The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 31, 1984
Filed:
Mar. 18, 1982
Peter E Johnson, Corvallis, OR (US);
James Young, Corvallis, OR (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for serially removing the forwardmost plate from a stack of plates comprises rotating a cylindrical carrier having a chordal segment defined on its periphery with the stack of plates oriented so that the forwardmost plate is tangentially adjacent to the periphery of the carrier. A vacuum source draws air into an air inlet located on the chordal segment thereby creating a low pressure area. Accordingly as the chordal segment becomes parallel with the stack the low pressure causes the forwardmost plate to be drawn into contact with the chordal segment and thus block the air inlet. The plate continues to rotate with the carrier until it reaches a desired location where an air valve causes the vacuum to be temporarily discontinued thus allowing the plate to drop free of the carrier. An advance mechanism causes the stack to be advanced one plate thickness during each rotation of the carrier to position the next plate into contact with the carrier after each plate has been removed.