Image Number 4 for United States Patent #5735382.
An apparatus for feeding a setscrew having a recess includes an upper and a lower guide pipes, an inner cylindrical member, a supporting shaft, an outer cylindrical member and a dispensing member. The upper guide pipe is disposed between a setscrew supplier and the outer cylindrical member, while the lower guide pipe between the outer cylindrical and a setscrew fitting machine. The inner cylindrical member is inserted into a cavity of the outer cylindrical member in such a way that a first guide hole thereof is disposed in communication with a second guide hole of the outer cylindrical member. A pin, which extends radially inwardly in the cavity, is fitted into a circumferential groove of the inner cylindrical member and moves along it during the rotation of the outer cylindrical member. The outer cylindrical member is rotatably fixed onto the supporting shaft at one end and the other end is coupled to a rotating means. The dispensing member is biased by a spring, thereby preventing the setscrew from dropping. When the outer cylindrical rotates by 180 degrees, a protrusion of an extending portion of the outer cylindrical member urges the dispensing member against the biasing force, thereby allowing the setscrew to drop into the first guide hole one at a time.
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