Patent ID: 7392632

Claim:
A transfer station in a container filling plant, said transfer station comprising: an input and an output; an upstream infeed area, disposed by said input, configured to receive containers and a downstream discharge area, disposed by said output, configured to discharge containers; at least one conveyor belt disposed to feed containers entering into said transfer station from said upstream infeed area and being configured to feed containers into receiving devices of a container handling machine; a plurality of webs disposed, with respect to one another, to form spaces between said webs, which spaces are disposed to receive lines of containers for movement through said transfer station from said upstream infeed area; said webs comprising upstream end surfaces disposed towards said input; said webs being disposed to separate rows of containers to prevent said containers from contacting containers in another row of containers and thus reducing noise; vertically oriented rotatable directing elements having vertical rotational axes and being rotatable about the vertical rotational axes; said rotatable directing elements being disposed in the infeed direction upstream of said upstream end surfaces of said webs; said vertically oriented rotatable directing elements being configured and disposed to contact the bodies of containers to steer or guide the containers into said receiving spaces between said webs and thus minimizing jams of containers in said infeed area.