Patent ID: 7448130

Claim:
A tape feeder comprising: a frame including a fixed gear shaft; a ratchet gear rotating on the fixed gear shaft; a sprocket coupled to the ratchet gear and rotating on the fixed gear shaft, the sprocket being of a predetermined pitch to engage with spaced-apart transfer holes of a tape carrier having a plurality of components for advancing the tape carrier by predetermined intervals; a generally horizontal link with a first end coupled to a reciprocating actuator and a second end, the generally horizontal link extending and retracting horizontally in response to said reciprocating actuator; a pivot lever including an upper end configured for rotation on the fixed gear shaft and a lower end coupled to the second end of the generally horizontal link; a pawl coupled to the pivot lever intermediate the upper and lower ends of the pivot lever and extending generally vertically to selectively mesh with the ratchet gear according to the rotation of the pivot lever, the pawl rotating the ratchet gear upon meshing with the ratchet gear; and a link velocity control unit connected with the generally horizontal link and the lower end of the pivot lever, the link velocity control unit including a contact unit fixed on the frame, and a velocity control link comprising a first end including a curved slot moving on the contact unit, and a second end coupled to the second end of the generally horizontal link, wherein the moving velocity of the pivot lever varies according to an inclination of the curved slot with respect to a moving direction of the generally horizontal link, and wherein the link velocity control unit varies a moving velocity of the pivot lever according to a position of the generally horizontal link.