Patent ID: 11939175
Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 9:
10. A method of handling glass articles to form bundles of the glass articles, the method comprising:
continuously transporting individual glass articles in the form of glass tubes or rods having a first outer diameter to a layer separating conveyor and forming a first layer of side-by-side glass articles on the layer separating conveyor; and
using a robotic lift assembly, placing the first layer of side-by-side glass articles together on a layer separation insert, the layer separation insert having side-by-side slots that each receive a single glass article of the first layer of side-by-side glass articles; and
automatically decreasing a distance between adjacent side-by-side glass articles of the first layer at a re-pitch station before the step of placing the first layer of side-by-side articles together on the layer separation insert.