Telescopic mating apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for assembling top and bottom petri dish members each having an open end and a closed end with sides extending therebetween in vertical telescopic relation with the axis of said members extending horizontally comprising in combination first and second conveying means for separately conveying said top and bottom petri dish members respectively and an assembly unit, said first and second conveying means each having a rectangular C-shaped vertical cross-section with an upper groove and a lower groove along which said petri dish members are conveyed on their sides in a vertical position, said first and second conveying means being initially positioned for conveying said petri dish members in a vertical back-to-back relation with said open ends of said top and bottom petri dish members facing away from one another and wherein the second conveying means for the bottom petri dish members has a crossover portion for subsequently supplying said bottom members to the assembly unit in vertical face-to-face relation to said top members with said open ends of said top and bottom petri dish members directly facing one another, said assembly unit being tubular in shape with parallel top and bottom walls, first and second vertical sidewalls and an exit opening and wherein the second vertical sidewall angles toward the first vertical sidewall as the two sidewalls approach the exit opening, said first conveying means positioned so as to supply top petri dish members to the assembly unit adjacent to the first vertical sidewall and said second coveying means positioned so as to supply bottom petri dish members to the assembly unit adjacent to the second vertical sidewall, said first and second conveying means and said assembly unit all being positioned so as to incline downward with respect to the horizontal so that said top and bottom petri dish members can roll on their sides in a vertical position along the conveying means and through the assembly unit, vertical means within said assembly unit for initially maintaining separation of said top and bottom petri dish members from each other as said bottom and top petri dish members enter said assembly unit, vertically actuated control means within said assembly unit for initially separately preventing movement of said top and bottom petri dish members therethrough and then subsequently separately permitting said top and bottom petri dish members to roll in a vertical position through said assembly unit, whereby said vertical bottom petri dish members abut against the angled portion of said second vertical sidewall and are pushed horizontally coaxially into a telescopic assembled relation with the vertical top petri dish members prior to the passage of such vertical top and bottom petri dish members from the exit opening of the assembly unit.