Conveyor system for containers

Abstract

Rows of bottles are conveyed on parallel running belts. Closed loop flexible members such as roller chains, run in vertical planes along the longitudinal edges of the belts in the same direction as the belts. The closed loop chains have stabilizing devices mounted to them for stabilizing the bottles in each row as they move along on the belts beyond a bottle infeed region. The stabilizing devices each constitute a pair of fingers that are pivotally mounted to pins that stand up from the closed loop chains and are spring biased so that they diverge at a predetermined angle from each other when they are not restrained from doing so. As the sets of fingers are carried around on the chain, they reach a region where the bottles are deposited on the belts. At least in this region, the fingers of the stabilizing devices arrive between parallel plates which cause the fingers to pivot towards each other in an overlapping relationship so that they are clear from the pathway defined by the belts. After the bottles advance in a row, a small distance from where the fingers are restrained, the fingers emerge from between the plates and the springs cause the fingers to diverge at an angle from each other and establish contact with bottles on the belt to stabilize them. The fingers swing in a horizontal plane so they use none of the head room above the bottles, thereby allowing for a more compact conveyor system.