Device for pushing objects off a conveyor

A device for pushing objects having a length 1 and a width b and lying end to end on a conveyor, essentially horizontally off from said conveyor one at a time so that they become separated from each other, said device comprising:

• two discs arranged parallel to and in spaced relationship to each other and one on top of the other, said discs being rotatable about axes of rotation extending perpendicular to their centers, said axes being disposed in a substantially vertical plane extending in spaced relationship parallel to said conveyor and said axes being offset with respect to each other in said vertical plane, a plurality of first pins situated at equal distances from each other and pivotally secured in the upper one of said two discs at equal distances from the center of said upper disc and relatively near the circumference of said upper disc, a plurality of second pins corresponding in number to said plurality of first pins and being pivotally secured in the lower one of said two discs relatively near its circumference and at the same radial distances from its center as the first pins are from the center of the upper disc, a plurality of connecting members respectively connecting the lower ends of the plurality of first pins with the upper ends of the plurality of second pins, said second pins extending through said lower disc, a plurality of push plates respectively connected to the lower ends of said second pins, each of said push plates forming one leg of a rectangularly bent plate, the other leg of said bent plate being directed transverse to said conveyor, each of said push plates having a length not exceeding the length 1 of the objects to be pushed off, the distances in a straight line between the center lines of the second pins equaling said length 1 of the objects, said discs overlapping said conveyor to such an extent that when the discs are rotating the push plates will brush over the conveyor over a distance at least equal to said width b of the objects, the radial distance between each pin and the center of the disc to which it is connected exceeding (4b.sup.2 +1.sup.2)/8b.