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:
Jun. 24, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 07, 1995
Jimmy R Bridges, Charlotte, NC (US);
Roberts Systems, Inc., Charlotte, NC (US);
Abstract
A prefeeder gate (10) is comprised of an elongated arm (12) extending outwardly at different points to form a first seat (14) and a second seat (16) having a lower portion (16a) and an upper portion (16b), nip rollers (17) attached to an operative end of the arm, a first shaft (18) received in the first seat and in the lower portion of the second seat, a body (20) having at one end a threaded bore (24) formed therein and having a frame attachment assembly (22) another end, a second shaft (42) having a first externally threaded end and a second end, the second shaft journaled in the upper portion of the second seat, the first externally threaded end being threadably received in the threaded bore, a nip adjustment knob (44) received on the second end of the second shaft, a spring (48) coiled around the second shaft intermediate the second seat and the nip adjustment knob, and slide bearings (56, 58) interconnecting the body and the first shaft, the slide bearings being adapted to slide along a length of the first shaft. The nip rollers are thereby vertically displaceable with respect to the body responsive to thickness of conveyed articles contacted by the nip rollers, making the prefeeder gate a floating, compensating gate adapted to convert a stack of a plurality of articles into a uniform shingled arrangement of such articles, regardless of the size and weight of the stack.