Fabric items of dissimilar size and/or shape are manipulated and joined. A system includes a folding table for folding a fabric item. The folding table includes a first platen moveable relative to a second platen between a folded position and an unfolded position. The first platen is substantially coplanar with the second platen in the unfolded position. The second platen is disposed above the first platen in the folded position. The system includes a robot that includes a fold plate that is positioned with respect to a first fabric item to facilitate the folding of the first fabric item. The first fabric item is folded twice on the folding table such that first and second edges of the first fabric item can be aligned with corresponding first and second edges of a second fabric item. The first and second fabric items are joined at the respective first and second edges.

Annular structures formed using composite materials and systems and methods for forming annular structures using composite materials are provided. The composite materials can include fiber reinforced thermoplastic materials. The annular structures include a number of component parts. Each component part can be in the form of a strip of fiber reinforced thermoplastic material that extends around all or a portion of a circumference of the structure. The ends of the component parts can be staggered, so that they a placed at different locations about the circumference of the structure. Methods for forming annular composite structures include wrapping one or more strips of fiber reinforced thermoplastic material having one or more layers about a mandrel, and fusing the strips to form an integral annular structure.

A protective guard for a hand, finger or thumb includes a first thermoplastic layer heat welded to second thermoplastic layer. The second thermoplastic layer has a thickness that is greater than the thickness of the first thermoplastic layer.

A fin sealer and method to seal a radially outwardly directed fin of a tubular web structure by directing the fin through a nip between a first and a second fin sealing rollers while communicating heat to the fin through at least one of the fin sealing rollers is provided. The fin sealer is configured to maintain a nominal face-to-face relation between an outer annulus of the first fin sealing roller and an outer annulus of the second fin sealing roller with a flexible connection between a hub element of the second fin sealing roller with the outer annulus of the second fin sealing roller.

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.

The present invention discloses a heat fusing device for a smart trash receptacle, including: a heating wire for fusion-cutting and thermally sealing an open end of a trash bag, the heating wire being connected to a heat-fusing circuit; a base having heat-resistant and insulating properties, the base having a first end surface on which the heating wire is arranged; and a control mechanism communicatively coupled to the heat-fusing circuit for control thereof. The present invention also discloses a smart trash receptacle incorporating the heat fusing device and a method for controlling a heat fusing temperature. With the present invention, during automatic bagging by the smart trash receptacle, good contact between the heating wire and the trash bag can be ensured while preventing adhesion of the trash bag. This results in improved sealing quality and enables the fulfillment of two tasks, i.e., thermoplastic sealing and thermal fusion-cutting, in the same action of the heat fusing device. As a result, higher automatic bagging quality and reliability are obtainable at lower bagging control difficulty and reduced bagging cost. Moreover, control in the system is simplified, and the stability and reliability of the system are increased.

The method of bonding a first object (1) to a second object (2) uses a connector, the connector having a first sheet portion and a second sheet portion (32). The first sheet portion has at least one outwardly protruding first attachment portion (33), and the second sheet portion has at least one outwardly protruding second attachment portion (34). The connector (3) further has a spacer between the first and second sheet portions. For bonding, the first and second objects (1, 2) and the connector (3) are positioned relative to each other so that the connector is placed between the first and second objects. Then the first and second objects (1, 2) are pressed against each other while mechanical vibration energy impinges on the first and/or second object until a first flow portion of thermoplastic material of the first object in contact with the first attachment portion(s) and a second flow portion of thermoplastic material in contact with the second attachment portion(s) become flowable allowing the respective attachment portions (33, 34) to be pressed into material of the first and second object, respectively. After re-solidification of the flow portions, a positive-fit connection between the first and second objects via the connector results. The spacer defines a width (w) of a gap between the first and second objects (1, 2) after bonding.

An article is formed by joining two or more layers in a stable structure, containing at least one composite layer that can be melted, with tensile and shear strength. The article is assembled by one or more mechanical fasteners and melt adhesion regions.

A heating element for resistance welding of thermoplastic components includes an electrically conductive sheet with cut-outs, wherein a ratio of cut-outs to electrically conductive sheet changes at least along a transverse direction of the sheet, so that an electrical resistance of the sheet has a maximum at a center of the sheet. A welding kit includes the heating element and an electrical insulation layer. A method of manufacturing the heating element, and a method of employing the heating element for welding two thermoplastic components to one another are disclosed.

A bonded composite joint includes a first carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) panel; a second CFRP panel; a corrugated structure placed between the first and second CFRP panels; and an adhesive placed between the first and second CFRP panels and in contact with the corrugated structure. The corrugated structure has a shape defined by a given wavelength λ.