Apparatus for aligning and feeding elongated objects

A system for sorting and sequentially feeding elongated parts with coaxial leads, wherein random leads within disordered clumps of the parts may be bent and entangled, ocmprising:

• hopper means, having a plurality of aligned bars fixed in a first plane of the hopper means and at least one bar fixed in a second plane of the hopper means, the second plane being slanted with respect to the first plane and the slanted bar overlapping the aligned bars, for disentangling clumps of entangled parts with coaxial leads and aligning the disentangled parts as they pass through the hopper means;
• vibrating bowl means, having a base portion, a side wall, and a ramp spiralling around the inner perimeter of the side wall between the base portion and its output end, for receiving aligned parts from the hopper means and conveying the parts along the upper surface of the ramp from the base portion to the output end;
• means positioned along the ramp for limiting the number of parts conveyed along the ramp in a side-by-side relationship;
• selection means positioned along the ramp for removing parts from the ramp surface with leads bent beyond a predetermined angular degree;
• first curved slide means having an upper end mounted on the vibrating bowl means adjacent the output end of the ramp for receiving parts exiting the ramp and sequentially feeding them in a downward direction while maintaining a lateral orientation;
• second curved slide means mounted on the vibrating bowl means adjacent the first slide means for receiving parts exiting the first slide means, for guiding the parts downwardly while maintaining a lateral orientation but changing their lateral direction of motion, and for sequentially stacking the parts side-by-side at the bottom of the second slide means;
• and
• rotatable pick-up means positioned adjacent the bottom of the second slide means for sequentially removing the stacked parts from the second slide means.

A system for sorting and sequentially feeding electronic components with coaxial wire leads, wherein random leads within disordered clumps of the components may be bent and tangled, comprising:

• a hopper having an uppermost portion for receiving disordered clumps of components wherein random leads may be bent and tangled and a lowermost portion having a plurality of horizontal bars extending thereacross and at least one slanted bar extending above and overlapping the horizontal bars;
• a trough having a base plate positioned below the horizontal bars at a distance approximately the length of the components so that the components fall onto the base plate lengthwise without interference from the horizontal bars;
• means for reciprocating the hopper and trough to disentangle the components by vibrating them against the slanted bar, to align the components as they fall between the horizontal bars, and to advance the aligned components along the base plate of the trough;
• a bowl having a base portion, a side wall, and a ramp spiralling around the inner perimeter of the side wall between the base portion and its output end, positioned to receive parts in the base portion from the trough, and vibrated to convey the components along the upper surface of the ramp from the base portion to the output end;
• an incline interrupting a section of the upper ramp surface and projecting downwardly towards the base portion of the bowl for limiting the number of parts conveyed along the ramp in a side-by-side relationship;
• means for varying the width of a predetermined length of the upper ramp surface to reject from the ramp surface components with leads bent beyond a predetermined angular degree and to further limit the number of parts that may be conveyed along the ramp in a side-by-side relationship;
• a first curved slide having an upper end mounted on the vibrating bowl to receive components exiting the output end of the ramp and to sequentially feed them in a downward direction while maintaining a lateral orientation;
• a curved second slide mounted on the vibrating bowl adjacent the first slide to receive components exiting the first slide, to feed them so that their downward motion and lateral orientation continues but their lateral direction of motion is changed, and to sequentially stack the components side-by-side at the bottom of the second slide;
• and
• a rotatable wheel with means along its periphery for sequentially picking up stacked components from the bottom of the second slide even if the leads are bent.