US Patent 11982057 Method and apparatus for retrieving and placing tie plates

A method and apparatus for singulating and transferring railroad tie plates is disclosed. The singulating system includes a front chute configured to collect one or more articles, a singulating frame, a pickup assembly operably engaged with the singulating frame, a magnetic roller of the pickup assembly and a roller belt of the pickup assembly wrapped, at least in part, around the magnetic roller. The magnetic roller and the roller belt are configured to pick up the one or more articles from the front chute and transfer the one or more articles to a different location.