Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Toshio Koike

Kazuhiro Hineno

A parts feed apparatus comprising a tape feeder which intermittently feeds a tape to a predetermined parts pickup position. A cover tape seals electronic parts at substantially equal intervals along a base tape. The apparatus includes a tape separator which separates the cover tape from the base tape and a parts pickup element which is positioned to block the parts from leaving the parts pickup position as the cover tape is being separated from the base tape. Thus, even when the electronic parts stick to the cover tape during removal, the parts pickup element blocks them from leaving the parts pickup position. The parts pickup element is then used to pick up the electronic parts from the parts pickup position. The tape feeder preferably provides slack to the cover tape before the cover tape is separated.

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Oizumi, Japan

Toshio Koike