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:
Mar. 08, 2005
Filed:
Jun. 27, 2002
Robert Bennett, West Midlands, GB;
Robert Bennett, West Midlands, GB;
Ishida Co., Ltd., Kyoto, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus and method for the reorientation of articles. According to one aspect of the invention, a conveyor having a support surface for an article to be reoriented displaces the support surface in a conveying direction. The article being conveyed by displacement of the support surface contacts an abutment, adjacent to the support surface, having an elongate abutment surface extending at an angle to the conveying direction. Continued displacement of the support surface turns the article as it slides in contact with the abutment surface. An orienting gate assembly, located downstream of the abutment surface in the conveying direction, has a pair of gates that are displaceable between two configurations. In a closed configuration, the gates define a channel that narrows in the conveying direction to trap the article. In an open configuration, the channel is widened at the downstream end to release the trapped article.