Patent ID: 6887431

Claim:
A system for picking up a plurality of submillimeter beads from a bead supply and transferring said beads to a desired location, comprising: a plurality of projections depending from a support at spaced-apart locations defining an array; a cavity formed at a lower end region of each of said projections, each of said cavities defined by (i) a lower opening, (ii) an upper ceiling region, and (iii) a sidewall extending between said lower opening and said upper ceiling region; wherein said upper ceiling region defines a surface extending inwardly from said sidewall; wherein each cavity has a substantially constant diameter along a region extending between its lower opening and its upper ceiling region, such that lines extending longitudinally along confronting inner surfaces of each sidewall are substantially parallel to one another; and an attraction source, operable at said projection end regions, effective to draw beads from said supply into said cavities and to releasably retain said beads therein.