Abstract: A glass bottle production line comprising a bottle mold which has a plurality of mold cavities arranged in a predetermined order for forming bottles from glass parisons and for transferring the bottles to a conveyor in a predetermined sequence corresponding to the predetermined order of the mold cavities. The conveyor has a hot end portion and a cold end portion for receiving bottles from the bottle mold at an elevated temperature at the hot end portion and conveying the bottles to the cold end portion. A hot bottle inspector located at a fixed inspection station along the conveyor at the hot end portion non-touchingly inspects the bottles as the bottles are conveyed past the inspection station by the conveyor. A mold transfer signal and bottle detection signal are processed to determine the mold cavity used to produce the bottle detected at the inspector's station.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for separating a generally rectangular array of containers into a single file line of similarly oriented single file containers. The array is comprised of a plurality of rectangular containers, some having transverse orientations and some having longitudinal orientations. The method of the invention includes advancing all the containers of the array into a number of lines of advancing containers, turning the containers with transverse orientations to longitudinal orientations, and converging the various transversely spaced and longitudinally oriented containers into a single file line of longitudinally oriented containers. The apparatus for practicing the invention may include a number of successive conveyor stations each having various conveyor means such as belts or rollers which sequentially advance the containers generally in a longitudinal path of movement.