Material feed apparatus

Claim 1

IN AN APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING SMALL PARTS INTO AN ORDERLY ARRANGEMENT, INCLUDING MEANS FOR FEEDING A QUANTITY OF SAID PARTS TO A HOPPER; THE COMBINATION INCLUDING AN INCLINED CONVEYING MEMBER LEADING FROM SAID HOPPER HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED PARALLEL PART-CONVEYING GROOVES; MEANS FOR RANDOMLY DISCHARGING A NUMBER OF SAID PARTS ONTO SAID CONVEYING MEMBER; MEANS ON SAID CONVEYING MEMBER FOR CAUSING AT LEAST SOME OF SAID PARTS TO GRAVITATE INTO A POSITION SUCH THAT THEIR LONGITUDINAL AXES ARE TRANSVERSE TO SAID CONVEYING MEMBER; A STORAGE MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED PARALLEL PART-STORING GROOVES ALIGNED WITH SAID PART-CONVEYING GROOVES; MEANS FOR PASSING SAID TRANSVERSELY ARRANGED PARTS TO SAID STORAGE MEMBER AND FOR INTERCEPTING MIS-ARRANGED PARTS; MEANS FOR CAUSING SAID MIS-ARRANGED PARTS TO BE RETURNED TO A POINT ON SAID CONVEYING MEMBER WITHOUT LEAVING SAID CONVEYING MEMBER WHERE THEY REPEATEDLY GRAVITATE ALONG SAID CONVEYING MEMBER UNTIL THEY BECOME PROPERLY ARRANGED WITH THEIR LONGITUDINAL AXES TRANSVERSE OF SAID CONVEYING MEMBER; AND MOVABLE GATE MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID STORAGE MEMBER; SEPARATE, MANUALLY OPERABLE INTERCEPTOR MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF PARTS TO EACH OF SAID PART-CONVEYING GROOVES; FOR CAUSING THE DISCHARGE FROM SAID STORAGE MEMBER OF QUANTITIES OF SAID PARTS AS CONTROLLED BY SAID INTERCEPTOR MEANS WHEN SAID GATE MEANS IS MOVED.