Patent ID: 6964150

Claim:
An apparatus for feeding articles to a transferring line, the transferring line feeding a container filling machine, the apparatus comprising: means for conveying a plurality of articles to an inlet section of said apparatus; a plurality of working means, set, with an initial configuration with predetermined mutual distances, at said inlet section for receiving said articles from said conveying means, and operated after receiving said articles, to move vertically from said inlet section to an outlet section of said apparatus where said articles are released and then to move back to said inlet section; a plurality of collecting magazines situated at said outlet section for receiving said articles and for supporting said articles to define corresponding piles of articles; guide means cooperating with said plurality of working means for changing said predetermined mutual distances between said plurality of working means during the transition from said inlet section to said outlet section, the distances between said plurality of working means being set to match distances between said collecting magazines, and for re-setting said plurality of working means to said initial configuration during a transition back to said inlet section; pushing means situated at said outlet section and operated when said piles, situated inside each of said collecting magazines, are completed to convey said piles of articles to boxes on a transferring line; each of said collecting magazines having stationary lateral walls and elastic means, situated at an open bottom of said collecting magazines for yieldingly allowing passage of said articles, carried by said working means, so as to define said piles of articles inside said collecting magazine, said elastic means supporting said piles between said lateral walls.