Abstract: Dispensing apparatus is provided for dispensing items. The dispensing apparatus includes a dispensing outlet and an item holder having item holding areas and being movably disposed to position the item holding areas one at a time in sequence over the dispensing outlet so that when one of the item holding areas is positioned over the dispensing outlet, the other item holding areas are not disposed over the dispensing outlet. The dispensing apparatus further includes a blocker disposed over the item holder opposite the dispensing outlet, the blocker blocking access to the dispensing outlet from directly above the item holder when the item holder positions one of the item holding areas over the dispensing outlet.

Abstract: A chip component feeding apparatus translates chip components in alignment along a passage and feeds the foremost chip component to a predetermined take-out position. The foremost chip component is separated from the remaining translated chip components. A stopper is displaceable between a predetermined stop position where the foremost chip component stops, and a predetermined take-out position spaced from the stop position. A first attracting section attracts the foremost chip component to the stopper to displace the stopper and the foremost chip component at the stopped position. A second attracting section attracts the foremost chip component to a transport belt.

Abstract: A setting head for the installation of fastener elements having a head and shaft into a pre-apertured workpiece. The setting head has at least three holding fingers, with each holding finger initially centering, aligning, and positioning the element in the setting direction, both at the head and also at a distance from the head along the shaft.

Abstract: An apparatus for feeding chip components includes a component container for containing many chip components in bulk, a first component reservoir for storing the chip components in bulk. The component container is attached to the first component reservoir. The apparatus further includes a second component reservoir provided under the first component reservoir for two-dimensionally storing the chip components in a space so that the chip components are not overlapped in their thickness direction, and a component alignment path provided under the second component reservoir for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components. The apparatus further includes an alignment palate having first and second alignment portions. The first alignment portion is provided between the first component reservoir and the second component reservoir for two-dimensionally aligning the chip components and letting the chip components move down by their own weight.

Abstract: A vending machine includes a refrigeration compartment, an oven compartment, structure for transferring a food product from the refrigeration compartment to the oven compartment, and structure for transferring the food product from the oven compartment to a user of the vending machine. The vending machine provides automated handling and cooking of packaged food products that enables a hot cooked food to be delivered to a customer in a cool package sleeve. The vending machine also includes a system for inventory control that enables vertical storage of packaged food products while minimizing crushing of packaged food products at the bottom of a stack. A magazine empty indicator automatically indicates when an inventory magazine is empty. An oven door latch mechanism eliminates the possibility that the oven can be operated while the oven door is open.

Abstract: In a washer-dispensing machine, a chute open at a lower end receives a stack of roofing washers of a type having a central aperture to receive a fastener shank and possibly having downwardly extending barbs. A shuttle engages a single washer from the stack, displaces the single washer to a separated position as the shuttle is moved from a displaced position to a normal position, and releases the single washer in the separated position as the shuttle next moves from the normal position to the displaced position. A known mechanism is employed for moving the shuttle between the displaced position and the normal position. A novel mechanism is mounted operatively to the chute for supporting the stack so as to prevent any of the washers in the stack from dropping through the lower end of the chute and for releasing the stack so as to permit a lowermost washer in the stack to drop through the lower end of the chute.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a workpiece placement system for picking and placing a workpiece on a product being assembled. The workpiece placement system includes a mechanical housing having a telescopic arm that is extendable between a retracted position and an extended position. A vacuum source providing a vacuum pressure below ambient conditions is in fluid communication with a vacuum conduit along the telescopic arm. The telescopic arm includes at least one opening at its distal end that allows the vacuum pressure to suck and hold the workpiece in place on the telescopic arm. The workpiece is securely held in place on the telescopic arm as it is extended from the initial retracted position to the extended position. After the telescopic arm is fully extended the workpiece is positioned proximate the product being assembled, and the vacuum is interrupted to release the workpiece.

Abstract: An automatic machine for dispensing an ice cream portion comprises, in combination, a dispenser (10) for dispensing cones (18) or the like in an inverted position, and a seat (20) arranged to receive the cone (18) in an upright position and to convey it to an ice cream delivery mouth (27). Between the cone dispenser (10) and the seat (20) there is provided a cone (18) overturning and feed device (12) arranged to receive a cone (18) in an inverted position, to overturn it into an upright position and to feed it automatically into the seat (20).

Abstract: A subassembly for use in a computerized medicine dispensing station is disclosed. The station has a cabinet for housing openable drawers in stacked arrangement containing dispensable pharmaceutical items. The subassembly includes a drawer having a base plate, side walls, and a front panel defining an interior compartment. The drawer can be inserted into the cabinet. The interior compartment of the drawer is divided into subcompartments, each subcompartment defined by spaced apart side walls and a curved rear wall. Each subcompartment contains a movable magazine mounted therein for racetrack-like movement therein between the spaced apart side wall and the curved rear wall. The magazine includes individual open cups for containing single dispensable pharmaceutical items therein. The front panel has an aperture which is normally closed and locked.

Abstract: In terms of their operational reliability, apparatuses for discharging from a magazine of flat-laid packaging container blanks of the type used for manufacturing packaging containers for liquid contents are greatly dependent upon the quality of the packaging container blanks themselves. In the event of variations in friction or abutment pressure between the packaging container blanks, there is a risk that more than one blank is discharged at a time, or alternatively that no blank is discharged at all. In order to ensure a dependable function with repeated discharge of one blank at a time and at a predetermined rate, the apparatus according to the present invention includes a pivotal lever provided with at least one suction cup. The lever displaces one packaging container blank at a time from the discharge end of a magazine past a segmented wheel which grasps the discharged blank between a rubber cladding and a counter wheel for further advancement to a conveyor.

Abstract: A staple feed system utilizing an inclined staple feed ramp for axial loading of staples into a staple gun under the influence of gravity. The inclined feed ramp includes an inclined upper linear portion, an upwardly curving arcuate central portion, and a horizontal lower portion permitting the continuous feed of staples beneath the actuation mechanism of the staple gun while the staple gun is disposed in a generally horizontal position. The angulated feed system may be utilized with staple racks comprising multiple staples adhered one to the other. The arcuate ramp is sized to permit the smooth movement of staples thereon, allowing the transfer of gravitational force to the staples contiguous the actuation mechanism for the uninterrupted feeding of staples thereto.

Abstract: The present invention provides for a drug dispensing device which is portable, provides a high level of security, is flexible in accommodating a number of user selected drugs, is easily stockable, and reduces labor and time requirement for drug dispensing. The present invention provides an apparatus having a microprocessor means which controls the drug dispensing. The apparatus includes an interior medication storage area adapted to receive a plurality of different sized dispensers in user selectable combinations. A receiving drawer is provided below the interior medication storage area to receive and dispense the medications.A dispenser is provided which can be configured in a multiplicity of sizes and shapes to accommodate different sized medications. The dispenser is adapted to receive a cooperating cartridge which contains the medications. The dispenser includes an actuator which contacts and dispenses the medications from the cartridge.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a one-at-a-time dispensing assembly for newspaper racks of tetrahedral shape in which the assembly is positioned within and spans the walls of the rack. The dispensing assembly of the invention includes a fixed support base subassembly fixedly positioned--in a vertical sense--adjacent to the lower edge of the rack opening, and a shaker subassembly. The base subassembly supports both a stack of newspapers and a planar member of the shaker subassembly. The shaker subassembly also includes a lever extending exterior of the rack below the lower edge of the rack opening actionably connected to the planar member. Purpose: to permit to-and-fro movement of the planar member supporting the stack of newspaper via corresponding movement of the lever.

Abstract: A portioning mechanism for supplying a strand of ground meat to a conveyor includes a positive displacement pump supplying a grinder head, which outputs ground meat to the conveyor. The strand of meat on the conveyor has a predetermined cross-section and density, and a portioning system is provided for intermittently separating the ground meat on the conveyor in predetermined lengths, for providing a relatively accurate weight of ground meat portions. A tray supply system positions empty trays at the outlet of the conveyor, and the ground meat portions are deposited onto the trays for subsequent packaging.

Abstract: A feeding device for feeding slender parts such as bolts or other fasteners to a predetermined work station includes a feed rod having one end adapted for magnetically holding a slender part. The feed rod is mounted for reciprocating movement between a retracted position spaced from the work station and a second position adjacent the work station. A feed tube is disposed at an acute angle relative to the path of movement of the feed rod with an open lower end adjacent the holding end of the feed rod in the retracted position. Slender parts are supplied to an upper part of the feed tube to fall freely through the feed tube and are delivered to the end of the feed rod where they are magnetically held and moved to the work station.

Abstract: Packaging apparatus and a method therefor, comprise a bag dispenser in which a stack of bags is supported on extensible wicket pegs and the leading bag is advanced from the stack to bag-receiving wicket pegs of bag-receiving retainer means while the extensible parts of the wicket pegs of the stack holder means are extended into engagement with the wicket pegs of the bag-receiving retainer means. In that configuration a suction pad can draw the nearest bag from the rest of the stack to a separated position from which it may be further advanced by mechanical means and/or an air jet to pass that bag from the extensible wicket pegs of the stack holder means on to the wicket pegs of the bag retainer means. The bag dispensing apparatus may comprise part of a packaging apparatus.

Abstract: A machine which supports a stack of bins adapted to store small objects prior to shipment. The machine includes an elevator which acts in conjunction with the bin retainers and a programmable controller to remove one bin from the stack and lower it into a filling position. After the filling is completed the elevator lowers the filled bin onto a transport conveyor which removes the bin to a remote storage area.

Abstract: A vending machine for combined dispensing of articles which are restricted in shape and size only by the narrowest passage within the machine, and for heating and dispensing of ready-to-eat food portions. The vending machine includes a cabinet and a store-closet provided with a number of shelves arranged one above the other for storage of the articles. The shelves end at a distance behind the front of the store-closet to form a lift shaft wherein a carriage is vertically and laterally displaceable for transferring the articles from their respective storage spaces within the storage-closet to a microwave oven which is positioned outside the store-closet but within the cabinet. The bottom of the microwave oven has the shape of a truncated cone, and the oven-lid likewise has the shape of a truncated cone with the same cone angle as the oven bottom whereby scattering of microwave energy in the surroundings is prevented.

Abstract: The distributor separates plastic cups (3) which are provided with outwardly-facing rims (5) from a stack (2) in a store (1) and releases them one-at-a-time into a tube (6). The distributor comprises first, lower supports (13) and second, upper supports (14) arranged peripherally of the cups and separated by less than the distance between the rims (5) of the two adjacent cups. The supports (13 and 14) alternate in operative positions in which they support rims (5) of cups so that cups are released one-at-a-time and fall into the tube (6). The distributor also comprises compressed air blowers (25) which operate when the second supports (14) move into their operational positions to exert a pressure between the cup supported by the second supports (14) and the cup which has just ceased to be supported by the first supports (13).

Abstract: There is disclosed article handling apparatus (10) which is primarily intended for transferring ammunition shells to and from a storage magazine in a mobile weapons system such as a tank or warship. The apparatus comprises a storage magazine having a storage rack on which the articles can be stored, and an indexing-type conveyor for traversing the articles along the storage rack. The conveyor moves through an indexing cycle in which it has a starting position in which it is engageable with a first batch of articles, causes one increment of traversing movement of the batch, releases itself from the engaged first batch, returns to the starting position and engages with a second batch of articles. A restrainer is provided, including a cam bar, which operates to locate any articles which may be present on the storage rack against up and down movement and also against traversing movement while the apparatus is in its storage mode.

Abstract: A device for feeding electronic components packed in tape to a pick-up position, comprising a housing with a holder or a supply reel, a feeding and locking mechanism, an ejection mechanism, and a wind-up mechanism, which mechanisms are united with the housing into a cassette unit.

Abstract: Electrical connectors are slidably received in side-by-side serial array in elongated, hollow tubular cassettes. The cassettes are shaped to receive the connectors only in a single orientation, and protect terminals which partly extend from the connector housings in an intermediate assembly stage. Cassettes are vertically stacked in a feed system, and when the bottom cassette is emptied of connectors, it is released from the stack and replaced with a full cassette.

Abstract: Cigarettes are transferred by a rotatable device from the exit ends of guide channels in a receiving funnel to a device which arranges the cigarettes in layers for subsequent formation of cigarette blocks to be wrapped. The rotatable transfer device consists of a drum provided with spaced groups of cigarette receiving grooves on its periphery, the receiving funnel and the layer-forming device being generally oppositely situated with respect to the drum and being vertically separated whereby gravity feed to and discharge from the drum may be effected. A mechanism for insuring that cigarettes will be fed from the receiving means to all of the grooves of each group on the drum at the same time is associated with the drum.

Abstract: Cigarette magazine consisting of several shafts (12), in each of which cigarettes are supported in rows on top of one another so as to be pushed out in groups from a rest at the lower end of the shafts (12). To prevent the following cigarettes from becoming jammed after a group of cigarettes has been pushed out, there is a supporting bar on which the cigarettes are temporarily supported during their downward movement. The supporting bar is subsequently lowered from its supporting position, so that the following cigarettes finally sit properly aligned on the lower rest prior to the pushing out of another group.

Abstract: An apparatus for supplying a blind rivet to a riveting device includes a rivet supplying conduit through which the rivet is supplied, a guide member to which a nose of the riveting device is moved from the workpiece, a rivet holder element for receiving the rivet, and a piston-cylinder unit for transporting the rivet holder element. The piston-cylinder unit operates to transport the rivet holder element from a position in which the rivet from the supplying conduit is received in the holder element to a position in which the nose of the riveting device approaches the holder element and holds a mandrel of the rivet.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for the continous shuffling of discarded playing cards is disclosed which greatly reduces the dead time caused by the casino dealer having to manually shuffle four to six decks of playing cards, in addition, to virtually eliminating a participant from using the technique known as card counting while playing the game of blackjack. The shuffling apparatus continuously intermixes the discarded playing cards into the undealt decks during game play under the program control of a computer. An addressable storage device, i.e., a carousel, for storing the shuffled playing cards in radially arranged spaces during game play is provided. The computer generates random card selection from the spaces of the storage device for replenishing dealing shoe storage on a one-for-one basis and generates random selection of empty spaces in the storage device for generating the shuffling sequence in inserting discarded playing cards therein.

Abstract: A dispenser is provided having a reservoir, a knife driven with a vertical reciprocal translational movement, and an inclinded ramp feeding the spokes into abutment against a drum provided with peripheral grooves. The rotation of the drum feeds the spokes one by one into a guide device comprising two inclined surfaces, the supper surface having a smooth surface and the lower surface being made of an adherent material. A spoke slides between the two surfaces and is discharged to a spoke holder of a spoke fitting machine.

Abstract: A jig comprises a housing which has a front end and a storage channel. A split collet and an elongated slotted bar attached thereto are slideably moveable into and out of the housing. The jig further has an elongated bolt for transporting individual blanks from the storage channel to the front end of the housing. Respective first and second pistons located inside the housing are provided for operating the split collet and the elongated bolt. The split collet is movably received within the housing and is not formed by a section thereof.

Abstract: A loader for automatically supplying printed circuit supporting plates to a laminator where, above the stack of supporting plates, is provided a support moving to and fro in vertical direction relative to the plate stack, with the said support being fitted with two parallel running, horizontal guide rods having at their opposite ends cylinder-piston groups whose rods support parallel and horizontal ledgers, the free ends of which are equipped with gripping elements that can be displaced horizontally as well as vertically and are provided, in parallel to each horizontal ledger receiving the gripping elements, with a driven roller runway movable in the horizontal plane from a rest position to an operating position, in which it receives the plates having in precedence been collected by the gripping elements from the pile.

Abstract: A jig comprises a housing which contains a storage channel and a feed channel. The feed channel communicates with the storage channel and extends to the front end of the housing. The jig also has a releasable gripping portion located at its front end. The releasable gripping portion grips and releases stylus blanks. The jig also has bolt for transporting blanks from the storage channel through the feed channel to the releasable gripping portion.

Abstract: An arrangement for unscrambling ferromagnetic coil springs from a pile of coil springs, and conducting the coil springs to a work station. A cassette containing a disorganized pile of springs is provided with a first surface having openings, and discharge tubes associated therewith. A second surface which adjoins the first surface is provided with impact edges for controlling the upwardly vertical travel of the coil springs in response to a traveling electromagnetic field which, in one embodiment, is produced by a linear motor stator. The linear motor stator is arranged at an angle with respect to the second surface of the cassette, the apex of the acute angle being arranged at the junction between the first and second surfaces of the cassette. The traveling electromagnetic field attracts the springs to the second surface and causes them to travel upwardly until they encounter the impact edges.

Abstract: A computer-controlled system is disclosed for dispensing selected packages from a vending machine. The system includes an ejector mechanism adapted to travel rectilinearly intermediate a pair of oppositely-mounted storage banks, each bank consisting of a plurality of vertically-oriented adjacent compartments in which distinct packages are stacked. The ejector mechanism includes a carriage mounted on a helical screw rotatably driven by a travel motor. An ejector lever pivotally connected to the carriage is mounted upon an actuator bar rotatably driven by a pivot motor for independently actuating one of a pair of overlapping ejector arms according to the directional rotation of the pivot motor. Each ejection arm is pivotally connected to the carriage and configured to discharge a single package from beneath a stack when actuated. A microprocessor controls the rotational drive of the motors and is provided feedback signals indicative of carriage location package availability by sensors attached to the carriage.

Abstract: An automatic work piece changer for a milling machine and the like is described. In the work piece changer there is provided a work piece hopper (2) for storing a plurality of work pieces to be movable, a carriage assembly (3) for removing work pieces from the hopper (2) to a work station where they are machined, a clamping assembly (6) for holding each of the work pieces in the work station so as to prevent their movement during the machining thereof and an ejecting assembly (60) for ejecting machined work pieces from the changer after they are machined. Operation of the work piece changer is controlled by signals received from the milling machine in a conventional manner.

Abstract: The invention concerns an apparatus for detaching wires previously cut to length from a disordered bundle. The apparatus includes a container for the bundle of wire in which there is mounted, adjacent one end, a device for grasping the wires in turn adjacent their ends and moving them transversely to their longitudinal axis against a stop situated to the side of the draw-in region of two conveyor rollers which have a variable spacing between their axes. The rollers are arranged, on reducing their axial spacing, to grasp the end of each wire bearing against the stop and to pull that wire out of the bundle substantially in its axial direction to convey it to a receiving device.

Abstract: A carton loading and forming machine having a carton dispenser magazine which includes a walking beam mechanism arranged to underlie portions of the carton blanks in the magazine for moving the carton blanks towards the discharge end of the magazine. The magazine is adapted to suspend the blanks from support rails disposed at opposite sides of the blanks and arranged above the center of gravity of the blanks so that the blanks hang freely from the support rails.

Abstract: A plurality of vertically spaced rows of longitudinally inclined fingers spaced laterally in each row are pivotally supported on transverse horizontal axes near one end. The fingers slope upwardly from the supporting means and also project in the opposite direction from said axes. Vertically movable cam members at the lower ends of the fingers are provided with vertical surfaces that overlie the lower ends of the fingers when the cam members are in their uppermost position. The cam members are movable downwardly step by step by reversible means to cause them to depress the lower ends of the fingers and thereby raise their upper ends. The upper ends of the fingers in the row immediately below the lowest row of raised fingers are positioned to receive a horizontal pipestand lowered onto them. Inclined conveyor screws spaced laterally from the fingers and sloping to the same extent are movable vertically with the cam members.