METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING BOTTLES ARRIVING IN UPRIGHT POSITION IN LATERALLY ADJACENT ROWS ON A FEED CONVEYOR INTO A SINGLE ROW OF BOTTLES ON A DOWNSTREAM CONVEYOR

摘要

Abstract of the DisclosureThe invention relates to a method for transferringbottles arriving in upright position in laterally adjacentrows on a feed conveyor into a single row of bottles on adownstream conveyor, in which the bottles are deflectedfrom said feed conveyor onto a laterally adjacent intermediate conveyor on which they are successively acceler-ated during a transverse movement so as to form a singlerow of bottles which is then transferred to the down-stream conveyor. The method according to the inventionaims at reducing the development of noise in the vicinityof the transfer station as well as the susceptibility there-of to failure by providing that by transversely tiltingthe end section of the feed conveyor, the resultingdeclivity drift causes the bottles to crowd together,with the bottles of the lowermost row being supported bya support railing, and that by arranging the intermediateconveyor at the same inclination as the feed conveyorand by recessing the support railing towards the lowerportion of the intermediate conveyor, the declivitydrift causes the bottles to migrate onto the inter-mediate conveyor, whereon they are caused to slideover the successive acceleration zones so as to arriveat the maximum speed zone in a spaced arrangement, saidsupport railing extending across said intermediate con-veyor in such a curved arrangement that the lowermostbottles are biased in-to engagenemt with the supportrailing by the declivity drift also in the accelerationzones, while the bottles which are still at a higherlevel and are therefore accelerated with some delay arecaused by said declivity drift to support themselves othe lower bottles and to intrude into the spaces formedtherebetween