Patent ID: 7100506

Claim:
A plate supplying apparatus for supplying a plate which is transferred such that its faces are reversed, the plate being present at the top of a pile of plates, the apparatus comprising: a storage section for storing the pile of plates; a raising and lowering mechanism for raising and lowering the storage section; a plate suction section for sucking a proximal end portion of the plate present at the top of the pile of plates stored in the storage section placed in a first position, the proximal end portion being nearer to the plate suction section; a moving and pivoting mechanism for moving the plate suction section and the base member in a direction toward a portion of the plate opposite to the proximal end portion, while causing at least the plate suction section to pivot, thereby transferring the plate sucked by the plate suction section such that its faces are reversed; a control section for controlling movement of each of the plate suction section, the raising and lowering mechanism, and the moving and pivoting mechanism; and a supplying section for supplying the plate transferred by the moving and pivoting mechanism toward another equipment device, wherein the control section controls the raising and lowering mechanism so as to cause the storage section to move to the first position, and then controls the plate suction section so as to suck the plate, and thereafter the control section controls the raising and lowering mechanism so as to lower the storage section from the first position to a second position, and then controls the moving and pivoting mechanism so as to transfer the plate toward the supplying section, while keeping the storage section placed in the second position.