Workpiece elevator

In a workpiece elevator the combination of a vertically extending support, endless chain means mounted on said support to travel in an endless path lying in a generally vertical plane, a plurality of workpiece carriers mounted on said chain means at regularly spaced intervals, said carriers having a workpiece supporting surface inclined to the horizontal and having an inlet at the upper end and an outlet at the lower end of said supporting surface, a workpiece inlet chute adjacent the lower end of the support and a series of regularly spaced outlet chutes adjacent the upper end of the support, means for driving said chain means in said endless path with an intermittent motion so that the inlets of successive carriers are periodically aligned with said inlet chute to receive workpieces therefrom and the outlets of the successive carriers are periodically aligned with the successive outlet chutes, workpiece control means mounted on each carrier adjacent the outlet thereof, said control means being movable from a first position blocking said outlet to prevent discharge of workpieces from the carrier to a second position clearing said outlet to permit workpieces to be discharged from the carrier by gravity, retaining means for releasably locking said control means in said first position as the carriers travel between the successive outlet chutes, and release means on said support associated with each outlet chute for actuating said retaining means as the carrier moves into alignment with an outlet chute to unlock said control means and cause the same to assume said second position clearing said outlet.