Patent ID: 7540369

Claim:
A method of grouping products for handling, the method comprising: providing a stream of products in multiple rows; rotating a rotary picker relative to the stream of products; picking a row of the products with the rotary picker, the rotary picker having a plurality of spindles positioned circumferentially around the rotary picker, each spindle of the plurality of spindles including a plurality of carriers arranged on the spindle, each product of the products gripped with a carrier, the products picked up in a first arrangement; changing an elevation of one product in the row relative to the elevation of at least one other product in the row; adjusting a distance between each carrier on the spindle as the row of the products proceeds around the rotary picker toward discharge such that the row of the products is picked up in the first arrangement and released in a second arrangement; and releasing the products in the row onto a conveyor in the second arrangement having a different pitch than the first arrangement.