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 8):
A method of supplying stacks of articles to an associated apparatus in accordance with  claim 6 , including:\n providing first and second ones of said stack gates at respective first and second endmost positions of said upper run of said infeed conveyor, independently moving said first and second stack gates so that: (1) when said upper run is in said extended condition, and said second stack gate is on the open position thereof, said conveyor is operated to move one of said stacks to said second endmost position; (2) thereafter, said second stack gate is moved to its blocking position while said first stack gate is in its open position, with said conveyor operated to move said endmost one of said stacks from said second endmost position to said first endmost position of said upper run; (3) moving said second stack gate from the blocking position to the open position thereof, and operating said conveyor to move the next endmost one of said stacks into said second endmost position of said upper run; (4) positioning both of said first and second stack gates in the blocking positions thereof; and (5) moving said upper run of said infeed conveyor from said extended position thereof to said retracted position, so that said upper run is moved from beneath said stacks in said first and second endmost positions to downwardly discharge said stacks.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 12.0
- Percentile: 91.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.90909
- Patent Class: 414.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: none
- Component Type: 0
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['13892544', '13400953', '12384978', '10259161', '10863523']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8754401875577247
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4951076617866669
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8374069349806189
- Mean Citation Score: 224.25998600000003
- Max Citation Score: 253.7255
- Similarity Product: 174.64995720133186

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