PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15955405
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-04
Publication Date: 2019-10
Patent Classification: ["414", "798900"]

Abstract:
An apparatus for handling stacks of articles, such as cups or containers, includes a selectively extensible conveyor which can be indexed for moving the stacks of articles, and which can moved from an extended position to a retracted position. By movement from the extended position, the conveyor is moved from beneath one or more of the stacks for discharging stacks from the apparatus. The apparatus includes one or more movable stack gates for controlling, guiding, and stabilizing movement and discharge of the stacks, to thereby avoid problems associated with the instability of the stacked articles.

Claim (Index 1):
An apparatus for loading stacks of articles, comprising:\n an infeed conveyor defining an upper run for carrying one or more stacks of articles, said infeed conveyor including an infeed end and a discharge end; a conveyor drive for driving said infeed conveyor for advancing said stacks of articles in a direction from said infeed end to said discharge end; said infeed conveyor including a movable conveyor guide at the discharge end thereof, so that by reciprocable movement of said movable conveyor guide, said upper run of said conveyor can be changed between extended and retracted positions; and at least one stack gate positioned at said discharge end of said infeed conveyor for controlling movement of said stacks of articles at said discharge end, said stack gate being movable between a first open position and a second blocking position, wherein in said first open position of said stack gate, said movable conveyor guide is positioned so that said upper run of said conveyor is in said extended position, and at least one of said stacks of articles can be conveyed along said upper run of said infeed conveyor to said discharge end thereof, said stack gate thereafter being movable to said second, blocking position to block advancement of said stacks of articles, said movable conveyor guide thereafter being movable to change said upper run of said infeed conveyor from said extended position to said retracted position, to thereby move said upper run of said infeed conveyor from beneath at least one endmost one of said stacks of articles, whereby said at least one endmost stacks of articles is downwardly discharged from said discharge end of said upper run of said infeed conveyor.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 12.0
- Percentile: 91.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.90909
- Patent Class: 414.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['13892544', '13400953', '12384978', '10259161', '10863523']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8627649113405539
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4843240377845662
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8249208239849551
- Mean Citation Score: 224.25998600000003
- Max Citation Score: 253.7255
- Similarity Product: 198.11248102602363

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test