Claims
- 1. A seal pickup station for supplying a plurality of seals to a position where said seals may be picked up by a gas exchange head at a pickup location, the station comprising:
- a supply roll including a plurality of seals adhesively attached to a carrier sheet;
- a pickup block having a channel through which seals can be transported on said carrier sheet to said pickup location, said pickup block being located adjacent a seal located at said pickup location to provide an opposing force when a seal is picked up by said gas exchange head;
- a sensor to detect the presence of a seal;
- a take-up reel to collect said carrier sheet; and
- a pressure roller mounted in said pickup block to maintain tension on said carrier sheet as seals are removed therefrom.
- 2. The pickup station of claim 1 wherein said pickup block includes a annular grooved surface or an annular raised surface to aid in separating said seals from said carrier sheet.
- 3. The pickup station of claim 2 wherein said annular surface is shaped to be located around the periphery of a seal that is located above said annular surface.
- 4. The pickup station of claim 1 wherein said pickup block includes an upper portion and a lower portion, said upper portion being releasably attached to said lower portion to allow access to said carrier sheet in said channel.
- 5. The pickup station of claim 4 wherein said channel is located between said upper portion and said lower portion.
- 6. The pickup station of claim 4 wherein said block includes an aperture to enable said gas exchange head to access a seal at said pickup location.
- 7. The pickup station of claim 1 wherein said seal supply roll is mounted on a backing plate which is skewed with respect to a vertical plane such that said supply roll may be retained on said backing plate by gravity.
- 8. The pickup station of claim 1 further comprising a motor coupled to said take-up reel for advancing said carrier sheet.
- 9. The pickup station of claim 8 wherein said sensor sends a signal to said motor to advance said carrier sheet when a seal is not detected by said sensor.
- 10. The pickup station of claim 1 wherein said sensor is an optical sensor.
- 11. The pickup station of claim 1 wherein said sensor is adjustable along the path of travel of said seals.
- 12. The pickup station of claim 1 in combination with a seal pickup plate, said pickup plate being shaped to remove a seal from said carrier sheet, said pickup plate having at least one vacuum hole therein to allow a vacuum to pass through said pickup plate to aid said seal pickup plate in removing said seal from said carrier sheet.
- 13. The pickup station and seal pickup plate of claim 12 wherein said pickup plate includes a recessed surface surrounding said vacuum hole such that said vacuum is applied to a greater surface area of said seal.
- 14. The pickup station and seal pickup plate of claim 12 wherein said pickup block includes a grooved surface, and wherein said pickup plate has a raised surface shaped to cooperate with said grooved surface to aid in separating a seal from said carrier sheet.
- 15. The pickup station and seal pickup plate of claim 12 wherein said pickup block includes a raised surface, and wherein said pickup plate has a grooved surface shaped to cooperate with said raised surface to aid in separating a seal from said carrier sheet.
- 16. The pickup station of claim 15 wherein said take-up reel collects said carrier sheet after said seals have been removed from said carrier sheet.
- 17. A seal pickup station for supplying a plurality of seals to a position where said seals may be picked up by a gas exchange head at a pickup location, the station comprising:
- a supply roll including a plurality of seals adhesively attached to a carrier sheet;
- a pickup block having a channel through which seals can be transported on said carrier sheet to said pickup location, said pickup block having an aperature to enable said gas exchange head to pick up a seal at said pickup location;
- a sensor to detect the presence of a seal;
- a take-up reel to collect said carrier sheet; and
- a pressure roller mounted in said pickup block to maintain tension on said carrier sheet as seals are removed therefrom.
Parent Case Info
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/003,650 filed Jan. 7, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,932.
US Referenced Citations (73)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
843886 |
Jun 1970 |
CAX |
2351008 |
Dec 1977 |
FRX |
2244601 |
Mar 1974 |
DEX |
1186978 |
Apr 1970 |
GBX |
2197291 |
May 1988 |
GBX |
9116236 |
Oct 1991 |
WOX |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
003650 |
Jan 1998 |
|