Workpiece loader
AssigneeRCA Corporation
InventorRudolph H. Hedel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A workpiece loader includes a processing tray having two parallel sets of substantially V-shaped grooves adjacent a surface thereof, the grooves of one set alternating with and having a depth greater than the depth of the grooves of the other set. The workpiece loader further comprises an aligning tray having a plurality of substantially V-shaped grooves adjacent a surface thereof and parallel to each other, the grooves of the aligning tray having a depth greater than the depth of the grooves of the other set and having a periodicity equal to the periodicity of the grooves of the other set, the aligning and processing trays being positioned in tandem so that the grooves of the other set are aligned with the grooves of the aligning tray.
Claims13
An apparatus for loading workpieces comprising a processing tray having two parallel sets of grooves adjacent a surface thereof, the grooves of one set alternating with and having grooves of a depth greater than the depth of the grooves of the other set, said apparatus further comprising an aligning tray having a depth greater than the depth of the grooves of said other set and having a periodicity equal to the periodicity of the grooves of said other set, said aligning and said processing trays being positioned in tandem so that the grooves of said other set are aligned with the grooves of said aligning tray.
A method of loading workpieces comprising the steps of:
- joining an aligning tray with a processing tray having two parallel sets of grooves adjacent a surface thereof, the grooves of one set alternating with and having a depth greater than the depth of the grooves of the other set, said aligning tray having a plurality of parallel grooves adjacent a surface thereof and having a depth greater than the depth of the grooves of the other set, said aligning and processing trays being positioned in tandem so that the grooves of said other set are aligned with the grooves of said aligning tray,
- positioning a workpiece holder adjacent the end of said processing tray opposite said aligning tray, said holder adapted to stop the movement of workpieces along the grooves of said other set but to allow the movement of workpieces along the grooves of said one set, and
- dispersing said workpieces over the grooves of said aligning tray while subjecting said aligning and said processing trays to vibrating means positioned adjacent thereto, said vibrating means adapted to move workpieces disposed in said grooves along a direction from said aligning tray to said processing tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.