Patent ID: 7503447

Claim:
A system for turning and separating a series of product packages moving along a packaging line, comprising: a turning section comprising: a conveyor having a series of slats moving along a path of travel, said slats each including a guide pin mounted thereto; a series of guide tracks extending from an upstream position to a downstream position and adapted to receive and guide said guide pins of said slats therealong, at least one of said guide tracks extending along a divergent path for directing selected ones of said slats laterally across their path of travel to cause turning of a product package thereon; a reject system positioned along said conveyor of said turning section of said turning section for monitoring the product packages and rejecting defective product packages, said reject system including a reject lane, and a switch mechanism moveable into a position along the path of travel so as to cause a rejected package to be diverted to said reject lane prior to turning of the product package, in response to detection of the rejected package; and a dividing section downstream from said turning section and including a series of diverging lanes along which the product packages are separated.