A portable conveyor belt splicing apparatus is provided that includes an upper press assembly and a lower press assembly which include, respectively, upper and lower platen assemblies. The upper and lower press assemblies may each include a forced air cooling system for rapidly cooling platens of the platen assemblies. The upper and lower press assemblies may include insulating assemblies with resilient members that support the upper and lower press assemblies. The resilient members provide structural support and insulate the platens from the frame which reduces the power required to heat the platens. In one form, the apparatus includes a power supply circuit that can alternate between providing power to upper and lower heaters in response to the apparatus being connected to different types of standard power supplies. Further, the power supply circuit permits the use of a single recipe for a particular belt irrespective of the type of power supply.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for thermally treating webs which comprise thermoplastic respectively meltable compounds, thereby creating cylindrical or elliptic consolidation regions which may optionally comprise an aperture by employing a thermal energy source, such as ultrasonic energy, as well as to webs comprising elliptic consolidation regions. In a particular aspect the invention concerns apparatus and methods for creating the consolidation regions by using an anvil with a contact member that is supported by support ribs in its outer or proximal portion.

A radially expansible press plunger has a base plate, a first expansion tool and a second expansion tool. The first expansion tool and the second expansion tool are movable in relation to each other in the axial direction. The first expansion tool has at least one inclined plane surface. The second expansion tool has at least one inclined plane surface corresponding to the at least one inclined plane surface on the first expansion tool. Each inclined plane surface on the first expansion tool contacts and applies pressure to the corresponding inclined plane surface of the second expansion tool when the expansible press plunger is in the radially expanded state. An attachment unit for attaching a container sealing element to a container body and a method for attaching a container sealing element to a container body are also disclosed.