Pneumatic positioning table

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING A WORK PIECE, COMPRISING, BASE MEANS, A WORK TABLE DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID BASE MEANS AND ADAPTED FOR RECEIVING A WORK PIECE, THE ADJACENT PORTIONS OF SAID WORK TABLE AND SAID BASE MEANS DEFINING A PRESSURE CHAMBER, A SOURCE OF GAS PRESSURE, CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATING SAID SOURCE OF GAS PRESSURE WITH SAID PRESSURE CHAMBER TO PROVIDE A PNEUMATIC BEARING BETWEEN THE WORK TABLE AND THE BASE MEANS TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF THE WORK TABLE RELATIVE TO THE BASE MEANS, A VACUUM SOURCE, CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATING SAID VACUUM SOURCE TO SAID CHAMBER OPERABLE TO SUBSTITUTE A VACUUM FOR GAS PRESSURE IN SAID PRESSURE CHAMBER WHEREBY TO LOCK SAID WORK TABLE TO SAID BASE MEANS, AND INDEXING MEANS FOR INDEXING THE WORK TABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID BASE MEANS, SAID INDEXING MEANS INCLUDING APERTURED TEMPLATE MEANS AND RECIPROCABLE INDEXING PLUNGER MEANS COOPERABLY ARRANGED ON THE WORK TABLE AND BASE MEANS, A DIAPHRAGM CHAMBER ENCLOSING A PORTION OF SAID PLUNGER MEANS, A DIAPHRAGM FORMING A FLEXIBLE PARTITION IN SAID DIAPHRAGM CHAMBER AND CONNECTED TO SAID PLUNGER MEANS, CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATING A GAS PRESSURE SOURCE WITH SAID DIAPHRAGM CHAMBER ON THE SIDE OF THE DIAPHRAGM OPERABLE TO URGE SAID PLUNGER MEANS IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID TEMPLATE MEANS, SPRING MEANS BIASING SAID PLUNGER MEANS TOWARD SAID TEMPLATE MEANS, AND VALVE MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING THE SEVERAL CONDUIT MEANS.