Feeding articles to successive stations for treatment
First Claim
1. Apparatus for feeding ones of articles and positioning the same at one or more stations along a path traversed by the articles, comprising;
- means for guidably advancing the articles in a single file manner to and beyond the stations successively located along the path;
means for shuttling transversely of the path, a plurality of fingers simultaneously in a cycle from a working state to and from a transitory state with respect to articles in the path;
a plurality of fingers, each engaged to said shuttling means and extending substantially normally of and into said path in response to said shuttling including;
an indexing finger for blocking a file of waiting articles and, at a first station in the path and at any successive station desired thereafter, a positioning finger for positioning an article for treatment, all such fingers extending from a first side of and into the path when the shuttling means is in the working state;
at each respective station, a detaining finger extending from a second side of and into the path when the shuttling means is in the transitory state for blocking a respective article from advancing beyond such station during the shuttling; and
the detaining finger at the first station being spaced from the indexing finger a distance suitable to cooperatively capture therebetween an article from the waiting file during a shuttling cycle and to release the same to the first positioning finger when the shuttling means is returned to the working state.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Individual ones of articles such as (LED) devices 10 are fed and positioned at one or more stations along a path traversed by the devices. A track 30 guidably advances the devices 10 in single file to and beyond stations 63 and 64 successively located along the path represented by a channel 35 in the track 30. An assembly 50 shuttles, transversely of the channel 35, a plurality of fingers 66-70 simultaneously from a working state to and from a transitory state with respect to devices 10 in channel 35. The fingers may be in the form of thin, upright blades 66-70 which are engaged to assembly 50 and extend substantially normally of and into channel 35 in response to the shuttling. An indexing blade 68 extends from the front of and into channel 35 when shuttling assembly 50 is in the working state to block a waiting file of devices 10. At stations 63 and 64, positioning blades 66 and 67, respectively, extend from the front of and into channel 35 when shuttling assembly 50 is in the working state to position respective devices 10 for treatment. At stations 63 and 64, detaining blades 69 and 70, respectively, extend from the back of and into channel 35 when shuttling assembly 50 is in the transitory state to block a respective device 10 from advancing beyond a respective station during the shuttling. The detaining blade 69 is spaced from the indexing blade 68 a distance suitable to cooperatively capture therebetween a device 10 from the waiting file during a shuttling cycle. Such device 10 is then released to blade 66 when shuttling assembly 50 is returned to the working state.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. Apparatus for feeding ones of articles and positioning the same at one or more stations along a path traversed by the articles, comprising;
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means for guidably advancing the articles in a single file manner to and beyond the stations successively located along the path; means for shuttling transversely of the path, a plurality of fingers simultaneously in a cycle from a working state to and from a transitory state with respect to articles in the path; a plurality of fingers, each engaged to said shuttling means and extending substantially normally of and into said path in response to said shuttling including; an indexing finger for blocking a file of waiting articles and, at a first station in the path and at any successive station desired thereafter, a positioning finger for positioning an article for treatment, all such fingers extending from a first side of and into the path when the shuttling means is in the working state; at each respective station, a detaining finger extending from a second side of and into the path when the shuttling means is in the transitory state for blocking a respective article from advancing beyond such station during the shuttling; and the detaining finger at the first station being spaced from the indexing finger a distance suitable to cooperatively capture therebetween an article from the waiting file during a shuttling cycle and to release the same to the first positioning finger when the shuttling means is returned to the working state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A fluid powered track for guidably advancing articles along a path, comprising:
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an elongated track structure extending substantially coextensively with and containing the path, including; a channel shaped to substantially confine and guide the articles in a single file along the path; a succession of directional fluid passages extending through at least a portion of the track structure, into the article channel; said passages being oriented and disposed relative to the articles and the interior of the channel to impart as desired, a movement to said articles or a positional stability in cooperation with positioning means at a desired station in the path; a supply of fluid in communication with said passages for moving or stabilizing said articles; and said fluid passages and said fluid supply cooperating with the articles, at least at a finger in the path, to move or stabilize the same at least partially by vacuum pulling said articles along the path. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A method of feeding ones of articles and positioning the same at one or more stations along a path traversed by the articles, comprising:
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guidably advancing the articles in a single file manner to and beyond the stations successively located along the path; shuttling transversely of the path, a plurality of fingers simultaneously in a cycle from a working state to and from a transitory state with respect to articles in the path; thrusting substantially normally of and into said path in response to said shuttling, a plurality of fingers, each engaged to said shuttling means, said plurality including; an indexing finger for blocking a file of waiting articles and, at a first station in the path and at any successive station thereafter, an article positioning finger for positioning an article for treatment all such fingers being extended from a first side of and into the path when the shuttling means is in the working state; a detaining finger at each respective station, from a second side of and into the path when the shuttling means is in the transitory state for blocking a respective article from advancing beyond the station during the shuttling; and the indexing finger being spaced from the detaining finger at a first station, a suitable distance along the path to accommodate the width of an article therebetween such that the indexing finger and the first detaining finger cooperatively capture therebetween an article from the waiting file during a shuttling cycle and release the same to the first positioning finger when the shuttling means is returned to the working state. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification