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:
Aug. 28, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 21, 2000
Geza E. Bankuty, Holmes Beach, FL (US);
Nicholas J. Perazzo, Sarasota, FL (US);
New England Machinery, Inc., Bradenton, FL (US);
Abstract
A dual indexing system for rotary orienters for positioning articles so that a feature of each article is facing in the same predetermined direction. The invention comprises a turret having at least one station that is connected to the turret column and rotates therewith as the column rotates about its axis. The station comprises a spindle with a driven turntable attached to support the bottom of an article and a shaft with a driven platen attached to hold the top of the article, the spindle and the shaft being rotatable about their longitudinal axes, which are coincident. A lower indexing assembly and an upper indexing assembly initiate simultaneous rotation of their respective turntable and platen. Each indexing assembly comprises a slip clutch, an indexing wheel that has at least two detents formed therein, an arm that is engageable with the detents and an actuator that is engageable with the arm. When the arms engage their respective indexing wheel, the spindle and the shaft are prevented from rotating. When a sensor indicates an article is improperly oriented, the actuators engage their respective arms so that the arms are disengaged from the detents allowing simultaneous rotation of the turntable and platen. Rotation continues until the arms are released by the actuators and engage another one of the detents.