Includes Pusher Article Separator Patents (Class 414/797.9)
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Patent number: 11465862Abstract: An autoloading shingle feeder that singulates an associated stack of media into associated individual articles. The autoloading shingle feeder includes a housing including a base, at least one loading belt with a loading surface that defines a horizontally extending loading plane. The autoloading shingle feeder also includes at least one feeding belt that is distinct from the at least one loading belt and includes a feeding surface that defines a feeding plane. The autoloading shingle feeder also includes a carriage assembly that limits vertical movement of the associated individual article when the associated individual article moves from the at least one loading belt to the at least one feeding belt. The carriage assembly includes at least one separator plate including a pressure portion that linearly extends in the loading direction for direct sliding contact with the associated individual article.Type: GrantFiled: July 27, 2021Date of Patent: October 11, 2022Assignee: Walco Systems, LLCInventor: Jason S. Wallace
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Patent number: 8425176Abstract: The rack has an inclined bottom, a slightly angled upstanding back wall, a right endwall and a short front wall defining a media cassette receiving area. Upon activation by a manually operated handle a withdrawal mechanism disposed behind the back wall, containing a carriage having a finger selectively protruding therethrough urges the rearmost media cassette in the rack along the back wall until it may be grasped by an operator. Subsequent cassettes settle backward against the back wall upon withdrawal of the rearmost media cassette. Cassettes may be added to the rack forward of any media cassettes currently therein. In this way a FIFO queue is maintained regardless of the number or mix of media cassettes stored in the rack.Type: GrantFiled: May 25, 2010Date of Patent: April 23, 2013Inventor: Alex Forcina
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Patent number: 8337138Abstract: A thermoformed article stack segmenting apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a frame, a stacked article guide channel, a forward engaging drive finger, a reciprocating actuator and a rearward engaging holding finger. The stacked article guide channel is carried by the frame and configured to receive and guide a stack of inter-nested articles exiting a female die of a thermoforming trim press. The reciprocating actuator is coupled with the finger to drive the finger forward in engagement with one separated stack of articles. The actuator also drives the finger rearward in a retractable state to separate another, successive stack of articles. The rearward engaging holding finger is supported by the frame and is configured to hold the another, successive stack while driving the forward engaging drive finger forward.Type: GrantFiled: October 23, 2008Date of Patent: December 25, 2012Inventor: Jere F. Irwin
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Patent number: 8142133Abstract: A method and system for converting mail between trays in a multiple pass mail sorting system using a plurality of different tray types. Mail from a first type of tray is unloaded and stacked along with mail from other trays to form a large stack. The large stack of mail is then broken down into smaller stacks which are transferred to one of several outputs where the mail is loaded into different types of trays.Type: GrantFiled: February 27, 2009Date of Patent: March 27, 2012Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp.Inventors: Mark Neebe, Matthew Good, Charles Miller
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Patent number: 8113503Abstract: The present disclosure includes an apparatus for feeding a stack of sheet stock in blocks. The apparatus includes a backstop, a block pusher plate, and at least one sensor for determining a height differential between the stack at generally near a lead edge of the stack and the stack at generally near a trail edge of the stack. The apparatus automatically adjusts for warp in the sheet stock. The present disclosure further includes a method comprising obtaining a first measurement at generally near a lead edge side of the stack, obtaining a second measurement at generally near a trail edge side of the stack, comparing the first and second measurements, and pushing the portion of sheet stock from the stack with a block pusher plate when the second measurement is within a predetermined tolerance of the first measurement.Type: GrantFiled: April 18, 2008Date of Patent: February 14, 2012Assignee: J&L Group International, LLCInventors: Curtis A. Roth, Craig Gendreau, Chad Faith
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Patent number: 8021099Abstract: An apparatus for separating nested foam cups, includes a support for guiding a stack of nested foam cups in a first direction to a mandrel for printing thereon; a first annular opening in the support for supplying an annular supply of pressurized air to a position between a forwardmost foam cup and a next adjacent nested foam cup such that the pressurized air travels in a second direction having a component opposite to the first direction and such that the pressurized air travels in a cavity between the forwardmost cup and the nested adjacent cup to separate the forwardmost cup from the next adjacent cup; and second openings in the support downstream of the first annular opening for supplying pressurized air to the separated forwardmost cup in order to further advance the forwardmost cup toward the mandrel.Type: GrantFiled: October 21, 2007Date of Patent: September 20, 2011Assignee: Polytype America CorporationInventor: Pieter S. van der Griendt
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Publication number: 20110150621Abstract: An apparatus to separate out printed products from a stack including a pushing device to separate out a respective printed product from the stack. The pushing device includes a first rotary drive. The apparatus further includes a downstream-arranged removal device to convey away the respective separated out printed product. The removal device also includes a second rotary drive separate from the first rotary drive.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 16, 2010Publication date: June 23, 2011Applicant: Mueller Martini Holding AGInventors: CHRISTOPH GYSIN, Pascal Mueller, Andreas Hess
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Patent number: 7870570Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for transporting disks. In one implementation, a disk handling system is provided. The disk handling system includes a dispenser operable to dispense individual optical disks and one or more drives. The disk handling system also includes an elevator operable to transport optical disks received from the dispenser to the one or more drives along a first axis.Type: GrantFiled: July 13, 2006Date of Patent: January 11, 2011Assignee: Microboards Technology, LLCInventor: Wray Russ
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Publication number: 20100303601Abstract: The rack has an inclined bottom, a slightly angled upstanding back wall, a right endwall and a short front wall defining a media cassette receiving area. Upon activation by a manually operated handle a withdrawal mechanism disposed behind the back wall, containing a carriage having a finger selectively protruding therethrough urges the rearmost media cassette in the rack along the back wall until it may be grasped by an operator. Subsequent cassettes settle backward against the back wall upon withdrawal of the rearmost media cassette. Cassettes may be added to the rack forward of any media cassettes currently therein. In this way a FIFO queue is maintained regardless of the number or mix of media cassettes stored in the rack.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 25, 2010Publication date: December 2, 2010Inventor: Alex Forcina
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Patent number: 7713018Abstract: A bottom board separator can remove the bottom board from a stack of lumber moving at process speed. The bottom board separator carries stacks of lumber on a first set of stack conveyors that are spaced apart along a path. Abutment surfaces push the bottom board transversely out from under the stack. A second set of stack conveyors follow the abutment surface and support the remaining part of the stack. Movable guides keep the remaining part of the stack traveling in the process direction.Type: GrantFiled: September 28, 2006Date of Patent: May 11, 2010Inventor: George H. Goater
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Patent number: 7427003Abstract: The disk feeder removes disks from the bottom of a stack of disks by pushing them one at a time with a ram traveling back and forth under a tower holding the stack of disks. The tower has a gap at the base for allowing one disk at a time to be pushed out by the ram. The tower may be tilted to provide for a stack of disks, which rest partly on a wall of the tower to reduce the weight of the stack on the bottom disk. The workstation fed by the disk feeder can be a disk destroyer, a printer, a writer or any other disk processing device. Combinations of disk feeders and workstations can produce batches of copies of disks with labels printed on them. The disk feeder provides a low cost reliable way to feed disks to work stations.Type: GrantFiled: May 31, 2005Date of Patent: September 23, 2008Assignee: Condre, Inc.Inventor: Keith R. Peterson
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Patent number: 7320573Abstract: A system for continuously packaging or sorting fragile articles having varying thicknesses in a stack includes a plurality of proportional shifters coupled to each of a plurality of stripping devices in an article infeed assembly. Each proportional shifter has an article gauge for measuring the height of a stack having a set or desired number of fragile articles, such as crackers or cookies. An article stripping device may be quickly and accurately adjusted in-process to measure the thickness of a set number of stacked articles contained in a given batch coming from an article infeed. The article gauge provides a measure of the height of a stack of a set number of articles sampled from an article infeed. The stack height is equivalent to the height of the stack of articles stripped by the strip feeder.Type: GrantFiled: July 31, 2003Date of Patent: January 22, 2008Assignee: Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.Inventors: Theodore E. Jones, Jr., William A. Blain, Steve A Ramos, Edward Drake, Jr.
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Patent number: 6799938Abstract: A commissioning device (1) has essentially vertical product storage units (2) in which products (3) of the same type are stacked, respectively, and at least one conveying means (4), especially a conveyor belt, which is located underneath the product storage units, for transporting outgoing selected or commissioned products. The product (3′) at the very bottom of the stack of a selected product storage unit can be pushed out of the product storage unit in the direction of travel (F) of the moving conveying device and placed in a positioned product field (6) of the conveyor device by an upwardly oriented product stopping device (5) of the conveying device. The product storage units (2) are preferably located at equal intervals above the level of the conveying device (7). If the bottom product (3′) in a stack is not commissioned, the product stops (5) of the moving conveying device (4) pass freely under the product storage unit (2).Type: GrantFiled: August 22, 2002Date of Patent: October 5, 2004Assignee: Knapp Logistik Automation GmbHInventor: Karl Freudel Sperger
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Patent number: 6789996Abstract: A support member (7) is positioned at a lower part of a storage container (3). The support member (7) supports a second medicine container (10, 16, 17) placed on the lowermost medicine container so that the lowermost medicine container falls off by its own weight. The discharge member (8) discharges the medicine container which fell off from the support member (7). The collecting mechanism (24) conveys the medicines containers discharged from the discharge member (8) to one position.Type: GrantFiled: April 18, 2002Date of Patent: September 14, 2004Assignee: Yuyama Mfg. Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shoji Yuyama, Hiroyuki Yuyama, Toshihiro Amatsu
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Patent number: 6736591Abstract: A hopper loading system for a pallet making apparatus includes a first conveying system for conveying a layer of stringers from a stacked array in adjacent substantially horizontal relation along a first direction, and a second conveying system for conveying stringers in adjacent substantially horizontal relation to one of a plurality of hoppers along a second direction substantially transverse to the first direction.Type: GrantFiled: October 5, 2001Date of Patent: May 18, 2004Assignee: Libla IndustriesInventor: Christopher B. Buck
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Publication number: 20040022618Abstract: A system for continuously packaging or sorting fragile articles having varying thicknesses in a stack includes a plurality of proportional shifters coupled to each of a plurality of stripping devices in an article infeed assembly. Each proportional shifter has an article gauge for measuring the height of a stack having a set or desired number of fragile articles, such as crackers or cookies. An article stripping device may be quickly and accurately adjusted in-process to measure the thickness of a set number of stacked articles contained in a given batch coming from an article infeed. The article gauge provides a measure of the height of a stack of a set number of articles sampled from an article infeed. The stack height is equivalent to the height of the stack of articles stripped by the strip feeder.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 31, 2003Publication date: February 5, 2004Inventors: Theodore E. Jones, William A. Blain, Steve A. Ramos, Edward Drake
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Patent number: 6640523Abstract: A system for continuously packaging or sorting fragile articles having varying thicknesses in a stack includes a plurality of proportional shifters coupled to each of a plurality of stripping devices in an article infeed assembly. Each proportional shifter has an article gauge for measuring the height of a stack having a set or desired number of fragile articles, such as crackers or cookies. An article stripping device may be quickly and accurately adjusted in-process to measure the thickness of a set number of stacked articles contained in a given batch coming from an article infeed. The article gauge provides a measure of the height of a stack of a set number of articles sampled from an article infeed. The stack height is equivalent to the height of the stack of articles stripped by the strip feeder.Type: GrantFiled: May 31, 2001Date of Patent: November 4, 2003Assignee: Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.Inventors: Theodore E. Jones, Jr., William A. Blain, Steve A. Ramos, Edward Drake, Jr.
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Patent number: 6632067Abstract: A pallet dispenser can receive a vertical stack of skewed or misaligned pallets in an interior of a frame of the pallet dispenser and align the pallets as they are sequentially dispensed from the pallet dispenser onto a conveyor below the pallet dispenser. The pallet dispenser that can be quickly manually changed over to accommodate pallets of different sizes and vertically dispense the pallets one by one onto a conveyor below the pallet dispenser. The pallet dispenser is provided-with a quick, manual change over that enables the pallet dispenser to be quickly adjusted to accommodate a vertical stack of large or small pallets to be reoriented and dispensed by the pallet dispenser onto a separate conveyor without appreciable downtime of the pallet dispenser or the conveyor with which it is used.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 2000Date of Patent: October 14, 2003Assignee: Oullette Machinery Systems, Inc.Inventor: Joseph F. Ouellette
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Patent number: 6626633Abstract: Disclosed are both a method and apparatus for preventing facial defects from occurring to the face of a panel as it is removed from a stack of similar panels. The apparatus includes at least two synchronized cams working together to lift a stack of panels as the bottom most panel is removed from the stack. In supporting the stack of panels as the bottom panel is freed, the bottom panel can be slid out from under a stack without damaging the facing of the panel.Type: GrantFiled: December 28, 2001Date of Patent: September 30, 2003Assignee: AWI Licensing CompanyInventors: Robert J. Jendzurski, Todd R. Hassel, Karl B. Himmelberger
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Patent number: 6582180Abstract: An object-sorting system has a conveyor having a horizontally extending stretch, a plurality of pushers fixed on and spaced along the conveyor and extending upward from the stretch thereof, and an upright chute adapted to hold a stack of objects and having a downwardly open outlet spaced above an upstream end of the conveyor stretch. An elongated support surface extends horizontally above the stretch and has an upstream end below the outlet port. A drive advances the stretch and thereby displaces the pushers downstream past the outlet so that the pushers engage at least a lowermost object of the stack in the chute and move the engaged object(s) downstream along the support surface. The support surface can pivot about an axis at the support-surface downstream end and thereby change a vertical spacing between the support surface upstream end and the outlet port.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2002Date of Patent: June 24, 2003Assignee: Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KGInventors: Fritz Fochler, Andreas Krüger, Wolfgang Rodi
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Publication number: 20030012637Abstract: A commissioning device (1) has essentially vertical product storage units (2) in which products (3) of the same type are stacked, respectively, and at least one conveying means (4), especially a conveyor belt, which is located underneath the product storage units, for transporting outgoing selected or commissioned products. The product (3′) at the very bottom of the stack of a selected product storage unit can be pushed out of the product storage unit in the direction of travel (F) of the moving conveying device and placed in a positioned product field (6) of the conveyor device by an upwardly oriented product stopping device (5) of the conveying device. The product storage units (2) are preferably located at equal intervals above the level of the conveying device (7). If the bottom product (3′) in a stack is not commissioned, the product stops (5) of the moving conveying device (4) pass freely under the product storage unit (2).Type: ApplicationFiled: August 22, 2002Publication date: January 16, 2003Inventor: Karl Freudel Sperger
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Publication number: 20020154987Abstract: The support member 7 is positioned at the lower part of the storage container 3. The support member 7 supports the second medicine 10, 16, 17 placed on the lowermost medicine so that the lowermost medicine falls off by its own weight. The discharge member 8 discharges the medicine which fell off from the support member 7. The collecting mechanism 28 conveys the medicines discharged from the discharge member 8 to one position.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 18, 2002Publication date: October 24, 2002Inventors: Shoji Yuyama, Hiroyuki yuyama, Amatsu Toshihiro
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Publication number: 20020098075Abstract: An object-sorting system has a conveyor having a horizontally extending stretch, a plurality of pushers fixed on and spaced along the conveyor and extending upward from the stretch thereof, and an upright chute adapted to hold a stack of objects and having a downwardly open outlet spaced above an upstream end of the conveyor stretch. An elongated support surface extends horizontally above the stretch and has an upstream end below the outlet port. A drive advances the stretch and thereby displaces the pushers downstream past the outlet so that the pushers engage at least a lowermost object of the stack in the chute and move the engaged object(s) downstream along the support surface. The support surface can pivot about an axis at the support-surface downstream end and thereby change a vertical spacing between the support surface upstream end and the outlet port.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 18, 2002Publication date: July 25, 2002Applicant: UHLMANN Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KGInventors: Fritz Fochler, Andreas Kruger, Wolfgang Rodi
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Patent number: 6419441Abstract: A lamination dispenser is provided for dispensing a predetermined stack of laminations from a string of laminations. Each lamination has an outer edge with a first area of the outer edge opposing a second area of the outer edge. A third area of the outer edge is perpendicular to the first and second areas of the outer edge. The dispenser also has an ejector for removing the predetermined stack of laminations from the stack by pressing against the third areas of the predetermined stack of laminations. A retainer mechanism is provided for the dispenser for exerting pressure against the outer edge of at least one lamination adjacent the predetermined stack of laminations while the ejector moves the predetermined stack of laminations. The pressure is sufficient to secure at least the adjacent lamination in place.Type: GrantFiled: July 7, 2000Date of Patent: July 16, 2002Assignee: Eagle AutomationInventor: Lee M. Ernst
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Patent number: 6379105Abstract: The present invention provides a lumber unloading and feeding method and apparatus that can reliably separate individual boards from a stacked unit and feed the individual boards into other automatic machinery. One embodiment comprises a first load supporting surface and a second load supporting surface that cooperate to support a first end and a second end of at least one tier; a tier receiver located below the first and second load supporting surfaces; a first pusher that biases the first end of the tier off the first load supporting surface; and a second pusher that biases the second end of the tier off the second load supporting surface, thereby allowing the tier to drop onto the tier receiver.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2000Date of Patent: April 30, 2002Inventor: Steven L. Aylsworth
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Patent number: 6247890Abstract: An automatic goods picking device has a frame provided at least in one side thereof with a placing platform and a support rod which is provided with a plurality of goods placing areas each being fastened by two fastening members to form a stacking space along with the placing platform. The support rod is provided with a horizontal connection portion. The fastening members are respectively provided with a vertical connection portion enabling the fastening member to move adjustably upwards, downwards, leftwards, and rightwards such that a predetermined position of the vertical connection portion is corresponding in location to a predetermined position of the horizontal connection portion of the support rod, so as to form jointly with the placing platform a stacking space for goods of various heights and widths by using a fastening object.Type: GrantFiled: October 29, 1998Date of Patent: June 19, 2001Assignee: Industrial Technology Research InstituteInventors: Wei Chang, Sheng-Feng Liu, Hai-Chiao Sun, Chin-Lu Huang, Shiuan-I Shau