Abstract: A cushioning holdback bar of a conveyor apparatus is provided with a shock absorbing actuator that enables the holdback bar to move in the downstream direction of the conveyor when an array of conveyed objects contacts the holdback bar to cushion the impact of the array of objects with the holdback bar.

Abstract: A pallet dispenser can receive a vertical stack of skewed or misaligned pallets in an interior of a frame of the pallet dispenser and align the pallets as they are sequentially dispensed from the pallet dispenser onto a conveyor below the pallet dispenser. The pallet dispenser that can be quickly manually changed over to accommodate pallets of different sizes and vertically dispense the pallets one by one onto a conveyor below the pallet dispenser. The pallet dispenser is provided-with a quick, manual change over that enables the pallet dispenser to be quickly adjusted to accommodate a vertical stack of large or small pallets to be reoriented and dispensed by the pallet dispenser onto a separate conveyor without appreciable downtime of the pallet dispenser or the conveyor with which it is used.

Abstract: A two axis bottle guide rail change over apparatus for an air conveyor supports a pair of guide rails and is operable to simultaneously adjust a lateral spacing between the pair of guide rails and/or simultaneously adjust a vertical positioning of the pair of guide rails relative to the air conveyor.

Abstract: A reject bottle detection and ejection apparatus comprises a plurality of sensors positioned along the length of a belt conveyor that senses whether a bottle conveyed by the conveyor is positioned in an upright orientation, in an inverted orientation, in a sideways orientation, in a slanted orientation, or whether the bottle is damaged, and an air jet nozzle positioned downstream of the plurality of sensors that selectively emits a jet of air at a bottle conveyed past the air jet that has been sensed to be not in the upright orientation or to be damaged, thus removing the bottle from the conveyor.

Abstract: A row former of a conveying system is provided with a plurality of protrusions projecting from a side of a row forming arm that engage with portions of objects arranged in a row and pushed before the arm across a row forming table surface and prevent relative movement of the objects in the row.

Abstract: A conveyor system comprises a novel row former, a novel array rake and a novel sweep mechanism that are all designed to prevent relative movement between objects arranged in rows and then formed in two dimensional arrays of the objects as the objects are moved through the conveyor system, where the objects have triangular shaped cross sections.

Abstract: A conveyor system includes a diverter positioned between an upstream conveyor and several downstream conveyors and splits or switches a procession of objects conveyed by the upstream conveyor to one of the downstream conveyors where the downstream conveyors are provided with a plurality of sensors along their lengths that detect the presence or absence of objects on the downstream conveyors at different positions along their lengths and supply signals to the diverter to control the diverter to switch between the downstream conveyors to direct the objects conveyed by the upstream conveyor to the one of the downstream conveyors having fewer objects being conveyed by the conveyor and also controls the number of objects delivered by the diverter to the downstream conveyors.

Abstract: A transition between two sections of belt conveyors transfers a series of objects conveyed on the ending section of one conveyor through a pair of guide rails laterally over to a beginning section of the second conveyor. A source of vacuum is positioned between the ending section of the one conveyor and the beginning section of the second conveyor and holds the conveyed objects to the two conveyor surfaces as the objects are transferred between the two surfaces and thereby eliminates the problem of one or more conveyed objects falling over as they are transferred from the one conveyor surface to the second conveyor surface.

Abstract: A conveyor system includes a diverter positioned between an upstream conveyor and a pair of downstream conveyors and splits or switches a procession of objects conveyed by the upstream conveyor to one of the two downstream conveyors where both downstream conveyors are provided with a plurality of sensors along their lengths that detect the presence or absence of objects on the downstream conveyors at different positions along their lengths and supply signals to the diverter to control the diverter to switch between the two downstream conveyors to direct the objects conveyed by the upstream conveyor to the one of the two downstream conveyors having fewer objects being conveyed by the conveyor and also controls the speed of the upstream conveyor.

Abstract: A conveyor system comprises a novel row former, a novel array rake and a novel sweep mechanism that are all designed to prevent relative movement between objects arranged in rows and then formed in two dimensional arrays of the objects as the objects are moved through the conveyor system, where the objects have triangular shaped cross sections.

Abstract: A conveying system includes a photoelectric sensor and a gate where the sensor senses objects having triangular cross sections that are conveyed past the sensor by the conveyor system and the gate is configured to close across the conveyor path and hold back the objects having triangular shaped cross sections.

Abstract: A series of pneumatically controlled linear reciprocating actuators adjust the lateral spacing of a conveyor slot between opposed flanges of an air conveyor employed in conveying plastic bottles suspended by their neck rings in the conveyor slot to quickly change over the air conveyor for conveying plastic bottles of different neck and neck ring diameters.

Abstract: A row former of a conveying system is provided with a plurality of protrusions projecting from a side of a row forming arm that engage with portions of objects arranged in a row and pushed before the arm across a row forming table surface and prevent relative movement of the objects in the row.

Abstract: A conveyor system comprises pairs of vertically spaced and horizontally oriented pulleys and belts that are positioned on opposite sides of a conveyor path. The belts wrap around the pulleys and engage with opposite sides of an object being conveyed by the conveyor, for example an empty plastic blow molded bottle, and convey the object along the conveyor path between the belts. A vertical adjustment mechanism quickly adjusts the vertical positioning of the pairs of pulleys and belts on each side of the conveyor path to quickly adapt the conveyor for conveying different sized objects.

Abstract: An air flow control mechanism for a multi-channel air conveyor enables the flow rate of air ejected from air outlet orifices of inner channels of the multi-channel air conveyor to be adjusted without changing the flow of air ejected from air outlet orifices of the outer pair of air conveyor channels of the multi-channel air conveyor.

Abstract: A spacing tool is adapted for use with a conveyor that conveys plastic bottle containers of the type having a neck ring, a neck below the neck ring, and a body below the neck. The conveyor has a pair of support flanges that are spaced laterally from one another by a distance smaller than an outer diameter dimension of each container neck ring, but larger than an outer diameter dimension of each container neck. Thus, each container can be supported between the flanges with its neck ring in engagement with upper surfaces of the flanges. The conveyor has a pair of container guide rails that are spaced from one another by a distance larger than an outer diameter dimension of each container body so that each container can move along the conveyor between the guide rails. The spacing tool comprises a spacing member having a head portion, a neck portion below the head portion, and a spacing block below the neck portion. The head portion has a first outer diameter dimension larger than the spacing between the flanges.

Abstract: A conveyor system includes a diverter positioned between an upstream conveyor and several downstream conveyors and splits or switches a procession of objects conveyed by the upstream conveyor to one of the downstream conveyors where the downstream conveyors are provided with a plurality of sensors along their lengths that detect the presence or absence of objects on the downstream conveyors at different positions along their lengths and supply signals to the diverter to control the diverter to switch between the downstream conveyors to direct the objects conveyed by the upstream conveyor to the one of the downstream conveyors having fewer objects being conveyed by the conveyor and also controls the number of objects delivered by the diverter to the downstream conveyors.

Abstract: An apparatus that is one part of a conveying system for transferring objects, such as bottles, where the apparatus arranges the objects in layers on a pallet is improved by the addition of sensors that provide early indications of movements of component parts of the apparatus to a control unit of the apparatus where the signals are used in a more time efficient operation of the apparatus.

Abstract: A two axis bottle guide rail change over apparatus for an air conveyor supports a pair of guide rails and is operable to simultaneously adjust a lateral spacing between the pair of guide rails and/or simultaneously adjust a vertical positioning of the pair of guide rails relative to the air conveyor.

Abstract: A spacing tool is adapted for use with a conveyor that conveys plastic bottle containers of the type having a neck ring, a neck below the neck ring, and a body below the neck. The conveyor has a pair of support flanges that are spaced laterally from one another by a distance smaller than an outer diameter dimension of each container neck ring, but larger than an outer diameter dimension of each container neck. Thus, each container can be supported between the flanges with its neck ring in engagement with upper surfaces of the flanges. The conveyor has a pair of container guide rails that are spaced from one another by a distance larger than an outer diameter dimension of each container body so that each container can move along the conveyor between the guide rails. The spacing tool comprises a spacing member having a head portion, a neck portion below the head portion, and a spacing block below the neck portion. The head portion has a first outer diameter dimension larger than the spacing between the flanges.