Inventors:
Gary D. Ginther - Grayling MI
Murdo A. MacDonald - Bloomfield Hills MI
Assignee:
Clyde Corporation - Auburn Heights MI
International Classification:
B65G 5102
Abstract:
An apparatus for feeding articles with a head and a shank such as screws one at a time to a tool such as a power screwdriver through a hose. The apparatus has a pilot passageway into which articles are transferred one at a time by a metering arm driven by a fluid motor. Preferably, upon transfer, each article is instantaneously propelled through and discharged from the pilot passageway by a stream of compressed air discharged into the pilot passageway downstream of the inlet through which articles are transferred into the pilot passageway. Each article is propelled through the pilot passageway initially by aspiration and, subsequently, by the stream of compressed air impinging on the article. Alternatively, each article falls due to gravity through the pilot passageway and a portion of the hose and is then propelled through the hose by a stream of compressed air.