Patent ID: 8919536

Claim:
An apparatus comprising a conveying device for conveying containers in a conveying direction, said containers having container bottoms, each of which has a cross-section characterized by, in the case of a container having a circular cross-section, a standing-bottom diameter, and in the case of a container having a non-circular cross section, a smaller standing-bottom diameter and a larger standing-bottom diameter, said conveying device comprising a plurality of conveyor belts of a first type extending along said conveying direction between a front end and a rear end, said conveyor belts being guided over a direction-changing element at said front end and being guided over a direction-changing element at said rear end, thereby forming a closed loop, wherein said conveyor belts form, with upper-loop lengths thereof, a sub-region of a conveying surface, said upper-loop lengths being disposed adjacent to each other in a plurality of rows offset from each other in an axial direction perpendicular to said conveying direction, wherein said containers stand on said upper-loop lengths on said container bottoms, wherein said conveyor belts have a width in said axial direction, wherein, in the case of a container having a circular cross-section, said width is smaller than half the standing-bottom diameter of the smallest container diameter to be conveyed by said conveying device, and wherein, in the case of a container having a non-circular cross-section, said width is smaller than half a smaller standing-bottom diameter of a smallest container diameter to be conveyed by said conveying device, wherein at least a sub-region of said conveying surface is formed by at least one conveyor belt of a first type, at least one conveyor belt of a second type, and at least one conveyor belt of a third type, wherein said at least one conveyor belt of a third type has a width that is larger than a width of said at least one conveyor belt of a first type and smaller than a width of said at least one conveyor belt of a second type.