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 6):
A method of supplying stacks of articles to an associated apparatus, comprising the steps of:\n providing an infeed conveyor defining an upper run for carrying one or more stacks of articles, including an infeed end and a discharge end, said infeed conveyor being movable between extended and retracted positions; providing at least one movable 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, intermittently driving said infeed conveyor for advancing said stacks of articles in a direction from said infeed end to said discharge end; positioning said upper run of said infeed conveyor in said extended position, and positioning said stack gate in said open position, so that an endmost one of said stacks in moved to the discharge end of said upper run, thereafter moving said stack gate from said open position to said blocking position, and moving said upper run of said upper run from said extended position to said retracted position, so that said upper run is moved from beneath said endmost one of said stacks to downwardly discharge said endmost stack from said upper run.

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): 0.8629367386924133
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4826565568477099
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.824908720507943
- Mean Citation Score: 224.25998600000003
- Max Citation Score: 253.7255
- Similarity Product: 202.7254255641401

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