Patent ID: 7591711

Claim:
An apparatus for polishing objects, said apparatus comprising: an object polishing station having an input region to receive said objects and an output region to output said objects, said input region and said output regions being at opposite ends of said object polishing station, said object polishing station including: a plurality of polishing surfaces, said polishing surfaces being arranged in a substantially linear manner between said input region and said output region; an object transfer station positioned between two adjacent polishing surfaces of said polishing surfaces, said object transfer station being configured to receive said objects one at a time; a plurality of object carriers, each of said object carriers being configured to secure one of said objects; and at least one drive mechanism operatively connected to at least one of said object carriers, said drive mechanism being configured to displace at least one of said object carriers to and from said object transfer station and one of said two adjacent polishing surfaces and to displace at least another one of said object carriers to and from said object transfer station and the other of said two adjacent polishing surfaces; and at least one object transport device to transfer said objects to said input region of said object polishing station and to transfer said objects from said output region of said object polishing station, wherein each of said objects is transferred from said input region to said output region by way of at least one of said polishing surfaces of said object polishing station such that each of said objects is polished on at least one of said polishing surfaces.