Tray and tray opening mechanism

Claim 2

A tray opening mechanism comprising: a base having stationary shaft means; blade support means carried by said shaft means; a pair of flat blades supported for rotation about spaced parallel axes on said blade support means; a frame extending from said base to a position adjacent a stack of flat trays; pickup means for sequentially removing trays from the stack and moving the flat trays endwise onto the aligned blades; drive means for rotating said blades about said axes and pivoting the blades about said shaft means to open said trays and align the open trays with conveyor means; and means for removing the trays from said blades and inserting the trays on the conveyor means.

Claim 3

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said pickup means includes vacuum means, guide means on said frame for guiding said vacuum means; and means for reciprocating said pickup means between positions adjacent the tray stack and the blades.

Claim 4

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 2, in which said frame is supported for pivotal movement about said shaft means, further including means for pivoting said frame to automatically cause said pickup means to remove trays from the stack.

Claim 5

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said drive means includes pivoting means for pivoting said blade support means on said shaft and means cooperating with said blades to simultaneously rotate said blades while said blade support means is pivoting.

Claim 6

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 4, in which said means cooperating with said blades includes a gear fixeD to each blade, and gear means carried by said shaft means and meshing with said gears on said blades so that said blades are automatically rotated 90* from a horizontal position to a vertical position while the blade support means is pivoted from a first position aligned with said conveyor means to a second position aligned with said frame.

Claim 7

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 5, in which said gear means includes a sleeve rotatable on said shaft and first and second gears on said sleeve and respectively meshing with the gears on said blades, and rotating means for said sleeve so that said blades may rotated an additional 90* while said blade support means is pivoted from the second position to the first position.

Claim 8

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 6, in which said pivoting means and rotating means are fluid rams.

Claim 9

A tray opening mechanism comprising a pair of elongated flat blades; blade support means for supporting said blades for rotation about spaced parallel axes; means for supporting said support means for pivotal movement about a fixed axis generally perpendicular to said parallel axes between a tray receiving position and a tray discharge position; drive means cooperating with said flat blades for automatically (1) rotating said blades approximately 90* in one direction while said blade support means is pivoting from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position to position the transverse dimensions of said blades generally in a common plane with said fixed axis, and (2) rotating said blades substantially more than 90* in the opposite direction and returning the blades to a position where the transverse dimensions of the blades extend generally perpendicular to said fixed axes while the blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position; and means for sequentially removing trays from a stack and inserting the trays endwise on said blades while the blades are in a tray receiving position.

Claim 10

A tray opening mechanism comprising a pair of elongated flat blades; blade support means for supporting said blades for rotation about spaced parallel axes; means for supporting said support means for pivotal movement about a fixed axis generally perpendicular to said parallel axes between a tray receiving position and a tray discharge position; drive means cooperating with said flat blades for automatically (1) rotating said blades approximately 90* in one direction while said blade support means is pivoting from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position to position the transverse dimensions of said blades generally in a common plane with said fixed axis, and (2) rotating said blades substantially more than 90* in the opposite direction and returning the blades to a position where the transverse dimensions of the blades extend generally perpendicular to said fixed axes while the blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position; and means for sequentially removing trays from a stack and inserting the trays endwise on said blades while the blades are in a tray receiving position.

Claim 11

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 8, in which said drive means includes a gear on each blade, a sleeve rotatably on said fixed axis, gears on said sleeve meshing with said gears on said blades, and means for (1) holding said sleeve in a fixed position while said blades are moved from the tray discharge position to the tray receiving position and (2) rotating said sleeve in opposite directions between first and second positions while said blades are moved from the tray receiving position to the tray discharge position.

Claim 12

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 9, in which said means for sequentially removing trays includes a frame and vacuum pickup means reciprocated on said frame between a first position adjacent a stack of flat trays and a second position adjacent said blades.

Claim 13

A tray opening mechanism as defined in claim 10, further including means for moving said frame relative to the stack of flat trays to automatically remove trays from the stack and align the tray with said blades while the vacuum means is in one position.