JESUS A DE
Nursing at Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL

4754867, Jul 5, 1988

Sep 19, 1986

6/909436

Jesus T. De Anda - Chicago IL

Zenith Electronics Corporation - Glenview IL

B65G 4308

1984642

A printed circuit (PC) board feed apparatus includes a feed roller arrangement adapted to receive sequentially delivered PC boards and to position the PC boards in lateral edge engaging contact with a pair of aligned, linear support rails. The opposed lateral edges of each of the PC boards are directed by a respective pivoting idler/guide roller into a guide slot in each of the parallel support rails. Once positioned in the spaced, facing guide slots, the PC boards are sequentially engaged and displaced by a pair of pneumatically actuated roller/drive belt assemblies positioned adjacent to the guide slots. A pneumatic cylinder displaces a first plurality of engaging rollers in each roller/drive belt assembly in a timed manner toward and away from an adjacent respective drive roller/belt combination so as to sequentially position each of the PC boards in contact with the pair of roller/drive belt assemblies for sequentially displacing the edge-to-edge arranged PC boards in a stepwise manner. The PC board feed apparatus includes various adjustable controls to allow for high speed displacement and automatic positioning of PC boards having a range of widths as well as for adjustable lateral and vertical positioning of the PC board receiving and discharge portions of the apparatus for precise alignment with PC board supply and receiving apparatus. The PC board feed apparatus further includes a sensor for automatically shutting down the apparatus in the event the PC boards become misaligned or jammed during transport.