| 摘要 |
An apparatus (10) for respectively engaging and releasing an elongate group of articles (12) such as an elongate stack of nested can ends comprises an elongate pivot shaft (18) defining a longitudinal axis (20), a pair of elongated article grippers (26,28) for engaging said articles (12), and pivot arms (22,24) coupled with the article grippers (26,28) and mounted to the pivot shaft (18) for bidirectional pivotal motion about the longitudinal axis (20) for thereby moving the article grippers (26,28) respectively toward and away from each other. A first biasing portion (51) biases the pivot arms (22,24) in a direction for moving the article grippers (26,28) toward each other. One or more cams (80) of a cam assembly (50) are supported by the pivot shaft (18) for movement between a pivot arm open position and a pivot arm closed position. Cam followers (52,54) are mounted to the pivot arms (22,24) and follow the cams (80) for overcoming this biasing and pivoting the pivot arms (22,24) in a direction for moving the article grippers (26,28) away from each other when the cams (80) are in the pivot arm open position and for permitting the biasing of the pivot arms (22,24) in a direction for moving the article grippers (26,28) toward each other when the cams (80) are in the pivot arm closed position (80). An actuator (56) is supported by the pivot shaft (18) for moving the cams (80) between the pivot arm open position and the pivot arm closed position.
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