Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7255219 | Multifunctional conveyor drum Conveyor drum for receiving axially aligned articles that are conveyed in a cross-axial direction toward the conveyor drum. Conveyor drum includes a separation device for changing a longitudinal axial spacing of the articles by a predetermined longitudinal axial sep... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7191892 | Apparatus for transferring products from a first conveying line to a second conveying line, in particular for feeding a boxing machine In an apparatus for transferring products from a first conveying line to a second line conveying line operated stepwise in a feeding direction and particularly for feeding a boxing machine a plurality of compartments are aligned along the feeding direction. Each com... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7143890 | Vertical transfer device for tire assembly line A transfer device is provided for transferring tires from a tire conveyor line to a wheel conveyor line. The transfer device includes first and second surfaces rotatable with respect to one another. The first surface can receive tires from the tire conveyor line. A ... | 12/05/2006 |
| 6748984 | Supply apparatus for spouts or bags with spouts An apparatus for supplying spouts (or bags attached with spouts) to spout holding members provided on the edge of a circular rotor, including a pair of guide rails that engage with the groove portions of spouts, a timing screw that conveys spouts along the guide rai... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6471036 | Method of an apparatus for inverting filter cigarettes and the like A drum-shaped conveyor rotates about a fixed axis and its core carries a set of angularly distributed sections indexible about axes extending radially of the fixed axis when the core is set in rotary motion. Each section has several parallel flutes for se... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6398006 | Rotary turret with pedestals and a method of controlling rotation thereof A rotary turret has a plurality of rotatable pedestals thereon, each pedestal being controlled by a separate motor. The location of each motor for each pedestal is fixed so that the motors do not change location as the turret rotatesl. There is a separate... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6308816 | Rotary orienter indexing system An indexing system for rotary orienters for positioning articles so that a feature of each article is facing in the same predetermined direction so that further operations may be accurately performed on the articles. The rotary orienter may be used in con... | 10/30/2001 |
| 5901830 | Bi-directional belt sorter A bi-directional belt sorter for unloading items into a selected bin located along a travel path of a conveyor system includes a carrier and a support frame secured to the carrier. The carrier has a plurality of orientations with respect to the support fr... | 05/11/1999 |
| 5579890 | Linear/rotary actuator member An actuator member is disclosed in which the actuator member is capable of providing linear and selective rotary movement of the table top of the conveyor member. The actuator member includes a platform housing which can be fixedly attached to conventiona... | 12/03/1996 |
| 5513501 | Freezer A freezer includes an enclosed housing with cooling apparatus and a rotatable drive wheel mounted on one side wall within the housing. A plurality of support members are mounted on the drive wheel for rotation therewith. Food containers are selectively mo... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5421447 | High rate transfer wheel for orienting unscrambled containers A synchronized rotary transfer wheel for orienting containers that have been unscrambled with a pocketed disc sorter type machine. The transfer wheel utilizes momentary air pressure and an adaptive vacuum pick up assembly to grasp, rotate, and release con... | 06/06/1995 |
| 5358376 | Device for opening and emptying filled food cans The device for opening and emptying filled food cans comprises a conveyor path. Food cans are gripped in the conveyor path using semi-cylindrical clamping elements. In addition the cans are clamped on the end walls. Placed in the conveyor path is a knife ... | 10/25/1994 |
| 5261520 | Custodial book transfer system An apparatus for transferring a plurality of books from a binder conveyor to another conveyor. The apparatus includes a plurality of grippers for receiving the books from the binder conveyor and gripping the books. The apparatus includes a conveyor for mo... | 11/16/1993 |
| 5253742 | Conveyor hangers with articulated linkages A conveyor has an overhead rail with a chain therebelow moving rollers along the conveyor rail. A first link is affixed to the conveyor chain and extends perpendicularly thereto for all portions of the conveyor rail. A second link is located below the fir... | 10/19/1993 |
| 5241807 | Method and apparatus for wrapping lollipops and similar articles A method and apparatus for wrapping lollipops wherein the candy portion is first placed in a pre-formed wrapper envelope and then loaded between chuck jaws translated on a conveyor. The conveyor includes a plurality of chucks, and the chuck jaws of each c... | 09/07/1993 |
| 5242044 | Apparatus for rotating and conveying an article to be painted on coating line In a carriage for conveying an article such as an automobile body on a coating line, a sprocket on the carriage engages an endless chain running along the path of carriage movement. The sprocket causes the article to rotate on an axis parallel to the dire... | 09/07/1993 |
| 5224405 | Process for rotating and placing a strip of material on a substrate An apparatus and process for receiving and rotating a strip of material toward a continuously moving surface, and then orienting the strip of material so that it is surfacely placed generally flat with the continuously moving surface.... | 07/06/1993 |
| 5220991 | Conveying apparatus for coating line In a coating line conveyor for an automobile body, in which the body is movable along a path and rotated on an axis parallel to the path, the article is stopped in its erect attitude without impact force. The article is supported so that the combined cent... | 06/22/1993 |
| 5181598 | Article rotating assembly An article rotating assembly and process for rotating articles to a predetermined orientation on a moving conveyor. The assembly comprises movable article control structures and cooperating vertical motion and rotational motion assemblies which are synchr... | 01/26/1993 |
| 5151001 | Apparatus for rotating top ends of cans In a rotating apparatus for top ends, a transport path for the top ends is defined along an outer periphery of a turntable which is rotatable intermittently. Top-end holding platforms are arranged on the outer periphery of the turntable in spaced relation... | 09/29/1992 |
| 5104116 | Applicator apparatus and process for rotating and placing a strip of material on a substrate An apparatus and process for receiving and rotating a strip of material toward a continuously moving surface, and then orienting the strip of material so that it is surfacely placed generally flat with the continuously moving surface.... | 04/14/1992 |
| 5023974 | Rotation method and apparatus A method of rotating an article being conveyed on a carrier travelling along a track of a conveyor system is provided. The method comprises stopping the carrier on a first section of track disposed at an angle to a second section of track which supports a... | 06/18/1991 |
| 4974716 | Device for feeding can barrels A plurality of rotatable attracting units are mounted on a rotary member each for attracting the bottom of one can barrel supplied from a supply path in a first position. Each of the attracting units is inactivatable to release the can barrel onto a conve... | 12/04/1990 |
| 4911285 | Drive for a rotary plate in a labelling machine for bottles A drive shaft is for a rotary plate of a labelling machine for bottles or the like and includes a rotatable turntable of the labelling machine having an upper portion. A circular cam block is mounted below the turntable and has a curved slot therein. The ... | 03/27/1990 |
| 4856978 | Apparatus for conveying preforms An apparatus is provided for the conveyance of preforms through a heating station to a stretching and blowing machine during the production of hollow articles from thermoplastic plastics materials, means of which preforms having different neck diameters c... | 08/15/1989 |
| 4832173 | Device for rotating containers while transporting same A container rotating-transporting device for transporting a plurality of containers while rotating same, which comprises a transport device for transporting the containers straightly, a plurality of container stands each provided rotatably on the transpor... | 05/23/1989 |
| 4830169 | Device for feeding can barrels A plurality of rotatable attracting units are mounted on a rotary member each for attracting the bottom of one of the can barrels supplied from a supply path in a first position. Each attracting unit is inactivatable to release the one can barrel onto a c... | 05/16/1989 |
| 4807738 | Conveyor apparatus Conveyor apparatus for changing the orientation and/or velocity of the objects being conveyed.... | 02/28/1989 |
| 4676360 | Method of spacing and turning over two coaxial cigarette lengths on filter assembling machine Method of spacing and turning over two coaxial cigarette lengths on a filter assembling machine, the said method providing for stages consisting in feeding the said lengths crosswise in relation to their axes along a conveyor provided, for each length, wi... | 06/30/1987 |
| 4586598 | Method and apparatus for delivering articles from a high-speed production machine A method and apparatus for delivering articles from a high-speed production achine manufacturing hygienic articles, such as sanitary napkins, whereby the sanitary articles, which are separated from the production line and transported at high speed, are tur... | 05/06/1986 |
| 4483526 | Turning conveyor and selected book signature turning method In a system for collating, binding and stacking magazines or books, a machine comprising a portion of a conveyor line used in the system. The machine turns some of the books relative to their direction of travel prior to entering the stacking device so th... | 11/20/1984 |
| 4428474 | Apparatus for the alignment of bottles or the like, particularly labeling machines A rotating radial unit has bottle receiving recesses on its periphery for accepting bottles from a linear conveyor. A pair of elements are mounted on the unit adjacent each receiver for moving towards and away from the receiver. A belt runs around rolls t... | 01/31/1984 |
| 4287704 | Folding and gluing machine A carton blank may be folded by folder blades supported on an adjustable plate positioned on one side of a chain which carries a clamp by which the carton blank is pulled through the machine. After folding, the blank is glued to complete a flat shell and ... | 09/08/1981 |
| 4266478 | Material orientation and printing apparatus and method An apparatus and process for transporting, orienting and printing indicia upon materials which have dissimilar ends, like capsules, in a predetermined orientation and position. The apparatus includes three rotatable drums in tangential arrangement. The fi... | 05/12/1981 |
| 4108762 | Transparent container inspection apparatus Apparatus for inspecting either empty or filled transparent containers for foreign matter in which the containers are moved through spaced apart inspection stations to present different sides thereof to high intensity pulsed light sources which casts the ... | 08/22/1978 |
