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:
Jun. 21, 2016
Filed:
Sep. 30, 2014
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
John S. Best, San Jose, CA (US);
Steven R. Hetzler, Los Altos, CA (US);
Drew Lawson, Aptos, CA (US);
Daniel F. Smith, Felton, CA (US);
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A technique for storage and retrieval of objects is provided. A holding structure is configured to hold the objects, and the objects are stored in the holding structure such that the objects can slide in and out of the holding structure. An elastic mechanism is at the back of the holding structure, and the elastic mechanism pushes the objects toward the front of the holding structure such that the objects are accessible at the front of the holding structure. A selector mechanism is positionable to push the objects that are adjacent to a selected object to be retrieved toward the back of the holding structure, and the selector mechanism exposes a portion of the selected object so that the selected object can be engaged at the exposed portion. A gripper is configured to engage the exposed portion of the selected object and pull the selected object from the holding structure.