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US 5,853,077 AGranted
Article handling device, combination and methods
AssigneeHoppmann Corporation
InventorWerner H. Schmitt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeHoppmann Corporation
InventorWerner H. Schmitt
Estimating the term…
A rotary puck conveying mechanism and method will qualify articles and place them within a puck or article handling device. This puck has a centrally disposed opening for receiving the articles. The mechanism includes a centrifugal feeder with a rotatable rim having a plurality of openings. Pucks are positioned beneath the openings in order to receive the articles. The pucks will be fed to the centrifugal feeder and aligned with the openings in the rim. The pucks will simultaneously move with these aligned openings beneath the rim. When the articles remaining on the rim are swept off of this rim, the pucks or at least a piece of the pucks can then be detached and conveyed away from the centrifugal feeder. The pucks are designed to maintain orientation of an article held therein even when the pucks are inverted. The pucks can also have a movable insert for exposing and orienting articles held therein.
An article handling device comprising a puck having a longitudinal axis and means for orienting an article in the puck, the means for orienting the article comprising a centrally disposed opening defined by the puck, the centrally disposed opening extending from a first end to a second end of the puck and being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the puck, the opening being larger at the first end of the puck than at the second end of the puck, the centrally disposed opening tapering from the first end of the puck to an interior position within the puck to thereby form a tapering guide, the centrally disposed opening having a same size and a generally cylindrical shape from the interior position to the second end of the puck, articles supplied to the first end of the puck fall into the centrally disposed opening while being guided by the tapering guide when the puck is vertically oriented with the first end above the second end, articles fed into the puck conforming to the puck when the articles are properly oriented whereby if an article is inverted in the puck, the article fails to properly seat in the puck such that the puck will qualify an article.
A combination of an article handling device and an article, the article handling device comprising means for orienting the article, the means for orienting comprising an opening provided in the article handling device, the device having a first end and a second end, the opening in the device extending at least from the first end of the device into an interior of the device and the opening tapering from the first end of the device to an interior position within the device whereafter the opening has a generally constant size and a portion of the article extending beyond a portion of the device when the article is fully inserted into the article handling device, only one article being fully insertable into the opening in the device.
A method for handling and orienting articles comprising the steps of:
A method for handling and orienting articles comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.