US3559819A

US3559819A - Method and apparatus for orienting articles with tapered ends

Info

Publication number: US3559819A
Application number: US822489A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald M Large
Original assignee: Western Electric Co Inc
Current assignee: AT&T Corp
Priority date: 1969-05-07
Filing date: 1969-05-07
Publication date: 1971-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-02

Abstract

Small studs having tapered first end portions and opposed flat end surfaces are vertically oriented with the tapered portions up. This is accomplished by shaker loading the pins into bores formed in a plate bottomed with movable pins having grooved end surfaces. The studs are then elevated by the pins to free them of the bores and eliminate the lateral support provided by the bores. The tapered portions of the studs are unstably supported on the pins and the flat surfaces of the studs are stably supported on the pins so that when the pins are moved to lift the studs free of the bores the studs with the flat surfaces down are retained on the pins and those with the tapered portions down fall from the pins.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Donald M. Large [56] References Cited Temple-P1 UNITED STATES PATENTS :51: $23 g j 'i z 2.510.555 6/1950 Christie 214/1 c x 1/ Palemed Feb. 2,197] 3.472356 10/1969 Reppert 2l4/l (C)X [73] Assignee Western Electric Company, Incorporated Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza New York, N.Y. Assistant Examiner-Frank E. Werner a corporation of New York Attorneysl-l. J. Winegar, R. P. Miller and R. Y. Peters [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES WITH TAPERED ENDS 3BRL;214/l(C). l, l52;285/l23; 221/164; 209/(lnquired); l23/(lnquired); 29/203, 468

ABSTRACT: Small studs having tapered first end portions and opposed flat end surfaces are vertically oriented with the tapered portions up. This is accomplished by shaker loading the pins into bores formed in a plate bottomed with movable pins having grooved end surfaces. The studs are then elevated by the pins to free them of the bores and eliminate the lateral support provided by the bores. The tapered portions of the studs are unstably supported on the pins and the flat surfaces of the studs are stably supported on the pins so that when the pins are moved to lift the studs free of the bores the studs with the flat surfaces down are retained on the pins and those with the tapered portions down fall from the pins.

Y P TE FEB m 3.559.819

sum 2 BF 3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES WITI-I TAPERED ENDS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method and apparatus for orienting articles with tapered ends, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for orienting in the same direction a plurality of similar tapered diode studs each having one flat end whereafter the studs are inserted tapered end first into an apertured mask for subsequent metal sputtering operations.

Problems in the Art In the manufacture of leadless diodes, it is necessary to load tapered studs into a sputtering mask. Prior to inserting the studs into a sputtering mask they must be each oriented in the same direction. Since the studs are quite minute, e.g. approximately .04 inch X .12 inch, and in batch handling over a thousand must be oriented and loaded into each sputtering mask, hand loading and orienting is extremely tedious and therefore both time consuming, relatively expensive, and unreliable. It may be thus appreciated that there is a need for a device to orient small tapered studs in the same direction, as well as a need for a facility to load the oriented studs into a processing device such as a sputtering mask.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates apparatus and methods for orienting studs having flat end surfaces and opposed tapered end sections into position with the tapered end sections extending in the same direction. In addition, the invention contemplates facilities for transferring the oriented studs into a receiving facility such as a sputtering mask. More specifically, studs having flat end surfaces and opposed tapered end portions are loaded onto a horizontal loading plate having a plurality of parallel aligning bores. The plate is vibrated or shaken to seat the pins vertically in the bores with either thd flat surfaces or tapered ends resting upon reciprocally movable pins positioned within the bores. Each pin has a flat end surface with a transverse groove located therein. When the flat ends of the studs rest upon the pins, the studs will be stably supported on the flat end surfaces of the pins; but, when the tapered ends of the studs rest upon the pins, the studs will be unstably supported in the grooves of the pins and will fall over when the pins move the studs free of the bores. The pins are then raised in the bores to lift the studs free of the bores so that pins having flat ends oriented down and tapered ends oriented up will be separated from those oriented with flat end up and tapered ends down. The bores are arranged in a coordinate array with the diagonal distance between bores being greater ta than the lengths of the pins and the grooves in the pins are aligned along the diagonals of the array to permit studs to fall from pins without striking studs supported on other pins.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The advantages and novel aspects of the invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a diode stud which may be oriented by the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cutaway front view of an orienting apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cutaway front view of the orienting apparatus showing bores formed in the apparatus which are filled with randomly oriented studs;

FIGA is an enlarged view showing pins of the orienting apparatus engaging correctly oriented studs and incorrectly oriented studs;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the pins elevated from the bores showing the correctly oriented studs being retained by the pins and the incorrectly oriented pins toppling from the pins;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a correctly oriented stud being retained by a pin and an incorrectly oriented stud in the process of toppling over;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the orienting apparatus, illustrating the coordinate arrangement of bores and orienting pins;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the orienting apparatus prior to its alignment with a magazine and a sputtering mask; and

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the orienting apparatus in align- A ment with the magazine and sputtering mask and the pins advancing to move the oriented pins into and through the magazine and into the sputtering mask.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a stud 21 of the type that may be oriented by the apparatus of the present invention. The stud has a tapered end 22 in the form of a truncated cone and a flat or planar end 23. The orienting apparatus positions a number of these studs 21 with their tapered ends 22 extending in a common direction so that studs may be transferred into an apertured mask 24 (see FIGS. 8 and 9). The mask 24 may be placed in a sputtering apparatus where metal is deposited on the faces of the tapered ends 22 of the studs. These studs 21 may be used as mountings for semiconductor diodes.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein the orienting device designated generally by the reference numeral 26, is shown to include a block 27 having a pair of trunnions 28-28 extending into a joumaled in a pair of L-shaped slots 29 formed in a pair of standards 31-31 secured to a base 32. One edge of the bottom of the block 27 rests on a support 33 which is offset from the vertical plane passing through the axes of the trunnions 28-28. The bottom of block 27 is initially spaced from the top surfaces of the base 32 so as to permit the block 27 to be rotated slide toward the mask 24 along the horizontal sections of the L-shaped slot 29 and then downwardly along the vertical sections of the L-shaped slots into alignment with the mask 24.

The block 27 has a transverse slot 34 extending across the top portion to accommodate a lift plate 36 on which is mounted a coordinate array of orienting pins 37. Each of the pins 37 has a transverse V-shaped notch 38. As best illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, the notches 38, extend along diagonals in the coordinate array of pins 37, and terminate in the upper ends of the pins 37 to provide pans of planar land areas 39-39. Secured to the bottom of the plate 36 is a push rod 41 riding on an eccentric pin 42. The eccentric pin 42 is attached to an inner end of a shaft 43 running through a bore fonned in the block 27 and extending beyond the front of the block 27. A knob 44 is attached to the extending end of the shaft 43 so that a turning of the knob 44 rotates the eccentric pin 42 to lift the push rod 41, the plate 36, and the pins 37.

Mounted on the top surface of the block 27 is a loading plate 46 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) having a coordinate array of apertures 47 aligned with the pins 37. Secured to the upper surface of plate 46 is a frame having a U-shaped section 48 surrounding a bottom plate 49. The bottom plate 49 is provided with a coordinate array of apertures 51 (see also FIG. 7) each of which is formed as a taper terminating in alignment with the apertures 47. The walls of the U-shaped frame section 48 serve to retain a random mass or supply of studs 21 on the bottom plate 49.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, for a consideration of the mask 24 and the facilities for loading the mask, there is shown an extend extension 52 of the base 32 that provides a support for the mask 24. This mask is rectangular in shape and has a coordinate array of apertures 53 that are tapered to receive properly oriented studs 21. A magazine 54 is mounted on the extension 52 by means of locating pins 56. The sputtering mask 24 abuts the magazine 54 and is attached thereto by means of a fastener such as threaded bolts 58, so that a coordinate array of storage bores 59 extending through the magazine is aligned with the mask apertures 53. Both the bores 59 and the mask apertures 53 are aligned with the orienting pins 37 when the block 27 is tilted 90 to move the oriented studs 21 into position for transfer of the studs 21 through the magazine bores 59 into the mask apertures 53.

In orienting the tapered diode studs 21. a number of the tapered studs are placed on the bottom plate 49. and as shown in FIG. 2. the studs 21 are randomly oriented. The oriehting device 26 may be placed on and vibrated by a commercially available vibratory tool (not shown) to move the studs 21 about the plate 49 until they drop into the apertures 51. In the alternative, the frame 48 and plate 49 may be contacted by a vibratory device to impart the needed vibrations to move the studs 21 into the apertures 51. The studs 21 are vibrated until all the apertures 47 of the plate 46 have been filled with studs 21. As shown in FIG. 3, the studs 21 have either entered the apertures 47 with the tapered end 22 first or with the flat end 23 first and are engaged by the ends of the pins 37 having the V-shaped notches 38 therein. As is shown in FIG. 4, those studs 61 which are oriented with the tapered end 22 down are engaged by the tapered walls of the notches 38 along diametrically opposed lines of contact and, are in effect unstably supported within the notches 38. On the other hand, those studs 62 which are oriented with the flat end 23 down are stably supported upon the land areas 39-39 of the pins 37 and held by the pins 37 to span the notches 38.

The knob 44 is turned counterclockwise to rotate the eccentric pin 42 to lift the push rod 41 and raise the plate 36 and the pins 37 a sufficient distance to pass the pins 37 and the

studs

61,62 engaged by the pins 37 through the above the apertures 47 of the plate 46 and the apertures 51 of the bottom plate 49. As is shown in FIGS. and 6, those studs 61 which are unstably engaged by the pins 37, i.e., engaged within the notches 38, topple from the pins 37 upon movement of the notches 38 above the plate 49. Those studs 62, which are stably engaged, i.e., span the notches 38, are held by the pins 37 and do not topple over under the same conditions as the unstably held studs 61. When the

studs

61, 62 are within the apertures 47 and engaged by the pins 37, the

studs

61, 62 have lateral support. However, when the pins 37 are raised so that the notches 38 of the pins 37 are above the apertures 51 of the plate 49, the lateral support is removed leading to the result discussed above.

As shown in FIG. 7, the apertures 51 in the plate 49 are in a coordinate array wherein the X-coordinate distance and the Y-coordinate distance between adjacent apertures 51 is less than the length of the studs 61 62, but the diagonal distance is greater than the length of the

studs

61, 62 The notches 38 are cut in the pins 37 so as to traverse the ends of the pins 37 in alignment with the diagonals between adjacent apertures 51. This alignment assures that unstably supported stubs 61, upon toppling from the pins 37, fall along the diagonal paths between adjacent apertures 51 and do not hit and knock over stably supported studs 62.

After the studs 61, oriented with the tapered ends 22 pointed downward, have been toppled from engagement with the pins 37, the knob 44 is turned clockwise to lower the push rod 41, the plate 36, and both the pins 37 and the studs 62 retained thereon. The toppled studs 61 are then atop the bottom plate 49, which is then vibrated again until the empty apertures 47 of plate 46 are again filled. The sequence of steps is repeated until all of the pins 37 have stably retained studs 62 remaining thereon which are correctly oriented in one direction. Once this has been accomplished, the correctly oriented studs 62 may be transferred to a suitable mask 24 for subsequent metallic sputtering operations.

As shown in FIG. 8, the orienting apparatus 26 is contiguous to the magazine 54 and the sputtering mask 24. The diameter of the bore in the coordinate array of storage bores 59 of the magazine 54 is slightly larger than the diameter of the oriented studs 62 and is used for storing the oriented studs 62. The apertures 53 of the sputtering mask 24, attached to the magazine 54, are initially the same diameter as the bores 59. but gradually the apertures 53 start to taper until a point is reached along their length where the diameter of the apertures 53 is less than the diameter of the studs 62. At this point, the studs 62 will no longer pass and the flat end portion 23 of the studs will be exposed above the apertures 53 of the sputtering 5 mask 24. i

The orienting device 26 is pivoted 90on trunnions 28-28. The device is moved-toward the left and the trunnions 28-28 slide along the horizontal sections of the L-shaped slot 29 until the bottom plate 49 comes in contact with the magazine 54. The device 26 is then moved downward, the trunnions 28-28 sliding along the vertical sections of the L-shaped slots 29. until the U-shaped frame'48 comes to rest on the top surface 63 of the magazine 54. In this advanced position, the pins 37 of the orienting apparatus 26 and the oriented studs 62 are in alignment with the magazine bores 59. This is shown in FIG. 9. The pins 37 are then moved beyond the plate 49 by turning the knob 44 pushing the oriented studs 62 into the bores 59 of the magazine 54. The pins 37 are then retracted back to their original position leaving the oriented studs 62 inserted in the bores 59.

To insert the studs 62 into the sputtering mask 24, a magazine 54 containing oriented studs 62 is abutted with the orienting apparatus 26 which has a replenished supply of oriented studs 62. The pins 37 are again moved past the plate 49 causing the new supply of studs 62 to enter the bores 59 and force one series of studs 62 already in the bores 59 out and into the apertures 53 of the sputtering mask 24.

It should be noted that after the magazine 54 has been completely filled,- it can be removed from the base extension 52 and the studs 62 can be store stored in the magazine 54 using two cup plates or any other suitable means to cover the bores 59 of the magazine 54. The procedure for inserting the oriented studs into the sputtering mask 24 can then be done at any future time using the thus stored oriented studs 62.

It should also be noted that in the alternative. there can be a transfer of the studs 62 to the magazine 54 and then to the mask 24 when there is only a random distribution of correctly oriented studs 62 retained on the pins 37. After each vibration loading and each toppling of unstably supported studs 61, the orienting device 26 is pivoted and moved into correct alignment with the magazine 54 and the randomly retained studs 62 are transferred to the bores 59. This procedure is repeated until the bores 59 are substantially filled with correctly ore oriented studs 62. The mask 24 is attached to the magazine 54 and then both the mask 24 and the magazine 54 are removed from the extension 52. The magazine 54 and the mask 24 are inverted and placed on a commercially available vibratory tool, with the face 64 of the mask 24 contacting said tool. When the magazine 54 and the mask 24 are vibrated, the oriented studs 62 pass from the bores 59 into the apertures 53 of the magazine 24. i Iclaim:

1. An apparatus for orienting a stud having one end tapered, which comprises:

a fixture having at least one vertical hole for receiving the stud;

means within said hole for supporting the etud within the hole;

means for moving said support means and said fixture relative to one another to pass the stud from the hole; and

said support means having a stud engaging surface for stably supporting the stud engaged at the nontapered end and for unstably engaging the stud and the tapered end whereupon said unstably engaged stud pivots from the support means. 1

2. An apparatus for orienting a stud having a planar end surface and a tapered end portion, which comprises:

a horizontally disposed loading plate having at least one vertically disposed aligning bore therein for receiving and laterally supporting a stud;

a pin disposed for reciprocal motion in and relative to said aligning bore, said pin having a horizontal flat end surface for stably supporting the stud when engaging the planar end surface thereof and a groove in the horizontal flat end portion for unstably supporting the the stud when engaging the tapered end portion thereof; and

means for moving said pin and said plate relative to one another to disengage the stud from the support of said aligning bore to (l pivot the stud from said pin when the tapered end engages said groove, and to (2) support the stud on said pin when the planar end of the stud engages said flat end portion of said pin.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said aligning bore tapers inwardly from the surface of said loading plate and then terminates in a cylindrical portion.

4. An apparatus for orienting a plurality of studs having a a horizontally disposed loading fixture having a plurality of vertically disposed aligning bores therein for receiving and vertically supporting the studs;

pins disposed for reciprocal motion in and relative to said aligning bores, said pins having horizontal flat end surfaces for stably supporting studs when engaging the planar end surfaces thereof and grooves in the horizontal flat end portions for unstably supporting studs when engaging the tapered end portions thereof; and

reciprocating means for moving said pins and said fixture relative to one another to disengage studs from the support of said aligning bores to l pivot the studs from said pins when the tapered ends engage said grooves and to (2) support the studs on said pins when the planar ends of the studs engage said flat end portions of said pins, said reciprocating means retracting the supported studs back into said aligning bores to retain the orientation of the supported studs.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein:

said plurality of aligning bores are arranged in a coordinate array; with the diagonal distances between the bores being greater than the lengths of the studs, and wherein:

said grooves in said pins are diagonally oriented in said coordinate array for directing the studs pivoting from said pins alongsaid diagonal distances to clear and not topple the studs stably supported on the other of said pins.

6. An apparatus for orienting and loadinga mask with a plurality of studs, having one end tapered, which comprises:

- an orienting apparatus as defined in claim 4 for orienting the studs;

a mask having horizontally extending apertures passing therethrough for receiving the studs;

means mounting said orienting apparatus for pivotal and sliding motion relative to said mask to pivot said apparatus and align said apertures with the oriented studs; whereupon subsequent reciprocation of said pins transfers said studs from said loading fixture to said apertures of the mask.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, which further includes: a storage magazine interposed between said fixture and said mask, said magazine having horizontally extending storage bores therethrough aligned with the apertures of the mask and the apertures in the fixture, for receiving the studs from the fixture and for transferring the studs to the mask.

8. An apparatus for orienting and storing a plurality of studs having planar end surfaces and tapered end portions, which comprises:

reciprocating means for moving said pins and said aligning bores relative to one another to disengage the studs from the support of said aligning bore to (l) pivot the studs from said pins when the tapered ends engage said grooves and (2) to support the studs on said pins when the planar ends of the studs engage said flat end portions of said pins, said pin moving means retracting the supported studs back into said aligning boresto retain the orientation of the supported studs;

a magazine with horizontally extending storage bores therein for receiving the studs from the aligning bores; and

means mounting said loading plate for pivotal and sliding motion relative to said magazine to pivot said normally horizontal loading plate and, align said aligning bores with said storage bores; whereupon subsequent operation of said moving means transfers said studs from said aligning bores to said storage bores upon reciprocation of said pins.

9. A method of orienting studs each having one tapered end on a plurality of vertically extending pins each of which has a V-shaped notch formed in one end, which comprises:

laterally supporting a random mass of studs individually on said pins with certain of the studs having their nontapered ends spanning the notches and the remainder of the studs having their tapered ends resting against the sides of the V-shaped notches; and

imparting relative movement between the pins and the lateral support to remove the lateral support whereupon those studs having their tapered ends resting on the side of the V-shaped notches topple from the pins and those studs having their nontapered ends spanning then the notches are retained on the pins.

10. A method of orienting studs having flat end surfaces and opposed tapered end section, which comprises:

loading the studs into normally vertically extending bores formed in a plate;

engaging and supporting within the bores the flat end surfaces of those studs with the tapered end sections is extending upwardly;

engaging diametrically opposed line sections of the tapered end sections of those studs with the flat end surface extending upwardly to support these studs within the bores; and

imparting relative movement between the supported studs and the plate to move the studs from the bores to pivot those studs engaged along diametrically opposed line sections and to maintain the position of those studs supported on their flat end surfaces.

11. A method for orienting studs, having one end tapered,

using a fixture with multiple apertures therethrough having vertically extending pins with notches on one end of inserted therein, which comprises:

randomly inserting the studs into the of the fixture; unstably engaging the tapered ends of the studs pointed in a first direction within the inner portions of the notches;

stably engaging the nontapered ends of the studs pointed in a second direction with the nonnotched top of the pins;

imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixture to move the pins above the apertures a distance sufficient to topple said unstably engaged studs;

imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixtures to move the pins below the apertures to retain said stably engaged studs; and

cyclically repeating the above steps until all the pins retain stably engaged studs.

12. A method of loading studs having one end tapered into a magazine having a plurality of horizontal apertures therethrough, which comprises;

orienting the studs on the group of pins as defined in claim withdrawing the pins with the stably engaged studs within the fixture;

moving the fixture to align the pins with the apertures in the magazine; and

moving the pins through the apertures in the fixture to transfer the oriented studs into the apertures in the magazine.

13. A method of loading studs having tapered ends into a mask having a plurality of horizontal apertures therethrough from a magazine having a plurality of horizontal apertures therethrough each of said magazine apertures each having a length which is a multiple of the length of a stud, which comprises:

cyclically loading the magazine with studs in accordance with the method defined in claim 12 to move the studs through and from the magazine apertures; and positioning the mask with the apertures therein aligned with the magazine apertures to receive the studs exiting from the magazine apertures.

14. A method for orienting studs, having one end tapered using a fixture with multiple vertical apertures therethrough having vertically extending pins inserted therein. which pins each have a notch at one end. which comprises:

randomly inserting into the apertures the studs having the tapered ends pointed in a first direction with the studs having the tapered ends pointed in a second direction; cyclically imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixture to move the notched ends of the pins from the apertures to stably engage the nontapered ends of the studs which span the notches and to unstably engage within the notches the tapered ends of the studs, which topple upon movement of the pins from the apertures; cyclically imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixture to move the pins within the apertures to retain said stably engaged studs; and inserting the toppled studs into the empty apertures of the fixture, following each lowering of the pins. until all pins have stably engaged studs retained thereon.

PatentNo. 3,559,819 Dated February 2, 1971 Donald M. Large lnventor( s) It is certified that error appears in tht above'identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 56, "ta" should be deleted.

Column 2, line 46 (Spec. page 4, line 22) "paris should be --pairs--.

Column 3, line 30, "the", second occurrence, shoul --and--.

Column 4, line 45, "ore" should be deleted.

Claim 1, column 4, line 66, "and" should be --at Claim 4, column 5, line 14, "a", second occurren should be deleted.

Claim ll, column 6, line 54, "of" should be deleted.

Claim ll, column 6, line 56, after "the seconl occurrence insert --apertures--.

Signed and sealed this 29th day of January 1974.

-(SEAL1 Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR; RENE D. TEGTMEYER Attestlng Officer Acting Commissioner of Pa

Claims

1. An apparatus for orienting a stud having one end tapered, which comprises: a fixture having at least one vertical hole for receiving the stud; means within said hole for supporting the stud within the hole; means for moving said support means and said fixture relative to one another to pass the stud from the hole; and said support means having a stud engaging surface for stably supporting the stud engaged at the nontapered end and for unstably engaging the stud and the tapered end whereupon said unstably engaged stud pivots from the support means.

2. An apparatus for orienting a stud having a planar end surface and a tapered end portion, which comprises: a horizontally disposed loading plate having at least one vertically disposed aligning bore therein for receiving and laterally supporting a stud; a pin disposed for reciprocal motion in and relative to said aligning bore, said pin having a horizontal flat end surface for stably supporting the stud when engaging the planar end surface thereof and a groove in the horizontal flat end portion for unstably supporting the the stud when engaging the tapered end portion thereof; and means for moving said pin and said plate relative to one another to disengage the stud from the support of said aligning bore to (1) pivot the stud from said pin when the tapered end engages said groove, and to (2) support the stud on said pin when the planar end of the stud engages said flat end portion of said pin.

4. An apparatus for orienting a plurality of studs having a planar end surfaces and tapered end portions, which comprises: a horizontally disposed loading fixture having a plurality of vertically disposed aligning bores therein for receiving and vertically supporting the studs; pins disposed for reciprocal motion in and relative to said aligning bores, said pins having horizontal flat end surfaces for stably supporting studs when engaging the planar end surfaces thereof and grooves in the horizontal flat end portions for unstably supporting studs when engaging the tapered end portions thereof; and reciprocating means for moving said pins and said fixture relative to one another to disengage studs from the support of said aligning bores to (1) pivot the studs from said pins when the tapered ends engage said grooves and to (2) support the studs on said pins when the planar ends of the studs engage said flat end portions of said pins, said reciprocating means retracting the supported studs back into said aligning bores to retain the orientation of the supported studs.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein: said plurality of aligning bores are arranged in a coordinate array; with the diagonal distances between the bores being greater than the lengths of the studs, and wherein: said grooves in said pins are diagonally oriented in said coordinate array for directing the studs pivoting from said pins along said diagonal distances to clear and not topple the studs stably supported on the other of said pins.

6. An apparatus for orienting and loading a mask with a plurality of studs, having one end tapered, which comprises: an orienting apparatus as defined in claim 4 for orienting the studs; a mask having horizontally extEnding apertures passing therethrough for receiving the studs; means mounting said orienting apparatus for pivotal and sliding motion relative to said mask to pivot said apparatus and align said apertures with the oriented studs; whereupon subsequent reciprocation of said pins transfers said studs from said loading fixture to said apertures of the mask.

8. An apparatus for orienting and storing a plurality of studs having planar end surfaces and tapered end portions, which comprises: a normally horizontally disposed loading plate having a plurality of normally vertically disposed aligning bores therein for receiving and vertically supporting the studs; pins disposed for reciprocal motion in and relative to said aligning bores, said pins having normally horizontal flat end surfaces for stably supporting the studs when engaging the planar end surfaces thereof and grooves in the horizontal flat end portions for unstably supporting the studs when engaging the tapered end portions thereof; reciprocating means for moving said pins and said aligning bores relative to one another to disengage the studs from the support of said aligning bore to (1) pivot the studs from said pins when the tapered ends engage said grooves and (2) to support the studs on said pins when the planar ends of the studs engage said flat end portions of said pins, said pin moving means retracting the supported studs back into said aligning bores to retain the orientation of the supported studs; a magazine with horizontally extending storage bores therein for receiving the studs from the aligning bores; and means mounting said loading plate for pivotal and sliding motion relative to said magazine to pivot said normally horizontal loading plate and align said aligning bores with said storage bores; whereupon subsequent operation of said moving means transfers said studs from said aligning bores to said storage bores upon reciprocation of said pins.

9. A method of orienting studs each having one tapered end on a plurality of vertically extending pins each of which has a V-shaped notch formed in one end, which comprises: laterally supporting a random mass of studs individually on said pins with certain of the studs having their nontapered ends spanning the notches and the remainder of the studs having their tapered ends resting against the sides of the V-shaped notches; and imparting relative movement between the pins and the lateral support to remove the lateral support whereupon those studs having their tapered ends resting on the side of the V-shaped notches topple from the pins and those studs having their nontapered ends spanning then the notches are retained on the pins.

10. A method of orienting studs having flat end surfaces and opposed tapered end section, which comprises: loading the studs into normally vertically extending bores formed in a plate; engaging and supporting within the bores the flat end surfaces of those studs with the tapered end sections is extending upwardly; engaging diametrically opposed line sections of the tapered end sections of those studs with the flat end surface extending upwardly to support these studs within the bores; and imparting relative movement between the supported studs and the plate to move the studs from the bores to pivot those studs engaged along diametrically opposed line sections and to maintain the position of those studs supported on their flat end surfaces.

11. A method for orienting studs, having one end tapered, using a fixture with multiple apertures therethrough having vertically extending pins with notcHes on one end of inserted therein, which comprises: randomly inserting the studs into the of the fixture; unstably engaging the tapered ends of the studs pointed in a first direction within the inner portions of the notches; stably engaging the nontapered ends of the studs pointed in a second direction with the nonnotched top of the pins; imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixture to move the pins above the apertures a distance sufficient to topple said unstably engaged studs; imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixtures to move the pins below the apertures to retain said stably engaged studs; and cyclically repeating the above steps until all the pins retain stably engaged studs.

12. A method of loading studs having one end tapered into a magazine having a plurality of horizontal apertures therethrough, which comprises; orienting the studs on the group of pins as defined in claim 11; withdrawing the pins with the stably engaged studs within the fixture; moving the fixture to align the pins with the apertures in the magazine; and moving the pins through the apertures in the fixture to transfer the oriented studs into the apertures in the magazine.

13. A method of loading studs having tapered ends into a mask having a plurality of horizontal apertures therethrough from a magazine having a plurality of horizontal apertures therethrough each of said magazine apertures each having a length which is a multiple of the length of a stud, which comprises: cyclically loading the magazine with studs in accordance with the method defined in claim 12 to move the studs through and from the magazine apertures; and positioning the mask with the apertures therein aligned with the magazine apertures to receive the studs exiting from the magazine apertures.

14. A method for orienting studs, having one end tapered using a fixture with multiple vertical apertures therethrough having vertically extending pins inserted therein, which pins each have a notch at one end, which comprises: randomly inserting into the apertures the studs having the tapered ends pointed in a first direction with the studs having the tapered ends pointed in a second direction; cyclically imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixture to move the notched ends of the pins from the apertures to stably engage the nontapered ends of the studs which span the notches and to unstably engage within the notches the tapered ends of the studs, which topple upon movement of the pins from the apertures; cyclically imparting relative motion between the pins and the fixture to move the pins within the apertures to retain said stably engaged studs; and inserting the toppled studs into the empty apertures of the fixture, following each lowering of the pins, until all pins have stably engaged studs retained thereon.