Docstoc feed for: Legal->Patents->Classifying, Separating, Assorting Solids

Plan Sifter And Drive For A Plan Sifter - Patent 8146749

Patents-329 — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:53:21 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, April 16, 2012

The invention relates to a plan sifter for the sifting or sieving of mealy or granular products, which consists of at least one compartment. The invention also relates particularly to a drive for a plan sifter. Plan sifters for the sifting of mealy or granular products in mills, in particular in corn mills, are in very widespread use. They have a closable housing with at least one stack of sieves which are arranged one above the other and the coveringof which has a mesh width decreasing from the top downwards, so that products of the same particle size ranges can be brought together. For executing the sieving movement, the plan sifter is set in uniformly oscillating motion by means of an unbalancedrive. When a plurality of sieving compartments are arranged in an even number, arrangement may take place in two rows, the drive being arranged between the two rows, as disclosed, for example, in DE 2256307. Furthermore, for example, arrangements oftwo blocks of four screening compartments with a drive unit lying between them are known (EP-A-1396289). In order to utilize the space in the drive compartment more effectively, it has also been proposed to arrange sieving compartments at the ends thereof and thus form a closed ring arrangement of sieving compartments (DE 197 46 678). Disadvantages are both the poor access to the drive and unequal motion conditions. Moreover, in all the variants, only even-numbered multiples of sifting compartments can be arranged to form a plan sifter.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object on which the invention is based is to develop a plan sifter for the sifting or sieving of mealy or granular products, which makes it possible to have both an even number and an odd number of sieving compartments in the plan sifter. The object is achieved by the plan sifter described below. An important feature is that each sieving compartment has a dedicated drive. Hence, the available base area can be utilized more effectively and the sifting capacity can

Clamp For Mixed Mail Sorter - Patent 8143548

Patents-329 — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:45:38 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, April 16, 2012

The present invention relates generally to mail sorting, and more particularly to one-pass carrier sequence sorting.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Recently, much progress has been made in dealing with mail sortation problems. U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/589,634, filed Jul. 21, 2004 is incorporated herein by reference, and is a precursor to the present invention. That previous version used a folder/divider system for escorting mail through a sortation system. However, that system had various drawbacks, such as difficulties with the unload step, and the possibility of jams while moving the mail pieces out of thefolders/dividers. That previous invention disclosed a method for sorting a wide variety of mail piece sizes and weights in a single pass. The paper handling architecture described therein improved upon previous mail sorters in that during the sortingoperation, the mail is contained within folder/dividers, and the mechanism to transport the mail operates on the folder/divider, not the mail itself. Nevertheless a folder/divider system is not an optimum method for efficiently sorting mail, and itwould be advantageous to use a different technique that extends the capabilities or application Ser. No. 60/589,634 while reducing the amount of paper handling required. Many posts around the world are seeking to develop a more effective mail merging system that automatically merges all mail streams and sorts them to delivery sequence. The system should accomplish this merging at the step of carrier sequencesorting by merging all elements of the mail stream (letters, flats, periodicals, post cards etc) at the final sorting process. At present, some of the mail streams arrive at the postal branch offices pre-sorted, and some do not. Generally, even when the mail arrives at the branch already sorted by delivery sequence, postal carriers need to merge multiple streams ofmail (often as many as 10) from different mail trays--and for this the postal

Linear Motors For Shaker Motion Control - Patent 8141714

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:12:52 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to screen separators, and in particular to vibrating screen separators. 2. Background Oilfield drilling fluid, often called "mud," serves multiple purposes in the industry. Among its many functions, the drilling mud acts as a lubricant to cool rotary drill bits and facilitate faster cutting rates. Typically, the mud is mixed atthe surface and pumped downhole at high pressure to the drill bit through a bore of the drillstring. Once the mud reaches the drill bit, it exits through various nozzles and ports where it lubricates and cools the drill bit. After exiting through thenozzles, the "spent" fluid returns to the surface through an annulus formed between the drillstring and the drilled wellbore. Furthermore, drilling mud provides a column of hydrostatic pressure, or head, to prevent "blow out" of the well being drilled. This hydrostatic pressure offsets formation pressures thereby preventing fluids from blowing out if pressurizeddeposits in the formation are breeched. Two factors contributing to the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud column are the height (or depth) of the column (i.e., the vertical distance from the surface to the bottom of the wellbore) itself and thedensity (or its inverse, specific gravity) of the fluid used. Depending on the type and construction of the formation to be drilled, various weighting and lubrication agents are mixed into the drilling mud to obtain the right mixture. Typically,drilling mud weight is reported in "pounds," short for pounds per gallon. Generally, increasing the amount of weighting agent solute dissolved in the mud base will create a heavier drilling mud. Drilling mud that is too light may not protect theformation from blow outs, and drilling mud that is too heavy may over invade the formation. Therefore, much time and consideration is spent to ensure the mud mixture is optimal. Because the mud evaluation and mixture p

Sifting Screen - Patent 8141715

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:12:26 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

The present invention deals broadly with large sifting apparatus used to size granular material as it is sifted by the apparatus. More narrowly, however, it is directed to screens, either the full sifting apparatus or modules thereof, used inclassifying the granular material by size. A specific focus of the invention is structure employed to mount a screen to a mechanism for shaking the screen during the performance of the classification function.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Large aggregate sifting machinery for classifying material by size is well-known in the art. A number of problems are, however, prevalent with regard to such machinery. One problem is cost. Because of typically rapid deterioration, the usefullife of an apparatus can be quite short. Another problem is clogging. Frequently, ambient dust can accumulate and fill holes through which the material to be classified passes. Depending upon various conditions such as moisture, obstruction of apertures can render such machinery atleast temporarily non-operational. Another concern deals with transportability. Any number of components of such a sifting apparatus can be quite heavy, and such a machine can be rendered virtually immobile. A final issue which must be considered in the design of a sifting screen is the secure attachment and maintenance of a screen portion to a tension rail which circumscribes the location at which the screen portion is to be mounted. The screenportion must be securely attached and so maintained in order for the overall apparatus to function properly and securely. It is to these shortcomings and problems of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It is an improved sifting apparatus which addresses these problems and shortcomings. Because of the construction of an apparatus in accordancewith the present invention, these shortcomings are overcome.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is a sifting screen which includes a screen portion to be attached to a ten

Carrier Delivery Sequence System And Process Adapted For Upstream Insertion Of Exceptional Mail Pieces - Patent 8138438

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:57:15 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to carrier sequence sorting and more particularly to carrier sequence sorting that accommodates mail pieces having exceptional characteristics.BACKGROUND ART The United States Postal Service (USPS) is seeking to develop a more effective merging system that is responsive to customer needs and culminates in one bundle of mixed letters and flats for each delivery point. The system should accomplishthis merging at the step of carrier sequence sorting by merging all elements of the mail stream (letters, flats, periodicals, post cards etc) at the final sorting process. At present, some of the mail streams arrive at the postal branch offices pre-sorted, and some do not. Generally, even when the mail arrives at the branch already sorted by delivery sequence, postal carriers need to merge multiple streams ofmail (often as many as 10) from different mail trays--and for this the postal carriers generally use a manual sorting process. When mail does not arrive at the branch pre-sorted, the carriers spend even more time--several hours--sorting the mail intocarrier delivery sequence manually. Often, the carrier on mechanized routes will complete the mail merging while sitting at each post box--merging mail from multiple mail trays on the spot before placing it in the mailbox. This requires carriers tospend substantial time merging and sorting the mail before they can start to deliver it, or else they must complete the merging while they are delivering the mail, thus making the mail delivery process (the last mile) quite inefficient. The instantinvention corrects that inefficiency in an automated manner that accommodates not only normal types of mail, but also mail pieces having exceptional physical characteristics. In 1990, the USPS issued a Request for Proposal for a carrier sequence bar code sorter, type B, a single pass sorter to arrange mail in carrier delivery sequence. To date, 14 years later, no product has been manu

Method And System For Recovering Metal From Processed Recycled Materials - Patent 8138437

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:55:12 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

This invention relates to systems and methods for recovering metals from recycled materials. More particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods for employing dry processes for further recovering metals, typically after employing adynamic sensor to process materials.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Recycling of waste materials is highly desirable from many viewpoints, not the least of which are financial and ecological. Properly sorted recyclable materials can often be sold for significant revenue. Many of the more valuable recyclablematerials do not biodegrade within a short period, and so their recycling significantly reduces the strain on local landfills and ultimately the environment. Typically, waste streams are composed of a variety of types of waste materials. One such waste stream is generated from the recovery and recycling of automobiles or other large machinery and appliances. For examples, at the end of its usefullife, an automobile is shredded. This shredded material is processed to recover ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The remaining materials, referred to as automobile shredder residue (ASR), which may still include ferrous and non-ferrous metals, includingcopper wire and other recyclable materials, is typically disposed of in a landfill. Recently, efforts have been made to further recover materials, such as non-ferrous metals including copper from copper wiring and plastics. Similar efforts have beenmade to recover materials from whitegood shredder residue (WSR), which are the waste materials left over after recovering ferrous metals from shredded machinery or large appliances. Other waste streams that have recoverable materials may includeelectronic components (also known as "e-waste" or "waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)), building components, retrieved landfill material, or other industrial waste streams. These recoverable materials are generally of value only when theyhave been separated into like-type material

Document Sort Machine Having Dual Feeders - Patent 8136671

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:43:39 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

DESCRIPTION 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a machine used for sorting documents, e.g. mail pieces such as letters, and more particularly relates to a sort machine having a feeder at each end of the machine to increase the sort capacity of the machine. 2. Background of the Invention For several years, automated "sort machines" have been available which sort large volumes of documents (e.g. letters, postcards, checks, flats, and the like) into groups having a common identifying criteria (e.g. Zip Codes, mail boxes, etc.). Asort machine is typically comprised a "front end" or feeder section and one or more "stacker sections". The front end feeds the pieces, one-by-one, past a reader (e.g. optical character reader ("OCR"), bar code reader ("BCR"), or the like) and onto atransport that carries it to a designated sort pocket in a stacker section(s). As the piece passes the reader, the desired criteria on a piece is read and a signal is generated that, in turn, is processed to generate a designation signal for that particular piece. This designation signal, in turn, triggers a diverter or"gate" at the designated pocket in the stacker section as the piece approaches to divert the piece from the transport into the designated pocket where it is stacked with other pieces having the same identifying criteria. Such machines are well known andare commercially-available, e.g. Vsort.RTM. Flat Sort Machine, NP8000. Sort Machine, both manufactured and distributed by National Presort, Inc., Dallas, Tex. Many present sort machines are comprised of a plurality of vertically stacked tiers of sort pockets which increase the number of pockets available during a sort operation without substantially increasing the machine's "foot print" (floor arearequired for the machine). In machines of this type, the letters are read and directed by a Level Distribution Unit or elevator system to the particular tier on which its respective sort pocket is located. For example

Sizing Roller Screen Ore Processing Apparatus - Patent 8136672

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:43:36 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to the processing of mined ore and more particularly relates to sizing and conditioning of mined ore materials. 2. Description of the Prior Art Earth formations are mined to recover valuable minerals that are incorporated in the earthen formations or are covered by an earthen overburden. For example, Northern Alberta has oil sands formations that contain valuable bitumen hydrocarbons. Various techniques are in use or have been discussed for recovery of bitumen hydrocarbons from oil sands formations. In accordance with one method of recovery, the oil sands formations are mined to remove in situ bitumen bearing ore from the formationin which it is found. The removed oil sands ore is then processed to separate the hydrocarbons from the sand and mineral materials. Once separated, the hydrocarbons are then further processed into intermediate or finished products such as syntheticcrude oil, fuels and the like. When the mining method of extraction is employed, the oil sands ore extracted from the earth is transported to a processing facility where separation of the bitumen hydrocarbons from the other materials in the ore can take place. The mined oilsands ore is typically transported to processing facilities by truck or by slurry transport via a pipeline or by combinations of the two or by other mechanisms. Frequently, the oil sands ore is mined at a considerable distance from where the process ofseparating the oil sands into hydrocarbons, sand and minerals takes, place. Distance affects conditioning and recovery in hydrotransport systems, consequently, transport of the mined ore to a separation facility typically involves transporting the minedore significant distances. Moreover, the location from which the ore is taken changes over time as the oil sands ore is depleted as a result of formation mining, consequently resulting in migration of the mining site along the formation. Because thelocation of the source o

Collapsible Mobile Material Processing Plant With Flexible Hopper - Patent 8136670

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:43:18 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

This invention relates to mobile rock crushing and screening plants. A portable rock crushing and screening processing plant is usually a collection of several units, each performing various material processing functions to prepare aggregatematerials for use for, but not limited to, concrete and asphalt products. The various units can perform various stages of crushing, screening, conveying, and washing of aggregate and recycle materials. Portability is achieved by positioning the plantson towable or haulable modules, so that the plant can service multiple locations where processed materials can be produced. Many plants have utilized a high vertical extent when fully deployed and it is often necessary to provide the ability to collapse the system, so as to meet highway height restrictions. It has been know in the art to provide a folding and pivoting vibrating screen plant on a mobile platform. This has been done where the fines conveyor is directly coupled to the pivoting screen and moved forward along with the pivoting screenwhen the system is collapsed for transport. Other systems have utilized a fines conveyor fixed to the mobile frame and a rubber hopper disposed between the vibrating screen plant and the fines conveyor. While both of these systems have enjoyed some commercial success in the industry, they both have drawbacks. The system with the combined folding screen and fines conveyor can cause problems when the necessarily protruding fines conveyor is folded forward, thereby encroaching into space which is often needed for transferring material off the mobileplatform. Additionally, the attached fines conveyor generally leads to use of a more expensive wider conveyor. In the rubber hopper approach of the prior art, some of the screens were either lifted vertically without any forward pivoting and have resulted in limited height reduction or the need to partially disassemble inter-plant connections or therubber was fixed at the bottom and pivoted, but

Process And Composition For Froth Flotation - Patent 8136669

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:43:06 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to froth flotation of solid materials and, more particularly, to a process and composition for the froth flotation of coal, molybdenum, graphite, and other materials having hydrophobic materials. 2. Description of Prior Art When coal is mined, the raw product consists of coal and rock, with rock naturally occurring as small partings within the coal that cannot be avoided during the mining process. To concentrate the coal, large fragments of non-combustiblemineral/matter are removed by screening or gravity separation techniques. Froth flotation is commonly used to beneficiate the finely divided raw coal. Certain coals such as Bituminous coals possess a natural hydrophobicity, which results in the coalbeing naturally floatable in the aqueous medium, but the use of reagents is still commonly required to enhance floatability and therefore recovery. Effective preparation of coal prior to combustion improves the homogeneity of coal supplied, producesless ash for disposal at power plants and other use sources, and reduces emissions of oxides of sulfur. Froth flotation/coal washing is an important method for reducing ash in coal. Washing the ash and coal is particularly critical for reducing sulfur,especially in coal fields in the Eastern United States. During coal washing, the ore is crushed and wet ground to obtain a pulp. A frothing agent, usually employed with a collecting agent, is added to the coal/water slurry to effect the flotation. The coal slurry is aerated to produce froth at thesurface thereof and the collector assists the frothing agent in separating the coal from the ore by causing the mineral values, i.e., the coal, to adhere to the bubbles formed during the aeration process. The portion of the ore which is not carried overwith the froth is usually identified as flotation tailings or gangue and is disposed of or reprocessed. The purpose of the collector is to increase the hydrophobicity of

Continuous Cleaning Tramp Metal Separation Device - Patent 8132674

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:47:37 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

The invention pertains to devices for separating unwanted ferrous metals from particulate materials utilizing magnets, and in particular, for separation devices having movable magnets selectively positionable within a stream of such particulatematerial in such a fashion as to ensure continuous metal separation while allowing the magnets to be selectively cleaned of any accumulation of metal.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many devices which store or further process a supply of granular material in an industrial environment. Many devices, such as grain storage apparatus or pharmaceutical handling apparatus, are designed to simply direct a supply ofgranular material to containers for storage. Other devices, such as a variety of industrial fabricating devices, process the material to form a component therefrom. For example, a plastic injection molding machine typically accepts a supply ofpelletized plastic material, melts the pellets, injects the resulting liquid plastic into a mold, and discharges a molded part after the part has formed and cooled. The prior art with respect to devices which handle granular materials is best described by continuing the example with respect to a product-forming machine. In the past, it has been common to use an overhead hopper for feeding the granularpellets of raw material to the product-forming machines. A quantity of pellets is placed in a very large container, such as a self-contained feed hopper, positioned above and adjacent to the machine. This arrangement permits the pellets to be gravityfed continuously into the molding machine. In this arrangement, all of the raw material in the overhead storage container is directed to the molding machine. Frequently, the supply of raw material includes unwanted microscopic foreign metal material or foreign metal bodies, in the formof metal fragments, screws, washers, or the like. Such unwanted metallic foreign contaminants are referred to as "tramp metals" in the industry. T

System And Method For Validating Mailings Received - Patent 8129646

Patents-329 — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:52:30 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Sunday, April 15, 2012

The subject matter discussed herein relates to a method and system for mail item processing, and particularly, a method and system for validating mail items received from a prior mail processing device.BACKGROUND Document processing facilities often use high speed document processing machines such as sorters, to sort and direct mail items appropriately to one or more mail bins for distribution. Various types or stages of processing may occur duringsorting of the mail items as they are transported at high speeds along a transport path of the sorter via a system of mechanized pulleys, levers and rollers. Such processes may include, but are not limited to imaging of each mail item at various momentsof transport, interpretation of address components (e.g., recipient addresses, ZIP codes, barcodes) based on the image as marked upon the mail items for enabling association of each mail item with a sort scheme, printing upon the mail item, applicationof labels, opening or cutting of the mail item, etc. Generally, these processes are coordinated by one or more computers operating in connection with the sorter. In a multi-sorter environment, where a mailing is distributed for processing amongstmultiple sorters, a server may act as a central administrator of sorter activity--i.e., facilitating data exchange, managing job scheduling and processing, coordinating sort schemes amongst sorter devices, etc. The common goal of any sort operation is to arrange a plurality of disparate mail items into mail groups that conform to postal authority standards. Generally, the postal grouping to which a mail item belongs is based on the delivery pointidentifiers indicated upon the mail item, such as the ZIP Code designation, address data, etc. Other factors regarding the mail item, such as weight class or postage application may further affect how it is classified by the postal authority and hencedelivered via the postal network. Regardless of classification, however, a single postal g

Systems And Methods For Sorting Recyclables At A Material Recovery Facility - Patent 8127933

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:18:17 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The present invention relates to systems and methods for sorting recyclables at a material recovery facility (MRF).BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cost-effective recycling of materials, such as glass, plastics, and metals, has become an increasingly important issue to many businesses because of ever-increasing legislative mandates at the federal, state, and local levels and the associatedcost of complying therewith. In a recycling process, an entity such as a material recovery facility (MRF) can face several significant challenges concerning increasing and/or optimizing the amount of recyclable materials recovered during processing, anddecreasing operational costs such as labor costs. A MRF generally serves as a drop-off and gross-sorting (and limited processing) point for recycled materials, so that sorted recycled materials can be transported, for example, to a customer of the recycled material for subsequent processing. Recyclable materials generally enter a MRF either in a single stream or dual stream. A single stream consists of a mixture of glass, plastics, and/or metals (collectively referred to herein as "commingled containers"), old news print (ONP) (e.g.,newspaper and newspaper inserts), old corrugated paper (OCC), old telephone directories (OTD), old magazines (OMG), junk mail and/or office paper (collectively referred to herein as "fiber material"). A dual stream MRF consists of a commingled containerstream and a fiber material stream. While traditional MRFs typically utilize a dual stream configuration, the desire to reduce labor and other operational costs has been an impetus behind the trend toward single stream MRFs. A gross sort involves separating material by type. For example, glass, plastic, aluminum, fiber, etc. can each be physically separated from each other. In the case of glass, a conventional MRF typically sorts glass by size and color, each ofwhich incurs a labor cost, can cause substantial wear and tear on machinery and equipment, and

Screen Module For Vibratory Screening Apparatus - Patent 8127932

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:18:16 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The present invention relates to a screen module for vibratory screening apparatus. In particular, the invention relates to screen modules including a frame and removable screening panels for vibratory screening apparatus, and screening panelsfor use in such modules.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION In the art of vibratory screening apparatus, there are advantages in the use of polymeric screening members. Certain polymers, such as polyurethanes, may be used in lieu of fabricated metal screens in cases where the superior resistance toabrasive wear possessed of polyurethane is an advantage. Polyurethane screening members may be moulded in a wide variety of forms with ease, as opposed to the limitations in fabricating metal screens. Most polyurethane screening members incorporateedge and intermediate reinforcing of steel or other reinforcing to rigidly support the screen surface thereon. Screening panels may be monolithic, where the screening surface and panel body are moulded monolithically over a frame. Alternatively screens may include a frame over which a poly body is formed, the poly body having upper clipping arrangementsprovided on the top of the over-moulded frame elements to enable the screening element or "skin" to be removably attached. In such cases, skins may be replaced when worn without the need to replace the panel body. Whilst the skins may be more readilyreplaceable, due to their design in use they flex and allow the openings through the screen to become distorted which allows larger particles than intended to pass through the screen, which results in the screen failing to grade to a sharp cut-off ofparticle size. Australian Patent 559443 (FIORIS) discloses a variety of screen member constructions comprising screen member modules, most having steel reinforced edge portions. The modules are adapted to be assembled in multiples to a support structure,adjacent modules abutting with complementary halves of a bead arrangement adapted to engage a profil

Amine-aldehyde Resins And Uses Thereof In Separation Processes - Patent 8127930

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:18:15 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The present invention relates to resins for use in separation processes, and especially the selective separation of solids and/or ionic species such as metallic cations from aqueous media. Such processes include froth flotation (e.g., used inthe purification of clay-containing ores), the separation of drill cuttings from oil drilling fluids, clay and coal slurry dewatering, sewage treatment, pulp and paper mill effluent processing, the removal of sand from bitumen, and the purification ofwater to render it potable. The resins comprise the reaction product of a primary or secondary amine and an aldehyde (e.g., a urea-formaldehyde resin).BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Froth Flotation Industrially, processes for the purification of liquid suspensions or dispersions (and especially aqueous suspensions or dispersions) to remove suspended solid particles are quite prevalent. Froth flotation, for example, is a separation processbased on differences in the tendency of various materials to associate with rising air bubbles. Additives are often incorporated into the froth flotation liquid (e.g., aqueous brine) to improve the selectivity of the process. For example, "collectors"can be used to chemically and/or physically absorb onto mineral(s) to be floated, rendering them more hydrophobic. On the other hand, "depressants," typically used in conjunction with collectors, render other materials (e.g., gangue minerals) lesslikely to associate with the air bubbles, and therefore less likely to be carried into the froth concentrate. In this manner, some materials (e.g., value minerals) will, relative to others (e.g., gangue materials), exhibit preferential affinity for air bubbles, causing them to rise to the surface of the aqueous slurry, where they can be collected in afroth concentrate. A degree of separation is thereby effected. In less common, so-called reverse froth flotations, it is the gangue that is preferentially floated and concentrated at the surface, with the des

Apparatus For Removing Unburned Carbon In Fly Ash - Patent 8127931

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:17:24 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

This invention pertains to an apparatus for removing unburned carbon from fly ash and in further detail to an apparatus for removing unburned carbon from fly ash that effectively removes the unburned carbon from fly ash generated in a coal firedpower plant or a fluid bed combustion furnace.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Fly ash (FA) generated in coal fired power plants and fluidized bed combustion furnaces is used as a raw material for cement and as artificial, lightweight aggregate or as a cement admixture. However, when using fly ash as a cement admixture, as any unburned carbon included in the fly ash absorbs AE agents and water reducing agents, it is necessary beforehand to supply excess AE agents and water reducing agents in excess to allow forthe absorbed amount and thus is uneconomical. Furthermore, because unburned carbon is water repellent, a negative effect is produced because it separates from the concrete when it is cast and rises to the surface creating black areas due to the unburnedcarbon in the concrete-jointed portion. Further, for those cases where there is a large amount of unburned carbon in the fly ash, there is also the problem that the binding power of the fly ash is insufficient and hence the quality of the artificiallightweight rib decreases. As a result, a flotation method for separating the unburned carbon has been proposed, in which water is added to the fly ash for slurrying, kerosene is added as a collector to the slurry, the surface of the unburned carbon is modified by a highspeed shearing mixer, the collector is attached on the surface of the unburned carbon, and a flother is then added (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). As shown in FIG. 7, the high speed shearing mixer (1) is composed of the horizontal vessel (2), a number of toroidal partition walls (4) which divide the inside of the vessel (2) into various chambers (3), the axially directed rotating shaft (5)which passes through the vessel (2) and the various stirring b

Actuation Of Parallel Microfluidic Arrays - Patent 8123044

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:47:36 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The present invention relates to an actuator for use in a microfluidic particle processing system or device. In particular, the present invention relates to an actuator for use with a parallel array microfluidic sorting device for sortingparticles in a plurality of parallel channels.BACKGROUND Microfluidic devices may be used in a variety of applications to perform any number of microfluidic processes on particles. In the fields of biotechnology, and especially cytology and drug screening, there is a need for high throughput sorting of particles. Examples of particles that require sorting are various types of cells, such as blood platelets, white bloodcells, tumorous cells, embryonic cells and the like. These particles are especially of interest in the field of cytology. Other particles are (macro) molecular species such as proteins, enzymes and poly-nucleotides. This family of particles is ofparticular interest in the field of drug screening during the development of new drugs. Methods and apparatuses for particle sorting are known, and the majority described in the prior art work in the condition where the particles are suspended in a liquid flowing through a channel network having at least a branch point downstreamand are operated according the detect-decide-deflect principle. The moving particle is first analyzed for a specific characteristic, such as optical absorption, fluorescent intensity, size, or another suitable characteristic. Depending on the outcomeof this detection phase, it is decided how the particle will be further handled. The outcome of the decision is then applied to deflect the direction of specific particle towards a predetermined branch of the channel network. Of importance is the throughput of the sorting apparatus, i.e. how many particles can be sorted per unit of time. Typical sorting rates for sorters employing flows of particle suspension in closed channels are in the range from a few hundredparticles per second to thousands of

Apparatus For Separating Popped Corn From Un-popped Kernels - Patent 8123045

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:47:20 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

This invention relates to an apparatus for popcorn preparation and more particularly relates to an apparatus for separating un-popped corn kernels from popped corn kernelsBACKGROUNDDescription of the Related Art Many people enjoy popcorn because it is healthy, flavorful, and easy to make. However, during popping, a few popcorn kernels will fail to pop, leaving behind rock hard objects hidden amongst the delicious, inviting treat. Because of its hardnature and small shape, the un-popped kernel presents several health risks to a person enjoying the fluffy snack. Hereinafter an "un-popped" kernel refers to a kernel of popcorn that is in an original, unexpanded state or in a state of partial expansionsuch that the un-popped kernel is hard and poses a threat to a person biting or eating the un-popped kernel. A popcorn kernel may be un-popped before a popping process or after a popping process. An un-popped kernel that remains un-popped after beingexposed to a popping process is commonly referred to as an "old maid." Many people, while consuming the enjoyable snack, have accidently bitten into an un-popped kernel. Because the kernels are hard, biting into a kernel is uncomfortable and can break a tooth. Fixing a broken tooth is expensive and may be costprohibitive for some people. When a broken tooth remains unfixed it can cause several health problems that range from headaches and tooth decay, to sepsis and death. Un-popped kernels also present a great risk to toddlers and infants. The kernels caneasily lodge in a child's throat, choking the child, which also can lead to death.SUMMARY From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus that separates popped corn from un-popped kernels. Beneficially, such an apparatus would allow a user to effortlessly separate kernels from popped cornduring popcorn preparation. The present invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular, in respo

Screening Module Retaining Assembly - Patent 8123043

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:47:08 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

S This claims priority to Australian Application No. 2006243879, filed Nov. 28, 2006 which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to ore screening systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a screening module retaining assembly and to a screening system including such retaining assembly.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Screening systems are used for classifying ores. These screening systems use foraminous screening modules which pass material of a predetermined size and block material of larger size. The screening modules are removably attached to a screen deck as they wear rapidly and need to be replaced. Various forms of attachment are used for attaching screening modules to the screen deck. These forms of attachment include rails, pins,or other attachment elements which releasably retain the screening modules on the screen deck. One problem with these different arrangements is that, if the screen deck is configured to have screening modules with an attaching system of a first type attached to the screen deck, the screen deck cannot be used with screening modules of atype having a different attaching system. In certain situations, the means by which the screening modules are attached to the screen deck stand proud of an upper surface of the screening modules. A problem with this arrangement is that it reduces the screening area of the screeningmodules and impedes flow of material over the upper surfaces of the screening modules.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a screening module retaining assembly which includes: a body member defining a passage, the body member further including a locating formation, associated with a first end of the body member, for engaging a screening module to assist in retaining the screening module relative to a screen deck; and a retaining element displaceably arranged in the passage, the retaining element being displaceable betwe

Device For Characterizing The Particle Size Distribution Of Powders And Its Uses - Patent 8123040

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:46:47 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

This is a U.S. national phase of PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/IB2007/002644, filed Sep.12, 2007, which claims priority to French Application No. 0608038, filed Sep.14, 2006. The invention relates to the sector of devices and apparatuses for determining the particle size distribution of powders, said characterisation particularly being able to be performed in-line, i.e. during the manufacturing process of saidpowders. The powders concerned are more specifically dry powders, i.e. powders having a moisture content less than 5% by weight of water, as determined by means of differential weighing measurements before and after drying of said powders. The powders concerned are also powders having a wide particularly size distribution range, i.e. wherein the mean diameter is between 0.05 and 10 mm. The powders concerned are more specifically powders used in the food sector, such as powders based on sugar crystals, salt powders, flours, powdered milk, powders consisting of dehydrated food materials, washing powders, ceramic powders, plasticpowders, metallic powders, paint powders, pharmaceutical powders, printing toner, fertilisers, or powders consisting of mineral materials, and more specifically mineral material powders based on natural and/or precipitated calcium carbonate and/ordolomites and/or talc, and more specifically mineral material powders based on a natural calcium carbonate which is marble, chalk, limestone or mixtures thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 (denoted as FIG. 1/6) represents a schematic front view of the device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 (denoted as FIG. 2/6) illustrates the cylindrical screen member as observed along an AA section of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 (denoted as FIG. 3/6) represents the residue value measured according to the manual laboratory test (Y-axis) as a function of the residue measured according to the invention (X-axis) at 100 .mu.m. FIG. 4 (denoted as FIG. 4/6) represents the residue value measured according to the m

Methyl Isobutyl Carbinol Mixture And Methods Of Using The Same - Patent 8123042

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:46:41 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

BACKGROUND The present invention relates generally to beneficiation technologies. More specifically, the present invention relates to beneficiation compositions and methods of using the same. Beneficiation is a method of separating useful matter from waste. Commonly, beneficiation uses the difference in the hydrophobicity of the respective components. During this process, the mineral ore is comminuted to a certain small size andslurried with water. The slurry is introduced into a flotation apparatus purged with air. The air bubbles formed preferentially attach to the hydrophobic particles of the slurry, making them float to the top of the apparatus. The floated particles arecollected, dewatered, and accumulated as a sellable final product. The hydrophilic particles tend to migrate to the bottom of the contact vessel from where they can be removed as tailings and processed into waste impoundments. In other processes, suchas reverse flotation, the sellable final product may migrate to the bottom. To facilitate beneficiation, several types of conventional reagents are used such as frothers, collectors, promoters and conditioners. Nevertheless, these reagents can be expensive thereby reducing the cost-effectiveness of the beneficiationprocesses. It is therefore desirable to provide and utilize cost-effective beneficiation compositions.SUMMARY Flotation processes are one of the most widely used methods of separating the valuable material from valueless material present. For example, in a flotation process, the fine particles are dispersed in water or other suitable solution and smallair bubbles are introduced to the slurry so that hydrophobic particles can be selectively collected on the surface of the air bubbles and exit the slurry (e.g. by rising to the surface) while hydrophilic particles are left behind. The hydrophilicparticles can also sink to the bottom of the slurry to be collected as sludge. The MIBC mixture can be used to separate materials, for exa

Method And Device For Separation Of A Loose Mixture In A Fluid Medium - Patent 8123041

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:46:36 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY The invention relates to methods and devices for air or liquid separation of loose materials and can be used in food, chemical and other branches of industry, where the separation of mixtures into factions is required, as well as in agricultureto prepare seeds for sowing and for breeding purposes.BACKGROUND The method of separation of loose mixture in fluid medium consists in the gravity feed of particles of the material being separated at regular speed, the impact on them with uniform air flow resulted in the output of finished fractions [seePatent of the USSR #1176976 Cl. B 07 B 4/02 issued in the Bulletin #33 on Sep. 7, 1985]. The device for loose material separation contains a fan inlet, feeding bunker located above, and collectors of finished grades with the unit for light particles dropout [see Patent of the USSR #1763051 Cl. B 07 B 4/02 issued in the Bulletin #35on Sep. 23, 1992]. The effect of air flow to single loose mixture particle is carried out once and only on the random basis in the method and device indicated. Therefore, the quality (accuracy) of the separation is quite low with a rough separation of the mixtureinto grades. For this reason, such methods and devices are primarily used for pre-treatment of loose mixture from light impurities. The method of separation of loose mixture in fluid medium consists in the gravity feed of particles, aerodynamic monotonically increasing effect on them at acute angle to the vertical line with the cascade of slot jets resulted in the output offinished grades. This effect is carried out in free alternating power scanning mode with increasing amplitude and scanning angle. The device for separation contains the bunker with vibrating chute, the jet generator installed below, with flat nozzleslocated one under another at acute angle with the vertical line, the height of cross sections of which, step and installation angle increase top-down. The generator is connected with the s

Device For Delivering Bulk Material Stored In A Supply Container - Patent 8118174

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:17:33 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

1. Field of the Invention The invention pertains to a device for delivering bulk material consisting of individual products stored in a supply container to a transfer unit, which transfers the individual products into the pockets of a continuously or cyclically movingweb of sheeting. The device is provided with a perforated plate arranged downstream of the product outlet of the supply container on a base stand. 2. Description of the Related Art These types of devices are used in particular in the work station of thermoforming machines, in which the individual products, which are made available as bulk material in a supply container, are subjected to further processing so that they canbe loaded into the pockets in the web of sheeting. For this purpose, the individual products are delivered from the supply container through the product outlet onto the perforated plate.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a device of the type indicated above with which the operation of the transfer unit is simplified. According to an aspect of the invention, the device for delivering bulk material consisting of individual products comprises: a supply container for storing the bulk material of individual products, the supply container having a product outlet;at least one perforated plate arranged downstream of the product outlet of the supply container on a base stand, the at least one perforated plate serving to receive the individual products from the product outlet and to move them further in a transportdirection while removing broken products and dust; and a bulk material leveler formed as a leveler strip rotatable around a pivot axis, the bulk material leveler being arranged downstream of the product outlet above the perforated plate. This bulk material leveler offers the double advantage that, first, the individual products emerging from the product outlet of the supply container are converted from a product column into a product carpet

Particulate Size Classification Apparatus And Method - Patent 8118170

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:17:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

S This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2006-338893, filed on Dec. 15, 2006, and 2006-001166, filed on Jan. 6, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a particulate size classification apparatus and method classifying sizes of nanoparticles to be used in the fields of luminescent materials, cosmetics, electronics, catalysts, and many others. 2. Description of the Related Art Since particulates having sizes of the order of nanometers, so called nanoparticles, generally have a unique property presented due to size effects, or a large specific surface area, studies pursing their applications have been vigorouslyconducted in many areas in recent years. As examples of such applications, use of silicon nanoparticles as luminescent materials (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1) or use of titanium oxide nanoparticles is known, and in any application, it isvery important to control the sizes of nanoparticles. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-22886 [Non-Patent Document 1] T. Orii et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 83 (2003)3395 [Non-Patent Document 2] Shouheng Sun et al., Science 287, 1989 (2000) [Non-Patent Document 3] P. A. Baron, K. Willeke, Aerosol Measurements Principles, Techniques, and Applications, 2nd ed. Wiley, New York, 2001 [Non-Patent Document 4] Suzuki et al., APPLIED PHYSICS LETTER, VOL. 78, page 2043, 2001 Methods for producing nanoparticles may be classified mainly into methods with liquid phase systems and methods with gas phase systems, and the method using a reaction in a liquid phase system (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2) has anadvantage that particles have relatively uniform sizes, but raises a concern of existence of impurities regarding electric applications intended by the present inventor because the method uses

Process And Device For Aerating Suspensions - Patent 8118171

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:17:09 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The invention relates to a process for aerating suspensions, particularly to flotate them, for example in deinking of pulp suspensions, with one or more stages and/or cells, where each stage/cell has its own separate liquid loop. In addition,the invention relates to a device for implementing the process. A process of this type is known, for example, from EP 1 124 001 A2, where the individual flotation stages can also be designed according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,262, EP 0 243 690, DE 31 20 202, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,549, for example. Processes of this type are used to remove impurities and printing ink particles from pulp suspensions, particularly those produced in waste paper treatment. By applying this type of process, non-specific removal of mineral components (e.g.,fillers containing ash, etc.) is achieved because their chemical surface properties (particularly loading) are such that they react differently from the ink particles, which are relatively easy to render hydrophobic, in the pulp suspension. In addition,the specific weight of the mineral components is approximately two to three times higher than that of the ink particles. In the processes known, however, some disadvantages occur in selective flotation. If, for example, attempts are made to target theremoval of fillers by making certain changes to the process, this always results in a drop in the efficiency of printing ink removal, which leads to a need for additional changes in gas loading, adjustments to the raw material fluctuations, and changesin throughput. Furthermore, if the overflow quantity is increased in order to raise the removal rate of mineral substances, the fibre loss rises in equal proportion to this, which leads to greater expense for disposal and raw materials required.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aim of the invention is to reduce or avoid the above disadvantages, while maintaining the same flow path and aeration gas loading. In the preferred context, the invention may broa

Streamer Trap Assembly - Patent 8118173

Patents-329 — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:17:03 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Saturday, April 14, 2012

The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for removing contaminants from polymer pellets. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing streamers from a flow of polymer pellets.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A pneumatic conveying system is generally used to convey polymeric pellets, for example from a rail car or truck to a receiving container. When pneumatically conveying pellets, it is usually necessary to use a high transport velocity to preventsettling and to maintain movement of the pellets. Unfortunately, such a high transport velocity tends to cause frictional heat to build up as the pellets travel and contact a tube or conduit wall, and can cause melting of some of the pellets. Themelted portions of the pellets can adhere to the tube or conduit wall in a thin polymeric layer, which can eventually break loose from the wall, travel with the pellets, and contaminate the process downstream. These thin strips of polymeric material,which are deposited on the walls of the tube or conduit by the moving pellets, are considered contaminants and are referred to by various names such as streamers, snakeskin, angel hair, etc. Accordingly, a need exists for a method and apparatus that efficiently removes streamers from a flow of pellets.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above need. In particular, the invention provides a streamer trap assembly for collecting streamers from a flow of polymer pellets. The assembly comprises a housing which comprises an inlet, an outlet, and anopening bounded by a sealing surface, and a streamer trap positioned in the housing through the opening. The streamer trap comprises a screen sized to collect the streamers at the screen and to allow the polymer pellets to pass through the screen, aguide positioned to guide the flow of polymer pellets from the inlet to the screen and from the screen to the outlet, and a cover adapted to engage the sealing surfac

Harvesting Corn Cobs - Patent 8113353

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:52:13 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

This invention relates to agricultural harvestingmachines and including a device to separate the corn cobs from the residue discharged from a combine when harvesting corn. The arrangement described and claimed herein can be towed behind a combine harvester to directly receive the material from thecombine harvester or may be towed separately after the combining action is complete and includes a pick-up at the front of the inlet conveyor in order to pick up the material from the groundBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION World ethanol production is expected to experience double-digit growth in the next years. Much of the growth is expected to occur in the United States where, with the current pace of expansion, the United States will be the leading producer ofethanol in the near future. In the United States, ethanol is made almost exclusively from corn. As of December 2006, 16% of the United States corn crop was being used to displace 3% of the nation's annual gasoline consumption. The US government has a stated goal ofreducing its dependence on foreign oil by 20%. If this reduction were to come entirely from corn based ethanol it would use up the nation's corn crop. As a result there has been a considerable amount of research in the production of ethanol from othersources. Government and private sector scientists have been working on ways to produce ethanol from cellulosic material. Ethanol produced from switch grass, mixed prairie grasses and woody plants grown on marginal land could potentially meet the growingdemand for green fuel. One leading company has targeted the collection of corn cobs--a current waste material--as a cellulosic ethanol feed stock. Corn Cobs have been used in the manufacture of a great number of items in the past, however in the last 10 years interest in corn cobs has waned. There is currently no commercially available equipment to collect corn cobs and a very smallnumber of people that have built equipment to collect cobs themselves. The r

Pre Pre tensioned sifter screen Smith Joseph L Smith

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:51:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure Embodiments disclosed herein relate to shaker screens for vibratory sifters. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to shaker screens for vibratory sifters that are pre-tensioned. More specifically still, embodiments disclosedherein relate to apparatuses and methods for using gyratory sifters including pre-tensioned shaker screens including rigid external extensions. 2. Background Art Generally, sifters include a class of vibratory devices used to separate sized particles, as well as to separate solids from liquids. Sifters are used to screen, for example, feed material, plastic resins, and powders during industrial sortingand/or manufacturing operations. Because sifters may be in continuous use, repair operations, and associated downtimes need to be minimized as much as possible. Often, the filter screens of sifters, through which sized materials or liquids are separated, wear out over time andsubsequently require replacement. Therefore, sifter filter screens are typically constructed to be removed and replaced. While there are numerous styles and sizes of filter screens, they generally follow similar design. Typically, filter screens include a perforated plate base upon which a wire mesh, or other perforated filter overlay, is positioned. The perforated plate base generally provides structural support and allows the passage of fluids or sizedmaterial therethrough, while the wire mesh overlay defines the largest solid particle capable of passing therethrough. While many perforated plate bases are flat or slightly arched, it should be understood that perforated plate bases having a pluralityof corrugated or pyramid-shaped channels extending thereacross may be used instead. The pyramid-shaped channels may provide additional surface area for the sized solids or fluid-solid separation process to take place while acting to guide solids alongtheir length toward the end of the sifter from where they are disp

Systems And Methods For The Recovery Of Lost Circulation And Similar Material - Patent 8113356

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:51:38 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

1. Field Of The Invention The present invention is directed to drilling fluid processing systems; shale shakers; to methods for using these things; and, in certain particular aspects, to the separation of lost circulation material from used drilling fluid. 2. Description of Related Art In the oil and gas industries, shale shakers use screens to treat drilling fluid contaminated with undesirable solids. Typically such apparatuses have a basket, deck, or other screen holding or mounting structure mounted in or over a receivingreceptacle or tank and vibrating apparatus for vibrating one or more screens. Material to be treated is introduced to the screen(s) either by flowing it directly onto the screen(s) or by flowing it into a container, tank, or "possum belly" from which itthen flows to the screen(s). Often, the screen or screens used to treat material is sealed in place on a screen deck, in a screen basket, or on screen mounting structure. In the past it has been common to use multiple screens at multiple levels in a shale shaker to process drilling fluid, e.g., screens at one, two or three levels. "Lost circulation" of drilling fluid occurs when, in drilling a wellbore, the circulation of drilling fluid to and then away from the drill bit ceases due to the porosity of the formation and/or due to fracturing of the formation through whichthe wellbore is being drilled. When lost circulation occurs, drilling fluid is pumped into the fractured formation rather than being returned to the surface. Often circulation is lost at some specific depth where the formation is "weak", and that thefracture extends horizontally away from the borehole. Expressions used to describe rocks that are susceptible to lost returns include terms like vugular limestone, unconsolidated sand, "rotten" shale, and the like. A wide variety of "lost circulation materials" ("LCM") have been pumped into wellbores to fill or seal off a porous formation or to fill or seal off a wellbore fractur

Screening Module - Patent 8113357

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:51:13 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

S The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No 2006900170 filed on 13 Jan. 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD This invention relates generally to the screening of particulate materials and, more particularly, to a screening module and to a screening assembly including such a module.BACKGROUND In the screening of particulate materials, such as ores, using screening modules there is a trade off between flexibility of a screening panel of the screening module, screening accuracy and open area of the screening module. There is a desireto have the screening panel reasonably flexible to inhibit blinding or pegging of screening apertures of the screening panel. However, if the screening panel is too flexible, there is a risk that oversized ore particles may pass through the apertures. This can have adverse consequences downstream of a screen deck comprising a plurality of the screening modules and may also give rise to penalties. There is always the desire to have as great an open area as possible to allow the maximum throughput through the screen deck. The open area is generally understood to be the percentage of a surface of the screening panel of the module that isconstituted by apertures. Once again, if there is too high a percentage of open area, i.e. a large percentage of the panel is constituted by apertures, there is a risk that the panel will be too flexible and oversized ore particles may pass through theapertures. Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusionof any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.SUMMARY According to the invention there is provided a screening module which comprises a frame component to be secured to an underlying screen deck,

Classifying Kits - Patent 8113355

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:50:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The embodiments herein relate to classifying kits useful in separating gold and other precious metals, gems, collectable rocks, fossils, and archaeological artifacts from earth material using either wet or dry filtering methods.BACKGROUND The use of stackable classifying sieves for separating objects such as fossils, artifacts, gold, gems, and rocks from earth material based on size has been attempted. As one example, the Hubbard #548 Screen Six Sieve Set available from ForestrySuppliers, Inc., is a kit having multiple sieves, each with different mesh sizes, stacked upon each other such that the largest mesh size is on top and the sieve with the finest mesh size is on the bottom. Unfortunately, this particular configurationhas multiple disadvantages. As one example, the system with its multiple exposed parts is not easy to transport as one unit, and is likewise not easily shaken to separate objects from earth material. Additionally this system is not configured for allowing sluicing, suchas when a user wishes to further separate small objects from water based on weight. The system does not appear to allow for wet separation of materials either, as there does not appear to be a water exit hole at the bottom of the system. Accordingly, there is a need in the art, and an objective of the teachings herein to overcome the disadvantageous of current products used for separating objects from earth materialSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments are directed to kits for classifying objects from earth material comprising: a bucket having a top aperture opening to a lower main cavity defined by a periphery, and a bottom surface; a first classifying sieve having amesh screen surrounded by a perimeter and configured to be removably positioned inside the main cavity near the top aperture of the bucket; and a support sleeve configured to removably fit within the bucket near the bucket periphery such that it isvertically supported by the bottom surface of the bucket an

Method For Sorting Mixed Plastic - Patent 8113354

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:50:39 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The present invention relates to a method for sorting aplastic composed of composite raw materials. In particular, the invention relates to a method for sorting a mixed plastic by utilizing a difference in specific gravity between a plasticwith a low specific gravity such as polyethylene and/or polypropylene and a polyester based plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate, both of which are contained in polyethylene terephthalate-made bottle scraps in non-industrial wastes and industrialwastes as aimed to be reused.BACKGROUND ART For the purpose of conservation of resources, it is an extremely important problem in the present-day society to recover reusable resources from wastes, apply appropriate treatment and again make them useful, namely to recycle resources. Aboveall, plastics are made of, as a major raw material, petroleum which is limited resources and when treated as a waste, are liable to cause a lot of environmental problems, and importance for recycling them is large. In waste plastics includingpolyethylene terephthalate-made bottles, whose sorted collection is relatively advanced, a proportion in which materials used as a container for foodstuffs, cosmetics, detergents, and the like account for is large. In these polyethyleneterephthalate-made bottles or the like, in major cases, polyethylene and/or polypropylene which is a plastic with a low specific gravity is used in a cap portion, whereas polyethylene and polystyrene are used for a label or the like. In recycling, suchplastics are required to be efficiently sorted with high precision. In advancing the recycle activity, there is desired a technology capable of increasing such sorting precision while increasing the sorting precision and recovery. As a method for sorting a plastic composite raw material of plastics into a single raw material, a method for the separation by sorting by specific gravity utilizing a gas flow is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, in thegas, a purit

Method For Sorting Postal Items And Data Structure For A Sorting Plan - Patent 8110768

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:06:39 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. .sctn.371, this application is the United States National Stage Application of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2006/011592, filed on Dec. 4, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if setforth in their entirety herein, which claims priority to EP Patent Application No. 05026471.2, filed Dec. 5, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.BACKGROUND The sorting of mailpieces is normally carried out as a function of sorting codes in which the address of the mailpieces is encoded. The sorting code is applied onto the mailpieces in machine-readable form, for example, as a barcode, after thedelivery address has been detected. Once the mailpiece reaches a sorting machine, the sorting code is detected and the mailpiece is diverted into a sorting compartment associated with that sorting code. In the postal code system normally used in Germany, the sorting code has, for example, eleven digits, whereby the first five digits correspond to the postal code contained in the delivery address, designating a so-called delivery district groupcomprising several delivery districts which, in turn contain the street sections within a town that are serviced by a single mail carrier. The next three digits contain encoded information about the street designation contained in the delivery address,whereby it can be provided, for example, that the street sections of a delivery district group are consecutively numbered in a prescribed manner. The last three digits of the sorting code correspond to the last three digits of the house number indicatedin the delivery address. The sorting of mailpieces is normally carried out in a method having at least two stages. First of all, the mailpieces dropped off in a given region are collected in a distribution center of a postal service provider associated with this regionand, within the scope of the outgoing sorting, they are especially d

Method And Means For Facilitating Material Handling - Patent 8109391

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:40:40 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

This invention relates to a method and means for facilitating assorting of a plurality of components nested on a worktable of a machine, including components of different sets of components intended for assemblyof different structures.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the manufacture of cabinetry such as kitchen cabinets and the like, it is a common practice to form the basic components usually consisting of a set of panels, assembling certain sets of such panels to form two or more cabinets and thenforming an ensemble by assembling the individual cabinets together. Typically, such panels are formed from large, raw material woodpieces loaded onto the worktable of a CNC machine, usually a router, such machined panels are removed from the worktableof the machine and sorted into groups of panels with respect to the cabinet to which they apply, the groups of sorted panels are assembled to form constituent cabinets and such cabinets are assembled together, usually at an installation site to completethe cabinetry. To efficiently use such workpieces to provide a maximum number of usable panels with a minimum amount of scrap material, the controllers of such CNC machines are programmed to arrange for cutting patterns which will yield the maximum number ofusable pieces and a minimum amount of scrap material. Such cutting patterns invariably result in a cutting pattern in which the resulting cut components are nested in the raw material workpeice in a dispersed manner, requiring a workman assigned toremove and sort such pieces to ascertain the identification of the particular components applicable to a particular cabinet. Such sorting process can be time consuming and often imprecise, materially decreasing productivity. Such process particularlyis unproductive where the workman may be unskilled and/or inexperienced. Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a novel method and means for allowing an unskilled and/or inexperienced workman to r

Apparatus And Method For Removing Impurities In Crushed Recycled Material - Patent 8109392

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:40:21 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. National Phase and claims the benefit of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/AU2006/000947, filed Jul. 5, 2006, which claims the priority of Australian Patent Application No. 2005904700, filed Aug. 29, 2005, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for removing impurities in crushed material such as concrete to be recycled.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When a concrete building is demolished, the demolished concrete is transported in small pieces by trucks to a concrete recycling facility. The concrete material is crushed and transferred to a conveyor where magnets are used to remove metallicobjects from the crushed concrete. Large non-metallic material is removed manually. After these processes, what is typically left is concrete crushed to about 80 mm minus, meaning concrete particles having a dimension of 80 mm or less. The crushedconcrete is separated using multiple deck grated screens into different sizes of 80 mm plus (>80 mm), 20 mm (having a dimension of 80-20 mm), 10 mm (20-10 mm) and minus 10 mm ("dust"). Material which is 80 mm plus is returned by conveyor to asecondary crusher to be crushed again and then returned to the screens for sizing. Generally, recycled 80 mm minus, 20 mm minus and dust concrete can be used again in the building of new buildings or for other purposes. The crushed concrete however is contaminated with large amounts of foreign material such as timber,plastics, light aluminum, wire, asbestos, and other material. Numerous apparatus and methods for removing impurities from crushed recycled concrete have been proposed. However, the current methods are either not effective or too expensive to be commercially viable.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate the prior art disadvantages or at least

Magnetic Sweeper - Patent 8104620

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:53:26 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The present invention relates to a cleaning device. More particularly, the present invention concerns a magnetic sweeper configured to collect magnetic metal debris, such as nails, screws, sheet metal fragments, staples, rivets and the likefrom a surface, and to permit easy removal of the collected debris from the sweeper. Small magnetic metal objects, such as nails, screws, sheet metal fragments, staples, rivets and the like, often drop to the floor or ground during use and create debris. If left on the floor or on the ground, such objects, which oftentimes aresharp, may pose a hazard to both people and machinery. Thus, it is desirable to remove such debris. Since such debris often is comprised of magnetic materials, the prior art has developed various types of magnetic sweeper devices designed to attract and collect the debris. For example, in its most basic form, such a magnetic sweeper, includesa suction disk, a magnet adhered to a bottom side of the suction disk and a handle extending upwardly from a top side of the suction disk. In use, the magnetic sweeper is moved along a surface by means of the handle, and magnetic metal objects on the surface are by means of the magnetic force of the magnet. A major drawback associated with this type of magnetic sweeper is that theuser has to remove them from the magnet one by one, which is time-consuming and potentially hazardous. In addition, due to the length of the handle, the magnetic sweeper cannot access places of small height, such as beneath a cabinet, tool chest or thechassis of an automobile. Various improvements to the basic magnetic sweeper design have been made over the years, and numerous other magnetic sweepers have been disclosed by the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,038 discloses a magnetic sweeper that includes amain body having end walls on which wheels are pivotally mounted. While the magnetic sweeper disclosed in this patent permits relatively easy operation, it is inconvenient to re

Cyclone Separator Having An Inlet Head - Patent 8104622

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:53:24 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to cyclone separators for separating or classifying materials and components therefor. 2. Description of Related Art One particular application of the present invention concerns the provision of a cyclone for separating or classifying slurries in the mineral processing industry. The improvements in the cyclone separator of the present invention are notlimited to that particular application and may find use in the separation of other materials. Various types of separation or classification apparatus are used in the mineral industry, one commonly used apparatus being hydrocyclones. There is an ongoing need for apparatus to increase the throughput capacity, decrease the cut size, andimprove the efficiency of operation of the equipment. To significantly increase the throughput capacity, it has in the past been necessary to increase the size of the hydrocyclone. Increasing the size of the hydrocyclone, however suffers from thedisadvantage that it generally results in a bigger cut size and reduced efficiency.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a cyclone is structured to improve throughput capacity and processing efficiency by providing a separating section having a central axis and an inlet head having a feed inlet zone, wherein the feed inletzone has a volute axis and adjacent sectors in which the volute axis progressively decreases relative to and in the direction of the central axis through subsequent sectors extending downstream from the inlet port of the inlet head. The inlet head isalso structured with a vortex finder which extends into the feed chamber a distance L1, and an inlet port formed in the inlet head which extends a vertical distance H1, such that the ratio of L1 to H1 is less than one (i.e., L1:H1=0.0 to 0.95). The cyclone of the present invention comprises a separating section having a central axis and a continuous conical wall defining a first end wit

Method For Grading A Particulate Water-absorbing Resin - Patent 8104621

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:53:18 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

S This is the U.S. national phase application of International Application No. PCT/EP2005/014163, filed Dec. 31, 2005, which claims the benefit of German patent application No. 10 2005 001 789.4, filed Jan. 13, 2005. The present invention relates to a process for classifying a particulate water-absorbing resin using a sieving apparatus at a reduced pressure compared with the ambient pressure and also to a sieving apparatus for classifying a particulatewater-absorbing resin at a reduced pressure compared with the ambient pressure. The production of water-absorbing resins has been extensively described, see for example "Modern Superabsorbent Polymer Technology", F. L. Buchholz and A. T. Graham, Wiley-VCH, 1998, pages 69 to 117. Water-absorbing resins typically have a Centrifuge Retention Capacity in the range from 15 to 60 g/g, preferably of not less than 20 g/g, more preferably of not less than 25 g/g, even more preferably of not less than 30 g/g and most preferablyof not less than 35 g/g. Centrifuge Retention Capacity (CRC) is determined by EDANA (European Disposables and Nonwovens Association) recommended test method No. 441.2-02 "Centrifuge retention capacity". The process for producing water-absorbing resins typically comprises the steps of addition polymerizing, drying, comminuting, classifying, postcrosslinking and, if appropriate, renewed classifying. A general overview of classifying is to be found for example in Ullmanns Encykiopadie der technischen Chemie, 4th edition, volume 2, pages 43 to 56, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, 1972. But there is a problem with the classifying of water-absorbing resins specifically in that the sieving performance is reduced by agglomeration. Thus, EP-A-0 855 232 teaches that the sieves used have to be kept in a heated and/or thermallyinsulated state. US 2003/87983 teaches that sieving at elevated temperature greatly increases metal abrasion and hence wear of the sieving apparatus. The present invention has for its object to prov

Powder Classifying Device - Patent 8100269

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:57:28 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The entire contents of all documents cited in this specification are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a powder classifying device that classifies powder having a particle size distribution according to one or more desired particle sizes (classification points), and more particularly, to a powder classifyingdevice that can classify powder preferably having sizes equal to or smaller than about several micrometers with a high degree of accuracy making use of a balance between centrifugal force given to the powder by circulating air streams and drag. For example, a powder classifier as disclosed in JP 06-83818 B is known in which a powder input port is provided in the center of the upper surface, a powder path is formed along the conical surface spreading from the vertex of a cone providedright below the powder input port, the lower end of the powder path is located in substantially the center of a plurality of guide vanes arranged to extend at a predetermined angle from the circumferential edge toward the axial center, a center openingconnected to an exhaust pipe is provided in the axial center below the cone and an air inlet is provided on the outer side periphery of the guide vanes, the guide vanes are divided into two stages including upper and lower stages by a partition plate,the powder path is opened between the guide vanes at the upper stage adjacent to each others exhaust air discharged from the exhaust pipe causes air introduced through the air inlet to form a circulating stream when the air passes among the guide vanes,and powder is classified according to the balance between centrifugal force given by the circulating stream to the powder which falls from the powder path to spaces between the guide vanes, and drag. Having the configuration described above, the powder classifier increases the powder processing ability while ensuring the circulating motion of powder owing to the circulating stream, a

Chutes For Sorting And Inspection Apparatus - Patent 8100268

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:57:07 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

This application is a national stage application of International Application No. PCT/GB2005/000424, filed Feb. 8, 2005, which claims priority to British Application No. 0416717.7, filed Jul. 27, 2004.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION This invention relates to chutes for use in inspection and sorting apparatus, particularly to such apparatus in which products are fed to a chute which delivers it to a sorting or inspection station. Sorting apparatus of this type is describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,513,868; 4,630,736; and 5,628,411. Inspection apparatus can use similar techniques but for the purpose of gathering data, rather than ejecting unacceptable pieces from the product stream. For some products, grooved or channelled chutes are used to orient and position the product pieces when they leave the lower end of the chute. This facilitates the sorting or inspection process, and in sorting apparatus can help to ensure thatdevices and mechanisms used to eject pieces from the product stream operate only on the properly selected pieces. In the inspection station in apparatus of the kind to which the invention relates, which will typically use an optical system to differentiate between product pieces of different quality, ideally each product piece in the product stream isseparate from all adjacent pieces so that individuals can be readily identified. At the same time it is of course desirable to have as many pieces as possible in the product stream. As the product flows off the vibrator it is moving relatively slowly. In known apparatus, where the product feeds straight off a vibrator tray onto a channelled chute the product is fed straight into the channels. If two or more grains enter a channel at the same time they will travel side by side in the channel, a littleslower than individual grains, that will catch up with them and then form bunches. Once in the channel there is a tendency for these bunches of product to travel at the same velocity and not separate out on

Sorting Device - Patent 8100267

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:57:05 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure generally relates to manufacturing, and more particularly to a sorting device applied in manufacturing. 2. Description of Related Art Since various workpieces may differ in size, a procedure measuring and classifying the workpieces is necessary before assembly. Generally, the workpieces are fed to a sorting device one by one to be measured. The workpieces are marked accordingly, the results recorded, and the workpieces are unloaded from the sorting device and placed into corresponding trays. After sorting, workpieces with minor differences may be sorted into a common designation and assembled with similar-sized components, so that the precision assembly is improved. However, other procedures such as feeding, marking, recording,unloading, and placement are performed manually. Therefore, the procedure can require considerable time and manpower. Further, errors, such as mismarking, misplacement, and other potential manual caused errors are common in such manual operations. Theprecision of the assembly is thus degraded. Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate correspondingparts throughout several views, and all the views are schematic. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a sorting device, the sorting device including a feed mechanism, a plurality of transfer mechanisms, two relocating mechanisms, a support mechanism, a measurement mechanism, a marking mechanism, anda plurality of unloading mechanisms. FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a part of the sorting device of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the feed mechanism of the sorting device in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an isometric view of one transfer mechanism of the sorting dev

Laboratory Storage And Retrieval System And A Method To Handle Laboratory Sample Tubes - Patent 8100266

Patents-329 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:56:57 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, April 13, 2012

The present invention relates to the handling of sample tube racks in a laboratory environment, and particularly to a laboratory device for handling sample tubes in the context of storing such sample tubes in a storage compartment. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to an automated tubes storage resorting system.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART In laboratories, such as for example clinical laboratories in which patient samples are examined and submitted to various in-vitro diagnosis tests, test tubes containing samples (such as blood, urine, etc.) have to be handled in high number andin a cautious but still efficient manner. For years now, automated procedures with corresponding systems and devices have been used in this context. One aspect during the handling of these sample tubes relates to the tubes being placed in a storage compartment, which can be, for example, a refrigerating device. For efficient handling purposes, the tubes are not handled individually butplaced in so-called racks. Usually, the tubes are placed in the racks already by the client, i.e., the person, the department or the institution sending samples to the laboratory, and are then sent or transported to the laboratory in these racks. Inthe laboratory, the racks with the tubes are subject to further handling steps for testing. Very often, such racks contain tubes with different sizes, heights, diameters, contents, expiration dates of the samples etc., which complicates automatedhandling so that in some cases further automated insertion of the racks in the test process in the laboratory is not possible, the racks having to be discharged manually. U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,341 discloses a storage system which has a cabinet with controlled climatic conditions, and ring-shaped holders to store the samples within its interior. An automatic transport system moves the samples, with a mechanism toload and unload them within the sample holders. The loading/unloading mechanism and/or the

Micro-fluidic Chip, Micro-particle Sorting Device And Flow Controlling Method - Patent 8096421

Patents-329 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:15:21 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Thursday, April 12, 2012

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to that disclosed in Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2008-205375 filed In the Japan Patent Office on Aug. 8, 2008, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to a micro-fluidic chip for use in collection of micro-particles such as cells and micro-beads, a micro-particle sorting device on which the micro-fluidic chip is mounted, and a method of controlling a flow in themicro-fluidic chip. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a technology for separating and collecting desired micro-particles from a solution in which a plurality of kinds of micro-particles are mixedly present. In recent years, micro-fluidic chips have been developed in which fine channels and zones for chemical and biological analysis are fabricated in a substrate formed from an inorganic material such as silicon and glass or a polymer material suchas plastic, by application of the micro-fabrication technology used in semiconductor industries. Such micro-fluidic chips enable measurement using small amounts of samples, can be manufactured at low cost, and are suited to disposable use. Therefore,these micro-fluidic chips have begun to be utilized in various fields, such as flow cytometry, electrochemical detectors in liquid chromatography, small electrochemical sensors in medicare sites, etc. In addition, a technology for sorting and collecting micro-particles such as cells and micro-beads, based on the results of analysis in an analysis zone, has also been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-107099 as referred to asPatent Document 1 hereinafter. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-220423 as referred to as Patent Document 2 hereinafter, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-85323 as referred to as Patent Document 3 hereinafter, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-344260as referred to as Patent. Document 4 hereinafter). For e

Method For Batching Items - Patent 8091712

Patents-329 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:57:31 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Thursday, April 12, 2012

This application is the U.S. national phase ofInternational Application No. PCT/IS2006/000019 filed 25 Sep. 2006 which designated the U.S. and claims priority to Iceland Patent Application No. 8044 filed 23 Sep. 2005, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the field of batching items, more precisely, to the batching of items of similar characteristics.BACKGROUND ART In various industries, items are sold in batches satisfying various constraints. As an example, items of non-uniform size, shape or weight, e.g. food items such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, are typically handled and delivered tocustomers in batches having a substantially uniform size, shape and weight. Typically, a batch of items must fulfill requirements defined by a contract between a delivering and a receiving part, and often, number of items and minimum weight of the batchare key issues. Normally, the part of the batch that exceeds the minimum weight is considered by the delivering part as a loss and is often referred to as "giveaway", "overweight" or "overpack". Typically, batches are formed by weighing the items individually, e.g. as they are moved by a conveyer system across a dynamic scale. In a computer system, the weight of each item is compared, with weights of a plurality of receptacles, e.g.bins wherein batches are formed. Often, the computer system uses statistical algorithms for assigning specific items to specific bins under consideration of required minimum weight of the batch and a desire not to produce batches with more overweight,i.e. giveaway, than required under the present conditions, i.e. given the weights of the items and the required minimum weight of the batches. The problem with prior art methods such as the one disclosed in WO 01/27567 is that global characteristics aredefined for all the items to be batched, where the user determines these characteristics before the batching

Separation Method And Separation Apparatus - Patent 8087515

Patents-329 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:40:31 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Thursday, April 12, 2012

S This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-245741 filed Sep. 25, 2008.BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a separation method and a separation apparatus. 2. Related Art Dry methods and wet methods are available as methods for classifying and/or separating particles. In dry methods, since the difference in specific gravity between a liquid and particles becomes large, high accuracy is obtained in some methods. In wet methods, although the difference in specific gravity between a liquid and particles becomes small, since the particles are dispersed easily in the liquid, high classification accuracy is obtained for fine powder. A classification apparatususually comprises a rotor serving as a rotating portion and a stator serving as a stationary portion and performs classification on the basis of the balance between the centrifugal force and the inertia of particles. In addition, a classifier using the"Coanda effect" and having no rotating portion is commercially available as a classifier for performing a dry method. On the other hand, in recent years, various methods for performing chemical reactions and unit operations in the micro field have beenstudied, and the development of methods and apparatuses for efficiently classifying particles without causing contamination or the like have been examined.SUMMARY According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a separation apparatus containing: a separation path that has a inclined upper face inclined with respect to a direction of gravity and separates particles contained in adispersion liquid; a dispersion liquid introduction path that introduces the dispersion liquid into the separation path; and a discharge path that discharges particles separated by the separation path from the separation path. BRIEF DESCRIPTIONOF THE DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail

Rotating Cone Classifier - Patent 8083071

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:59 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

BACKGROUND Air classifiers are most commonly used for separating coarse from fine particles. Most classifiers use the combined action of drag and centrifugal forces to separate materials of different diameter or density. The drag force is generated bythe flow of air and the centrifugal force is produced by rotating the air flow in some manner. Demanding applications for classification can be found in the chemical, food, ceramics, electronics, and pharmaceuticals industries, where narrow particle size distributions are desired. Many natural minerals and chemical raw materials can beused in new applications with improved economy when they are turned into fine powders. The size of the fines is determined by requirements of the product application. A conventional rotating vane classifier consists of a cylinder with a rotor, which turns radial vanes. The vanes extend only a limited distance to the axis to avoid particle clogging. Particles are fed to the classifier near the outer radius,perpendicular to the radial air stream. When air flow passes through the vanes, it is given a tangential velocity component. Particles above the cut size are collected at the periphery of the classifier due to the centrifugal force, while those belowthe cut size are carried with the air to the center of the classifier due to the drag force, where they exit, as shown in FIG. 1. For larger particles, the centrifugal force is predominant because it is proportional to d.sub.p.sup.3 while the drag forceis proportional to d.sub.p, where d.sub.p is the particle diameter; consequently they tend to be collected to the outside of the vanes. If the drag force acting on a particle is greater than the centrifugal force, the particle will pass through thevanes and will be collected into the fine fraction. Otherwise it will be rejected by the rotating vanes and go to the coarse fraction. The flow within the vanes where particles are separated is a forced vortex, and it will provide sharper c

Mobile Vibrating Screen With Flexible Shaft - Patent 8083072

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The present invention generally relates to vibrating screens used in mining or road building material handling and processing.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the past, vibrating screen machines are normally made of a box-like structure mounted on flexible springs and contain one or multiple layers of screen mesh to sort granular materials. The different sized openings in the mesh allow sizing ofmaterials according to the size of these openings. The box structure usually contains an eccentric weighted shaft that shakes the box and its screen mesh to agitate and separate the granular materials fed into the top of the machine. The speed at whichthe eccentric shaft spins is dependent on the type of screen process. Usually a higher speed is desired when sorting smaller granular materials, while slower speeds are desired for sorting coarse materials. A v-belt drive is commonly used to convertthe speed of the driving motor to the desired speed of the screen shaft. Since the machine shakes from action of the eccentric weighted shaft, a flexible means of transferring power to the shaft is required to transfer power from the stationary drivingmotor which is necessarily located outside of the box like structure. Normally, this is accomplished using v-belts from the pulley of the motor to a pulley on the screen shaft. Either the motor is mounted on a pivoting base that allows the motor shaftto move with the screen shaft to maintain tension, or a belt tensioning idler is used to maintain belt tension between the driven pulley and the drive pulley. Many of these systems have performed well in the past. However, the pivot base method andtensioning idler method are both susceptible to belt slip and belt jump, especially when the screen is surging during startup and shutdown. Both of these also perform poorly if there is an attempt to decelerate the screen with the motor or a brake onthe motor. Also, the drive belts and motor are normally required to be removed to allow r

Loader Bucket Sieve Apparatus - Patent 8083073

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:49 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The buckets of various loaders, such as front loaders and other heavy equipment for example, are useful for a variety of work tasks. One applicable need is that of having an ability to move limbs, rocks, debris, and other materials withoutnecessarily transferring smaller material, such as dirt for example. There is also the typical need of increasing the load carrying capacity of buckets. Various devices have been proposed for such tasks. Virtually all such devices require some form offastening to the buckets wherein tools and fasteners must be used and even holes drilled. Therefore, such devices are not easily applied or removed. Such devices typically fasten to some part of a bucket or some part of the jaws of a dual jaw bucket. The present apparatus solves these problems.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The loader bucket sieve apparatus relates to bucket loaders and more especially to a sieve apparatus that is selectively held between the jaws of a bucket loader and requires no attachment.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general purpose of the loader bucket sieve apparatus, described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a loader bucket sieve apparatus which has many novel features that result in an improved loader bucket sieve apparatus which is notanticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by prior art, either alone or in combination thereof. To attain this, the loader bucket sieve apparatus is clamped between the jaws of the bucket of a bucket loader or the like, without tools or fasteners. Importantly, as the apparatus rests upon a given surface, the loader operator need onlyplace the jaws of the bucket in the appropriate positions and then clamp the jaws together, reversing said procedure when wishing to disengage the apparatus. The apparatus may have straight supports or concave supports, depending upon need and bucketapplication. The sieves may extend beyond each side of the supports at each side of the apparatus in order to increase wor

High Throughput Magnetic Isolation Technique And Device For Biological Materials - Patent 8083069

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:43 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

BACKGROUND The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to the high throughput isolation of biological materials. Recent developments in the life sciences including cell therapy and diagnostic techniques based on the prevalence of biomoleculesand cells in a sample have made it increasingly more important to be able to rapidly and efficiently isolate these materials from a sample without unduly compromising the integrity of these materials. Such materials have been isolated using eithernon-immunological or immunological means. The former approach has relied upon physical properties of the materials such as size, shape, density and charge. While this approach has yielded fast and simple isolation techniques they have lacked thedesired specificity, especially in the case of cells. The latter approach, which involves attaching some sort of label to the biological material using specific recognition factors like antibodies, receptors or receptor ligands, may provide a highdegree of specificity but to date has not provided the desired throughputs with minimal damage to the materials being isolated. Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), a specialized type of flow cytometry, is able to isolate biological materials withminimal damage but it is limited in its throughput capacity. For instance, the typical bone marrow aspirate, which is a likely target of such separations, is about 1.5 L containing about 15.times.10.sup.6 nucleated cells/ml so that about2.25.times.10.sup.10 nucleated cells need to be processed and the typical umbilical cord sample is about 100 ml containing about 5.times.10.sup.6 nucleated cells/ml so that about 5.times.10.sup.8 nucleated cells/ml need to be processed. But FACS has atypical processing capacity of only about 50.times.10.sup.3 cells/second. Its use in such cell separations would lead to inordinately long separation times. To obtain practical separation times a sorting capacity of at least about 10.sup.6 cells/secondis des

Screening Device For Sieving Granular Material - Patent 8083070

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:33 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The invention concerns a screening device for sorting granular materials, with at least one rotatable rod basket located in the screening housing with turbo elements distributed across the circumference of the rotor and with inlets and outletsfor screening gas, material to be screened, coarse material and fine material, whereby the outlet opening for the drawing-off of the screening gas flow charged with the fine material is located at least one of the narrow ends of the rotatable rod basketin the screening housing. Such dynamic screening devices, also known as rod basket screening devices, where the material to be screened is accelerated to the circumferential velocity of the rod basket by the rotating rod basket in the screening zone, and the centrifugalforce acting on the particles of the material to be screened and the frictional force of the air stream lead to the material to be screened being divided into coarse material and fine material are already known, e.g., described in "KHD Symposium '92",Volume 1, 1993, by KHD Humboldt Wedag AG, paper by A. Su.beta.egger Screening Report '92 page 63ff, particularly page 65, Fig. 1. The fine material is transported inwards by the air stream against the centrifugal force between the rods of the rod basketand leaves the screening device together with the screening air, whereas the centrifugal force pushes the coarse material to the outer edge of the screening device housing, where it is then transported downwards out of the screening zone by the force ofgravity. In the case of the known dynamic rod basket screening devices, the screening air stream charged with the fine material is routed via a more or less long pipeline to a separator such as a cyclone where the fine material is separated from thescreening air. Accordingly, this requires space accordingly. In addition, the connecting pipeline between the rod basket screening device and downstream fine material separator causes a noticeable drop in pressure. This is

Method For The Separation Of Overlapping Density Porous Materials From Less Porous Materials - Patent 8083067

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:25 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The present invention relates to an improved method for the separation of overlapping density porous materials.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Recycling of different types of polymers has increased in recent years. Processes for separating different polymer types have become increasingly important. Separation of solids using differences in their densities is a simple, economical andeffective technique. A liquid whose density is between the densities of two solids can be used as the working medium. The solid with the lesser density floats and the solid with the higher density sinks resulting in the separation of the mixture. However, materials that have similar or overlapping densities, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, ABS, and high impact polystyrene, HIPS, cannot be separated in high purities by this simple and inexpensive technique. Similarly, wood and varioustypes of rubber materials that are generally found as contaminants in post consumer or post manufacturing waste plastics, have densities that overlap with the densities of the plastics and therefore can not be separated by this technique. Various techniques are known for separating mixed plastics, for example, using gravity separation and froth flotation techniques. The present inventors have provided improvements over the prior art having previously developed effectivetechnologies for separating mixed plastics using gravity separation and froth flotation techniques, and received U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,599,950 and 5,653,867. U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,950 to Bassam J. Jody et al. issued Jul. 29, 2003, and assigned to the present assignee, discloses a method of separating a portion of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) from a mixture containing ABS and for separatinga portion of ABS and polycarbonate (PC) from a mixture of plastics containing ABS and PC. The method includes shredding and/or granulating the mixture of plastics containing ABS and PC to provide a selected particle size; sequentially di

Apparatus For Separating Particles Utilizing Engineered Acoustic Contrast Capture Particles - Patent 8083068

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:17 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The present invention relates, in general, to field-based separation of particles in a medium utilizing acoustic pressure. It was realized early in ultrasonic transport phenomena that particles with different mechanical properties (density and compressibility) can be separated in a solution. Particles in an ultrasonic standing wave field that are more dense andless compressible than the background medium are transported to a different spatial location than particles that are less dense and more compressible than the background medium, producing a true binary separator based upon mechanical properties. Ultrasonic radiation pressure has been demonstrated as a viable means to manipulate and locally trap particles in microfluidic environments. In application, the acoustic radiation pressure force depends upon frequency of excitation, pressure amplitudewithin the medium, and the density/compressibility contrast between the particle of interest and the host medium. Within an applied ultrasonic standing wave, particles experience a drift force resulting from acoustic radiation pressure that transportsthe particles to a position within the applied standing wave that corresponds to minima in the acoustic radiation pressure force potential. In general, the location of this minima is located in a different spatial location for particles that are moredense and less compressible than the background medium in comparison to particles that are less dense and more compressible. The technique has been successfully demonstrated in particle conditioning experiments involving trajectory steering,agglomeration, retainment, mixing, selective retainment and deposition of cells on a surface. Separation utilizing acoustic radiation pressure has not been readily implemented in biological problems since most biological particles of interest (e.g. red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, spores, etc.) all are more dense and lesscompressible than water. Recent biological assays have

Method For Sorting Object, And Sorting Plant For Carrying Out Said Method - Patent 8080758

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:25:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

S The present application is a national stage application of International Application No. PCT/EP2006/064888, filed on Aug. 1, 2006, which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2005 036 961.8, filed on Aug. 5, 2005, both of whichare incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method for sorting objects, especially pieces of mail, as well as to a sorting plant. If objects have to be sorted in large numbers, as is especially the case with pieces of mail the form of packets, flats (periodicals, brochures etc.) or bundles, then devices are frequently employed for this purpose which are largely mechanizedand automated, so that manual activities only remain to be carried out at specific points. The sorting plants feature a transport device on which the output objects to be sorted are conveyed according to predetermined sort criteria (especially address)by means of a transport device to one of a number of outputs of the sorting plant. At least one container is positioned at the respective output which accepts the object routed to this location and where necessary also collects further objects with thesame sort criteria. At the end of a sorting process, or if during a sorting process a container has already reached a correspondingly high fill level, this container is transported away in each case and immediately replaced by an empty container, sothat the sorting process can be continued or a new sorting process can be started. The completely or partly filled container can of course be taken away manually but also by means of automated conveyor systems. The provision of new containers canobviously also be undertaken manually. It is usual however to provide a special conveyor device in each case for delivering the containers to the outputs of the sorting plant to their placement positions, which has a corresponding space requirement anddemands a not inconsiderable investment outlay. Basically simple linear conv

Recovery Of Reprocessable Medical Devices In A Sharps Container - PDF

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:08:24 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

BACKGROUND Health care organizations are continually under pressure to find ways to lower or limit health care costs. One such opportunity for health care organizations to reduce costs is by recycling materials and supplies, in particular, by recoveringsingle use medical devices (SUDs) that can be cleaned and sterilized for reuse, consistent with FDA regulations. Chapter 9 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act defines a medical device as an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance,implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related article, including any component, part, or accessory, which is (1) recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United States Pharmacopeia, or any supplement to them, (2) intended for use inthe diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other animals, or (3) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals, and which does notachieve its primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of its primary intended purposes. For purposes of this patent application, medical devices fall into two categories. The first category is reusable devices, which are sold as reusable and can be cleaned and sterilized for reuse by a health care organization, such as a hospital,without regulatory approval. Reusable, manufacturer designated multiple-use medical devices are sold with the expectation the medical devices can and will be processed for reuse by hospitals or surgery centers within their own walls. Such medicaldevices are sold once and are typically cleaned and resterilized many times by the purchaser for use on multiple patients. These medical devices are collected after use by hospital or surgery center personnel and are cleaned, resterilized in anautoclave or by exposure to ethylene oxide

Device And Method For Transporting Catalyst To A Reactor Vessel - Patent 8061524

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:08:03 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

BACKGROUND The present invention relates to packaging, handling and transporting catalyst to a chemical reactor tube, including furnace and reformer tubes. A chemical reactor is typically a large vessel designed to accommodate a chemical reaction. The reaction is often exothermic, so the reaction often takes place in a shell and tube heat exchanger, with the reaction occurring inside the tubes anda coolant circulating outside the tubes. The vessel also can be a simple tank with a single volume of catalyst inside it. The chemical reaction also can occur in a single large tube. Some chemical reactions are done in furnace or reformer tubes, whichmay be a part of a system with 10 to 500 or more such tubes. Catalyst, typically in the form of pellets, may be loaded inside any of these reactor tubes to facilitate the reaction. The catalyst is replaced periodically. The reactor tubes may be quite large, housed in a structure several stories tall, in which case the catalyst may be transported up several stories to an elevation above the top of the tubes so it may then flow by gravity into the top of thetubes. The catalyst typically is supplied in 2,000 or more pound "super sacks", 55 gallon drums, mini drums, metal bins or plastic bags loaded in pallet-mounted cardboard boxes. The catalyst usually is trucked to the job site and dropped off at a catalyst staging area. To get the catalyst to the reactor vessel and its tubes, typically each catalyst container (super sack, drum, bin, box or bag) is first transported, viaforklift truck, from the catalyst staging area to a crane or elevator staging area. The catalyst container is then loaded onto the elevator or secured to the crane by a member of the rigging crew, and the crane operator then lifts the load in accordancewith verbal instructions and/or hand gestures issued by a crane spotter. A member of the rigging crew handles the tag line to guide and maintain control of the load as it is positioned over or near the re

Purifier - Patent 8061523

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:07:46 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a purifier that separates overtail rich with bran (skin portion) from semolina (fragments of varying particle size) or middlings (relatively coarse albumen particles fragmented by a brake roll) produced in aflour-milling process by using a vibrating operation of sieves and an action of an air flow passing from a lower portion to an upper portion of the sieves to obtain pure semolina. 2. Description of Related Art An example of a conventional purifier is disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-22827 (refer to FIG. 18). This purifier has an air distribution chamber 122 on a sieve layer 103. The air distribution chamber 122 is providedwith a plurality of air guide chambers 124 formed of inclined surfaces 111 of the air distribution chamber 122 inclined in a direction of gathering an air flow from the sieve layer 103 and barrier walls 123. These air guide chambers 124 reach near thetop sieve layer 103. On the air distribution chamber 122, a suction passage 127 formed of a horizontal cyclone is placed. Furthermore, a transition portion from the air distribution chamber 122 to the suction passage 127 is constructed toward a tangentdirection of the suction passage 127 so that an air flow gathered by the inclined surfaces of the air distribution chamber 122 directly forms a swirl with respect to the suction passage 127. At this transition portion, an aperture 128 is disposed. With this, a cyclone flow occurs in the suction passage 127 by the tangent-direction transition portion. For example, in the suction passage 127, a strong swirl is formed on one side irrespectively of the degree of opening of the aperture 128,thereby achieving an effect of reliably keeping the machine clean without deposition of dust and other particles or clogging of the aperture opening. However, in the purifier described in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-22827, the suction force near the center of the si

Grain Classifying Device And Adhesive Containing Grains Classified By The Device - Patent 8061527

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:07:38 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

This application is a national phase of PCT/JP2006/318880 filed Sep. 22, 2006, which claims priority from Japanese Application No. 2005-278506 filed Sep. 26, 2005, the disclosures of which Applications are incorporated by reference herein. Thebenefit of the filing and priority dates of the International and Japanese Applications is respectfully requested.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a grain classifying device for accurately classifying grains, and an adhesive containing grains separated by the device.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent trends for electronic equipment having smaller sizes and greater functionality, connection terminals for components are becoming more miniaturized. Thus, in the field of electronic applications, various types of circuit connectionadhesives are often used to facilitate the connection of such terminals. For example, to connect an electrode of an electronic component, such as an IC chip, with an electrode of a circuit substrate, such as glass substrate, a method for connecting theelectrodes formed on the electronic component and the circuit substrate with a conductive adhesive containing conductive fine grains is employed. The conductive adhesive is an adhesive in the form of film or paste in which conductive fine grains are dispersed in an insulative resin composition such as epoxy resin. The conductive adhesive is applied between the connection subjects,heated, and pressurized to adhere the connection subjects. More specifically, the heating pressurization moves the resin in the adhesive so as to seal, for example, gaps between a projection electrode (or bump) formed on the surface of an electroniccomponent and a wiring electrode such as ITO electrode formed on the surface of a circuit substrate. At the same time, some of the conductive fine grains bite into the opposing projection electrode and wiring electrode to establish electric connection. Due to recent trends for higher integration, the pitch

Wig Wag Bin Flow Directors - Patent 8061526

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:07:05 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

This invention relates to the field of devices for directing lumber flow in a sawmill or planermill, and in particular to a device for use with bin sorters for sorting finished or rough boards into bins.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bin dividers are used to allow the flow of boards into a sorter bin to be directed to one side or the other side of the bin. This allows the bin to be filled more efficiently. Current bin dividers as illustrated in FIG. 1 use a full-lengthtube or pipe that free spans the width of the sorter with sheet metal plates welded to it to form a "vee" shape. The bin divider has bearings at either end supported by two structural members for each one. An air cylinder is typically used to flip thebin dividers from one side to the other. One problem with such a conventional system is that the bin divider is very heavy and requires a large cylinder to move it back and forth. Another problem is that because the bin divider is so long it is quiteflexible and causes vibration when being rotated and stopped. Another problem is that the bin divider will pinch a board when it moves back and forth. This means that it must be rotated when there are no boards entering the bin and must be rotatedquickly. Another problem is that the bin dividers can impede the operator from straightening out any crossed-up boards.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention are wig wag bin flow directors and sorter bins incorporating same. The present invention may thus be characterized in one aspect as bin flow directors for use in a sorter bin having a bin sorter frame having an open upperend and an opposite bottom end wherein the frame is sized for receiving elongate members such as boards being sorted and translating along a flow path across and over the upper end of the frame. A plurality of diverter gates are pivotally mounted to theupper end of the frame and actuable between open and closed positions thereby directing the elongate members downwardly into the u

Protective Element - Patent 8061525

Patents-329 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:06:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The present invention relates to a protective element for a cross member or shaft housing of a frame in a screening arrangement. The protective element is attachable to the cross member or shaft housing by wrapping the protective element aroundthe cross member or shaft housing and clamping a first portion of the protective element to a second portion of the protective element by at least one clamping device. The protective element has an outwards facing surface, which is wear-resistant towithstand wear from piece goods or particle goods, such as crushed ore, crushed rock, sand or gravel, impinging or sliding on the outwards facing surface. The invention also relates to a protection for a cross member or shaft housing and a screeningarrangement including at least one protective element.BACKGROUND ART Various screening arrangements are widely used in the industry in order to control fraction sizes of piece, particle or bulk material. In general, a screening arrangement has one or several screening decks. A screening deck is generally formedof screening elements and a support frame jointly. Each screening element has a plurality of apertures, through which apertures bulk material, such as crushed ore, crushed rock, sand or gravel, is falling in order to be separated from larger pieces ofbulk material which cannot fit through the apertures. The screening arrangement generally has a drive apparatus having drive shafts for agitating or shaking the screening deck. A general problem experienced in screening arrangements is that the parts of the screening arrangement that are exposed to bulk material are subjected to extensive wear. It is therefore well known to make screening elements more resistant towear by manufacturing the elements from a resilient material. It is however a problem that several parts must be manufactured from rigid material in order to withstand the mechanical stresses they are exposed to. These rigid parts are then moresensitive to wear than

Automated Shell Separator - Patent 8074808

Patents-329 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:12:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The present invention relates generally to the field of ammunition suppliers and more specifically to a device for separating shell casings by size. A bullet that is fired out of a pistol or rifle consists of a projectile, a shell casing, or shell, gunpowder and a primer. The gunpowder is contained within the shell, and is ignited by the primer, which is housed in the base of the shell. The pistol, or rifle, includes a hammer and firing pin that is used to strike and ignite the primer. Semi-automatic pistols and rifles are very popular because they automatically eject the shell after the projectile, or round, has been fired. After abusy day at a shooting range, it is not unusual for hundreds of spent shells to be found on the ground. Shells are traditionally made of brass and typically retain their original shape after the bullet has been fired. In order to conserve a naturalmaterial and save money, it is common practice in the field to re-use spent shells. Empty shells can be gathered off the floor of an indoor target range, for example, and re-loaded to produce another bullet. Re-loading a shell comprises replacing theprimer in the base of the shell, adding the proper amount of gunpowder through the open top of the shell, and seating the projectile in the top of the shell so that a seal is formed. However, bullets come in many different sizes, or caliber, and not allshooters use the same caliber weapon. So, the shells that are gathered off the floor of a shooting range at the end of the day will likely consist of shells of many different sizes. Since a .45 caliber projectile will not fit into the shell for a .22caliber weapon, the shells must first be sorted by size before re-loading can be begin. What is needed in the field is an automated device that accepts shells of many different sizes and sorts the shells according to size.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A device that is adapted to accept shells of many different sizes and separate the shells according t

Separation Of Cenospheres From Fly Ash - Patent 8074804

Patents-329 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:12:09 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH Not Applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method for increasing the amount of cenospheres in a fly ash sample. 2. Description of the Related Art Coal fired boilers are widely used to generate steam for producing electricity. A common form of boiler uses a pulverized coal that is injected into a furnace. The process of burning coal in a boiler produces fly ash. Some of the recoveredfly ash is commercially usable in concrete, concrete products, cement production, sewage sludge stabilization, pavement base materials, lightweight aggregate, reinforced plastics, and other miscellaneous purposes. The remaining fly ash must generally bedisposed of by landfilling since it has no commercial value. It is well known that landfill space is rapidly dwindling in many regions and that the construction of new landfills is very costly. Therefore, much effort has been directed at finding usesfor fly ash so that the fly ash does not need to be landfilled. The composition of fly ash can vary depending on the composition of coal that generated the fly ash. Therefore, material specifications have been developed for fly ash that is to be used in specific applications. For example, fly ash that isused as a filler in concrete should meet the specifications described in American Society for Testing and Materials, "Standard Specification for Fly Ash and Raw or Calcined Natural Pozzolan for Use as a Mineral Admixture in Portland Cement Concrete",Designation: C 618. This ASTM specification indicates that fly ash particles are made largely of silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide and iron oxide. The particles in fly ash have different types of structures. Some particles in fly ash are solid. Otherparticles in fly ash are hollow and are called cenospheres. A cenosphere is a lightweight, inert, hollow sphere filled with inert air or gas. Cenospheres are hard and rigid, light, waterproo

Screening System For Objects In Transit - Patent 8074807

Patents-329 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:12:08 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The present invention relates to the screening of objects in-transit and materials, for security purposes (i.e. explosives detection). More particularly, the invention provides an adjustable computerized system suitable for use at airports, seaports, land terminals, distribution centers, railway terminals, border crossings or other transit terminals, in order to achieve maximalefficiency and detection reliability, by adjustment of the screening process of any specific object to its risk factor in conjunction with the characteristics of the available in-line detection equipment. The words object, cargo, items, materials, luggage, and baggage as used in the present specification refer to any object being transported by land, sea or air, whether or not there is an accompanying passenger. Such object can be a pallet, anair pallet, a container, a sea container, a truck-load, a storage tank, bulk materials, luggage, baggage, a bag, a suitcase, a rucksack, a parcel, an envelope and the like, any of which are to be transported by bus, lorry, train, ship or aircraft. The words passenger, shipper, sender and/or the like as used in the present specification refer to any type of an individual/entity involved in the transit process, whether passenger, shipper, sender, intermediate warehouse, fulfillment center,distribution center, manufacturer, freight forwarder, shipping agency, etc. It is an unfortunate fact of life in present-day transportation that objects need to be screened for security purposes, typically for the prevention of hijackings and destruction of means of transportation (aircraft, ship, train, bus etc.) byexplosives, as well as eliminating explosives smuggling. The events of Sep. 11, 2001 clearly indicate that terror organizations will exploit any visible security gap, and there is an urgent need to close any such gap, The transportation area is widelyrecognized as a high priority target and huge resources are allocated for terror prevention. Screening is al

Banknote Handling Apparatus - Patent 8074806

Patents-329 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:11:58 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The present invention relates to a banknote handling apparatus, and particularly, to a banknote sorting machine including a verification counting process mode.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION One of the banknote handling apparatuses that execute various types of processes related to banknotes is a banknote sorting machine that sorts the banknotes by denomination. Some of the banknote sorting machines include a verification countingprocess mode. The verification counting process mode is a mode for recounting the banknotes a plurality of times, which are once counted, in order to ensure the credibility of the counting result. The verification counting process mode is highly demanded mainly in the pachinko market in Japan and in the casino market in the United States, and the verification process is required by law in some countries. An example of the banknote handling apparatus with the verification counting process mode includes a technique shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-52970. The technique disclosed in the Utility Model draws attention of the operator by a flashed display of the number of counted banknotes if there is a difference between the number of banknotes set by means for setting the number of banknotes andthe number of banknotes actually counted.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The verification counting process mode shown in the Utility Model simply alarms the difference between the counting results, and it is unreasonable to apply the concept to the banknote sorting machine including a function of sorting amultiplicity of types of banknotes. The present invention focuses on the fact that the same target banknotes are processed for a plurality of times (usually twice) in the verification counting process. An object of the present invention is to provide a banknote handling apparatusincluding a plurality of stacking units, the banknote handling apparatus being capable of improving the reliability of the counting result, obtaining a desired sorted sta

Electrostatic Separation Method And Electrostatic Separation Device - Patent 8071904

Patents-329 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:41:00 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The present invention relates to an electrostatic separation method and an electrostatic separation device each of which separates unburned carbon ash contained in coal ash by an electrostatic force. Specifically, the present invention relates to an electrostatic separation method and an electrostatic separation device each of which separates ash contained in coal ash produced by, for example, a boiler of a coal-fired power plant.BACKGROUND ART For example, about 20% or more of the coal ash produced by a boiler of a coal-fired power plant, etc. is unburned carbon. Separating and collecting this unburned carbon and using it as energy source have been studied, and various proposals havebeen presented. For example, WO 2002/076620 (Patent Document 1) describes an electrostatic separation method, electrostatic separation device and manufacturing system for particles, and proposes an electrostatic separation device which separates a particulatematerial that is a mixture of electrically-conductive components and insulating components into the electrically-conductive components and the insulating components by the electrostatic force. FIG. 5 of Patent Document 1 (see FIG. 1 of the present application) shows one example of a conventional electrostatic separation device. This conventional electrostatic separation device is configured such that electrodes are disposed on anupper side and a lower side, a gas diffusion plate electrode (laminated sintering porous electrode) having air permeability is disposed as a lower side electrode 1, and a wind box 6 disposed below the lower side electrode 1 blows air to fluidize powder. As an upper side electrode 2, a substantially flat plate mesh electrode having a large number of openings through which particles pass is disposed. Further, a vibrator or a knocker 5 is attached to give vibration to the entire device. PatentDocument 1 describes a method for applying a DC high voltage between the upper and lower side electrodes, supplying

Screening Arrangement - Patent 8066126

Patents-329 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:02:27 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The present invention relates to a screening arrangement in a vibrating screen for screening of material, such as crushed stone, gravel or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a screening arrangement being across-tensioned or a longitudinally tensioned screening media.BACKGROUND In mining and stone industries, it is in many cases important to fractionate crushed stone and gravel into fractions of stones with different sizes. Normally, a deviation from the size is permitted according to industry standards, e.g., 10percent oversized particles and 15 percent undersized particles. In most cases, fractionating is done by supplying an unfractionated stream of crushed stone or gravel to a vibrating screen provided with a screening deck including screening holes for allowing stones smaller than the screening holes to passthrough the holes. The vibration pattern and the inclination of the vibrating screen are arranged so that the crushed stones continuously flow in one direction on the screen, ultimately leaving it on one side or falling through the holes in thescreening deck. To improve the screening of the unfractionated material and to get a thicker material layer on the screening deck some screening devices are provided with raised portions, see e.g., SE-C2-524 179 and EP-B1-0 680 386. In SE-C2-524 179,stiffening longitudinal beams are arranged on top of the screening deck to reduce the wear on the screening holes and to make undersized particles to pass faster through the screening deck. In EP-B1-0 680 386, a curved surface in the form oflongitudinal ridges has been arranged on top of the screening deck, where the curved surface is a fine screening screen. The curved surface aims to provide a larger screening surface and to prevent material from being screened to migrate toward thelower sides of the screen. Another application of a non-flat screening deck is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,080 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,610, where syste

Mail Piece Consolidation And Accountability Using Advanced Tracking Methods - Patent 8063332

Patents-329 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:44:25 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, December 12, 2011

The present subject matter relates to techniques and equipment to efficiently process mail prior to delivery to a postal authority in order to qualify for postage discounts based on the work performed and to accurately track the mail pieceprocessing.BACKGROUND In 1989 the United States Postal Service (USPS) started a work-sharing program, by which the Service intended to increase the amount of bar coded mail and reduce operational costs. To promote this end, private mailers were offered incentives topurchase high-speed Multi-Line Optical Character Reader (MLOCR) equipment and bar code and commingle multiple mail streams. Certain make-up requirements were established that facilitated the input of the barcoded mail into the USPS processing stream. For performing this service, private entities were given a discount to process the mail. Volume discounts were instituted which provided incentives to private entities to increase volumes, thus paying a lower cost per piece in postage dollars. Toachieve the required minimum volumes, presort entities were started which collected and commingled mail from many mailers. While the USPS developed a complicated audit procedure, limitations of the production process prevented the USPS from performing an adequate audit on the mailings. One example of this is that a specific mail piece cannot be traced to a specifictray. Rather a mail piece was associated with a group of trays. Thus the acceptance clerk might have to look through 10,000 pieces of mail in over 60 trays to find one piece of mail. FIG. 12 defines the normal steps required to perform a multiple pass sorting operation needed to meet USPS per-sort requirements. A batch of mail is loaded into a mail sorting apparatus at 700, and the apparatus will sort mail to a series ofbins or packets based on a set of rules called a sort scheme in step 701. A bin could be set up to contain one zip code destination called a finalized bin, as will be checked at 702 in the sort sch

Method And System For Sequentially Ordering Objects Using A Single Pass Delivery Point Process - Patent 8063331

Patents-329 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:43:46 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, December 12, 2011

1. Field of the Invention The invention generally relates to a single pass sequencer and process and, in particular, to a system and method for sequencing mail pieces in a single pass to reduce overhead space and costs as well as minimize mail damage. 2. Background Description The delivery of mail such as catalogs, products, advertisements and a host of other articles have increased exponentially over the years. These mail pieces are known to be critical to commerce and the underlying economy. It is thus critical tocommerce and the underlying economy to provide efficient delivery of such mail in both a cost effective and time efficient manner. This includes, for example, arranging randomly deposited mail pieces into a sequential delivery order for delivery to adestination point. By sorting the mail in a sequential order based on destination point, the delivery of mail and other articles can be provided in an orderly and effective manner. In current sorting processes, optical character recognition systems may be used to capture delivery destination information. A host of feeders and other complex handling systems are then used to transport the mail to a host of bins orcontainers for sorting and future delivery. To this end, central processing facilities, i.e., United States Postal Service centers, have employed a high degree of automation using bar code readers and/or character recognition to perform basic sorting ofarticles to be transported to defined geographic regions or to local offices within those regions. It is also known to manually sort mail pieces, but this process is very labor intensive, time consuming and costly. As to known automated sorting processes, currently, for example, a two pass algorithm process is used as one method for sorting mail based on delivery destination. In this known process, a multiple pass process of each piece of mail is providedfor sorting the mail; that is, the mail pieces, for future delivery, are fed through a feed

Methods, Systems, And Devices For Separating Materials Using Magnetic And Frictional Properties - Patent 8056728

Patents-329 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:27:22 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, December 12, 2011

This disclosure relates to material separations, including recycling plastics from streams of waste plastics and other materials.BACKGROUND The recovery of plastics from waste streams such as durable goods is a considerable challenge due the presence of several types of plastics as well as non-plastics contaminants. High purity flakes recovered from a recycling process can beextruded and pelletized to make a high quality product, but such extrusion can be difficult and the quality of the product can be poor unless certain types of contaminants are reduced to very low levels prior to extrusion. Such problematic contaminants include, among others, non-plastics such as wood, particle board, paper, cardboard, rubber, textiles, metallic coatings, wires and circuit boards. Because such materials do not properly melt during the recyclingprocess, they can quickly block melt filtration equipment used during the extrusion step even when these contaminant materials are present in small amounts. Non-melt particles smaller than the size of screens used for melt filtration can pass throughthe melt filtration equipment and end up as cosmetic and/or mechanical defects in products. In addition, cellulose-based contaminants (i.e., wood, particle board, cardboard and paper) can start degrading at extrusion temperatures typical for manythermoplastics. Therefore dark specks of degraded material can disintegrate from the original contaminant particles and pass through the melt filtration equipment. In addition, some plastics contain coatings, such as metallic paint or metal plating,that can cause similar difficulties in the extrusion step and in the products derived from extrusion of recycled plastics. Some thermoplastics and thermosets found in durable goods are rigid foam materials known as structural foam. In some cases, this structural foam may contain flame retardants, glass fibers, residual blowing agents or other additives that couldreduce the mechanical properties or mark

System And Method For Treating Shredder Residues And Utilizing A Produced Fiber Fraction - Patent 8056729

Patents-329 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:26:28 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, December 12, 2011

The present invention relates to a method for sorting shredder residues of metal-containing wastes, e.g., of vehicle bodies, as well as a system by which the shredder residues can be sorted. In addition, the present invention relates to a useof a fiber fraction, which is depleted in dust and metals and was separated according to the method of the present invention.BACKGROUND INFORMATION The shredding of scrapped vehicles in order to break down material has been known for a long time. In carrying out the shredding method, method controls have been established in which the material mixture produced is divided up into differentfractions. Thus, a so-called shredder light fraction (SLF) is initially separated from the material mixture produced, using a suitable suction device. The remaining fraction is subsequently separated into a ferromagnetic fraction (shredder scrap (SS))and a non-ferromagnetic fraction (shredder heavy fraction (SHF)), using a permanent-magnet separator. The portion of the shredder scrap-metal fraction that is metallurgically fully usable is often approximately 50 to 75 wt. %. Existing designs generallyprovide for the shredder light fraction being disposed of as waste or burned in waste incinerators. It is characterized by both a large fraction of organics and a large fraction of fine-grained material. The heavy fraction, which is not able to fly andis not ferromagnetic, i.e., the shredder heavy fraction, is distinguished by a large percentage of nonferrous (NF metals). Special sorting systems have been developed for recovering the various NF metals, where, however, the remaining residue of organicand inorganic, non-metallic components is generally disposed of as waste. In the following, shredder residues should be understood as all material streams from the shredding process, which cannot be directly removed at the shredder as products that aremetallurgically directly utilizable (shredder scrap). Described in German Published Patent Applic

Magnetic Separator For Ferromagnetic Materials With Controlled-slip Rotating Roller And Relevant Operating Methods - Patent 8056730

Patents-329 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:26:07 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, December 12, 2011

The present invention relates to machines for separating materials according to their magnetic properties, and in particular to a separator with controlled-slip rotating roller.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is known that a magnetic separator is designed to extract from a flow of mixed materials all those parts having magnetic permeability, so as to separate them from the rest of the inert material. A typical separator essentially consists of amagnetic pulley, acting as driving roller, which draws a belt that conveys a mix of materials, the belt being closed in a loop around a return roller. Magnetic pulleys with different magnetic field gradient suitable to separate materials with high or low magnetic permeability are used to select the material. With a low field gradient only materials with high magnetic permeability areattracted, whereas with a high field gradient both high magnetic permeability and low magnetic permeability materials are attracted. A drawback of known separators, in particular those with high field gradient pulley, is that the material attracted by the corresponding polarities remains attached to those polarities until the conveyor belt moves away from the roller thuscausing the detachment of the attracted material in a very small area. As a consequence, both low magnetic permeability and high magnetic permeability materials fall in the same area and have to be subsequently sorted. Another drawback stems from the fact that the magnetic materials bring along a portion of the inert material, since the latter remains pinched between the inductor (the alternate polarities of the roller) and the induced (the attracted magneticmaterial). Therefore also in this case a further working is required to increase the quality of the selected material. Another type of magnetic separator is the eddy current separator that is used to separate non-magnetic yet electrically conductive materials such as aluminum, copper, brass, etc. In this case there is provi

Biomass Material - Patent 8051986

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:11:45 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

The present invention relates to a process for the production of a range of improved biomass material products, and in particular to the improvement of a biomass material which has been formed as a bi-product from the treatment of municipalsolid waste (MSW). The invention further relates to an apparatus for the production of such range of improved biomass material products and the range of biomass materials produced thereby. The biomass material products produced are particularlysuitable for use as a fuel for power generation, gasification, hospitals, industrial heating and domestic heating. The biomass materials products produced are suitable as an alternative fuel to fossil fuels, or standard biomass fuels formed from forexample shredded dried wood and/or grass. Incineration is a previously known method for the disposal of MSW. MSW generally comprises a combination of waste materials such as paper, vegetation, food, rubbers, textiles, wood, leather, plastics, glass and metals, or could contain wastefrom commercial outlets for example fast-food restaurants having a substantial mix of food, plastics and paper. Combustion of the MSW produces a heat energy which, for example, can be used to produce electricity. However, burning produces ash andnoxious fumes which must be contained and further processed to enable their safe disposal. Many governments now place restrictions on the burning of fuels in order to strictly limit the amount of noxious substances released into the environment. It is therefore desirable to process the MSW in a manner which enables the separation andrecovery of inorganic and organic material therefrom. The separated organic material after further processing can then be used as a fuel which can be burnt in an environmentally more friendly manner. Traditionally it is known to separate the organic and inorganic matters by saturating the MSW with water and/or steam, whilst heating and rotating the MSW to cause pulping of the organic materia

Grain Conveyor Apparatus And System Including Separation Capability - Patent 8051988

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:11:42 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

TECHNICALFIELD The present invention relates to a grain conveying apparatus and system for conveying a grain mixture including cob pieces and grain, which apparatus and system more particularly incorporates a capability for separating the cob pieces and grainas the mixture is conveyed from a source bin to separate receiving bins.BACKGROUND ART Presently, there is an increased demand for corn cobs as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol, as well as other uses. As a result, there is heightened interest in collecting corn cobs during corn harvest. To this end, agricultural harvesters arenow harvesting and collecting shelled corn as well as pieces of cob and discharging the remaining crop residue or stover, e.g., corn stalks, leaves, and husks, onto the field. In many cases, the grain bin of the harvester will contain a mixtureincluding a significant amount of cob pieces collected with the grain. Storing a mixture of grain and cob pieces is disadvantageous because the cob pieces are generally larger and lighter than the grain. Harvester grain bins fill more inefficiently and require more frequent unloading, and transferring the mixtureof grain and cob pieces between containers creates a risk of damage to both elements. As the mixture is discharged to the receiving container, gravitational forces will likely cause the denser grain elements to fall at a greater velocity, relative tothe larger, lighter cob pieces. This may result in breakage of the cob pieces, resulting in a loss of moisture, or may otherwise damage the grain. Therefore it would be advantageous to separate the mixture into a grain receiving container and a cobreceiving container as soon as possible, preferably as the mixture is unloaded from the harvester. Thus, what is sought is a grain conveying apparatus and system including separation capabilities which provides one or more of the capabilities, and overcomes one or more of the shortcomings and limitations, set forth above.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Method Of Removing Unburned Carbon From Coal Ash - Patent 8051985

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:11:23 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

The present invention relates to a method of removing unburned carbon from coal ash, and in particular to a method of more efficiently removing unburned carbon from coal ash which is generated in a coal fired power plant or a fluidized bedcombustion furnace.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART The coal ash which occurs in coal fired power plants and fluidized bed combustion furnaces, etc. (referred as fly ash hereinafter), has been used as a raw material for cement and artificial lightweight aggregate or as a cement admixture. However, if fly ash is used as a cement admixture, unburned carbon included in the fly ash can absorb AE agent or water-reducing agent etc., causing a problem which adversely affects the kneading work of concrete. Because of the water repellency of unburned carbon, when concreting, the harmful effects of the unburned carbon floating up to the surface of the concrete, or black parts in the concrete-jointed areas caused by the unburned carbon can occur. Moreover, with a high content of unburned carbon in fly ash, the problem of the quality of the artificial lightweight aggregate being lowered can occur. Therefore, only good quality fly ash containing a small amount of unburned carbon has been used as acement admixture, while fly ash containing a large amount of unburned carbon has been used as raw material for cement processed in rotary kilns or as industrial waste used in reclamation. In order to solve the above problems, the specification of Japanese patent No. 3613347, for example, proposes a method comprised of the following steps: slurrying by adding water to fly ash, adding a collector such as kerosene to the obtainedfly ash slurry, causing the unburned carbon to stick to the collector by applying surface-upgrading to the fly ash through a high-speed shearing mixer to improve the flotation ability of the unburned carbon, and then separating the unburned carbonthrough flotation. The method is relatively easy regarding the separation of the unbu

Grain Classifying Device And Adhesive Containing Grains Classified By The Device - Patent 8047381

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:49:38 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

The present invention relates to a grain classifying device for accurately classifying grains, and an adhesive containing grains separated by the device.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent trends for electronic equipment having smaller sizes and greater functionality, connection terminals for components are becoming more miniaturized. Thus, in the field of electronic applications, various types of circuit connectionadhesives are often used to facilitate the connection of such terminals. For example, to connect an electrode of an electronic component, such as an IC chip, with an electrode of a circuit substrate, such as glass substrate, a method for connecting theelectrodes formed on the electronic component and the circuit substrate with a conductive adhesive containing conductive fine grains is employed. The conductive adhesive is an adhesive in the form of film or paste in which conductive fine grains are dispersed in an insulative resin composition such as epoxy resin. The conductive adhesive is applied between the connection subjects,heated, and pressurized to adhere the connection subjects. More specifically, the heating pressurization moves the resin in the adhesive so as to seal, for example, gaps between a projection electrode (or bump) formed on the surface of an electroniccomponent and a wiring electrode such as ITO electrode formed on the surface of a circuit substrate. At the same time, some of the conductive fine grains bite into the opposing projection electrode and wiring electrode to establish electric connection. Due to recent trends for higher integration, the pitch between adjacent electrodes is becoming increasingly narrower, and pitches are becoming finer. Thus, electrode connection conductive adhesive must use conductive fine grains having smallgrain diameters. Accordingly, various types of classifying devices for classifying conductive fine grains have been disclosed. More specifically, there has been a proposal for a current type cl

Screen Panels - Patent 8047380

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:49:08 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION This invention relates to screen panels, and in particular to screen panels used in vibratory screening operations. In a vibratory screening operation, material which is to be screened is deposited on a vibrating screen deck. It is now common practice for the screen decks to have a frame and for the actual screening surface to be provided by a large numberof individual screen panels which are mounted to the frame. It is also common practice for the individual panels to be moulded in a suitable grade of polyurethane. All screen panels undergo wear in use and have to be replaced when they are no longer able to perform an accurate screening operation. A problem with polyurethanes is that they give off toxic isocyanate gas when incinerated. For this reasonmaterial processing plants where screening operations are carried out, such as mine processing plants in which mined ore is processed, tend merely to dump worn panels at large dumpsites rather than incinerating them. However modern mining regulationsprohibit such dumping and this means that mine operators are obliged to find ways to deal with the polyurethane employed in worn screen panels.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a screen panel which includes moulded polyurethane at least part of which is recycled. The term "recycled" in this specification refers to polyurethane material which has been recovered from other moulded polyurethane products. These may or may not be other screen panels. The screen panel may for instance have an operatively upper, perforated screening section for performing a screening action in use and an operatively lower section beneath the screening section, the upper section being of moulded polyurethaneand the lower section comprising a reinforcing frame and polyurethane moulded about the reinforcing frame, at least part of the polyurethane of the lower section being recycled. In this case, the upper section of the

Heavy Particle Separation - Patent 8042691

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:28:54 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

INTRODUCTION This invention relates to heavy particle separation. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and apparatus i.e. a system for heavy particle separation or recovery from ore, gravel, earth, and the like.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The inventor is aware of a variety of apparatus and processes that have been used for extracting heavy particles, such as gold, platinum, lead and the like, from ore, gravel or sand, earth, including placer ore for example in respect of alluvialgold, and the like. Such apparatus and methods suffer from certain problems including an inability to deal with a broad range of particle sizes and a failure to recover fine particles. This reduces the efficiency and hence the profitability of suchrecovery systems. Another disadvantage is that certain recovery systems involve the use of large quantities of water. Such large quantities of water are not always available at a site where, for example, gold-bearing placer ore is found and processed. Even inlocalities where large quantities of water are available, such usage can impact negatively on the environment, and hence large holding ponds or holding tanks are required. Another disadvantage of conventional placer ore recovery systems is that a surge is created in water flowing through the system with each new load of gravel that is added to the system. This results in loss of fine gold particles. Further disadvantages of for example existing gold recovery systems include an extended clean-up time and a large volume of concentrate which add significantly to the cost of operations; the large size of equipment; high capital cost anddifficulty of transporting such equipment. The inventor is also aware of the apparatus and process disclosed in his U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,584, which was granted and published on 28 Apr. 1992. This patent describes an outer and inner barrel arrangement. The inner drum has an upperfragmentation section, an intermediate trommel section and a lo

Mailpiece Conveyor Device With Servocontrol On Reject Rate - Patent 8042692

Patents-329 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:28:35 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

S This application is a 35 U.S.C. .sctn.371 National Phase Application from PCT/FR2008/051344, filed Jul. 17, 2008, and designating the United States, which claims the benefit of France Patent Application No. 0756895, filed Aug. 2, 2007.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a conveyor device for conveying flat articles, in which device the flat articles are moved in series while being at a pitch one from the next that is normally constant, and in which device a synchronization system isprovided for compensating for variation in said pitch. The invention relates more particularly to such a conveyor device that is interposed between a mailpiece unstacker and a bin carrousel directing the mailpieces to sorting outlets. 2. Discussion of the Background Art European Patent No. 1 214 263 discloses such a belt conveyor device equipped with a synchronization device having elastically deformable wheels driven in rotation at variable speed. That conveyor is designed to move mailpieces ranging from anordinary letter of thickness less than 1 millimeter (mm) to a mailpiece or "flat" of large format and of thickness as large as 32 mm. The bins of the carrousel move above the sorting outlets at a constant speed. Each bin is loaded with a mailpiece coming from the conveyor. The unstacker is controlled by a periodic reference signal having its frequency aligned on the frequency with which the bins go past the free end of the conveyor. When a mailpiece is unstacked in response to an edge of the reference signal being detected, it passes firstly through the synchronization device in which it undergoes an acceleration/deceleration stage so as to be brought to the speed of thebelts of the conveyor. It is then taken in charge by the belts of the conveyor so as to be brought at constant speed to the bin carrousel. The instant at which the mailpiece is input into the synchronization device is detected on the basis of a passagesensor that mak

Procedure And Apparatus Of The Concentration Of Hydrophobic Materials - Patent 8038012

Patents-329 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:47:36 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

S The present invention claims priority to Chilean Patent Application Serial No 1547/2006, filed on Jun. 19, 2006 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Flotation is a physical-chemical process for the separation of materials which uses the water repellent or water affinity surface characteristics of the materials to be separated. It is the most commonly used method for the concentration ofbasic sulfides of metals such as copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc. etc. that have a natural hydrophobicity, which increased with the application of flotation reagents. It consists basically in placing the materials to be separated previously ground andtreated with flotation reagents in an aqueous medium to form a pulp into which a gas has been introduced to generate bubbles. Hydrophobic materials adhere to the surface of the bubbles and hydrophilic materials remain within the pulp. The frothcarrying the hydrophobic materials rises to the surface and overflows into the froth collecting troughs wherefrom it is removed from the flotation apparatus. There is currently a large variety of flotation apparatus in various shapes, sizes and methods for the injection of gas into the pulp. Whatever their design however, they must perform the following basic functions: introduce to the machine thegas and aqueous pulp containing the materials to be separated; maintain the pulp and materials to be separated in suspension by avoiding sedimentation and the accumulation of solids in the apparatus; generate gas bubbles and provoke their contact withthe hydrophobic materials to be concentrated; provide a system for the withdrawal of the froth loaded with the hydrophobic substances constituting the concentrate; and maintain the materials with water affinity inside the pulp which constitutes thetailings and provide for a discharge system. The machines performing these functions can be classified in two main group depending on how they perform these fu

Method And Apparatus For Visiometric In-line Product Inspection - Patent 8035052

Patents-329 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:14:29 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The invention relates to the inspection of individual products traveling on aconveyor belt in the context of packaging these products in lots at the end of an industrial production line. It applies in particular to the field of industrial baking, or to any similar situation where the goal is to sort the products after they havebeen baked or deep-frozen to distributed them into various packaging lots each containing a given number of products. Depending on the apparatus, the product counting operations for grouping them into lots may, or may not, be combined with simultaneousquality control operations. The case of industrially baked products is a typical area in which, traditionally, products placed on a conveyor belt are inspected by having them pass by a visiometry station equipped with an image acquisition camera associated with electronicimage-processing means to provide sorting operation control signals directly as they leave the visiometry station. It is also a good example for illustrating situations where the problems the invention sets out to solve occur, particularly responding tothe increasing need for high processing rates, the desire to reduce the apparatus size, and the quest for high control reliability and increasingly accurate counting for full satisfaction of the customers to whom the packed lots are delivered. Systems for packaging industrially baked products that count the products with a view to grouping them into preset quantities already exist. Such a system is described for example in French Patent 03 11649, published under reference FR2,860,581, or in the corresponding US Patent Application 2005/09960. It has a visiometry inspection station for the products passing by, upstream of a lot-sorting station and digital image processing means providing counting or numbering informationaccording to their location on the surface of the conveyor belt which control the raising or lowering of various teeth of a sorting comb located across the conv

Sorting Installation And Sorting Method For Letters And Large Letters - Patent 8035053

Patents-329 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:14:14 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The invention relates to a sorting installation for letters and large letters and to a method of sorting letters and large letters. The present invention is suitable, in particular, for sorting large letters and letters into a common mail-delivery sequence. The term "mail-delivery sequence" is understood as meaning a sequence of letters and large letters which correspondsto the sequence in which the mail is delivered by the mailman during his delivery round. For this purpose, the letters and large letters, which are referred to jointly as items of mail hereinbelow, are sorted and arranged such that the first addressstop is followed by the second address stop, which is followed by the third address stop, etc. Up until now, the letters are arranged in the desired mail-delivery sequence in a number of sorting cycles in sorting installations for letters, for example a DBS installation (delivery barcode sorter), which is not suitable for sorting largeletters. In addition, large letters are sorted on an interim basis in a sorting installation for large letters, for example an FSS installation (flat sorting system), and are then arranged manually in the desired mail-delivery sequence. It is obvioushere that the operation of sorting large letters manually into the desired mail-delivery sequence is time-consuming and costly. The large letters are then added manually, by the mail man, to the letters which have already been arranged in themail-delivery sequence, this operation also being referred to as collation or merging. This operation is also time-consuming and costly. Collation and sorting into a mail-delivery sequence take place over a number of successive time windows. A largeamount of time is thus required overall. In addition it is not possible to use such an installation to sort letters and large letters jointly into a mail-delivery sequence. As an alternative, it is possible, in a sorting installation, to provide an end location for each destination addres

Centrifugal Separator - PDF 6

Patents-329 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:16:01 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The invention relates to a centrifugal separator with an inlet channel for a flow containing coarse and fine particles, a first outlet channel for a flow containing predominantly coarse particles, a second outlet channel for a flow containingpredominantly fine particles and a separator chamber with at least one separator device, wherein the separator chamber connects the inlet channel to the first outlet channel and the second outlet channel, and wherein the inlet channel, the separatorchamber and the two outlet channels form a flow path. The invention further relates to a method for the separation of a flow containing coarse and fine particles with such a centrifugal separator. Centrifugal separators are devices with which coarse particles (coarse dust) are separated from fine particles (fine dust) in a flow, referred to as a two-phase flow. The particles occur, for example, in a mill for stone coal grinding bycomminution of the grinding material and are then conducted to the separator by a carrier gas flow. A distinction is made between centrifugal separators of static, dynamic, or static-dynamic type. All centrifugal separators have the factor in common that the flow entering by means of the carrier gas is conducted radially from the outsideinwards through the separator and is provided with a twist. The separation between coarse and fine dust takes place in this context on the basis of the forces taking effect on the different particles, in particular centrifugal and gravitational forces. The insufficiently ground coarse dust is screened out and conducted back to the grinding plates via a first outlet channel, which can have a coarse substance backflow cone element. The fine dust, which has been adequately ground is conveyedaway via a second outlet channel, which can have one or more dust lines, for example to a burner of a combustion chamber. Mills with centrifugal separators are known with which the gas flow, encumbered with grinding dust, enriched with bu

Process And Magnetic Reagent For The Removal Of Impurities From Minerals - Patent 8033398

Patents-329 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:15:54 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of beneficiation of mineral substrates by removing undesired impurities. Specifically, the present invention relates to a magnetic reagent and a method of using it in a magnetic separation process toreduce the levels of the impurities in the mineral substrates. 2. Description of the Related Art Beneficiation is a term used in the mining industry to refer to various processes for purifying mineral substrates (such as mineral ores) to obtain value minerals. Beneficiation typically involves separating the desired or "value" minerals fromother less desirable or "non-value" mineral(s) that may be present in the mineral substrate. In many cases, the degree of separation obtained strongly influences the quality of the beneficiated product. For example, value minerals such as kaolin, talc,and calcium carbonate are used as pigments in a variety of end applications, e.g., coatings and fillers in paper, paint, plastic, ceramics, etc. In such applications, desirably higher levels of whiteness or brightness are typically associated with lowerlevels of impurities. However, value minerals often contain a variety of discoloring minerals such as titanium and iron phases. For example, kaolin typically contains anatase (TiO.sub.2) and iron oxides, which detrimentally affect the brightness ofkaolin. Also, minerals with relatively low impurity levels are often desired in other applications, such as in the electronics, optics and biomedical fields. Some mineral separation processes involve the use of magnetic reagents and strong magnetic fields. PCT Publication WO 02/066168 discloses surface-functionalized magnetic particles that are said to be useful as magnetic reagents for mineralbeneficiation. The magnetic particles are said to be at least comparable in size with the mineral particles, and thus it is apparent that the amount of material present on the surfaces of the magnetic particles is only

Cyclone, Apparatus For Separating Slurry Having The Cyclone, And System And Method Of Supplying Slurry Using The Apparatus - Patent 8020707

Patents-329 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:27:53 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, October 07, 2011

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cyclone, an apparatus for separating slurry having the cyclone, and a system and a method of supplying slurry using the apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cyclone for rotatingslurry, an apparatus for separating the slurry by sizes using the cyclone, and a system and a method of supplying the separated slurry to a polishing apparatus using the apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art Modern semiconductor devices are typically formed of multiple layers of wiring structures formed by sandwiched conductive and insulation layers that have been etched to make the desire circuit patterns. Planarization is an important componentof this process. Examples of planarization processes used include an etch-back process, a reflow process, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, etc. The CMP process was originally developed by IBM Corporation in U.S. in late 1980s. In a typical CMP process, a slurry including deionized water, an abrasive, an additive, etc., is provided between a polishing pad and the semiconductorsubstrate. The semiconductor substrate and the polishing pad are then rotated in reverse directions to polish a surface of the semiconductor substrate. That is, a plurality of minute surface projections of the abrasive and the polishing pad is rubbedagainst the surface of the semiconductor substrate to mechanically polish the surface of the semiconductor substrate. Simultaneously, chemical components in the slurry are chemically reacted with the surface of the semiconductor substrate to chemicallypolish the surface of the semiconductor substrate. The efficacy of the polishing process is due in great part to the composition of the slurry used. A main drawback to using such slurries is that particle size changes over time due to agglomeration mechanisms between micro-particles within theslurry. The result is the unwanted formation of macro-particles by chemical

Fines Removal Apparatus And Methods/systems Regarding Same - Patent 8020706

Patents-329 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:27:29 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, October 07, 2011

The present invention relates to systems, apparatus, and/or methods for use in processing objects (e.g., iron bearing pellets, pharmaceutical tablets, coarse rocks and aggregate materials, coal, etc.). More particularly, the present inventionpertains to the separation of fines from the objects being processed (e.g., a mixture of such fines and objects, such as a feed mixture including rounded whole iron bearing pellets, pellet chips, and pellet dust). Selective screening of materials to remove fines is a relatively common practice in various industries. For example, such screening or separation processes are commonly used in applications such as mining, food product manufacturing, woodproduct manufacturing, pharmaceutical product manufacturing, etc. Different techniques for the sizing of pellets, ores, agglomerates, or other coarse materials have been described. For example, separation methods typically used employ vibrating and/or screen equipment for separating fines from coarsermaterials. In the iron ore and taconite mining industry, over 200 million tons of iron ore pellets are produced worldwide, and most require screening prior to being charged into iron-making blast furnaces. Existing pellet screening has generally beenaccomplished with the use of vibrating screen equipment. However, such vibrating screen equipment is very capital cost and operating cost intensive (e.g., maintenance costs associated with such equipment) which makes the separation of fines from a feedmixture (e.g., a feed mixture including such pellets, dust, pellet chips, etc.) uneconomical. Further, such vibrating screen equipment may cause physical breakage and abrasion to the whole pellets being separated from the fines.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The systems, apparatus, and/or methods according to the present invention overcome one or more of the problems described herein relating to other previously used or described separation systems and methods. One embodiment of a fines removala

Screen Assemblies Utilizing Screen Elements Retained In Perforated Supports - Patent 8020705

Patents-329 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:26:28 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Friday, October 07, 2011

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not applicable.THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT Not applicable.INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC Not applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to means by which material is separated or assorted according to size or dimensions of components by presentation to a series of openings or passages through which the components having dimensions belowthose of the openings or passages pass while those having dimensions greater than those of the passages or openings do not pass through. More specifically, the present invention relates to screen assemblies used in vibratory separators. 2. Description of Related Art Vibratory screen separators with replaceable screen assemblies have long been known, and include a base, a resiliently mounted housing, a vibratory drive connected to the housing, and screen assemblies positioned on the housing. The screenassemblies are periodically replaced when process conditions dictate or when the performance of the screening media degrades due to abrasion, failure, or blinding. The screening media can be flat or pleated, single or multi-layered, laminated orun-laminated. Screen assemblies include screening media bonded to components structural in nature that are used to fasten or tension the screening media to a vibratory separator so that the motion of the separator is imparted to the screening media. Flexible rectangular screen assemblies constructed by using structural components that form a "J" or similar shape on two sides of screen are known as hookstrip style screens. Hookstrip style screens are fastened to vibratory separators bypulling the screen assembly taut over a crowned deck. The "crown" or "radius" in the deck is necessary because the geometry of the crown keeps the flexible screen in contact with the vibrating deck without approaching tension l

System And Method For Sorting Items - Patent 8030588

Patents-329 — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:24:25 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Thursday, October 06, 2011

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to the sorting of objects, and more particularly to the sorting of mass produced, customized objects. 2. Description of the Related Art Sorting devices are known for separately guiding finished parts to different discharge areas adjacent to tooling or packaging machines. Typically, sorting devices operate as a post-processing tool that is used to sort finished pieces. Generally, finished pieces are identified on the basis of the quality of the material or the type of material. For example, only parts possessing a similar quality of material are selected and packaged together. The packaging station performssimilar operations on similar parts. In most instances, parts having unique or customized features that must be packaged together are not readily accommodated. Presently, the sorting and packaging of unique, customized parts must be done manually toensure accuracy. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a simple and efficient sorting and selecting system that brings a variety of associated objects together during a production process with resulting improvements in efficiency and productivitySUMMARY The present invention provides a system and associated method for sorting mass produced, customized objects. In one aspect of the invention, a part sorting process is provided including loading a plurality of randomly presented parts; sorting at least one selected part of the randomly presented parts into a group of associated parts; and sequencing thegroup of associated parts. In yet another aspect of the invention, a system is provided for sorting parts. The invention includes a system for receiving and continuously circulating a plurality of randomly presented parts. The invention also includes a sorting bufferfor accumulating selected parts from the plurality of randomly presented parts in an assigned buffer location, and a sequencing system for sequencing the accumulated selected parts. A more com

Method For Detecting And Sorting Glass - Patent 8030589

Patents-329 — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:23:23 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Thursday, October 06, 2011

CROSS REFERENCE TORELATED APPLICATIONS Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 of Austrian Patent Application Serial No. GM 539/2005 filed on Aug. 8, 2005 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method for detecting and sorting glass in a scrap glass stream, preferably a stream of broken glass, wherein light rays emitted from a radiation source traverse the scrap glass stream and impinge on a detector unit. These light rays are processed by an evaluation and control unit in data communication therewith, the evaluation and control unit connected to the detector unit activating, as a function thereof, a removal apparatus such as a blowing nozzle. This nozzleis disposed downstream of the detector unit. This removal apparatus is for singling out undesired matter entrained in the scrap glass stream and diverting it to a predetermined location. The recycling of scrap and broken glass together with an organized collection and selection method has been successfully practiced for quite a long time and has been capable of significantly reducing the energy expenditure in the industrialproduction of glass utensils. The known difficulty that the consumers collecting scrap glass are not very careful in separating the material with respect to color and to materials other than glass such as ceramics, stone, porcelain, could in themeantime be reliably overcome using automated material selecting methods with opto-electronically controlled sorting apparatus. For the purpose of sorting colors and for detecting foreign material, methods of contactless measurement by means of infrared or RGB sensors are utilized most of the time. These sensors induce the removal of undesired foreign material from thescrap glass stream or the diversion of colored glass into fractions intended therefore by means of blowing or aspirating nozzles, using therefore the recorded degree of light transmission or ab

Screening Module - Patent 8028840

Patents-329 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:16:59 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, October 05, 2011

S The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No 2005902000 filed on 20 Apr. 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the screening of materials. More particularly, the invention relates to a screening module for use in a screening assembly which screens material to classify or sort the material and to a screening assembly includingthe screening module.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Screening arrangements are widely used in the mining industry, particularly the coal mining industry, for the screening or classifying of ores and slurries. Material to be screened is passed over a vibratory screen deck. Apertures of screeningpanels arranged on the screen deck pass material having dimensions smaller than the apertures of the screen panels while materials having dimensions larger than those of the screening apertures are retained on a top surface of, and traverse, the panelsof the screen deck for further processing. Particularly with very fine apertures, the rigidity of the screening panel must be retained so that the apertures do not distort and pass materials larger than the aperture size. However, with these fine apertures, there is a danger of theapertures becoming blocked or blinding so that material which should pass through the apertures instead traverses the screen deck. There is therefore a compromise between the need for a rigid panel and the need to inhibit blinding of the apertures.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a screening module for a screening assembly, the screening module including: a panel member defining a plurality of screening apertures; and a support arrangement with which the panel member is fast, the support arrangement including a plurality of strengthening arrays arranged, in use, beneath the panel member, each strengthening array comprising a skirt portion bounding an area

Screen Panel Fastener And Fastening Arrangement - Patent 8025154

Patents-329 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:20:27 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, October 05, 2011

This invention relates to a fastener suitable for fastening a screen panel, and to a screen panel fastening arrangement including the screen panel fastener. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a snap-fit fastenerand to a complementary screen panel secured by the snap-fit fastener.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Vibratory screening machines are well known in industry, and are frequently used for screening of particulate materials such as mineral ores encountered in the mining industry. In use, the particulate material is conveyed along a vibratingscreen deck comprising a plurality of screen panels located adjacent one another on a supporting frame. The screen panels typically have screening apertures provided therethrough, which are suitably sized for allowing particles below a predeterminedsize to fall through the screen panel, whilst larger particles continue to travel on top of the screen panel. Due to the nature of the screening process, the screen panels are prone to substantial wear, and it is required that the screen panels making up the screen deck be replaced from time to time. From a maintenance perspective, it is desirable forthe replacement process to be as simple and quick as possible. However, existing fastening systems usually comprise a plurality of individual fastening elements that need to be removed and subsequently replaced, thus rendering the replacement processdifficult and time consuming. Some existing fastening arrangements for instance comprise fasteners that urge the screen panel against the supporting frame by sandwiching the screen panels between the supporting frame and upper parts of the fasteningmembers. Although this arrangement results in a sturdy and reliable fastening arrangement, it will be appreciated that replacement of the screen panels may be an time consuming process, as all the fastening members first need to be removed before thescreen panels can be replaced, and conversely all fastening memb

Screening Arrangement - Patent 8025153

Patents-329 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:20:21 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, October 05, 2011

THIS INVENTION relates to a screeningarrangement. The invention relates in particular to a screening arrangement for screening particulate materials such as mineral ores of all types. More particularly, the invention relates to a screening element; a screening element securing device forsecuring a screening element to a screen support frame; a screen support frame sub-assembly; a screen support frame; and a screening arrangement. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a screening element securing device for securing a screening element to a screen support frame, said securing device including a body portion having a connecting formation for connection to a complementary formation on a screen support member of a screen support frame to render the screening element securing device releasably connected to the screen support member; and a locating formation, provided on the body portion, for engagement with a complementary formation on a screening element to locate the screening element on the screen support frame. The body portion may comprise an insert for insertion in an opening in the screen support member, the connecting formation being provided on the insert and being for connection to a complementary formation in the opening. The locating formation may be provided on the insert and comprises a locating protrusion for location in a locating recess of a screening element. The locating protrusion may comprise a shank which extends axially away from the body portion, and a head formed at the free end of the shank. In one version of this aspect of the invention, the securing device may include a securing formation, separate from the locating formation, which is receivable in a complemental securing formation on the screening element. The separate securing formation may comprise a separate securing protrusion. The separate securing protrusion may comprise an annular ridge which stands proud axially of the insert and around the locating protrusio

Sieve Apparatus And Method For Use Of Same - Patent 8025152

Patents-329 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:20:07 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, October 05, 2011

The present invention regards a sieve apparatus. Moreparticularly, it regards an apparatus and a method for sieving or screening a material such as, but not limited to, a drilling fluid containing drilling mud and drilling particles or drill cuttings. Separating solids from fluid flows by passing a fluid through a filtration or screening device having perforations of a size that retains the solids on the screen surface instead of passing them through, is a well known technology. Some fluidflows contain other substances that cause solids to agglomerate or adhere to each other or to a screen surface, which results in the formation of bridges across the screen openings and clogging of the screen. These problems often occur during welldrilling, where a drilling fluid or "mud" is circulated into the well. During drilling, drilling fluids are continuously circulated between the well bore and the surface in order to remove drilling particles, also called drill cuttings, from the drill bit. The drill cuttings are carried to the surface by thedrilling mud, where it is separated from the drilling mud. The drilling mud is then recirculated into the well, to the drilling operation. Drilling mud is expensive, among other things, and it is therefore desirable to re-use as much of this aspossible. The drilling mud is kept as clean and free of contaminants such as drill cuttings and foreign matter, as possible. Drilling mud is typically cleaned by a succession of several types of equipment, including vibratory screening devicesgenerally termed "shale shakers". When drilling through sections of sandstone formations, use is normally made of a drilling fluid with a viscosity so high that conventional shakers can not provide sufficient gravitational force to separate the drilling mud from the solids. This is, inter alia, because the bonding between the drilling mud and the solids, and between the drilling mud and the screen cloth in the sieve apparatus, is too strong, among ot

High Density Mail Sorting Cart - Patent 8025155

Patents-329 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:19:41 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Wednesday, October 05, 2011

This invention relates to a cart and system for sorting of mail pieces such as flats and small parcels.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Both federal postal services and private couriers face the challenge of sorting, handling and delivering mail pieces that are larger than letter size, such as parcels and flats. Tilt tray sorters and cross belt sorters are often the primarymeans for automated sorting of such mail pieces, but the output of such sorters often requires manual handling. Little has been done to facilitate such manual handling. A typical tilt-tray or cross-belt sorter uses a series of carts mounting tilt tray or cross belt mechanisms. See for example Kofoed U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,209. The carts move around a generally oval shaped track or rail system that includes atleast one induction area at which new items can be placed on a cart for sorting and a series of unloading zones at which the cart is activated to unload the item to a collection site usually outside of the track on which the carts move. The track is nota true oval but most often a rectangular shape with curved ends. In connection with a commercial tray sorter known as the RSU tray sorter, the term "virtual sorter" was used to describe a tilt tray sorter with two or more induction points spaced along the perimeter of the oval track with multiple divertpoints (unloading areas) between induction points. The portion of the sorter that includes one induction point, its associated scanner, and the divert points between the induction point and the next induction point in the direction of travel of thesorter carts is considered one virtual sorter since within that segment the tray sorting machine performs all sorting functions along its length. A virtual sorter as the term is used herein has the foregoing meaning and may make use of any type ofclosed loop parcel sorting machine such as a cross-belt or tilt-tray sorter, or the equivalent. Sorting systems such as cross-belt or tilt-tray sorters are of

System And Method For Full Escort Mixed Mail Sorter Using Mail Clamps - Patent 8022329

Patents-329 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:15:55 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, October 04, 2011

The present invention relates generally to mail sorting, and more particularly to one-pass carrier sequence sorting, and multi-pass sorting systems.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many posts around the world are seeking to develop a more effective mail merging system that automatically merges all mail streams and sorts them to delivery sequence. The system should accomplish this merging at the step of carrier sequencesorting by merging all elements of the mail stream (letters, flats, periodicals, post cards etc) at the final sorting process. At present, some of the mail streams arrive at the postal branch offices pre-sorted, and some do not. Generally, even when the mail arrives at the branch already sorted by delivery sequence, postal carriers need to merge multiple streams ofmail (often as many as 10) from different mail trays--and for this the postal carriers generally use a manual sorting process. When mail does not arrive at the branch pre-sorted, the carriers spend-even more time--several hours--sorting the mail intocarrier delivery sequence manually. Often, the carrier on mechanized routes will complete the mail merging while sitting at each post box--merging mail from multiple mail trays on the spot before placing it in the mailbox. This requires carriers tospend substantial time merging and sorting the mail before they can start to deliver it, or else they must complete the merging while they are delivering the mail, thus making the mail delivery process (the last mile) quite inefficient. The instantinvention corrects that inefficiency in an automated manner that accommodates not only normal types of mail, but also mail pieces having exceptional physical characteristics. In 1990, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a Request for Proposal for a carrier sequence bar code sorter, type B, a single pass sorter to arrange mail in carrier delivery sequence. To date, 14 years later, no product has beenmanufactured and delivered to satisfy that need.

Device For Detecting Faulty Position And Separating Fasteners And Spacers As Well As Method - Patent 8022328

Patents-329 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:13:44 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Tuesday, October 04, 2011

BACKGROUND 1. Field The disclosed embodiments relate to a device for separating and detecting the faulty position of fasteners, more particularly blind rivets, in a continuously operating conveyor apparatus by means of which the fasteners are supplied to anautomated joining machine wherein each fastener in the normal case is followed by a spacer. Furthermore the disclosed embodiments relate to a method for separating and detecting the faulty position by means of the device. 2. Brief Description of Related Developments Automated riveting machines for joining large-format sheet metal parts in the aircraft industry are supplied with a continuous stream of blind rivets through supply tubes. In order to prevent the blind rivets from jamming in the supply tube orconveyor tube each blind rivet is followed by a spacer. An external diameter of the blind rivets and spacers is each time slightly smaller than an internal diameter of the supply tube. There are frequently faults as the supply tube is loaded with blindrivets and spacers. In these cases the blind rivets are introduced for example turned round by 180.degree. into the supply tube or a spacer is missing so that two blind rivets follow directly after one another. Such faulty positions of the blindrivets and missing spacers can lead to breakdowns in the operating cycle of the following automated riveting machine. Distinguishing between the spacers and blind rivets in the conveyor tube is carried out with a test fork. The opening width of thetest fork corresponds roughly to the cross-sectional geometry of the break-off pin of the inserted blind rivets. If the blind rivet lies with the correct orientation in the supply tube--that is the rivet body lies in the conveyor direction--then thefork can slide substantially free of resistance over the break-off pin, and the blind rivet is supplied via a switching gate to the rivet inserter of the automatic riveting machine. If on the other hand a spacer is located in t

Apparatus And Method For Separating Plastic Film From Waste - Patent 8016119

Patents-329 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:09:03 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, October 03, 2011

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for separating plastic film material from waste. Waste, other than specific types of industrial or agricultural waste generally contains substantial amounts of flexible plastics, such as filmmaterial of garbage bags and packaging material. For an effective recycling of plastic material, it is desirable to have such plastic film waste separated from the other waste. For the processing of categories of waste, it is desirable that the wastecontains no or very little plastic film material. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,506, Japanese patent application publ. No. 54 022 4777, European patent application 0 050 259 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,097, apparatuses are disclosed in which plastic film material is separated from waste by bringingwaste in contact with circulating hooks that engage plastic film material more than other material brought in contact with the hooks. The circulating hooks displace engaged film material away from the other waste and the engaged film material issubsequently disengaged from the hooks and transported away for further processing and storage. In these apparatuses, a stream of waste from which plastic film material is to be separated is caused to come in contact with the hooks by causing the waste to drop or slide to the hooks under the influence of gravity.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to achieve an effective separation of film material efficiently, by effectively engaging and disengaging film materials. According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing an apparatus for separating plastic film material from waste, having: a supply track for supplying waste, the supply track extending in a supply direction to its downstream end; and a plurality of hooks mounted on a drum for circulating the hooks along a trajectory through an engagement area near the supply track and through a disengagement area downstream of the engagement area; wherein the engagement a

Wash Down Dedusting Apparatus - Patent 8016116

Patents-329 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:09:01 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, October 03, 2011

The invention disclosed in this application is directed generally to the cleaning and handling of particulate materials, such as plastic pellets, grains, glass, and the like, and particularly to the cleaning of the dedusting apparatus followinga specific use of the apparatus to ready the dedusting apparatus for use with a different particulate material.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is well known, particularly in the field of transporting and using particulate materials, commonly powders, granules, pellets, and the like that it is important to keep product particles as free as possible of contaminants. Particulates areusually transported within a facility where they are to be mixed, packaged or used in a pressurized tubular system that in reality produces a stream of material that behaves somewhat like a fluid. As these materials move through the pipes, considerablefriction is generated not only among the particles themselves, but also between the tube walls and the particles in the stream. In turn, this friction results in the development of particle dust, broken particles, fluff, and streamers (ribbon-likeelements that can "grow" into quite long and tangled wads that will impede the flow of materials or even totally block the flow). The characteristics of such a transport system are quite well known, as is the importance and value of keeping productparticles as free as possible of contaminants. The term "contaminant" as used herein includes a broad range of foreign material as well as the broken particles, dust, fluff and streamers mentioned in the preceding paragraph. In any case, contaminants are detrimental to the production of ahigh quality product, and in some situations a health risk to employees of the producer and possibly even a source of danger in that some contaminants can produce a dust cloud which, if exposed to an ignition source, may explode. Considering product quality, and focusing on moldable plastics as a primary example, foreign material

System And Method For Eliminating Emissions From An Air Classification Device - Patent 8016117

Patents-329 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:08:51 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, October 03, 2011

BACKGROUND 1. Field Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for eliminating emissions from an air classification device. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to an air classification device having asubstantially closed loop system that prevents the emission of polluted air from the device. 2. Related Art A well known system to separate solids is an air classification device, which employs an upward air stream to separate the solids by density, shape, and weight. Air classification devices are used in numerous applications, such as graincleaning, de-dusting of plastic pellets, and separation of solids for recycling. For example, air classification devices are often used to separate solids resulting from the shredding of automobiles, household appliances, and other machinery comprisingvarious different types of material. Air classification devices are a continuous process, wherein the solids to be separated are fed into and out of the device via conveyors. The air classification device separates lighter solids from heavier solids. Depending on the solids to beseparated and the overall air pressure of the air classification device, a solid considered "light" for one device may be considered "heavy" for another device. Air classification devices are commonly used to separate light solids, such as carpet, seatcovering, some plastics, tire cords, insulation, and road dust and dirt, from heavier materials. In operation, the air classification device supplies an upward-moving air stream through an air classifier chamber. Concurrent with upward-moving air being supplied to the chamber, solids to be separated are provided at a general upper end ofthe chamber and allowed to fall through the chamber via gravity. For those solids that are light enough to be carried by the upward-moving air, the air stream and the light solids are then transported to a secondary separator, such as a cycloneseparator. The light solids

Digger Sifter With Ergonomic Handle - Patent 8016118

Patents-329 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:08:47 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, October 03, 2011

There are no related patent applications. The subject matter of the present invention did not receive federal government research and development funding.TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to an apparatus, device for locating and separating objects from a medium in which such objects are disposed and for use in conjunction with a metal detector. In particular, the present invention relatesto a device that allows a user to scoop and simultaneously sift a medium with one hand and forearm making it an ergonomic handle. Otherwise, the device may be hung from an article of clothing such as when not being used to sift through the medium.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There is an increasing trend in the number of people becoming interested in amateur prospecting, treasuring hunting, metal detecting, amateur geology, and amateur archaeology. A metal detector may be used to pursue these various activities byidentifying metallic objects arranged within the surface of the earth. In many instances, these activities may take place in beach sand. During these "beachcombing" operations, a user walks along a beach carrying a metal detector. A distal end of themetal detector includes a sensor coil. A proximal end includes a grip and/or arm support with control electronics, a power source and an indicator means. The indicator means alerts the user when the sensor coil passes across or in near proximity to ametallic object. The inventor, Mr. Charles A. Boll, has attempted, through trial and error, to arrive at a suitable apparatus which could be used both for digging, scooping and for sifting metallic objects from sand and other dirt taken from the earth. Thus,the device is known as a digger sifter with ergonomic handle. The prior art fails to satisfy the inventor's needs and possesses numerous disadvantages over the present invention. Typically, the prior art devices cannot be easily carried or suspended ina hand-free manner on the user when not in use.

Waste Separation Apparatus - Patent 8016115

Patents-329 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:08:06 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, October 03, 2011

The present invention relates to apparatus for separating waste. It is becoming increasingly important for sustainable living to recycle waste generated domestically, commercially and industrially. Such waste, refuse and trash can be classified into different types of recyclables including metals, plastics,glass, paper and organics. Each type requires a different form of processing to allow the different types to be recycled. Therefore, there is a need to provide an apparatus to separate the different types of recyclables. The activity of separating waste, such as plastic bags, from other waste, such as plastic bottles, is often undertaken by an individual or individuals who manually separate the waste. Such manual separation is inefficient and limited to thespeed at which the individual or individuals operates. The efficiency is also affected by errors that occur in the manual separation process. An alternative to manual separation is to use air knives. An air knife is used in a recursive recycling process to separate lighter waste from other waste using a series of laminar airflows. Laminar airflows allow the waste to be moved in thedirection in which air flows. However, the flow of the air may be disrupted or distorted by heavier waste, causing the airflow to be reduced in power, or misdirected, reducing the air knives' waste separation effect. It is an aim of preferred embodiments of the present invention to address problems associated with waste separation apparatus whether identified herein or otherwise. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there provided a waste separation apparatus comprising: a vortex initiator for creating an airflow; and a vortex generator for forming a vortex from the airflow; wherein the vortex generatoris arranged to direct the airflow from the vortex initiator towards the waste to be separated. Suitably, the vortex generator comprises a drum for forming a vortex from the airflow directed to the waste to be se

Macro Sorting System And Method - Patent 8013267

Patents-329 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:51:08 GMT

shared by: Patents-329 on: Monday, October 03, 2011

The present invention relates generally to sorting of mail, and more particularly to improved mail sorting efficiencies.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many posts around the world are seeking to develop a more effective mail merging system that automatically merges all mail streams and sorts them to as fine a degree as time permits, preferably to delivery sequence. The system should accomplishthis merging at the step of carrier sequence sorting by merging all elements of the mail stream (letters, flats, periodicals, post cards etc.) at some point during the sorting process. At present, some of the mail streams arrive at the postal branch offices sorted in delivery sequence and some do not. Generally, even when the mail arrives at the branch already sorted to delivery sequence, postal carriers need to mergemultiple streams of mail (often as many as ten streams) from different mail trays--and for this, the postal carriers generally use a manual sorting process. When mail does not arrive at the branch already sorted, the carriers spend even moretime--several hours--sorting the mail into carrier delivery sequence manually. Often, the carrier on mechanized routes will complete the mail merging while sitting at each post box--merging mail from multiple mail trays on the spot before placing it inthe mailbox. This requires carriers to spend substantial time merging and sorting the mail before they can start to deliver it, or else they must complete the merging while they are delivering the mail, thus making the mail delivery process (the lastmile) quite inefficient. In 1990, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a Request for Proposal for a carrier sequence bar code sorter, type B, a single pass sorter to arrange mail in carrier delivery sequence. To date, 16 years later, no product has yet beenmanufactured and delivered to satisfy that need. The 2003 Presidential Commission Report on the Future of the United States Postal Service (USPS) concluded that the Posta