Apparatus for converting a multi-row stream of upright articles, in particular bottles, to a single row

An apparatus is disclosed for converting a multi-row stream row of upright articles, such as bottles, into a single row. The apparatus includes a rectilinear supply conveyor for supplying the upright articles in adjacent rows, a rotating conical surface located adjacent to the supply conveyor which receives the articles from the supply conveyor, a removal conveyor, and a frame-fixed guide surface extending spirally outwardly along the conical surface in the direction of rotation of the conical surface. The supply conveyor having a guide surface which extends in an arc at an end region in a direction opposite to a spiral arc of the frame-fixed guide surface and which merges into the spiral arc of the frame-fixed guide surface for continuous supply of upright articles to the conical surface. The guide surface of the supply conveyor extends radially inwardly towards a center of the conical surface and terminates radially inwardly of an outer peripheral edge of the conical surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to an apparatus for converting a multi-row stream of 
upright articles, in particular bottles, into a single row comprising a 
rectilinear supply conveyor provided with guide surfaces, an intermediate 
conveyor consisting of a rotating conical surface, a removal conveyor and 
a frame-fixed guide surface which in the direction of rotation of said 
surface extends spirally outwardly and intercepts the articles. 
Such an apparatus is known from DE-PS 3,500,660. In the known apparatus a 
multi-row stream of upright bottles is moved on a rectilinear supply 
conveyor provided with guide faces. The rectilinear region of the supply 
conveyor is followed by a circular arcuate region which extends over an 
angle range of 90.degree.. Disposed in the center point of the circular 
arcuate section of the supply conveyor is the center point of the rotating 
surface, the outer circular boundary of which is tangential to the end of 
the rectilinear region of the supply conveyor and which adjoins the inner 
portion of the circular arcuate region of the supply conveyor. A 
frame-fixed outer guide surface running spirally inwardly extends over the 
circular region of the supply conveyor. A further inner frame-fixed guide 
surface starts at the end of the rectilinear region of the supply 
conveyor, extends from there approximately semicircularly to the center 
point of the supply conveyor and then continues as substantially spirally 
outwardly running guide surface. At the side of the intermediate conveyor 
opposite the circular region of the supply conveyor a removal conveyor 
partially surrounding the intermediate conveyor is arranged and carries 
away the single-row bottle stream produced by the intermediate conveyor. 
US-PS 1,430,132 discloses an apparatus for converting a multi-row stream of 
upright articles to a single row in which said articles are brought onto a 
circular intermediate conveyor having a conical surface. On the side of 
the intermediate conveyor lying opposite the supply region a short guiding 
surface is disposed and is spaced from the outer boundary face of the 
supply conveyor such that between the two guide surfaces there is room for 
exactly one row of articles. The apparatus known from US-PS 1,430,132 has 
the following disadvantages: firstly, the articles to be singled out must 
in some cases run round the intermediate conveyor several times before 
they are carried off in a single row stream; the apparatus thus does not 
operate efficiently. Secondly, the articles touch each other on the 
removal conveyor; thus, between the articles arranged in a single row 
there are no intermediate spaces as may be necessary for subsequent 
further processing. 
US-PS 3,049,215 and US-PS 2,941,651 disclose an apparatus for converting a 
multi-row stream of articles, in particular ore and rock lumps, to a 
single row. The articles are supplied by a supply conveyor to an 
intermediate conveyor The latter consists of a rotating conical surface. A 
frame-fixed guide surface extending spirally outwardly in the direction of 
rotation of said conical surface intercepts the articles. Said guide 
surface is however made only slightly spiral. The articles can thus strike 
against the guide surface with a relatively large radial velocity 
component The apparatuses known from said patent specifications are 
therefore not suitable for separating out sensitive articles such as in 
particular bottles. Other articles with which there is a danger of falling 
over, for example cans, also cannot be singled out with the apparatuses 
known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,049,215 and 2,941,651. On the contrary, the 
known apparatuses are suitable only for converting to a single row 
articles of the type where the position is not important, i.e. which may 
tip over, for example ore or rock lumps. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The problem underlying the invention is to provide an apparatus of the type 
indicated at the beginning which is of simple construction and which 
permits a high bottle throughput. 
According to the invention this problem is solved in that between the 
supply conveyor and the intermediate conveyor a guide surface is provided 
which extends in an arc opposite to the spiral arc in the direction of the 
center of the surface and then merges into the spiral. This enables the 
articles to be supplied continuously and without abrupt movements to the 
spiral guide surface. Thus, even when bottles are being processed they do 
not tip over. The bottles are first brought relatively close to the center 
of the conical surface. From there, due to the slope descending force and 
the centrifugal force they follow the spiral guide surface outwardly. With 
this radially outwardly directed movement the bottles move into the 
regions of the conical surface which have a higher velocity in the 
tangential direction so that the bottles are thereby increasingly 
separated and finally transferred to a single row. In addition, the 
bottles carried away in a single row are also spaced from each other as 
may be useful or absolutely essential for further processing. 
An advantageous further development of the invention is characterized in 
that the guide surface runs in the end region of the supply conveyor and 
in the initial region of the intermediate conveyor in radial direction 
towards the center point of the surface of the intermediate conveyor. 
A further advantageous development of the invention resides in that the 
rotation axis of the rotating surface of the intermediate conveyor is 
inclined with respect to the vertical. The inclination of the axis of 
rotation is preferably in a direction lying 90.degree. behind the supply 
conveying direction. By the inclination of the axis of rotation of the 
rotating surface of the intermediate conveyor the slope descending force 
can be varied on the conical surface. The cone angle and the inclination 
angle of the rotation axis are combined with each other. The maximum 
inclination angle is the sum of the cone angle and rotation axis 
inclination angle. The minimum slope descending force angle consists of 
the difference between the cone angle and the angle of the inclination of 
the cone-rotation axis; this difference may be equal to zero in the 
extreme case. Preferably, the inclination of the axis of rotation is set 
so that in the initial region of the slope descending movement of the 
bottles a larger slope descending force angle is achieved because in this 
region the static friction can still be active which is of course greater 
that sliding friction. By corresponding inclination of the rotation axis 
of the conical surface the effective inclination angle can also be made 
particularly great in the region in which a particularly intensive 
pressing together of the bottles takes place. The inclination of the 
rotation axis and the "steepness" of the spiral (i.e. of the spiral guide 
surface) must be adapted to each other.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 the bottles 1 are supplied on the 
supply conveyor 2 in the direction of the arrow 3 in four to five rows 
adjacent each other to the intermediate conveyor designated as a whole by 
four. The intermediate conveyor consists of a conical surface 5 rotating 
about a vertical rotation axis 6. The cone is outwardly inclined. The 
conical surface 5 is followed tangentially by a removable conveyor 8 on 
which the bottles 1 are transported in the direction of the arrow 9. 
Between the bottles 1 on the removal conveyor 8 there are intermediate 
spaces 1'. The surface 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow 7. 
The rectilinear supply conveyor 2 is defined by two guide surfaces 10, 11 
which run parallel to each other. The guide surface 11 extends beyond the 
outer edge of the surface 5 and then merges into a circular arcuate region 
13 which extends over a region of about 45.degree.. The region 13 is 
followed by a spirally outwardly extending frame-fixed guide surface 14 
which intercepts the articles 1 and which encloses an angle of about 
225.degree.. The articles 1 are forced radially outwardly both by the 
slope descending force and the centrifugal force and intercepted by the 
spiral 14. With the spiral the bottles 1 come into regions of increasingly 
large tangential velocity, thereby being separated into increasingly less 
rows and finally into a single row. The rearmost region 15 of the guide 
surface 14 seen in the direction of rotation 7 extends substantially 
circular arcuate. The guide surface ends in the region 16 which is 
inclined outwardly in such a manner that transfer of the bottles to the 
removal conveyor 8 is possible. On the side opposite the region 16 a short 
region 16' is disposed which also serves for guiding the (meanwhile) 
single bottle row. 
The arc 13 is directed oppositely to the spiral arc 14. The guide surfaces 
10 and 11 run in the end region of the supply conveyor 2 and in the 
initial region of the intermediate conveyor 4 in radial direction towards 
the center point 6 of the surface 5 of the intermediate conveyor 4. 
The rotation axis 6 of the conical surface 5 runs in a vertical direction. 
It may however also be inclined with respect to the vertical. Preferably, 
this inclination of the rotation axis 6 is such that it lies in the plane 
31. The plane 31 is a vertical plane which extends through the center 
point 6 of the surface 5. The angle between the supply direction 3 of the 
supply conveyor 2 and the plane 31 is preferably about 90.degree.. This 
angle may however also be smaller. If the rotation axis of the surface 5 
is inclined in the plane 31 the effective descending force angle acting on 
the bottles 1 is greatest in the direction of the plane 31 and smallest in 
the opposite direction. Between these two directions the effective angle 
acting on the bottles 1 changes continuously. 
FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in side elevation. Identical parts are 
provided with the same reference numerals and consequently need not be 
explained again. The conical surface 5 is disposed on the frame 17 and 
rotates about the rotation axis 6. The surface 5 is driven by the motor 
18. The spiral guide surface 14 extends at a distance a from the conical 
surface 5. Provided space from the surface 5 is a vertical interception 
surface 19 which is connected to the frame 17. The distance a is made 
large enough for fallen-over bottles to be able to roll beneath the spiral 
guide surface 14. The baffle plates 19 prevent the rolling bottles from 
falling down. The bottles are collected in the channel 20 and can be 
transported away from there. 
The rotation axis of the conical surface 5 may be inclined by an angle 34 
to the vertical as indicated by the reference numeral 32. The angle of the 
conical surface 5 to the horizontal is denoted by 33. 
The spiral guide surface 14 is secured to spaces 35 which in turn are 
mounted on the frame-fixed baffle plates 19. 
The effective slope descending force angle acting on the bottles is made up 
of the sum or difference of the inclination angle 34 and the cone angle 
33. 
FIG. 3 shows a further example of embodiment in which the parts identical 
to FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals so that 
reference can be made to the description of FIGS. 1 and 2. The same 
applies to FIGS. 4 to 7.