Patent ID: 7195236

Claim:
A system for automated loading of a side-by-side stack of thin objects to a thin-object feeder, comprising: a) a transporter having a transport surface upon which a side-by-side stack of thin objects can be conveyed; b) a carrier, configured to carry a side-by-side stack of thin objects, supported above said transport surface, said carrier being in the form of a generally rectangular container comprising four walls, a floor ( 160 FL), a left pivot ( 160 P) and a right pivot ( 160 P), said four walls including a front wall ( 160 FR) extending along a first end of the floor, a back wall ( 160 B) opposite the front wall and extending along a second end of the floor, a right wall ( 160 R) extending along a first side of the floor, and a left wall ( 160 L) opposite the right wall and extending along a second side of the floor, wherein said four walls and said floor define a space for receiving said stack of thin objects, and wherein said front wall, at least a portion of the left wall and a portion of the right wall are moveable together about said pivots and are movable relative to said floor; c) a pusher supported above said transport surface; d) said pusher and said carrier being movable relative to one another between a first position in which said pusher is inside said carrier behind a side-by-side stack of thin objects on said carrier and a second position in which said pusher is laterally displaced from said carrier, such that the side-by-side stack of thin objects on said carrier is laterally slidable off of said carrier by said pusher.