A transfer and coating apparatus transfers a component from a conveyor to a coating station for application of a coating. The transfer apparatus includes a mast that can move about orthogonal axes in a horizontal plane and a mast having a carriage that can move vertically. The carriage includes a hook that swings about a horizontal axis relative to the mast for movement of the component in the horizontal direction. A sway bar extends between the hook and component to inhibit movement about a horizontal axis. The component is delivered to an upper compartment of a coating apparatus where it can be lowered in to a lower compartment containing coating material. Excess coating material is removed by an array of nozzles in the upper compartment as the component is raised from the coating material. The orientation of the nozzles is adjustable during removal of the coating material.

The present disclosure provides a device and method for powder distribution and an additive manufacturing method, wherein different size or kind of powders could be chosen to be accommodated within a receptacle. The receptacle can uniformly mix the powder by a rotation movement, pour out the powders by the rotation movement and distribute the powders for forming a layer by a translation movement. In another embodiment, the receptacle further comprises a heating element for preheating the powders. Not only can the present disclosure uniformly mix the powders so as to reduce the thermal deformation and distribute the powder layer compactly, but also can the present disclosure distribute different kinds of powder in different layer so as to increase the diversity in additive manufacturing.

A coating production line system for coating work pieces comprises a coating powder, a coating apparatus, an inspection unit to measure the thickness of the applied coating, a conveyor unit to move the work pieces through the system, and a control unit to use thickness requirements and coating parameters to control the coating apparatus based on said coating parameters with a machine learning instance. A database comprises coating powder characteristics parameter as input vector for the machine learning instance for generating an output vector to control the coating apparatus being a first additional part vector. The control unit determines the coating quality based on a comparison between the thickness data acquired from the inspection unit and the retrieved thickness requirement data as second additional part vector. The first and second additional part vectors are fed back as additional parts to the next input vector for the machine learning instance.

A food topping dispenser includes a hopper having a pair of sidewalls, a back wall and a front wall defining an open unobstructed interior sized to receive a supply of food topping. An application roller is positioned in a discharge opening of the hopper and is rotatably mounted in and between the sidewalls. The application roller has an exterior surface configured to receive and retain the food topping from the discharge opening. A wiper element is mounted on a lower end of the back wall outside the open interior in the discharge opening, and is positioned above the application roller for engagement with the food topping received from the discharge opening. A stripping brush element is mounted on a lower end of the front wall outside the open interior in the discharge opening for engagement with the exterior surface of the application roller for removing food topping retained therein.

An aircraft for distributing granular material on a target area is provided. The aircraft includes an electric sifter, which includes a motor to distribute the granular material on the target area and a screen on the bottom surface of the electric sifter. The screen allows the granular material to pass through the screen to the target area. The aircraft also includes a circuit to activate the motor, one or more power sources to power the motor and the circuit, and an interface for an operator to control the circuit. The granular material is stored in the electric sifter. The operator manipulates the interface to signal the circuit to activate the motor. The electric sifter distributes the granular material when the motor is activated.

The present disclosure provides a device and method for powder distribution and an additive manufacturing method, wherein different size or kind of powders could be chosen to be accommodated within a receptacle. The receptacle can uniformly mix the powder by a rotation movement, pour out the powders by the rotation movement and distribute the powders for forming a layer by a translation movement. In another embodiment, the receptacle further comprises a heating element for preheating the powders. Not only can the present disclosure uniformly mix the powders so as to reduce the thermal deformation and distribute the powder layer compactly, but also can the present disclosure distribute different kinds of powder in different layer so as to increase the diversity in additive manufacturing.

A direct to film (DTF) transfer adhesive application unit with a vertical curing area overcomes space constraints associated with conventional DTF systems having a horizontal curing area.

A reactor for coating particles includes a stationary vacuum chamber to hold a bed of particles to be coated, a chemical delivery system, and a paddle assembly. The paddle assembly includes a rotatable drive shaft and a first plurality of paddles and a second plurality of paddles that extend radially from the drive shaft. The spacing, cross-sections, and oblique angles of the paddles are such that orbiting of the paddles causes the first plurality of paddles and the second plurality of paddles to displace substantially equal volumes in opposite directions in the lower portion of the stationary vacuum chamber.

Disclosed are a hopper for storing and discharging powder and a powder supply apparatus including the same. The hopper includes a body having a hollow structure that is open at the top and bottom and an inclined passage connected to a lower end of the body, the inclined passage being configured to gradually narrow downward. The body includes a reverse-inclined portion having a structure that gradually widens toward a lower end, enabling smooth discharge of the powder.

A dry electrode manufacturing device is disclosed. The dry electrode manufacturing device may include: an inserting part that supplies an electrode powder for dry electrode manufacturing; a guide chute that passes through the electrode powder supplied from the inserting part; a dispersing rod provided in the guide chute to disperse the electrode powder and adjust a particle size distribution of the electrode powder; and a rolling roll that compresses the electrode powder distributed to have an adjusted, uniform particle size into an electrode member in the form of a sheet that has a set or predetermined thickness.