Patent ID: 7051633

Claim:
A device for splitting a card containing a plurality of thermoplastic containers and comprising: a base plate adapted to receive the card; a cutter assembly mounted to the base plate; and a pusher assembly movably mounted to the base plate and spaced from the cutter assembly for pushing the card past the cutter assembly and separating containers from the card wherein the cutter assembly includes a block mounted to and over the base plate and defining a passageway between the block and the base plate sized to receive the card, the cutter assembly further comprising a plurality of cutters mounted to and extending downwardly from the block into the passageway in a spaced-apart relationship from one another; wherein the base plate includes a plurality of spaced-apart elongate grooves adapted to receive the plurality of containers of a card in a nesting relationship therewith; and wherein each of the containers on the card includes a bottom, and the pusher assembly includes an elongate bar provided with a plurality of elongate spaced-apart rods mounted to and extending generally outwardly from the bar and generally parallel to the base plate, each of the rods having a free distal end adapted to abut the bottom of the respective containers for pushing the card with the respective containers nested in the grooves past the cutter assembly and through the passageway.