Patent ID: 7427003

Claim:
A disk feeder comprising, a housing having a flat top surface, a trough indented in the top surface of the housing, a slot in the trough, said top surface having a maximum first height as measured from a bottom of said trough; a ram having a width almost as wide as the trough and having a maximum second height as measured from said bottom; and a bottom disk in a stack having a maximum third height as measured from said bottom, and a ram front edge for engaging and pushing an edge of said disk, the ram width narrower than the diameter of said disk, and wherein said second height is greater than said first height and said third height is greater than said first and second heights, the ram sliding in the trough and mechanically connected through the slot to a motor inside the housing for driving the ram back and forth, a cover extending slightly over the top surface of the ram and connected to the top surface of the housing to enclose and guide the ram in the trough, a tower having a first tower wall with an inwardly shaped perimeter attached to the top of the housing adjacent one side of the slot and second tower wall with an inwardly shaped perimeter attached to the top of the housing adjacent the opposite side of the trough for enclosing a stack of disks between the tower walls, the tower walls having a gap at their nearest points, the gap extending proximate the width of the ram, for admitting the ram while blocking the disks from exiting the tower, and a second gap cut into the tower walls on one side of the tower, for extending the size of the first gap to being proximate the size of the height and width of the disks for discharging a disk from the stack one at a time, the tower walls each having a first flange and a second flange perpendicular to the wall and parallel surface at the base of the tower for securing the tower to the top of the housing, the first flange is at the back or the tower and the second flange is at the side of the tower leaving the front of the tower open at the base for allowing disks to be pushed out from under the tower by the ram, a workstation adjacent the tower for receiving the disks pushed out therefrom for processing the disks.