Patent ID: 6763929
Filing Date: 2004-07-20
Classification: B65B,B65G

Abstract:
A device for separating continuously fed products into groups, in particular groups of bottles, comprising:a conveyor belt, looped around a set of power driven pulleys and affording a horizontal top branch such as will establish a feed path along which to advance at least one column of bottles in a predetermined direction and at a predetermined speed, and occupying a position downstream, along the predetermined feed path, of a feed station from which bottles are directed continuously along a predetermined feed direction coinciding with the predetermined conveying direction of the belt; separator means operating in conjunction with the conveyor belt, by which bottles are taken up from the feed station and ordered into predetermined groups before advancing toward other production line stations, comprising: at least one first flexible band looped around respective power driven pulleys and occupying a vertical plane, positioned alongside the conveyor belt and affording a horizontal top branch invested with movement in the same direction as that of the conveyor belt at a first variable speed; at least one second flexible band looped around respective power driven pulleys and occupying a vertical plane, positioned alongside the first flexible band and affording a horizontal top branch invested with movement in the same direction as that of the conveyor belt at a second variable speed; also a plurality of first locating elements anchored to the first flexible band, positionable orthogonally and adjacent to the conveyor belt when carried along the horizontal top branch of the first flexible band in such a way as to engage the advancing bottles in contact; and a plurality of second locating elements anchored to the second flexible band, positionable orthogonally and adjacent to the conveyor belt when carried along the horizontal top branch of the second flexible band in such a way as to engage the advancing bottles in contact; a first plurality of attachment devices associated with the first flexible band, by means of which the first locating elements can be anchored removably and in such a way as will allow of varying the number and mutual positioning of the first locating elements on the first flexible band, according to the dimensions of the bottles and the number of bottles making up the single group; and a second plurality of attachment devices associated with the second flexible band, by means of which the second locating elements can be anchored removably and in such a way as will allow of varying the number and mutual positioning of the second locating elements on the second flexible band, according to the dimensions of the bottles and the number of bottles making up the single group.