Patent ID: 7451869

Claim:
An article carrying apparatus for carrying an article, comprising: a housing; an input shaft rotabably supported by said housing; an output section supported by said housing in such a manner that said output section can oscillate and reciprocate; an article carry section that oscillates and reciprocates integrally with said output section; a first cam mechanism that moves in conjunction with said input shaft and oscillates said output section, the first cam mechanism being provided on and rotating integrally with said input shaft, wherein said first cam mechanism includes a first cam having a cam face formed on side sufaces thereof that maintains a contact state with said output section during reciprocation of said output section, and a contact position at which said output section and said cam face contact one another moves in the same direction as reciprocating direction in which said output section reciprocates; and a second cam mechanism that moves in conjunction with said input shaft and reciprocates said output section, wherein said first cam mechanism includes a first contact element that is provided on said output section and moves integrally with said output section, the first contact element comprising a pair of cam followers; and wherein said cam followers are respectively in contact with the cam faces; characterized in that an axis of each of the cam followers is in a direction perpendicular to an axis of said input shaft; and in that the cam surfaces are formed as curved surfaces perpendicularly rising from the outer surface of the input shaft.