Abstract: A gripper for retaining containers includes gripper arms extending from corresponding rotation axes. Each gripper arm ends in a free claw and has a pair of permanent magnets. Adjacent poles of adjacent magnets have opposite polarities. The gripper also has a carrier plate for the gripper arms. This carrier plate has two pairs of permanent magnets oriented parallel to the rotation axes.

Abstract: By means of a gripper (1) for retaining containers such as PET bottles, wherein the gripper arms (2, 3) between the rotational axis (4, 5) and the free claw end (2a, 3a) and the carrier element for the gripper a have receptacles for permanent magnets for closing and/or centering, a solution should be created, by means of which the closing forces should be applied by means of magnets and the centering of the grippers at a star or a similar machine element or the protection against overloading should be reduced. This is achieved in that each gripper arm (2, 3) has a pair of permanent magnets (8, 9; 10, 11) and the carrying element (8a, 9a; 10a, 11a) has two associated pairs of permanent magnets oriented parallel to the rotational axis, wherein each permanent magnet (8-11) has a pole that is opposite that of the adjacent magnets in horizontal and/or vertical association.