Patent ID: 6773006
Filing Date: 2004-08-10
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
A rotatable pneumatic apparatus for retrieving an item at a pickup point, said pneumatic apparatus comprising:an inner cylinder having an outer periphery with at least one cutout region formed therein, the inner cylinder further having an air passageway communicating with said at least one cutout region and with an air pressure device so as to provide a negative pressure to said at least one cutout region; an outer cylinder concentrically mounted on the outer periphery of the inner cylinder for rotation, wherein the outer cylinder comprises at least one opening communicable with said at least one cutout region of the inner cylinder when said at least one opening is adjacent the pickup point while the outer cylinder is rotated relative to the inner cylinder; a vacuum shoe positioned on an outer surface of the outer cylinder, the vacuum shoe having at least one aperture communicable with said at least one opening of the outer cylinder, such that when said at least one opening of the cylinder is adjacent the pickup point, the negative pressure at the aperture causes said item to become attached to the vacuum shoe, allowing the pneumatic apparatus to move said item away from the pickup point: and means for removably securing the vacuum shoe to the outer cylinder, allowing the vacuum shoe to be removed from the pneumatic apparatus for maintenance or replacement; independently of the outer cylinder such that when said at least one opening of the outer cylinder is rotated to a releasing point, said at least one cutout region of the inner cylinder becomes off-aligned with said at east one opening for reducing the negative pressure at the aperture of the vacuum shoe so as to allow said item to be released from the vacuum shoe at the releasing point.