Abstract: A plurality of bottle release stations are arranged proximate to the path of movement of a plurality of bottle gripper heads. The gripper heads have grippers which can be switched from a gripping mode to a release mode. Containers of unsorted bottles are conveyed to a pick up station on an infeed conveyor where one of the gripper heads is guided to direct its grippers to the mouths of bottles at which time the grippers are switched to the gripping mode. All of the unsorted bottles in the container are carried to a first release station on an infeed conveyor where bottles having a certain characteristic such as the same color are released by switching the grippers to the release mode. The gripper head, in a continuous motion, then moves to another release station where, by means of a control system, bottles having another characteristic, such as a different color are released.