Patent ID: 11878875
Assignee: nan
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A comb for spacing apart articles conveyed adjacent to each other along a rectilinear predetermined path in a back to front direction, the comb defining longitudinally opposed comb rear and front ends, the comb comprising:
a base defining a longitudinally extending base line; and
protrusions extending from the base longitudinally spaced apart from each other, each protrusion defining a respective free end opposed to the base, the protrusions defining recesses between adjacent ones of the protrusions, each recess defining a nadir, at least two of the nadirs being substantially at the base line, the protrusions each defining a respective length between the free end and the base line;
wherein at least one pair of the protrusions flanking one of the recesses includes a longer protrusion and a shorter protrusion, the shorter and longer protrusions having different lengths, the shorter protrusion being closer to the comb front end than the longer protrusion;
wherein, when the articles are conveyed along the predetermined path and the comb is moved towards the articles substantially perpendicular to the predetermined path with the base line substantially parallel to the predetermined path, the longer protrusion engages the articles before the shorter protrusion so that a back article from the articles is stopped by the comb while a front article from the articles located in front of the back article is allowed to move forward until the shorter protrusion engages the front article.