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, subsequently supplying signals to 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 braking system is provided along one of a pair of guide rails of an air conveyor that transports plastic bottles along a pathway between the pair of guide rails. The braking system is selectively actuated to move into the pathway defined by the guide rails decreasing its width and positioning a stop of the braking system in the pathway where it will engage with bottles conveyed by the air conveyor slowing and eventually stopping the bottles.

Abstract: An apparatus that is one part of a conveying system for transferring objects, such as bottles, removes layers of the objects from a pallet on which the layers have been stacked or, in reverse operation, arranges the objects in layers stacked on one another on a pallet. The apparatus may be employed to depalletize objects or to palletize objects, wherein in the depalletizing mode of operation the apparatus has a slipsheet retainer that holds a slipsheet below a layer of objects being depalletized from the stacked layers of objects on the pallet and prevents the slipsheet from moving with the layer of objects as the layer of objects is depalletized.

Abstract: A braking system is provided along one of a pair of guide rails of an air conveyor that transports plastic bottles along a pathway between the pair of guide rails. The braking system is selectively actuated to move into the pathway defined by the guide rails decreasing its width and positioning a stop of the braking system in the pathway where it will engage with bottles conveyed by the air conveyor slowing and eventually stopping the bottles.

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 multichannel pivoting coupling between an upstream multichannel air conveyor and a downstream multichannel air conveyor includes a mechanism that can be selectively controlled to simultaneously adjust the lateral width dimensions of the slots between opposed flanges of the coupling to coincide with adjustments in the lateral width dimensions of the slots between the opposed flanges of the upstream and downstream multichannel air conveyors. The multichannel air conveyors of the type employed with the pivoting coupling apparatus convey streams of plastic bottles suspended by their neck rings in the slots and the lateral spacing between pairs of flanges that define the slots can be quickly changed over for conveying plastic bottles of different neck dimensions and different neck ring diameters.

Abstract: A bottle neck alignment mechanism precisely horizontally and vertically positions the necks of plastic bottles conveyed by the alignment mechanism from an input conveyor to an output air conveyor where the neck rings of the conveyed plastic bottles are received on guide plates of the air conveyor.

Abstract: A dunnage infeed station is designed to receive generally planar dunnage objects such as tier sheets and tier sheet picture frames from a forklift and to deposit a stack of the dunnage objects onto a conveyor which transports the stack out from the infeed station.

Abstract: A pallet unstacker/stacker can receive a stack of skewed or misaligned pallets on a conveyor of the unstacker/stacker, raise all but the bottom most pallet in the stack, square or straighten the bottom pallet and then dispense the straightened pallet from the unstacker/stacker, lower the remaining stack of pallets onto the conveyor and again raise all but the bottom most pallet in the stack to repeat the straightening step and dispensing step of operation of the unstacker/stacker. All of the component parts of the unstacker/stacker are supported on a unitary, transportable frame that enables the pallet unstacker/stacker to be shipped in conventional cargo containers and also enables the pallet unstacker/stacker to be easily incorporated into existing pallet conveyor systems.

Abstract: An apparatus that is one part of a conveying system for transferring objects, such as bottles, removes layers of the objects from a pallet on which the layers have been stacked or, in reverse operation, arranges the objects in layers stacked on one another on a pallet. The apparatus may be employed to depalletize objects or to palletize objects, where in the depalletizing mode of operation the apparatus has a slipsheet retainer that holds a slipsheet below a layer of objects being depalletized from the stacked layers of objects on the pallet and prevents the slipsheet from moving with the layer of objects as the layer of objects is depalletized.

Abstract: An infeed assembly for use with an air conveyor system. The infeed assembly has a guide mechanism configured for engaging an article, such as a lightweight plastic bottle, and guiding it as it is conveyed through the conveyor system, a plurality of air jet conveyor nozzles, a plenum in fluid communication with the conveyor nozzles for forcing pressurized air through the conveyor nozzles and adjacent the guide mechanism in a manner to push the article downstream along the guide mechanism from an inlet end of the guide mechanism to an outlet end of the guide mechanism. The infeed assembly comprises an article alignment mechanism, at least one air jet infeed nozzle adjacent the article alignment mechanism, and at least one conduit providing fluid communication between the plenum and the infeed nozzle. The article alignment mechanism is positionable adjacent the inlet end of the guide mechanism and is configured for directing the article into the inlet end of the guide mechanism.

Abstract: A guide is employed on air conveyors of the type that suspend conveyed objects from an intermediate enlargement, for example, conveying plastic bottles by suspending the bottles from their neck rings, where the guide limits the upward movement of the bottles conveyed by a conveyor system preventing the bottles from becoming wedged in the air conveyor and jamming the flow of bottles through the air conveyor while permitting each of the bottles conveyed to swing freely forwardly and rearwardly from their neck rings as the bottles are conveyed through the conveyor.

Abstract: An air conveyor transitional section connects an upstream air conveyor section to a downstream air conveyor section that is not collinear with the upstream air conveyor section. The air conveyor transitional section includes a pair of elongated members having opposed inner edges and upper surfaces adjacent the inner edges. The inner edges of the elongated members are laterally spaced to define a slot that extends in a downstream direction of the air conveyor. The upstream air conveyor section, the transitional section, and the downstream air conveyor section are all configured for conveying containers in the downstream direction. Each container has a neck ring with an outer diameter dimension. The inner edges of the elongated members are laterally spaced by a distance smaller than the container neck ring outer diameter dimension so that the upper surfaces provide slidable support for the container neck rings.

Abstract: An air conveyor apparatus is adapted for conveying bottle containers having a neck ring with an outer diameter dimension. The conveyor apparatus includes a first air conveyor section and a second air conveyor section. The first air conveyor section has a first conveying slot extending longitudinally therethrough in a downstream direction. The first conveying slot is defined by a first pair of mutually opposed, laterally spaced, substantially horizontal flanges. The first pair of flanges are laterally spaced by a distance smaller than the outer diameter dimension of the container neck rings so that the containers can be conveyed with the neck rings sliding in a friction engagement along the first pair of flanges as the containers are conveyed through the first air conveyor section. The second air conveyor section has a second conveying slot extending longitudinally therethrough in the downstream direction.

Abstract: The present invention pertains to an improved belt and pulley conveying apparatus for conveying bottle containers. The conveying apparatus comprises a set of belts each driven by a pair of pulleys with a lateral spacing between the belts dimensioned to receive bottle containers therebetween. The belts engage the bottle containers and convey them from an input conveyor to a diverter assembly. The apparatus includes a plurality of motor driven shafts, each shaft having a plurality of the pulleys adjustably mounted thereon. The positions of the belts are horizontally and vertically adjustable thereby allowing the conveyor to accommodate containers of various dimensions.

Abstract: A conveyor system for conveying an article has an upper portion and a lower portion below the upper portion. The conveyor system comprises a guide mechanism configured for engaging the upper portion of the article in a manner so that the article is suspended from the guide mechanism. The guide mechanism is further configured for guiding the article in its suspended orientation along a conveyor pathway defined by the guide mechanism, the conveyor pathway having a lateral curve. The conveyor system further includes at least one air nozzle for connection to a source of pressurized air. The air nozzle is oriented for directing a stream of air in a direction generally adjacent the lateral curve and in a manner such that the stream of air blows against the lower portion of the article when the article is moving along the lateral curve of the conveyor pathway to counter inertial forces which tend to cause the article to deviate from the conveyor pathway.

Abstract: Moveable conveyor guide rails are located on opposite sides of a conveyor which conveys articles, such as beverage bottles. The guide rails are pivotable or otherwise moveable from a first position, where they serve as conventional conveyor guide rails by preventing the articles being conveyed from tipping, rocking, or falling off the sides of the conveyor, to a second position, where the guide rails are concealed by being pivoted or otherwise moved downwardly so that the articles being conveyed on the conveyor can be accessed by a palletizing machine from the sides of the conveyor without obstruction from the guide rails.

Abstract: An air conveyor conveys bottle containers, the conveyor being constructed as a channel having a general, inverted-U-shaped configuration. The channel has a plurality of air ducts extending through the walls of the channel which communicate with a source of pressurized air to eject streams of air against the bottle containers being conveyed. The streams of air ejected from the ducts impinge upon the bottle containers to push the containers along the conveyor in the direction of travel. Each air duct has a first port opening, which emerges from the sidewall thereof below the pair of flanges, and a second port opening, which emerges from the sidewall thereof above the pair of flanges. The first port opening is a jet port configured to eject a stream of air against the bottle containers, and the second port opening is a vacuum port configured for drawing air from the channel.

Abstract: An air conveyor conveys a stream of bottle containers along an input path and then selectively diverts bottles from the input stream into one of a plurality of output paths. The invention includes a diverter plate positioned between the input path and the output paths which is moveable for selectively connecting the input path with one of the plurality of output paths.

Abstract: An air conveyor for plastic bottles conveys the bottles at generally constant speed. The bottles are of the type having annular rims around their necks and shoulders below the rims. The air conveyor includes a pair of spaced flanges and a plurality of nozzles for each flange. The flanges provide opposed inner edges which define a central slot extending elongately in the forward to rearward direction. Each flange supports a plurality of nozzles at spaced intervals in the forward to rearward direction for substantially the length of the slot. An air blower supplies pressurized air to the nozzles. Each nozzle discharges air in a stream along a diagonal direction that generally slopes downwardly, inwardly, and forwardly. In use, the flanges provide the neck rims with slidable support as the bottles are blown forwardly through the slot by the force of the air streams against the shoulders. Constant speed is gained through the direction of the air streams against bottle shoulders.