Patent ID: 8348094

Claim:
A singulating device, comprising: a housing; a hopper defining a pickup chamber, said hopper removably connected to said housing, said hopper having said pickup chamber formed therein; a hollow, rotatable singulating disc carried by said housing, said disc having a plurality of openings around the periphery thereof, a portion of said disc rotating through said pickup chamber, said disc having a plurality of pistons, each piston positioned so as to control the volume of air flowing through one of said plurality of openings; a source of rotary motion coupled to said singulating disc; a vacuum source coupled to said singulating disc; at least one path; means for removing items from the periphery of said singulating disc into said path; and a cam positioned to interface with each of said pistons such that air flow is at a maximum for each opening in a pickup sector while said opening is located in said pickup chamber and is at a minimum in a sealed sector including when said opening is positioned at said means for removing and is less than maximum but more than minimum in a transport sector during at least a major portion of rotation of the disc from the pickup chamber until the removing of the item.