A Thermal Bonding Method and Apparatus to thermally bond sheets of fill in a cooling tower fill pack. The apparatus creates a hemispherical joint extending through two fill sheets to provide a substantial joint between said sheets.

A first sheet panel is folded along a first fold line, and thereby a first folded part is formed in the first sheet panel. Subsequently, the first folded part is folded back along a second fold line, and thereby a folded-back part is formed in the first sheet panel. A corner cut device cuts a second sheet panel and the folded-back part to form corner cut parts. At this time, the corner cut device prevents the first folded part and a base part of the first sheet panel from being cut.

A method, medium, and system to receive an indication of an assembly including a plurality of different components to produce by additive manufacturing (AM), determine based on a forward search process that starts with individual components of the plurality of components and iteratively adds other components of the plurality of components thereto in combinations until an entirety of the assembly is accounted for, determine based on a reverse search process that starts with the entirety of the assembly and iteratively removes components of the plurality of components therefrom in combinations until a two-component set is reached, automatically select an optimal combination of the plurality of components from the combinations determined by the forward search and reverse search processes; and transmit the selection of the optimal combination of the plurality of components to an AM controller.

A fiber placement system including a fiber placement station at a first location, the fiber placement station including a tool and a fiber placement assembly configured to construct a reinforcement layup on the tool, the first fiber placement assembly including a compaction roller rotatable about an axis of rotation, the compaction roller at least partially defining a nip, a thermoplastic composite ply extending through the nip and a heating unit positioned to heat the thermoplastic composite ply proximate the nip, and a consolidation station at a consolidation location, the consolidation location being different from the first location, the consolidation station including a consolidation tool and a consolidation system configured to consolidate a reinforcement layup assembly that includes the reinforcement layup.

A Thermal Bonding Method and Apparatus to thermally bond sheets of fill in a cooling tower fill pack. The apparatus creates a hemispherical joint extending through two fill sheets to provide a substantial joint between said sheets.

A human tissue isolation pouch for use with a sealer machine to indirectly seal human tissue medical pouches while avoiding cross contamination is herein disclosed. The human tissue isolation pouch comprises a rigid frame supporting a high temperature material and having one or more magnets for removably attaching the human tissue isolation pouch to a sealer machine. During use a medical pouch, which may contain a human tissue sample, is inserted within the human tissue isolation pouch. The jaws of the sealer machine clamp down directly on the high temperature material, thus indirectly heating and sealing the medical pouch inside the human tissue isolation pouch. The sealing machine jaws do not physically contact the medical pouch at any time during the sealing process, and in this way contamination of the sealer machine (and cross contamination of medical pouches from distinct donor cases) is avoided. The rigid frame of the human tissue isolation pouch may be sterilized after each donor event. And the containment bag formed of a high temperature material may be disposed of after each donor event.

A process for producing a surface covering with an embossed printed surface is described. A substrate (16) is continuously moved through a production line, and this substrate (16) is first provided, in a printing equipment (12), with a printed pattern and thereafter, in an embossing equipment (14), with an embossed pattern, which is registered with the printed pattern. The printing equipment (12) produces the printed pattern in-line with the production of the embossed pattern. During printing in the printing equipment (12), the printed pattern is stretched or compressed, dynamically responsive to indicators of misalignments between the printed pattern and the embossed pattern, so as to correct or prevent the misalignments. A production line for carrying out this process is also proposed.

A process for producing a surface covering with an embossed printed surface is described. A substrate (16) is continuously moved through a production line, and this substrate (16) is first provided, in a printing equipment (12), with a printed pattern and thereafter, in an embossing equipment (14), with an embossed pattern, which is registered with the printed pattern. The printing equipment (12) produces the printed pattern in-line with the production of the embossed pattern. During printing in the printing equipment (12), the printed pattern is stretched or compressed, dynamically responsive to indicators of misalignments between the printed pattern and the embossed pattern, so as to correct or prevent the misalignments. A production line for carrying out this process is also proposed.

A method for monitoring a tubular bag machine having a drive control system and independently controlled electronic drive units controlled by a drive control system for driving functional elements of the packing machine in a cycle time-synchronous manner in predefined motion sequences, one drive unit being a transverse sealing unit with a drive motor and two transverse sealing jaws for transversely sealing a film tube, and the drive motor torque measured using a drive controller, and the drive motor position measured using a position sensor, the method including moving the film tube into the sealing zone between the transverse sealing jaws, closing the jaws according to a predefined target torque stored in the drive control system, measuring the actual position of the drive motor upon reaching the target torque, and comparing the measured position to a target position stored in the drive control system associated with the predefined target torque.

A method of protecting a repair joint having at least two workpieces joined by a fastener includes selecting a preformed functional body based on at least one joint characteristic and applying the preformed functional body to cover the fastener and at least a portion of one of the workpieces. Generally, the preformed functional body inhibits contamination or moisture ingress at a joint interface, and especially in a repair operation. The preformed functional body in one form defines a material that undergoes a color change to indicate a state of cure, and in another form is cured by UV light, moisture, or heat after application.