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:
Apr. 02, 1985
Filed:
Nov. 14, 1983
David MacWilliams, Purbrook, GB;
Leonard J Rigbey, Winchester, GB;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A chute for gravity feeding a plurality of like electrical components (1) to a pick-up station of a robotic controlled automatic assembly system comprises guide rails (2,3) down which components slide with their pins (13) extending between the rails. The rails are shaped to provide a downwardly inclined straight track (5) leading into a horizontal track (6) comprising the pick-up station from which the components are taken by the robot. The transition from the inclined track (approximately 30 degrees to the horizontal) to the straight track, although smooth, is quite abrupt and ensures that the next component is successfully fed from the inclined to the horizontal section of the chute each time its predecessor is removed from the pick-up station. Since the length of the horizontal track is such that only one component can be accommodated at a time, accurate positioning of the component in the pick-up station for access by the robot is guaranteed.