1. Field of Invention
This invention is concerned with means adaptable for singulating items from a stack of items and, more particularly, is concerned with vacuum pads and fingers for picking up and/or moving non-planar items in a generally horizontal plane.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
It is known to use vacuum pads to lift thin, flat, planar objects off a stack. It is also known to use fingers to push items of appreciable thickness off a stack. In the handling of mail, both thick and thin items of various sizes may be intermixed in a stack, so that the surface of the stack may be uneven and not horizontal. A simple vacuum pad or pushing device would not operate reliably under these circumstances.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds