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:
Oct. 30, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1999
Wataru Ito, Tanashi, JP;
Humio Maeno, Tokorozawa, JP;
Tetsuya Yamamoto, Tanashi, JP;
Hiroshi Ikeda, Tanashi, JP;
Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A material-feeding device (,) includes a base (,), a material passage (,) formed on the base, at least one guide member (,) provided in the material passage and having a material-guide surface (,), a direction-correcting roller assembly (,) provided in the material passage, and a conveyor roll mechanism (,) disposed downstream of the direction-correcting roller assembly in relation to a material-feeding direction, for conveying a material along the material passage. The direction-correcting roller assembly (,) includes a pair of integrally rotatable polygonal rollers (,) having a common rotation axis oblique to the material-guide surface and a freely rotatable ball (,) opposed to the pair of polygonal rollers and elastically supported in an operative position closer to the polygonal rollers to define a gap between the ball and each of the polygonal rollers for allowing the material to be inserted into the gap when the ball is in the operative position. The direction-correcting roller assembly (,) holds the material between the pair of polygonal rollers (,) and the ball (,), and intermittently feeds the material toward the guide members (,).