Battery plate feeder having oscillating pick-up head

Abstract

A plate feed apparatus has a cylindrical pick-up head having a predetermined number of pick-up units. The pick-up head rotates with a first shaft at a first rotational speed. A feed mechanism places the uppermost plate in a stack of plates a nominal distance from the periphery of the pick-up head when a plate is removed from the stack. A vacuum is selectively drawn through each pick-up unit to pull the outermost plate into contact with the pick-up unit. A second shaft has a cylindrical bore which rotatably journals the first shaft and is offset from the centerline of the second shaft. The second shaft is rotated counter to the first shaft at a speed which is a multiple of the speed of the first shaft equal to the number of pick-up units. This causes the speed of the pick-up unit to be slower and its distance from the uppermost plate in the stack less each time a pick-up unit picks up a plate. The number of pick-up units and the diameter of the pick-up head are established relative to the size of the plates such that plates overlap one another on the pick-up head. An outfeed conveyer has a higher surface speed than the pick-up units so that the plates do not overlap on the outfeed conveyer. The feed mechanism places another stack of plates under the stack of plates before the stack becomes depleted.