Patent Description:
In the course of manufacturing glass containers in a hot forming process that either starts with a molten glob of glass material which is molded to shape or starts with a tubular glass body that is heated to a molten state and then formed into a container shape, the hot glass generally passes through an annealing oven or lehr to remove stresses from the molding or molding process.

In the past the manufacture of glass containers in high volume using the process described above the containers were handled in mass, that is, the containers while still warm were handled as a group gathered together in contacting relationship with one another at various stages of processing after annealing. The pushing and bumping of the glass containers against one another while still warm caused checks and scratches in the glass container. Such checks and cracks are flaws in what is supposed to be a flawless container, and can interfere with subsequent processing of the containers in filling lines, and thereby render the container useless.

For example, it is customary in filling glass vials with pharmaceutical products to inspect each vial for proper filling by projecting a beam of light against one side of the container and detecting the projected beam emerging for the opposite side for consistency with the pharmaceutical filling inside. If the container itself has a check or crack, the emerging beam of light could be affected and falsely indicate a defective filling. Accordingly, glass containers being fed to a filling line should be flawless to begin with. This requirement in turn makes demands on the processing of the glass containers at the manufacturing level.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to produce glass containers without flaws through improvements in the handling of the containers at the manufacturing level. The <CIT> discloses an apparatus for manufacturing glass containers comprising a first conveyor that carries multiple rows of glass containers, a second conveyor that carries a sequence of the glass containers in uniform spaced relationship for subsequent processing, a deadplate interposed between the first and second conveyor, as well as tongs mounted above the dead plate and the first conveyor that are movable between the deadplate and the first conveyor in order to transfer glass containers from the first conveyor to the deadplate and to deposit the containers on it, the tongs receiving glass containers in a row on the first conveyor and positioning the containers of the row on the dead plate in uniform spaced relationship and a pusher bar movably mounted over the deadplate for pushing the glass containers deposited on the deadplate by the tongs onto the second conveyor in uniform spaced relationship (see <CIT> para. [<NUM>] to [<NUM>] referring to Fig. <NUM> to <NUM>), but in <CIT> the multiple rows of glass containers carried by the first conveyor are already in a uniform spaced relationship (see Fig. <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and thus the transfer of glass containers can take place without any need to (re-)arrange the glass containers to ensure a uniform spaced relationship on the second conveyor (see Fig. <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>). Thus the apparatus of <CIT> is not able to do such (rearrangement of the glass containers to ensure a uniform spaced relationship on the second conveyor. The tongs are arranged in a support in groups of preferably four tongs each picking up a glass container and transferring them therefore in parallel to the second container (see para. [<NUM>] refereeing to Fig. <NUM> as well as Fig. <NUM> with four tongs <NUM>). Due to the fact that the distance of the tongs to each other are uniformly arranged (see Fig. <NUM> with tongs <NUM>) the glass containers are also uniformly spaced on the input side of the first conveyor as well as on the output side on the second conveyor. The transfer is done with the same distance of the glass containers on both conveyors one to one.

In view of the prior art as disclosed in <CIT> and in accordance with the above mentioned object of the invention, the containers that are - in distinction to the situation as disclosed in <CIT> ¬generally positioned on the lehr conveyor in spaced but not necessarily in uniform spaced relationship the improvement in the handling of the glass containers begins with the transfer of the containers from the conveyor advancing the containers through the annealing oven or lehr.

To this end, an apparatus for manufacturing glass containers according to claim <NUM> is provided, the apparatus having a transfer head that carries glass containers from the cold end of a lehr conveyor where multiple rows of glass containers carried on a first conveyor are not in uniform spaced relationship, to a second conveyor that carries a sequence of the glass containers in uniform spaced relationship for subsequent processing. A deadplate is interposed between the first conveyor and the second conveyor. The transfer head is mounted above the dead plate and the first conveyor and is movable between the deadplate and the first conveyor for transferring glass containers from the first conveyor where the glass containers are not in uniform spaced relationship to the deadplate and depositing the containers on the deadplate. To bring about order to the positioning of the containers relative to one another, the transfer head has uniformly spaced pockets for receiving glass containers in a row on the first conveyor and positioning the containers of the row on the deadplate in uniform spaced relationship.

A pusher bar is movably mounted over the deadplate for pushing the glass containers deposited on the deadplate by the transfer head onto the second conveyor while maintaining the uniform spaced relationship. The pusher bar preferably has pockets that are uniformly spaced to correspond to the uniformly spaced pockets on the transfer head.

<FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> show a general arrangement of a glass manufacturing apparatus10 between a curing oven or lehr (not illustrated) for annealing glass containers C after formation and a packaging station for the glass containers. The glass containers C may initially have been formed from glass tubes or molten glass gobs in a blow molding process, and are composed of a silicate material, typically a borosilicate. The newly formed containers are generally hot and require heat treatment or annealing in a lehr to eliminate internal stresses and improve fracture resistance.

A lehr unloading section <NUM> is located generally in the middle of the glass manufacturing apparatus10 and receives the glass containers C from the lehr. The containers are then fed into an inspection station <NUM> where the containers are inspected for cosmetic defects. From the inspection station <NUM> the glass containers are moved to a packaging station <NUM> where the containers are loaded into cell packs. Although the illustrated apparatus <NUM> places the lehr unloading section <NUM> in the middle of the apparatus, other arrangements are also possible. For example the lehr unloading section <NUM>, the inspection station <NUM>, and the packaging station <NUM> could be laid out in a linear array in that order if space is available.

The movement of the glass containers C between the various stations and the operations at each station are coordinated and controlled by a central programmable logic controller (PLC) <NUM> shown in <FIG>. The movement of the glass containers is accomplished by various conveying mechanisms described below. The operations of the conveying mechanisms are timed to move the containers appropriately for the operations to be performed at each station, and to maintain the containers in uniform spaced relationship with one another throughout the movements. By contrast, in prior art systems the glass containers were pushed together at various stations and then handled separately when the stations were ready to perform the intended functions. It has been determined that the glass-to-glass contact of the containers when handled in groups can cause checking or scratching which interferes with later inspection processes and lowers the fracture strength of the glass containers, that is, the resistance of the glass containers to fracture. By controlling the various operations of the apparatus10 and movement of the glass containers through the apparatus in timed relationship with one another through the PLC <NUM>, maintaining the glass containers in spaced relationship through the various manufacturing operations is possible, and defects in the glass containers are substantially reduced or eliminated entirely.

<FIG> illustrates the mechanisms for unloading the glass containers C from the discharge end of a lehr conveyor <NUM> and transferring the containers to an input conveyor <NUM> which feeds the containers one-by-one toward subsequent operations of the apparatus. The glass containers C at the discharge end of the lehr conveyor <NUM> are illustrated in rows, but in practice the containers are generally not uniformly spaced from one another. Additionally the containers move on the lehr conveyor at a steady speed during annealing of the glass. Consequently, in order to bring about an orderly arrangement of the containers for subsequent operations, a transfer head <NUM> is suspended from a moveable gantry <NUM> above the discharge end of the conveyor and a deadplate <NUM> where the containers are deposited by the head with a uniform spacing. The sequence of movements of the transfer head <NUM> by the gantry <NUM> along a path <NUM> between the lehr conveyor <NUM> and the deadplate <NUM> is illustrated by the letter sequence a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, and k at various positions on the path and is controlled by the PLC <NUM> of <FIG>.

To bring about a uniform arrangement of the containers on the deadplate <NUM> from the non-uniform arrangement on the lehr conveyor <NUM>, the transfer head <NUM> is designed with V-shaped pockets <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Each of the pockets is sized to receive one glass container C as the containers on the lehr conveyor and the head move toward one another. The V-shaped pockets <NUM> are uniformly spaced along the head <NUM> so that any non-uniform spacing of the containers in a row on the lehr conveyor is rectified by the time the containers C are captured in the pockets. The pockets <NUM> may be formed in a firm resilient material <NUM>, such as the thermoplastic Delrin, or a plastic foam material mounted on a backing plate <NUM> to protect the containers from being scratched when captured in the pocket and during transfer to the deadplate <NUM>.

In addition, each of the pockets <NUM> of the transfer head <NUM> has a vacuum port <NUM> which is activated by the PLC <NUM> to draw a container into the pocket and firmly hold the container in the head as the head removes the container from the lehr conveyor <NUM> onto the deadplate <NUM>. As an alternative to the vacuum port, each pocket could be provided with a mechanical capturing arrangement, but the "soft" engagement by a resilient pocket material and vacuum is preferred. The vacuum port may also be distributed around the container C if the pocket is constructed by an open-cell foam material.

After the glass containers C are deposited on the deadplate <NUM> by the transfer head <NUM>, the vacuum holding the containers is released, and the transfer head is moved from position h to i shown in <FIG>. The containers are then positioned by the transfer head on the deadplate <NUM> in a starting position in front of a pusher bar <NUM> which is driven by a servomotor <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. The pusher bar <NUM> is constructed in a manner similar to the transfer head <NUM> although the bar faces toward the input conveyor <NUM> rather than the lehr conveyor <NUM>. The pusher bar may be provided with pockets corresponding to the pockets <NUM> on the transfer head, although the pockets on the pusher bar need not be as deep because the containers C are positioned by the transfer head on the deadplate in a row with uniform spacing at the starting position in front of the pusher bar. Additionally, the pusher bar does not require vacuum ports in the pockets for holding the containers.

With the containers C positioned on the deadplate at the starting position as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, and the transfer head moved out of the way to position j by the PLC <NUM> of <FIG>, the pusher bar <NUM> is activated by the PLC and pushes a row of containers C from the starting position at one end of the deadplate to the other end and onto the input conveyor <NUM> against a stop <NUM>. The stop <NUM> may be a relatively hard stop to position the containers accurately in spaced relationship on the conveyor. The stop can be made with a firm material, such Delrin thermoplastic, to protect the containers from scratching or checking.

The operations of the input conveyor <NUM> and the pusher bar <NUM> are also coordinated by the PLC <NUM> as shown in <FIG> so that the conveyor movement is halted while the pusher bar pushes a row of containers C onto the conveyor. The pusher bar then returns to the starting position, and the conveyor moves the glass containers toward further operations with the containers positioned in uniformly spaced relationship on the conveyor in a sequence established by the transfer head <NUM>.

In one form, the input conveyor <NUM> is a vacuum belt conveyor shown in section in <FIG>. The conveyor comprises an air permeable belt <NUM> that is driven over a vacuum manifold <NUM> with guide pulleys <NUM> by a servomotor <NUM>. The vacuum drawn through the air permeable belt creates a vacuum force that holds the glass containers C on the belt in fixed positions and non-contacting relationship that is established when the containers are loaded onto the conveyor by the pusher bar <NUM>.

Alternatively, the input conveyor belt could have a series of compartments to hold individual containers in spaced relationship. Loading of the containers into the compartments would require precise positioning of the belt to match the positions of the containers. However, precise positioning is also required with vacuum belts if the series of containers on the conveyor is to retain the uniform spacing throughout the length of the series.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG> the input conveyor <NUM> delivers the glass containers C to the inspection station <NUM> where a number inspection steps are performed on the containers. For this purpose, the inspection station has a starwheel <NUM> with pockets <NUM> at the periphery of the wheel for engaging the containers at a pickup point at the end of the input conveyor <NUM>. The starwheel is driven by a servomotor <NUM> under the control of the PLC <NUM> of <FIG>. Each pocket has a vacuum port <NUM> to capture a container C from the conveyor, and hold the container in an exposed relationship with a number of inspection devices (not shown) of known types distributed around the periphery of the wheel. The inspections are performed to detect gauging and cosmetic defects in the containers, and if a defect is found such that the container does not pass inspection, the container is ejected through a rejection chute <NUM> shown in <FIG>. The release of a defective container from the pocket of the starwheel is coordinated between the inspection device and the vacuum port holding the defective container by the PLC <NUM> of <FIG>.

To facilitate the transfer of the glass containers C from the input conveyor <NUM> to the starwheel <NUM> at the pickup point, the vacuum manifold <NUM> has a variable cross sectional area and the area is reduced at the pickup point at the end of the conveyor <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. With the reduced cross sectional area the vacuum force holding a container C on the air permeable belt <NUM> is reduced, and the vacuum force generated in the pocket <NUM> of the starwheel overcomes the force through the belt. Thus, a container C is transferred from the input conveyor <NUM> to the starwheel <NUM>.

Additionally, the movement of the input conveyor <NUM> and the rotation of the starwheel <NUM> are coordinated and synchronized by the PLC <NUM> of <FIG> so that a pocket <NUM> of the starwheel is present at the pickup point at the end of the conveyor at the same time as the glass container C on the conveyor. The movement and rotation may be continuous or incremental. To aid in the synchronization, a container sensor <NUM> is positioned along the input conveyor, and is connected with the PLC to detect and signal the presence of a glass container in the sequence of containers on the conveyor. If a glass container is detected by the container sensor <NUM> the sensor sends a signal to the PLC. The PLC is programmed to cause the starwheel to rotate a pocket <NUM> into the pickup point and pickup the container. In the event that the presence of a glass container is not detected in the sequence by the container sensor, the PLC is programmed to interrupt the starwheel rotation until a container is eventually spotted.

It should be noted that the interruption of the starwheel rotation by the PLC <NUM> when the presence of a glass container in the sequence is not detected ensures that each pocket <NUM> of the starwheel <NUM> is loaded with a container. Hence, a continuous sequence of glass containers C is loaded onto the starwheel in the inspection station <NUM> from the input conveyor <NUM> even if a container is missing from the sequence on the conveyor.

<FIG> shows a discharge conveyor <NUM> leading from the starwheel <NUM> in the inspection station <NUM> to the packaging station <NUM>. Movement of the discharge conveyor like the input conveyor <NUM> and the starwheel <NUM> is controlled by the PLC as indicated in <FIG>. The discharge conveyor <NUM> is preferably a vacuum belt conveyor constructed like the input conveyor <NUM> with an air permeable belt overlying a vacuum manifold. Air drawn through the air permeable belt creates a vacuum force that holds the glass containers C in place on the conveyor. However, the discharge conveyor can take other forms such as mechanical pockets which hold the containers in uniformly spaced relationship.

The discharge conveyor <NUM> has a pickup point at the periphery of the starwheel at which the glass containers are transferred from the starwheel to the discharge conveyor by release of the vacuum in the pocket preferably supplemented by a jet of pressurized air to release a container from the starwheel and capture the container by way of vacuum force drawn through the air permeable conveyor belt. The vacuum release and movement of the belt on the discharge conveyor are also controlled by the PLC <NUM>.

Also shown in <FIG> is the rejection chute <NUM> through which defective glass containers are ejected for failing inspection at some point in the inspection station <NUM>. It will be understood that the ejection of a glass container from a pocket <NUM> of the starwheel <NUM> leaves an empty pocket and no container to be transferred to the discharge conveyor <NUM> when the empty pocket reaches the pickup point. The PLC receives signals of the ejections of containers, tracks movements of the empty pockets on the starwheel in a two-way communication link between the inspection station <NUM> and the PLC. Hence, the PLC is aware of empty pockets reaching the pickup point with the discharge conveyor <NUM>. Alternatively, or additionally, a container sensor like the container sensor <NUM> can be positioned at the pickup point for the discharge conveyor to signal the absence of a container in the pocket <NUM> of the starwheel. Accordingly, the PLC interrupts the movement of the discharge conveyor when an empty pocket of the starwheel reaches the pickup point and does not resume movement until a pocket occupied by a glass container arrives at the pickup point and the glass container is transferred to the discharge conveyor. Hence, the synchronization of the starwheel rotation and the discharge conveyor movement by the PLC produces a continuous sequence of uniformly spaced glass containers C on the discharge conveyor <NUM> in spite of the rejection of a glass container in the inspection station <NUM>.

It should also be noted as described above that the rotation of the starwheel <NUM> is interrupted by the PLC in the event that a container C is not detected by the container sensor <NUM> located along the input conveyor <NUM>. Thus the absence of a container in the sequence of containers approaching the starwheel <NUM> and the rejection of a container in the inspection station <NUM> are noted and compensated for by the PLC by interrupting rotation of the starwheel <NUM> or movement of the discharge conveyor <NUM> to ensure that a continuous sequence of uniformly spaced containers C in non-contacting relationship is formed on the discharge conveyor.

<FIG> shows that the discharge conveyor <NUM> carries the continuous sequence of glass containers C in uniformly spaced, non-contacting relationship from the inspection station <NUM> to the packaging station <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates the details and handling of the glass containers C at the packaging station <NUM>. The packaging station has a first shuttle <NUM> and a second shuttle <NUM> that are positioned at opposite sides of the discharge conveyor <NUM> delivering the glass containers from the inspection station <NUM>. The first shuttle <NUM> is driven back and forth by a servomotor <NUM> between a shuttle loader <NUM> at a shuttle loading position <NUM>, where the shuttle <NUM> is shown in <FIG>, and a shuttle unloading position <NUM>. The second shuttle <NUM> is driven back and forth by means of a servomotor <NUM> between the shuttle loader <NUM> at the shuttle loading position <NUM> and the shuttle unloading position <NUM>, where the shuttle <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. Both servomotors <NUM>, <NUM> are controlled by the PLC to move the shuttles <NUM>, <NUM> between the shuttle loading position <NUM> and the shuttle unloading position <NUM> in alternating fashion. Specifically, the first shuttle <NUM> is moved to the loading position <NUM> to receive glass containers C from the discharge conveyor <NUM>, while the second shuttle <NUM> is moved to the shuttle unloading position <NUM> for unloading the containers from the shuttle <NUM>. Then the shuttle positions are reversed so that the second shuttle <NUM> is moved to the shuttle loading position <NUM> to receive glass containers C from the discharge conveyor <NUM> while the first shuttle <NUM> is moved to the shuttle unloading position for unloading the containers from the shuttle <NUM>. The loading of one shuttle while the other shuttle is unloaded reduces the packaging process time.

<FIG> shows the shuttle loader <NUM> and the shuttles <NUM>, <NUM> on opposite sides of the discharge conveyor <NUM> at the shuttle loading position <NUM> for purposes of illustration. It should be understood, however, that the shuttles are loaded alternately as described above, and accordingly both shuttles are not normally positioned at the loading position <NUM> at the same time.

The first shuttle <NUM> has a number of pockets 84a with openings facing the discharge conveyor <NUM> in order to receive a corresponding number of glass containers C from the conveyor. For this purpose, the shuttle loader <NUM> is comprised of a pusher bar <NUM> suspended immediately above the conveyor <NUM> at the loading position <NUM> by a beam <NUM> that is moveable back and forth in a direction transverse to the conveyor by a servomotor <NUM> controlled by the PLC <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. The pusher bar <NUM> preferably pushes the glass containers C in the series on the conveyor <NUM> one at a time between fence blocks <NUM> into a pocket 84a of the first shuttle <NUM> starting at one end of the shuttle. Since the loader is fixed at the loading position, after each container C is loaded into a pocket 84a, the conveyor <NUM> is indexed by one increment equal to the spacing of the containers on the conveyor by the PLC <NUM>. At the same time the shuttle is indexed by the PLC by an amount equal to the spacing of the pockets so that an empty pocket is positioned adjacent the pusher bar to receive the next container in the series. By incrementing the conveyor and the shuttle separately, the spacing of the glass containers on the conveyor need not match the spacing of the pockets on the shuttle. Alternatively, if the spacing of the containers and the pockets match, the pusher bar could be longer and push multiple containers as a group into the correspondingly spaced pockets of the shuttle.

After each of the pockets 84a is loaded with a glass container, the first shuttle <NUM> is moved to the shuttle unloading position <NUM> in <FIG>.

The second shuttle <NUM> has a construction similar to the construction of the first shuttle <NUM> except that the openings of the pockets 86a face the conveyor <NUM> from the opposite side of the conveyor. Glass containers C are also loaded into the pockets 86a of the second shuttle <NUM> in substantially the same manner as the first shuttle <NUM> by pushing movements of the pusher bar <NUM> and indexing movements of the conveyor <NUM> and shuttle <NUM>. The pusher bar however pushes the containers from the opposite side of the containers into the pockets 86a. After the second shuttle <NUM> is loaded, the second shuttle is moved to the unloading position <NUM>, and the first shuttle <NUM> is moved to the loading position as shown in <FIG>. All the operations of the shuttles <NUM>, <NUM>, the conveyor <NUM>, and the pusher bar <NUM> are synchronized by the PLC <NUM> in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates the shuttle unloader <NUM> that unloads both the first and second shuttles <NUM>, <NUM> at the shuttle unloading position <NUM> also shown in <FIG>. The shuttle unloader is comprised of a transfer head <NUM> suspended from a moveable gantry <NUM> above the shuttle unloading position <NUM> and the packaging station <NUM>. The shuttle unloader <NUM> is connected in controlling relationship with the PLC <NUM> as indicated in <FIG>, and as a consequence the PLC controls the timing and operations of the transfer head <NUM> and the moveable gantry <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> both shuttles <NUM> and <NUM> loaded with glass containers C are shown at the unloading position for purposes of illustration. However, as explained above, the shuttles are operated in an alternating fashion between the loading position <NUM> (<FIG>) and the unloading position <NUM>. As a consequence, only one shuttle loaded with glass containers will appear at the unloading position <NUM> at one time, and the other shuttle will appear at another time. Nonetheless the illustration of <FIG> will suffice to explain the unloading of either shuttle.

In unloading the glass containers C from the shuttle <NUM>, the gantry <NUM> initially moves the transfer head <NUM> along the trajectory path <NUM> in <FIG> to a pickup position overlying the shuttle <NUM> and the containers in the shuttle. The transfer head <NUM> shown in one embodiment in <FIG> is a vacuum head having a plurality of vacuum cups <NUM> arranged linearly along the bottom edge of the head. The spacing of the cups matches the spacing of the pockets 84a in the shuttle and correspondingly the uniform spacing of the containers C in the pockets. Accordingly, when the vacuum cups are positioned over the glass containers and activated, the tops of the glass containers are engaged and captured in the cups and the containers are then lifted from the pockets when the transfer head rises as shown in <FIG>. Of course other forms of heads that capture the glass containers mechanically, preferably at the tops, can be employed.

As shown in <FIG> the captured containers are moved by the transfer head <NUM> along the trajectory <NUM> to a placement position over the package <NUM>, which is illustrated as a cell pack. The cell pack is a package with individual cells having the same spacing as the glass containers C in the transfer head. A cell pack ensures that the individual glass containers do not come into contact with one another and avoids scratches or checks during shipping and handling.

The transfer head <NUM> in <FIG> is a head with a tilting feature. The vacuum cups are pivotally mounted to the head about an axis <NUM> and are tilted collectively by an actuator <NUM> about the axis to bring the glass containers into alignment with the axes of the cells in the cell pack for ease of inserting the containers into the pack. With the glass containers safely inserted into the cells, the vacuum cups <NUM> are deactivated to release the containers, and the transfer head is drawn away from the package <NUM>.

With a first group of glass containers C unloaded from the shuttle <NUM> and stowed for example in the bottom row of cells in the package <NUM>, the transfer head <NUM> is moved by the gantry <NUM> along the trajectory <NUM> to a position overlying the shuttle <NUM> at the unloading position <NUM> in preparation to unload a second group of glass containers from the shuttle. The second group of containers are stowed in the second row of cells in the package <NUM> in the same manner as the first group in the first row. However, if the number of cells in the cell pack can accommodate more glass containers than are held in the transfer head <NUM>, the gantry <NUM> can move the transfer head laterally to fill the additional cells in the same row. The unloading of glass containers C from the shuttles <NUM>, <NUM> continues under the control of the PLC until all the rows of the cell pack are filled.

<FIG> illustrate multiple cell packages <NUM> mounted on a rotatable turret <NUM>. Consequently, when one package is fully loaded with glass containers, the turret is rotated under the control of the PLC and additional packages can be loaded with glass containers from the glass manufacturing apparatus. With the described apparatusa high volume of glass containers can be produced without glass-to-glass contact that can cause defects in the glass.

Claim 1:
An apparatus for manufacturing glass containers (C) comprising:
a first conveyor (<NUM>) that carries multiple rows of glass containers,
a second conveyor (<NUM>) that carries a sequence of the glass containers (C) in uniform spaced relationship for subsequent processing;
a deadplate (<NUM>) interposed between the first conveyor (<NUM>) and the second conveyor (<NUM>);
a transfer head (<NUM>) mounted above the dead plate (<NUM>) and the first conveyor (<NUM>) and movable between the deadplate (<NUM>) and the first conveyor (<NUM>) for transferring glass containers (C) from the first conveyor (<NUM>) to the deadplate (<NUM>) and depositing the containers (C) on the deadplate (<NUM>), the transfer head (<NUM>) receiving glass containers (C) in a row on the first conveyor (<NUM>) and positioning the containers (C) of the row on the deadplate (<NUM>) in uniform spaced relationship; and
a pusher bar (<NUM>) movably mounted over the deadplate (<NUM>) for pushing the glass containers (C) deposited on the deadplate (<NUM>) by the transfer head (<NUM>) onto the second conveyor (<NUM>) in uniform spaced relationship,
wherein
the multiple rows of glass containers carried by the first conveyor (<NUM>) are not in uniform spaced relationship, and
the transfer head (<NUM>) has uniformly spaced pockets (<NUM>) for receiving glass containers (C) in a row.