Patent ID: 7827916

Claim:
An apparatus for positioning railroad tie plates along a railroad track, comprising: a carrier vehicle having a carrier conveyor; a roller conveyor formed of frame members and a plurality of idler rollers, said roller conveyor having an upper input end and a lower output end for gravity feeding a plurality of tie plates, said roller conveyor adapted to receive a said plurality of tie plates at said input end and feed said tie plates toward said output end; said roller conveyor connected to said carrier vehicle and in feeding communication with said carrier conveyor adjacent an input end of said roller conveyor, said roller conveyor further comprising a rolling support adjacent said output end for movable support of said roller conveyor along said railroad track; an actuator positioned at said output end of roller conveyor, said actuator successively engaging each of said plurality of tie plates during feeding; a sensor adapted to detect an in-service railroad tie plate, said sensor being disposed on said roller conveyor and adjustable between said input end and said output end wherein said sensor signals a controller and said controller actuates said actuator to eject said plurality of tie plates from said roller conveyor in a preselected spaced apart manner.