Apparatus and method for putting cassettes into trays
AssigneeTapematic U.S.A., Inc.
InventorLuciano Perego
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plurality of tape cassettes fed in succession from a conveyor are oriented vertically on an end stretch of the conveyor itself terminating at a position in side by side relation with a tiltable collection element. The cassettes are pushed laterally from the end stretch of the feed conveyor for being loaded onto the collection element until they form thereon a row comprised of a given number of cassettes. The collection element is then tilted to let the cassette row fall onto a tray previously positioned under the collection element.
Claims7
A method of disposing cassettes into trays, said cassettes being supplied from a feed conveyor, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning a tray under a collection element;
- moving the individual cassettes from the feed conveyor and transferring them onto a base surface of said collection element until a row consisting of a given number of cassettes disposed in side-by-side relation is formed on said base surface;
- moving the collection element from a rest position, in which the base surface thereof is oriented in a substantially horizontal plane for supporting said tape cassettes, to a tilted position, in which said base surface has an inclined orientation enabling the cassette row positioned thereon to fall into the underlying tray in side-by-side relation in an inclined orientation in one of a plurality of seats of the tray which are arranged in the tray at a constant pitch;
- and
- moving the tray to the next pitch upon tilting of the collection element such that the next pitch of said tray receives a new cassette row from the collection element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.