Abstract: A separator for springs and similar parts has a housing provided with an opening for facilitating feeding of tangled springs into the housing. A striker assembly, in the form of a disc arranged opposite the opening in the housing and provided with one or more blades, imparts energy to the tangled springs. The inner surface of the housing has a plurality of protuberances, and the like, for promoting a spinning action of springs energized by the striker assembly. Free fall of tangled springs into the path of the striker blades sets up a natural vibration or oscillation of the tangled springs that, due to the contact angle along the radius of the spring wire, drives them apart. Further, the striker blades impart a rotating motion to the tangled springs in conjunction with the traction imparted to the springs by the protuberances on the inner surface of the housing when the springs come off the striker blades.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for separating entangled parts includes a receptacle container mounted for reciprocating movement in a vertical direction and having a grid structure at the bottom thereof for supporting and separating component parts which are entangled. In order to overcome the unbalance of the reciprocating container or parts bin a counterweight structure is provided which will effectively counteract or neutralize the unbalance created by the reciprocation of the parts bin. A drive motor through reduction means and connecting rod and crankshaft structure is appropriately connected to both the parts bin and the counterweight structure. The grid structure of the parts bin may be replaced with different size spacing grids for different size of parts to be untangled. The parts are untangled by the method of shaking them in a vertical direction and allowing the parts to be so vibrated that they tend to separate and become unentangled.