Patent ID: 7172004

Claim:
An apparatus for applying strips of resiliently compressible gasket material to upper edges of elongate beams that are fed therethrough, said apparatus comprising: a bed assembly having a plurality of horizontal axis rollers that support said beams for passage thereover; first and second guide plates mounted at an entry end of said bed assembly that engage said beams so as to align said beams in an on-edge orientation with lower edges thereof supported on said rollers of said bed assembly; first and second vertical axis rollers that press against opposite vertically extending sides of said beams in said on-edge orientation, at a location proximate lower edges of said beams, so that at least one of said vertical axis rollers establishes frictional engagement with said beams; a motor that drives said vertical axis roller in frictional engagement with said beams so as to advance said beams over said table assembly; means for selectively adjusting spacing between said vertical axis rollers to accommodate beams having differing thicknesses; first and second pairs of vertical axis idler rollers that engage opposite, vertically extending sides of said beams in said on-edge orientation, at a location proximate said upper edges of said beams, so as to support said beams in said on-edge orientation, said first and second pairs of vertical axis rollers being mounted at longitudinally spaced locations so as to engage said beams at separate points along the lengths thereof; first and second horizontal axis idler rollers that engage said upper edges of said beams in said on-edge orientation, so as to maintain said beams in horizontal alignment while advancing through said apparatus, said first and second horizontal axis idler rollers being mounted at longitudinally spaced locations so as to engage said beams at separate points along the lengths thereof; a horizontal axis applicator roller that is biased against said upper edges of said beams, said applicator roller being mounted at a location intermediate said spaced apart locations of said horizontal axis idler rollers and said pairs of vertical axis idler rollers; means for guiding a strip of said resiliently compressible gasket material under said applicator roller so that an adhesive layer on a lower surface of said strip is pressed into adhesive engagement with said upper edges of said beams; a blade member mounted proximate said applicator roller, on a side of said applicator idler towards said entry end of said table assembly; and means for extending said blade member so as to sever said strip of resiliently compressible gasket material in response to said strip reaching an end of a beam passing through said assembly.