Patent ID: 6941190

Claim:
In combination with a transport mechanism that includes a plurality of conveyor rollers, an apparatus for positioning a carriage at a desired position on the transport mechanism, the carriage being loadable with a wound reel, the apparatus comprising: a rotary pulse generator ( 16 ) associated with one of the plural conveyor rollers ( 9 ) for registering the revolutions of the one of the plural conveyor rollers ( 9 ) wherein the revolutions embody a measure of the distance traveled on the transport mechanism ( 1 ) by the carriage ( 6 ); at least a first and a second initiator ( 13 , 17 ) for determining the current position of the carriage ( 6 ) on the transport mechanism ( 1 ), the first initiator ( 13 ) for detecting a first position of the carriage ( 6 ), the second initiator ( 17 ) for detecting a second position of the carriage ( 6 ) wherein the revolutions of the rotary pulse generator ( 16 ) and a distance between the first and second initiator are used to calculate a slip (K), the slip (K) being used to determine distance (W) between the current position of the carriage ( 6 ) and the desired position (S) of the carriage ( 6 ).