Patent ID: 7690706

Claim:
An apparatus for transporting objects, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of grippers connected to a plurality of carrier assemblies, wherein the carrier assemblies have a first carrier spacing substantially equivalent to a spacing between the objects, the carrier assemblies also having a second carrier spacing different from the first carrier spacing; a drive mechanism constructed and arranged to displace the carrier assemblies; a coupling assembly, the coupling assembly having one or more coupling elements capable of selectively connecting a carrier assembly to an adjacent carrier assembly; a link associated with a carrier assembly, the link being connected to, and selectively displaceable by, the drive mechanism, wherein displacement of the link displaces the carrier assembly from the first carrier spacing to the second carrier spacing; and a transfer joint, the transfer joint having one or more first links associated with a first carrier assembly and one or more second links associated with a second carrier assembly, wherein the one or more first links and the one or more second links are constructed and arranged such that displacement of the link by the drive mechanism results in the displacement of the one or more first links that displace the first carrier assembly a first distance, and the displacement of the one or more second links that displace the second carrier assembly a second distance different from the first distance.