Ferromagnetic component positioning equipment - has comb on magnet pole movable perpendicular to field gradient with comb teeth pitch equal to component spacing

The equipment positions ferromagnetic components at set intervals from each other, having an electromagnet with a device for generating an inhomogeneous attraction field between the poles, the field gradient lying along its centre line. A feed mechanism delivers the components in the direction of the gradient and near this centre line. On one at least of the pole pieces (3) near the feed mechanism (5) discharge end is a ferromagnetic comb piece (6), movable in a plane perpendicular to that of the gradient. The pitch of the comb teeth is equal to the interval between the components. The distance between the discharge end and the plane of the comb piece may be roughly half the maximum dimension of the component.