Importance

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Abstract

The invention provides an efficient and economical way for indexing products from a continuously moving chain conveyor to a stationary position for robotic operations and then returning the product to the moving chain conveyor. Indexing is achieved by a moveable shuttle carriage which is propelled along the axis of a main drive shaft through the engagement of a follower, located beneath the shuttle carriage, with a helical recess in the circumference of the shaft. Controlled acceleration, deceleration and positioning are accomplished by varying the rotational speed of a uniform helical drive shaft or by the use of a variable helical drive shaft rotated at constant speed. The shuttle carriage picks up a product carrier by engagement of a drive dog with the carrier to propel the carriage and carrier in unison to an operating station along tracks in parallelism with the axis of the shaft. Several indexing units may be employed in tandem to provide accumulation of products and to transfer each product back to the moving conveyor after the operation has been performed.

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First Claim