Patent ID: 7350693

Claim:
An indexing mechanism comprising: a body ( 10 , 10 A, 10 B, 10 C) mounted so as to be rotatable about an axis; a drive ( 3 ) for rotating said body about said axis; a first cam ( 9 , 9 C, 10 , 10 A, 10 B, 10 C) for displacing said body along said axis away from an axial rest position of said body during rotation of said body in a first direction; a biasing device ( 11 ) for restoring the body to the axial rest position on completion of a rotation or a predetermined portion thereof of the body; a detector for detecting the axial movement of the body when the body is being restored to the axial rest position, and for effecting indexing in response to said axial movement; and a second cam ( 2 , 9 , 2 A, 9 B, 2 C) permitting said body to be rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction.