narrow dividers that form outward-facing surface... | 07/07/2009 |
| 7540368 | Transverse-roller belts and modules A modular roller-top conveyor belt with a dense array of rollers freely rotatable toward the sides of the belt. The rollers are arranged in offset lines and columns in a checkerboard pattern on the top side of the belt. The rollers rotate on axes parallel to the dir... | 06/02/2009 |
| 7537106 | Apparatus and methods for conveying objects Disclosed are conveyors and methods for making the conveyors. In one embodiment, a conveyor comprises a modular conveyor belt that includes a plurality of mat-top chains having a plurality of cavities and a plurality of first rollers disposed in the cavities of the ... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7537105 | Apparatus and methods for controlling spacing of conveyed objects In one embodiment, apparatus for controlling spacing of objects conveyed by an object conveyor include flights that can be actuated from a retracted state to an extended state in which the flights extend transversely across the object conveyor, the flights limiting ... | 05/26/2009 |
