Apparatus for separating individual assembly parts from a coherent mass

An apparatus for separating individual assembly parts from a mass of said parts, which comprises

• (a) a rotary drum receptacle for storing the mass of said parts, the receptacle including
• (1) a support for the mass of said parts, the support defining an opening normally covered by the mass and comprising a plurality of axially extending slats angularly offset relative to each other and constituting the peripheral wall of the drum, the slats defining openings all around the peripheral wall and the lowest one of said openings constituting the opening of the support,
• (b) mechanical means arranged in the rotary drum receptacle for continuously and successively mechanically engaging and lifting clusters of assembly parts out of said mass and away from the opening in the support and for mechanically releasing and dropping the lifted clusters on the support whereby the mass is resolved into random ones of said clusters and the clusters are further resolved by the impact of the dropped clusters on the support, the mechanical means comprising
• (1) a drive for rotating the drum about a generally horizontally extending axis and
• (2) axially extending agitator bars associated with the slats and projecting inwardly therefrom towards the axis for entraining random clusters of assembly parts during rotation of the drums whereby the random clusters are continuously and successively lifted and dropped,
• (c) the opening in the support being of a cross section permitting individual ones of the assembly parts from the resolved clusters to pass therethrough by gravity, and
• (d) conveyor means for orienting individual ones of the assembly parts removed from the support through the opening.