Patent ID: 7886893
Filing Date: 2011-02-15
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
1. A method of operating a transfer station in a bottling plant, said transfer station comprising: an input and an output; a supply conveyor belt disposed adjacent said input; an upstream infeed area, disposed by said input, configured to receive bottles from said supply conveyor belt and a downstream discharge area, disposed by said output, configured to discharge bottles; at least one conveyor belt disposed to feed bottles entering into said transfer station from said upstream infeed area and being configured to feed bottles into receiving devices of a bottle handling and receiving section of a bottle cleaning machine; a plurality of webs disposed, with respect to one another, to form spaces between said webs, which spaces are disposed to receive lines of bottles for movement through said transfer station from said upstream infeed area; said supply conveyor belt having a direction of travel, to move bottles, being perpendicular to the direction of movement of bottles through said transfer station; said webs comprising upstream end surfaces disposed towards said input; said webs being disposed to separate rows of bottles to prevent said bottles from contacting bottles in another row of bottles and thus reducing noise; a plurality of rotatable transfer mechanisms having axes of rotation that run perpendicular to the direction of movement of bottles through said transfer station; said rotatable transfer mechanism being configured to rotate bottles, received from said at least one conveyor belt through said spaces between said webs, by an angle of about 90° and thus to reposition upright bottles with their openings in an upright, uppermost, position to a position where the openings of the bottles are in a lying down position, facing the direction of downstream travel; vertically oriented rotatable round cylindrical directing elements having vertical rotational axes and being rotatable about their vertical rotational axes; rotating apparatus connected to said rotatable round cylindrical directing elements to rotate said rotatable round cylindrical directing elements; said rotatable round cylindrical directing elements being disposed in the infeed direction upstream of said upstream end surfaces of said webs; said vertically oriented rotatable round cylindrical directing elements being configured and disposed to contact the bodies of bottles, with the rotation being configured to deflect the bottles into said receiving spaces between said webs and thus minimizing jams of bottles in said infeed area; said method comprising the steps of: moving bottles on said supply conveyor belt to said upstream infeed area; moving bottles from said upstream infeed area to said at least one conveyor belt; moving bottles on said at least one conveyor belt into contact with said vertically oriented rotatable round cylindrical directing elements; activating said rotating apparatus connected to said rotatable round cylindrical directing elements and rotating said rotatable round cylindrical directing elements; contacting the bodies of bottles with said vertically oriented rotatable round cylindrical directing elements and thus deflecting the bottles into said receiving spaces between said webs and thus minimizing jams of bottles in said infeed area; moving bottles on said at least one conveyor belt through said receiving spaces between said webs to said rotatable transfer mechanisms; and moving bottles with said rotatable transfer mechanisms from said at least one conveyor belt into said receiving devices by rotating bottles by an angle of about 90° and thus to reposition upright bottles with their openings in an upright, uppermost, position to a position where the openings of the bottles are in a lying down position.