Brian E Busse, 69125 Talmadge St, Madison, WI 53704

6338607, Jan 15, 2002

Jan 19, 1999

09/180170

Patris E. Vincent - Madison WI
Brian E. Busse - Randolph WI

Arrowhead Systems LLC - Randolph WI

B65G 5902

4147965, 4147899, 414799, 414927

A palletizer ( ) for stacking a series of items on a pallet (P), the palletizer ( ) including a pallet hoist ( ) for supporting a stuck of pallets therein; a pallet lift mechanism ( ) mounted for vertical movement within the pallet hoist ( ) adjacent to and relative to the stack of pallets (P), the pallet lift assembly ( ) including a pair of spaced, opposed pallet support members ( ) mounted on the pallet lift assembly ( ) for movement between a retracted position wherein there is clearance between the pallet support member ( ) and the stack of pallets, and an extended position wherein the pallet support member ( ) is in an interference position relative to the stack of pallets; a top frame dispenser ( ) for supporting a supply of top frames (T); and a carriage for moving pallets and top frames from the pallet hoist ( ) and the top frame dispenser ( ), respectively.

6398461, Jun 4, 2002

Jun 15, 2000

09/509630

Patris E. Vincent - Madison WI
Brian E. Busse - Randolph WI
George J. Congreve - Michigan City IN

Arrowhead Systems LLC - Randolph WI

B65G 5103

406 79, 406 82, 406 88

A container handling system ( ) comprises a first belt conveyor ( ), an air bed conveyor ( ) adjacent the outlet ( ) of the first belt conveyor ( ), a second belt conveyor ( ) adjacent the outlet ) of the air bed conveyor ( ), a pattern forming apparatus ( ) including first and second partitions ( ) defining therebetween a lane ( ), a top cover ( ) slidably positionable over the air bed conveyor ( ) and over a portion of the pattern forming apparatus ( ), and an alignment mechanism ( ). The lane ( ) has an inlet ( ) positioned over the air bed conveyor ( ) and an outlet ( ) positioned over the second belt conveyor ( ). The top cover ( ) is movable along the direction of flow of containers (C) between covered and uncovered positions. The top cover includes a solid portion ( ), and a perforated portion ( ) allowing air to flow therethrough. The alignment mechanism ( ) aligns the top cover ( ) relative to the pattern forming apparatus ( ) when the top cover ( ) is in the covered position.

6402455, Jun 11, 2002

Jan 19, 1999

09/180168

Patris E. Vincent - Madison WI
Brian E. Busse - Randolph WI

Arrowhead Systems LLC - Randolph WI

B65G 5710

4147895, 4147899, 414793, 414799, 4147946, 271 91

A palletizer assembly is comprised of a conveyor ( ), a pattern-making apparatus ( ) for arranging objects received from the conveyor into a pattern, a main hoist ( ) for supporting a pallet in position to receive a layer of objects, a sweep apparatus ( ) for moving a discrete number of objects from the pattern-making apparatus into a layer of objects on the pallet, and a separator sheet handler assembly ( ) for delivering separator sheets to the main hoist for separating layers of objects on the pallet. The separator sheet handler assembly ( ) includes a first stage handler ( ) including a chute ( ), for moving a single separator sheet into the chute. The separator sheet handle assembly ( ) also includes a second stage handler ( ) for moving the sheet from the chute ( ) into position in the main hoist ( ).

6561752, May 13, 2003

Oct 1, 2001

09/968115

Patris E. Vincent - Madison WI
Brian E. Busse - Randolph WI

Arrowhead Systems LLC - Randolph WI

B65G 5902

4147969, 4147967, 414927

A palletizer for stacking a series of items on a pallet, the palletizer including a pallet hoist for supporting a stack of pallets therein; a pallet lift mechanism mounted for vertical movement within the pallet hoist adjacent to and relative to the stack of pallets, the pallet lift assembly including a pair of spaced, opposed pallet support members mounted on the pallet lift assembly for movement between a retracted position wherein there is clearance between the pallet support member and the stack of pallets, and an extended position wherein the pallet support member is in an interference position relative to the stack of pallets; a top frame dispenser for supporting a supply of top frames; and a carriage for moving pallets and top frames from the pallet hoist and the top frame dispenser, respectively. The carriage includes a carrier having an upper surface, a pallet support mounted on the upper surface to support a pallet thereon, a lower surface, a clamp mounted on the lower surface and a clamp actuator connected to the clamp. The carrier has a width that is less than the distance between the spaced pallet support members.

6910687, Jun 28, 2005

Jul 13, 2000

10/030853

Jeff G. Van Nice - Beaver Dam WI, US
Dennis A. VanderHoeven - Beaver Dam WI, US
Brian E. Busse - Randolph WI, US

Arrowhead Systems LLC - Randolph WI

B65H003/14

271 98, 209549

The present invention is embodied in a separator sheet handling assembly () that includes a lifting assembly () adapted to receive a pallet () containing a stack of separator sheets (). The lifting assembly () positions the stack of separator sheets () into a predetermined location where a feed assembly () engages a separator sheet () positioned at the top of the stack of separator sheets (). The feed assembly () removes the separator sheet () and transports it to a test assembly () where the separator sheet () is monitored for a particular characteristic such as cleanlines or structural integrity. The separator sheet () is delivered to a first storage assembly () if the separator sheet () has the particular characteristic, or a second storage assembly () if the separator sheet () does not include the particular characteristic.

7322574, Jan 29, 2008

Jan 11, 2005

11/033191

Jeff G. Van Nice - Beaver Dam WI, US
Dennis A. VanderHoeven - Beaver Dam WI, US
Brian E. Busse - Randolph WI, US

Busse/SJI Corporation - Randolph WI

B65H 5/02
B65H 39/10
B07C 5/00

271 12, 271298, 209576, 209577

The present invention is embodied in a separator sheet handling assembly that includes a lifting assembly adapted to receive a pallet containing a stack of separator sheets. The lifting assembly positions the stack of separator sheets into a predetermined location where a feed assembly engages a separator sheet positioned at the top of the stack of separator sheets. The feed assembly removes the separator sheet and transports it to a test assembly where the separator sheet is monitored for a particular characteristic such as cleanliness or structural integrity. The separator sheet is delivered to a first storage assembly if the separator sheet has the particular characteristic, or a second storage assembly if the separator sheet does not include the particular characteristic.

7715615, May 11, 2010

Feb 25, 2005

11/065817

Jeff G. Van Nice - Beaver Dam WI, US
Dennis A. VanderHoeven - Beaver Dam WI, US
Brian E. Busse - Madison WI, US

Busse/SJI Corporation - Randolph WI

G06K 9/00

382149, 209549, 271 98, 382152

A test assembly is used to determine a characteristic of a separator sheet. The test assembly includes a source of light to illuminate at least a portion of the separator sheet. The test assembly also includes a vision inspection system to record at least one discrete image of the illuminated surface of the separator sheet and apply at least one test to the discrete image to determine the characteristic of the separator sheet.

2004000, Jan 1, 2004

Jun 30, 2003

10/610109

Brian Busse - Randolph WI, US

Busse/SJI, Corp. - Randolph WI

B65G047/26
B65G047/68

198/442000, 198/437000, 198/617000

An article row former for arranging an unorganized stream of articles into a plurality of rows. The row former includes a conveyor for conveying articles in a flow direction and a frame. A support assembly is slideably coupled to the frame for movement above the conveyor substantially parallel to the flow direction, and a carriage assembly is slideably coupled to the frame for movement above the conveyor substantially perpendicular to the flow direction. Each of a plurality of elongated guides has an upstream end that is pivotally coupled to the support assembly, and a downstream end that is pivotally coupled to the carriage assembly. The guides define a plurality of guide channels that receive the articles. Each of a plurality of starwheels is rotatably coupled to the downstream end of a respective guide, and rotate in timed relation with the movement of the carriage assembly to control the release of articles from the guide channels.