Classifying, separating, and assorting solids inventions 03/07

20070068852 - Separator system and method of separating materials: A separator system may include a first trough having an inlet end, a downstream, outlet end and a trough floor, a first screen section supported in the trough spaced from the trough floor, the first screen section having a first end and a second downstream end, a material-retaining surface disposed... Agent: Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP

20070068853 - Screening module: A screening module for a screening assembly includes a panel member having a periphery defined by a pair of opposed, parallel sides and a pair of opposed parallel ends. A mounting formation is arranged about at least a part of the periphery of the panel member for mounting the panel... Agent: Patterson & Sheridan, L.L.P.

20070068854 - Article sortation system: An article sortation system includes a plurality of transport units which are movable along a conveying path between induction stations and discharge stations along each side of the conveying path. Each transport unit has side by side loading and support capability and is operable to receive packages from induction stations... Agent: Van Dyke, Gardner, Linn And Burkhart, LLP

20070062850 - Apparatus for discriminating sheet material: The present invention provides an apparatus for discriminating the kind of a sheet material, comprising: a substrate having a recessed portion; a press member situated so that a sheet material can be deflected using the recessed portion; a support member that is deformed as the sheet material situated to cover... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, LLP

20070062851 - Method and device for distributing packages and other similar dispatched articles: In a method for distributing packages or similar dispatched articles, packages that are to be transported from a private and/or commercial sender to an addressee are acquired in a collecting location. In this collecting location, the packages are provided with a package code that has electronically detectable data, and subsequently,... Agent: Gudrun E. Huckett Draudt

20070062852 - Apparatus for object information detection and methods of using same: A system for determining information regarding at least one object, comprising: a sensor sensitive to capacitive coupling; at least one object adapted to create a capacitive coupling with the sensor when at least one signal is input to the sensor; a detector adapted to measure at least one output signal... Agent: Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-cohen LLP

20070056882 - Systems and methods for cleaning a batch of granular material: An apparatus (100) and method cleans a batch of pellets or granules prior to use in an extrusion process. Loose contaminants having material characteristics that are undersired for the extruded product are first removed (110) from the batch using a deduster. The deduster may also remove uncontaminated fines and fluff... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20070056883 - Topsoil screening device: A top soil screening device comprising a plurality of screening racks, each rack comprising a plurality of interdigitated moveable and stationary bars is described. Drive means moves the moveable rack up and down such that there is a fixed phase relationship between the moveable racks which evenly distributes the weight... Agent: Howard J. Walter Jr.

20070056884 - Sorting apparatus and methods: There is provided sorting apparatus wherein a particulate product stream (25) passes a concentrator (26) to feed product onto a conical dispersion plate (27) which delivers the product evenly in an annular mono-layer to a collimator comprising inner (30) and outer (31) product guides to produce, an annular, vertically directed... Agent: Brooks Kushman P.C.

20070056885 - Device for filling and removing containers for sorted mail: A device for filling and removing containers (8, 9) for sorted mail. The containers are filled from two sorting points (2, 3) of a sorting device (1) that are arranged in two rows one above the other and can be transferred to a storage and transport device (10). A telescopic... Agent: Young & Thompson

20070056886 - Sorting apparatus, mail processing system, and sorting method: In dispatch sorting, a sorting system requires an operator to input sorting information through an information input unit for mails whose sorting information could not be identified and sorts the mails into delivery stations based on the information input as the sorting information through the information input unit, as well... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070056887 - Sorting device: A device for blowing against individual pieces of a material flow conveyed via a freefall path or a link conveyor using a gaseous or liquid medium, comprising at least one connection opening (9) for the gaseous or liquid medium, as well as multiple blowing nozzles (16), via which the gaseous... Agent: William Collard Collard & Roe, P.C.

20070051668 - Apatite and method for producing the same, and apatite base material: The present invention relates to apatite that includes metal atoms having a photocatalytic function and other metal atoms, and the metal atoms having a photocatalytic function include metal atoms that absorb energy corresponding to light energy of visible light. By applying the apatite as a base material of various products... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20070051669 - Screening machine with removable feed hopper: The invention relates to an apparatus for screening particulate material comprising an elongated frame comprising a first end and a second end and a feed hopper reversibly attached to the first end of the elongated frame such that the feed hopper can be coupled and uncoupled from the elongated frame.... Agent: Patterson, Thuente, Skaar & Christensen, P.a.

20070051670 - Sorting machine: The present invention pertains to a slide for a gravity-fed sorting machine. An optimum gravity slide configuration comprises one or more channels, with or without dividing ribs, and a product guide. The product guide has support tabs integral to or otherwise extending from its perimeter. Those tabs allow the product... Agent: Crain, Caton & James

20070045157 - Recovery of pin chips from a chip washing reject stream: A recovery process and apparatus employing a pressure water washer to process wood chip wash water, to separate pin chips from sand and dirt contained in the wash water. Wash water from a chip wash system is supplied to a pressure washer having a cylindrical screening basket and a rotor... Agent: Stiennon & Stiennon

20070045158 - Layered vibratory material conditioning apparatus: A vibratory conditioner includes a plurality of screens having a planar surface through which there is a material feed opening, wherein each screen is retained in vertical alignment such that all planar surfaces are parallel, a chamber within which the parallel screens are retained, means for conditioning air within the... Agent: Carter J. White Legal Department M-i L.L.C.