Patent ID: 6283694
Filing Date: 2001-09-04
Classification: B65B,B65G

Abstract:
A method for the alignment of unstable products that do not have any surface flat enough to allow the products to assume a stable transfer position, the method comprising the steps of:arranging the products on a first conveyor equipped with first means for the stable supporting and positioning of the products in defined positions in a plurality of lines parallel to a first feed direction of the first conveyor, the lines being placed side by side in order to form a succession of rows of products placed crossways with respect to the first feed direction, wherein each row contains more than one product that is spaced from an adjacent product by a predetermined spacing;feeding the lines along a first defined linear path at a first continuous speed, feeding at least one transfer head along a second circular path extending partly over the first path, wherein the transfer head, when moving along the second circular path, is oriented, at a pickup position along the first linear path, transversely to said firs linear path to overlap at least a part of at least one said rows of products at said pickup position;activating the transfer head at the pickup position in order to pick up the row of products upward onto said transfer head, wherein when the transfer head nears the pickup position along the second circular path, it moves at substantially the speed of the first conveyor;transferring the row of products held by the transfer head along a portion of the second circular path extending between the pickup position and an unloading position; anddropping the row of products held by the transfer head at the unloading position onto second stable support and positioning means on a second convener which moves at a second continuous speed along a third linear path which is parallel to the position assumed by the transfer head at the unloading position;wherein the transfer head is advanced along the second circular path at a speed substantially equal to the second continuous speed, and the transfer head drops the row of held products adjacent to the row of products dropped in the previous dropping step so that the products are dropped onto the second stable support and positioning means arranged in a continuous line such that an end product of one row of products is spaced from an end product of another row of products a distance equal to the predetermined spacing, wherein said second continuous speed is greater than said first continuous speed.