Patent ID: 8813950

Claim:
An adjustable star wheel conveyor comprising: an adjustable star wheel conveyor for conveying three dimensional articles within pockets along an arcuate path, said star wheel conveyor comprising: rotatable elements in the form of rotatable disks disposed in a stacked arrangement around a central axis, said rotatable elements having a center and a periphery, wherein said rotatable elements are rotatable around said central axis, and comprise at least one control surface on their periphery for contacting a three dimensional article, said control surface defining at least a portion of the boundaries of said pockets, wherein the pockets have an adjustable configuration to accommodate different size and/or shape articles, wherein the boundaries of the pockets are configured by at least partially rotating at least some of said rotatable elements to adjust the location of the control surfaces of the rotatable elements in order to form a pocket for the articles to be conveyed, and then fixing the position of the rotatable elements before rotating the rotatable elements to transport an article, an automated adjustment mechanism for adjusting the configuration of the pockets; and a mechanism for adjusting the relative height of one or more of the rotatable elements.