Machine for delivering secondary work-pieces to primary work-pieces

A material handling machine for lifting secondary work-pieces from stacks thereof and delivering them to a primary work-piece, said machine comprising a frame, primary and secondary work-piece supports mounted on said frame for movement with respect to each other, a secondary work-piece upholding surface means mounted on said secondary work-piece support and having a first wall assembly thereon at least partially bounding a first stack area and for holding a first vertical stack of said secondary work-pieces in stacked position, a primary work-piece receiving surface means mounted on said primary work-piece support, a secondary work-piece first pick-up assembly mounted on one of said supports, said first pick-up assembly comprising at least a first work-piece-engaging pick-up member having a suction opening therethrough, said first pick-up member having a secondary work-piece-engaging exterior surface surrounding its said suction opening, said first pick-up being adapted to enter said first stack area for engaging a top secondary work-piece on said first stack, said first pick-up assembly having pneumatic conduit means connected to said suction opening at another side of said pick-up member from said secondary work-piece-engaging surface, first controllable pressure reducing means attached to said pneumatic conduit means and reducing the pressure at said suction opening to a lesser pressure than the pressure at the exterior of said first pick-up member whereby when said first pick-up member is in touch with a secondary work-piece the latter is caused to be held by suction against said work-piece-engaging surface of said first pick-up member, said frame having first and second frame sections supporting said primary and secondary work-piece-receiving surface means respectively, a controllable first moving assembly for moving said first pick-up member, said first moving assembly having a transfer portion attached to said first pick-up member and movably mounted on one of said work-piece supports and when activated in a first way moving said first pick-up member from a position above said first stack area to a release location above said primary work-piece receiving area, a first synchronizing control means operably correlated with said first controllable pressure reducing means and causing said lesser pressure to exist when said first pick-up member is above said first stack area and to cease for releasing a secondary work-piece when said first pick-up member is in a certain first release position which latter is above a primary work-piece, said first work-piece support having at least one other secondary work-piece receiving surface means, and a second and similarly describable secondary work-piece pick-up assembly mounted on one of said work-piece supports, means attached to said frame and moving said first and second work-piece supports so that said primary work-piece receiving surface means is moved with respect to said secondary work-piece receiving surface means so as to dispose first one then another of said secondary work-piece receiving surface means in a position adjacent to said primary work-piece receiving surface means automatically in a predetermined sequence.