Patent ID: 8336716

Claim:
A parts feeding apparatus for feeding projection bolts into a receiving hole in an electrode, each of the projection bolts having a shank and a flange integral with the shank, said parts feeding apparatus comprising: a parts feeder for delivering the projection bolts, said parts feeder including a bowl for holding the projection bolts; a feed rod for performing a feed operation to insert the shanks of the projection bolts into the receiving hole of the electrode; a holding head connected to said feed rod for holding the projection bolts; a feed path extending from said parts feeder to a point short of said feed rod, said feed path including (i) a transfer step part formed in an inner periphery of said bowl, (ii) a suspension transfer section, and (iii) a delivery section having a pair of parallel plates connected to said suspension transfer section; an excessively long parts detecting device which detects projection bolts having excessively long shanks, said excessively long parts detecting device including (i) a pass control member fixed between said pair of plates of said delivery section for engaging an excessively long shank, and (ii) a control plate which prevents the projection bolt having the excessively long shank from projecting upward so as to lock the projection bolt in cooperation with said pass control member, wherein said feed rod advances to a predetermined position at which the shanks of the projection bolts are inserted into the receiving hole, and a spacing between said holding head and the receiving hole when said feed rod is in the predetermined position is set to allow projection bolts having a shank which is normal length to enter the receiving hole and prevent projection bolts having an excessively short shank from reaching the receiving hole.