Shredded tobacco is carded by feeding it to a tower down which the tobacco gravitates against an airstream. The tower is formed of opposed walls of zigzag shape. The inner peaks of the zigzags touch planes that converge downwardly and are spaced apart. Tobacco thus falls in countercurrent to an airstream with constantly decreasing velocity and passes successive areas of vortex flow as it gravitates down.

Methods of preforming shoe uppers are provided using molds of a novel shape. The shape of the mold is such that the material is not stretched more than, in preferred embodiments, about 25 percent. The mold corresponds to the shape of the whole upper but is flatter than the last, is preferably unitary but can be in two or more parts. The methods involve heating the material and carrying out a pressure differential forming operation. Mechanical movement of the molds into the material, just prior t...

Gear making machine of the type in which a workpiece undergoes continuous indexing rotation with respect to a rotating cutter, the cutter being rotated through a worm, the worm being mounted for translation along its axis to superimpose upon the indexing rotation of the cutter a differential cutter rotation related to the feed of a workpiece slide through a cutting cycle, including a rotationally driven cam mounted endwise of the worm to produce the worm translation in correspondence to the rise...

A trial tool for injection moulding is made by subjecting a cast Zn alloy tool blank to rapid EDM, using a first electrode and a relatively large EDM gap, to produce a coarse surface closely approximating to the required shape, and then subjecting the coarse tool to slow EDM, using a second electrode and a smaller EDM gap, to produce a trial tool having an operative surface of the required shape. A production tool is then made by subjecting a cast steel tool blank to rapid EDM, using the second ...

Fiberfilling material is converted into fiberballs by an air-assisted rolling process in a turbulent air mill. Such a continuous process shows significant advantages over prior suggestions, with regard to productivity and flexibility.

An ice product is disclosed having improved liquid displacement characteristics and which is of a configuration which provides for splash resistance and resistance to bridging between adjacently stored products. The apparatus and method for producing the improved ice product is disclosed in the form of an ice making machine having one or more combination evaporator and ice form assemblies, each of the assemblies being provided with a plurality of pockets or recesses in which the ice product is f...

Gear making apparatus of the type in which a rotary cutter has linear cutting edges, a relative feed motion is provided between the cutter and a continuously indexing workpiece to approximate the profile generating motion of an imaginary rack conjugate to the profiles to be generated, and the cutting edges lie in a longitudinally concave surface of revolution about the cutter axis and provide crowned gear teeth, the direction of the cutter axis being altered to bring the profile generating cutti...

In the manufacture of moulds or mould cores, refractory sand, a resin binder and a catalyst are passed into a mixer to form a free-flowing mixture from which the moulds or mould cores are made. As the sand is fed into the mixer it is cooled by contact with an atmospheric gas in liquid or solid state or the cold vapor of such a gas so as to keep the temperature of the sand as it enters the mixer below that at which the resin cures. To enable the sand to be delivered below a chosen temperature fro...

A shoe upper preforming apparatus includes a clamp for gripping the forepart of a fully closed upper to be preformed, a backpart mould, and a forepart mould. Actuators are provided for first moving the backpart mould along an arcuate path into a moulding position within the upper and thereafter moving the forepart mould into the moulding position. The movement of the forepart mould comprises bodily movement having components both upwards and forwards relative to the shoe upper and rotary movemen...

Methane-containing gases are produced by passing a hydrocarbon feedstock having a boiling point of not greater than 350.degree. C. and steam over a catalyst at an elevated pressure and at a temperature of from 350.degree. C. to 550.degree. C. at the inlet of the catalyst and an exit of temperature of at least 450.degree. C., the catalyst comprising a reduced catalyst precursor which is resistant to deactivation by polymer formation or by sintering, the catalyst precursor containing (1) from 0 to...