Workpiece feeder

Claim 1

A workpiece feeder for successively feeding workpieces to a predetermined area, typically a workpiece gripping position of a hand of an industrial robot, said workpiece feeder including a frame, a table mounted on said frame, and an endless conveyor mounted on said table and having plurality of movable pallets interspaced from each other at equal distances, said conveyor having at least one belt run portion extending over said table and adapted to move said pallets intermittently one by one under said predetermined area; characterized in that said table has a window aligned with said predetermined area, that each of said pallets comprises a lower plate having a central opening and an upper plate which is detachably mounted on said lower plate, that there is provided a lifting means having a platform movable vertically through said window in the table and said central opening in the lower plate to engage said upper plate from below, causing said upper plate to move and lift a workpiece placed on said upper plate up to said workpiece gripping position of the robot, and that there is provided a stop mechanism engageable with said platform for limiting the upward movement thereof so that when said platform is lifted together with a workpiece placed thereon, said platform abuts against said stop mechanism thereby holding the workpiece at said predetermined area, said stop mechanism including a vertically extending pillar mounted to the frame, a stop member connected to the top of the pillar and extending horizontally toward the workpiece gripping position, and means for adjusting the vertical position of said stop member, said adjusting means including a rack mounted lengthwise of the pillar and an associated pinion which is rotatably mounted on the machine frame and is in mesh with said rack.