Patent ID: 7611181

Claim:
An apparatus for picking up products or group of products, the apparatus comprising: a gripper having a frame; two holders movably connected on two opposite sides of the frame; two gripper blades that are each moveably connected with an associated one of the holders, each gripper blade having the shape of an arc with an associated axis, the two axes of the two gripper blades being situated between the two gripper blades; guide wheels associated with each gripper blade and configured to guide the associated gripper blades during the rotation about its axis; a first drive for moving each of said holders away from and towards each other; two second drives of which each one is connected with an associated one of the two gripper blades and configured to rotatingly turn outwards or draw inwards the associated arcuate gripper blades; a third drive for displacing the gripper frame, wherein for each gripper blade at least a part of one of the associated guide wheels is designed as a pinion with teeth; and each gripper blade has at least one row of holes arranged along an arc circumferential direction of the gripper blade, the holes being engaged by the teeth of the associated pinion.