Patent ID: 8113335
Filing Date: 2012-02-14
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
1. A unit for grouping packages along a transfer path, said unit comprising: an input station receiving said packages arranged in longitudinal lines parallel to said transfer path; an output station for groups defined by a given number of packages from respective said longitudinal lines and aligned in at least one line crosswise to said transfer path; a movable conveying surface supplied at predetermined time intervals with a number of packages equal to that in each group, and which feeds said packages from said input station to said output station along said transfer path; at least one aligning member, which is moved cyclically along a first path having at least one work portion parallel to said transfer path from said input station to said output station, and comprises an aligning surface against which, at each cycle, the packages in each group upstream from the aligning member come to rest and are aligned in at least one line crosswise to the transfer path; at least one push member, which is moved cyclically along a second path having at least one work portion parallel to said transfer path from said input station to said output station, and comprises a push surface which, at each cycle, acts on each group of packages downstream from the push member to push said group out of said unit; and wherein said aligning member and said push member are moved along said first and said second path respectively by independent first and second conveying means; and in that said work portions of said first and second path coincide at least partly.