Vacuum beam product dispenser and singulator

A vacuum beam product singulator comprising:

• a selectively controlled longitudinally and laterally inclined conveyor belt having an adjustable drive roller and an adjustable idler roller, said conveyor belt further having an upstream input and a downstream output end;
• a suction cup carrier pad mounted at the surface of said conveyor belt for picking a bottom product from a stack of products and holding the picked product under vacuum control to the surface of the inclined conveyor belt during movement toward the downstream output end, said carrier pad having a top edge that flexes downward as the carrier pad passes around the drive roller and returns to a normal position after passing the drive roller;
• a vacuum manifold underlying the conveyor belt and having a plurality of staggered holes along an upper surface of the manifold for generating a vacuum through the suction cup carrier pad to establish a vacuum force between the picked product and the conveyor belt, said vacuum manifold coupled to a vacuum source;
• and
• means for positioning a product stack non-orthogonally to the input end at an angle to the inclined conveyor belt, the picked product falling from the conveyor belt unless held to the conveyor belt by the suction cup carrier pad.

A vacuum beam product singulator comprising:

• a selectively controlled longitudinally and laterally inclined conveyor belt having an adjustable drive roller and an adjustable idler roller, said conveyor belt further having an upstream input and a downstream output end;
• a vacuum control element mounted at the surface of said conveyor belt for picking a bottom product from a stack of products and holding the picked product under vacuum control to the surface of the inclined conveyor belt during movement toward the downstream output end;
• means connected to said vacuum control element for generating a vacuum through the vacuum control element to establish a vacuum force between the picked product and the conveyor belt;
• a detachable product hopper, having an input end and an output end, for positioning a product stack at a non orthogonal angle to the input end of the conveyor belt, said product hopper adjustable to a plurality of positions along the input end of the conveyor belt;
• and
• a hopper shield mounted on the output end of the product hopper to control the establishment of the vacuum force to the picked product.

A vacuum beam product singulator comprising:

• a selectively controlled longitudinally and laterally inclined conveyor belt having an upstream input end and a downstream output end, said conveyor belt further having an adjustable drive roller and an adjustable idler roller, the adjustable drive roller comprising:
• a fixed mounting bracket for supporting one end of the drive roller;
• an adjustable mounting bracket for supporting an opposite end of the drive roller;
• an eccentric for adjusting the position of the adjustable mounting bracket to facilitate rotation of a conveyor belt about the drive roller;
• means for driving the adjustable drive roller;
• a vacuum control element mounted at the surface of said conveyor belt for picking a bottom product from a stack of products and holding the picked product under vacuum control to the surface of the inclined conveyor belt during movement toward the downstream output end;
• means connected to said vacuum control element for generating a vacuum through the vacuum control element to establish a vacuum force between the picked product and the conveyor belt;
• and
• means for positioning a product stack at a non-orthogonal angle to the input end of the inclined conveyor belt.