Loading patent…
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsWarren David Eaton, Gary William Schukar, John Russell Mlinar
Estimating the term…
An apparatus and method provide for singulating thin and substantially porous material layers arranged in a stack. A pick head is positioned above the stack of material layers. An adhesive tape is stabilized against the pick head through use of a vacuum between the adhesive tape and the pick head. Contact is effected between the stabilized adhesive tape and the top material layer. The pick head is moved to move the top material layer from the stack to a predetermined location. While at the predetermined location, the adhesive tape is detached from the top material layer. The singulation apparatus and method are particularly well suited for destacking individual porous fluid transport layers (FTLs) from a magazine of FTLs during automated fuel cell assembly.
A method of singulating a plurality of porous fuel cell fluid transport layers (FTLs) arranged in a stack (FTL stack), the FTL stack comprising a top FTL, the method comprising:
A method of singulating a plurality of thin and substantially porous material layers arranged in a stack, the stack of material layers comprising a top material layer, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.