Patent ID: 7726463

Claim:
A unit for grouping packages along a transfer path, said unit comprising: an input station receiving said packages arranged in longitudinal lines parallel to said transfer path; an output station for groups comprising a given number of packages from respective said longitudinal lines and aligned in at least one line crosswise to said transfer path; a movable conveying surface, which is fed at predetermined time intervals with a number of packages equal to that of each group, and feeds said packages from said input station to said output station along said transfer path; at least one movable member, which is fed cyclically along an operating path having at least one portion parallel to said transfer path from said input station to said output station, and comprises an aligning surface, against which, at each cycle, the packages in each group upstream from the movable member come to rest and are aligned in at least one line crosswise to the transfer path; wherein said movable member also comprises a push surface which, at each cycle, acts on each group of packages downstream from the movable member to push said group out of said units; decelerating means, which act on said packages in each group along an end portion of said transfer path to slow down the packages prior to the pushing action of said movable member; and wherein said conveying surface and said movable member are moved continuously along the respective said paths.