International Business Machines Corporation

Albert H Buchmann

Alfred A Stricker

Thomas J Cochran

Walter W Ficker

Walter Von Kaenel

A vacuum pick up and transfer head adapted for handling flimsy sheets of material such as spacer sheet and uncured ceramic sheet commonly referred to as green sheet. The vacuum transfer head is of generally rectangular configuration having a sheet contacting lip having vacuum slots formed through the periphery thereof to hold the sheets in place by vacuum pressure. The center of the sheet contacting face is recessed whereby, with a sheet in place and acting as a diaphragm, a central vacuum chamber is also defined. A series of check valves are provided to control application of vacuum and positive pressure to the green sheet for picking the sheet up, retaining it and stripping it. A plurality of probes are provided in the handling head, adapted to selectively project through the sheet contacting surface for detecting green sheet and/or spacer sheet utilized inbetween layers of green sheet. These probes also can act as positive strippers when the head enters a green sheet spacer tray in the process of removing a sheet of spacer or green sheet.

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Richmond, KY, United States of America

Albert H Buchmann