Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Ransburg Corporation

Wilsonart LLC

Premark Rwp Holdings, Inc.

James W Stone

Donald L Van Erden

Alan J Varacins

Jason Charles Lintker

Mark C Curran

Frederick A Kish

John P Wojcik

Paul R Harding

Michael J McMahon

Paul A Tilman

Jeffrey M Stupar

Wen-Feng Liu

Parimal M Vadhar

Christopher R Merritt

Ghazi M Khattab

Philip B Lo Presti

David E Fredericksen

David E Frederickson

Donald P Schaefer

Anthony Lambert

Parimal M Vedhar

Lutz H Reitzel

A pan chiller system including a refrigeration package having a condensing unit, a heat exchanger and a pump for circulating a chilled liquid coolant, a pan chiller unit in communication with the refrigeration package and having an outer housing and a food well received within the outer housing and a plurality of hollow divider bars arranged within the food well. An opening is defined between adjacent divider bars, wherein each divider bar is configured for directly receiving the liquid coolant chilled and circulated by the refrigeration package.

Pan chiller system having liquid coolant in direct contact with dividing walls

A decorative laminate includes a laminate substrate coated with an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer is a layer of a physically setting, solvent-free adhesive material including an acrylic polymer. The adhesive layer is self-adhesive at room temperature. The adhesive-coated laminate substrate has a peeling-off force of at least 0.2 N/mm, after application on a carrier. A method for the production of the adhesive-coated laminate substrate, its use as a coating material, and a composite of the adhesive-coated laminate substrate and a carrier material are also provided.

Self-adhesive laminate and method of making it

A pan chiller system including a refrigeration package having a condensing unit, a heat exchanger and a pump for circulating a chilled liquid coolant, a pan chiller unit in communication with the refrigeration package and having an outer housing and a food well received within the outer housing and a plurality of hollow divider bars arranged within the food well and an opening is defined between adjacent divider bars, wherein each divider bar is configured for directly receiving the liquid coolant chilled and circulated by the refrigeration package.

A clamping head assembly for clamping a first member to a second member at a miter joint, where the clamping head assembly includes a first fence member with a first positioning edge for positioning an edge of the first member and a second fence member that is movable and includes a second positioning edge for positioning an edge of the second member. The second positioning edge is arranged at an angle with respect to the first positioning edge. Additionally, the first fence member and the second fence member are configured and arranged so that the angle is approximately bisected by the miter joint formed between the first and second members. The second fence member is movable in a direction that is approximately perpendicular to the miter joint, whereby a normal force is generated upon the miter joint. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a frame making machine that includes the clamping head assembly just described.

Clamping mechanism for frame assembly

A method and apparatus for low cost thermal printing in a thermal printer having a software controlled thermal print head that moves in relation to a print ribbon disposed adjacent to a print area of a printed medium. The thermal print head is selectively energized to heat the print ribbon which deposits the ink onto the printed medium as the print head moves in relation to the print ribbon in a print stroke. The cost of printing is decreased by efficient use of the ink on the print ribbon. Between print strokes, the print ribbon is displaced an incremental interval to position an unused portion of the print ribbon for printing on the printed medium during a subsequent print stroke. The precise displacement of the print ribbon may be software controlled based on the detection of indices disposed at spaced intervals along the print ribbon which further increases the efficient usage of ink on the print ribbon. The utilization of ink on the print ribbon is made more efficient by a software controlled generation of an italic or gray shade character font, which require less ink than solid block character fonts. Using less ink on the print ribbon, permits a decrease in the print ribbon displacement interval between print strokes, and also permits some portions of the print ribbon to be over-lapped by the print head during a subsequent print stroke. The utilization of ink on the print ribbon may also be made more efficient by mechanical or software controlled linear and lateral shifts of the printed characters during subsequent print strokes, which permits the utilization of ink between areas on the print ribbon where ink was depleted in a previous print stroke.

Method and apparatus for low cost thermal printing

Method and apparatus for improved low cost thermal printing

A continuous, automated method and apparatus for transporting and electrostatically powder coating articles such as fasteners. Articles in an unoriented state are oriented one behind another, transferred in succession to and magnetically retained on a face of a rotating feed wheel at a first position with respect to the feed wheel, transported to a second position by rotation of the feed wheel, transferred in succession at the second position to a respective portion of a moving conveyor, and releasably suspended magnetically and electrically grounded at the respective portion of the conveyor. Magnets used to suspend the articles from the conveyor are shielded from direct contact with the articles to avoid coating the magnets. While the articles remain suspended magnetically from the conveyor by their end portions, they are conveyed through a coating booth where they are electrostatically powder coated.

Method for electrostatic powder coating of fasteners magnetically

A continuous, automated method and apparatus for transporting and electrostatically coating articles including providing a plurality of articles in an unoriented bulk state, each article having a first end portion, orienting each article and transporting them into a desired position, transferring each article in succession to a moving conveyor, suspending each article from the conveyor by its end portion and conveying the articles for electrostatic coating and curing.

Method and apparatus for electrostatic coating of articles

A powder coating booth and a construction method therefor comprise a pair of inflatable polymer walls defining between them a booth inner space, a booth entry end and a booth exit end, and supporting the inflatable walls in spaced orientation to define between them the booth inner space. A mechanism is provided between the walls for recovery of powder which does not adhere to articles conveyed through the booth inner space. The polymer walls comprise one or more cells. The step of providing the polymer walls comprises inflating the cells. The method also includes the step of covering the cells with a sheet of polymer film forming an envelope for the cells. Illustratively, the cells comprise a layer of bubble packaging material. Alternatively, the polymer walls comprise thermoformed cores and a polymer film envelope enveloping each core and closed to provide suitable inflation of each wall. Illustratively, the inflatable walls are supported in spaced orientation by a conventional powder spray booth. The inflatable walls are mounted to inside walls of the conventional spray booth by, for example, synthetic hook and eyelet material.

Powder application booth liner and method of making it

A conveyor belt zipper has complementary connectable halves disposed on each end of the conveyor belt. Those halves have a plurality of teeth and recesses thereon, with the teeth being insertable into the recesses. The teeth are of different sizes, are supported by either a thick or a thin section of the half, or are constructed of either a flexible, or a inflexible material. Also, a reinforcing member can be attached to the halves in order to achieve the desired relative flexibility. In this manner, the zipper has sufficient strength to withstand tension due to a load on the belt, while also having sufficient flexibility to rotate easily around an end roller of the conveyor assembly.

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Northbrook, IL, United States of America

James W Stone