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:
May. 05, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 15, 1996
Mieczyslaw Gujda, Elmwood Park, NJ (US);
Pieter S van der Griendt, Far Hills, NJ (US);
James W Dominico, West Paterson, NJ (US);
Polytype America Corporation, Union City, NJ (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for positioning a handle of a pail for a printing operation on the pail, includes a mandrel assembly for rotatably supporting a pail thereon, the mandrel assembly including a backstop; a first stopper mechanism for restraining second and subsequent pails of a stack; a puller mechanism movably mounted on a track and including a pulling arm for pulling a first pail of the stack from the stack while the first stopper mechanism holds the second and subsequent pails of the stack; a brush roller mounted in contact with a free end of a handle of the first pail of the stack; a motor rotating the brush roller to move the handle of the first pail to a first position out of engagement with remaining pails of the stack; a temporary holding device positioned at the first position which releasably holds the handle in the first position, and releases the handle after disengagement of the first pail from the stack; a pusher mechanism movably mounted on the track and including a pusher arm for engaging a bottom of the removed first pail and pushing the removed first pail onto the mandrel assembly; a retainer band mounted to the backstop; and a helix member mounted to the backstop at a different position and engaging a handle of the first pail during rotation of the first pail on the mandrel assembly to automatically move the handle to a position within and releasably engaged by the retainer band.