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:
Mar. 04, 1986
Filed:
Aug. 12, 1983
Cecil A Howell, Columbia, SC (US);
Ernest R Lacy, Columbia, SC (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
A system, for loading a group of elongated rods into a tray from a ramp, which includes a controllable rod stop located on the ramp, an air-tight envelope, and a tray positioning mechanism. The envelope has one end attached to the ramp's lower end and has a hole in its lower surface near the ramp's lower end. The envelope is stiff enough to self-inflate with air and to self-project its opposing end away from the ramp's lower end, when the envelope is left free. The tray positioning mechanism places the tray next to and under the envelope when the rods are to be loaded. When the rod stop is disengaged, the rods roll onto the envelope and are lowered into the tray as the weight of the rods push the air out of the envelope through its hole.