Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a moveable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.

A vertical washer or dryer, such as integrated into an egg handling operation. The vertical washer or dryer includes a vertically extending body supporting a carousel conveyor adapted to support pluralities of eggs during transport in successive ascending and descending fashion within the body between an inlet location and an outlet location of the body. A first egg conveyor communicates the eggs with the inlet location of the carousel conveyor, a second egg conveyor communicating the eggs with the outlet location. A least one of a plurality of egg washer spray bars or, in the separate variant, a plurality of egg dryer air knives, are integrated into the body in communication with the carousel conveyor for washing/drying the eggs while supported upon the carousel conveyor.

A transport system for transporting capsules within a machine for preparing capsules for producing capsules. Housings, wherein each housing is configured to house a capsule for producing beverages, and wherein the housings comprise at least a first housing for holding a first capsule and a second housing for holding a second capsule, wherein the second capsule is different in size and/or shape from the first capsule. Seats are configured to receive one of the housings with each seat configured to receive either the first housing or the second housing. An extractor extracts the first housing from a seat in which it is received. An insertor inserts the second housing into the seat. A machine for preparing capsules for producing beverages in which such a transport system is implemented is also presented.

Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a moveable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.

Disclosed is an ordered food and drink conveyance apparatus capable of reducing the number of man-hours required for conveying food and drink in a store as much as possible. A lifting device that raises food and drink placed on a belt conveyor and separates it from the belt conveyor is provided at an end point or in the middle of a conveyance path from a kitchen side to a customer seat floor side of a restaurant.

A method for transferring conveyed items from at least one feed conveyor onto an outgoing conveyor, in a transfer region, wherein the at least one feed conveyor includes a conveying member that is driven along a feed conveying stretch, for conveying conveyed items into the transfer region, and the outgoing conveyor includes conveying containers that are movable along a transfer conveying stretch for taking over the conveyed items that are delivered by the at least one feed conveyor. The conveyed items that lie on the conveying member are accelerated relative to the conveying member along the feed conveying stretch towards the transfer region via an acceleration device and for the purpose of delivery of the conveyed items are brought into a cyclically synchronous side-by-side conveying with a conveying container of the outgoing conveyor.

An accumulating conveyor includes upper and lower runs which form upper and lower tracks, reverse sections connecting the upper and lower runs, and a deflecting element connected to a first motor. Endless tension elements engaged with a deflecting element circulate a pallet in the upper and lower runs. A stop element is on the underside of the pallet, and a stopping element is arranged between the upper and lower runs and driven by a second motor. The stopping element has a locking position with the stop element for stopping the pallet and a release position with the stop element for conveying the pallet. The stopping element is guided in sections around the stop element on a curved path during movement from the locking position to the release position to release the pallet for further conveying.

Pallet for a conveyor system comprising a conveyor track, where the pallet comprises a housing having an upper side adapted to support an object, and an underside opposite to the upper side, where the underside is adapted to bear on a conveyor track, where the housing comprises a front side, a rear side, a right side and a left side, where the pallet comprises a rechargeable power source, a control unit, a wireless communication means and a plurality of actuating means arranged to be controlled by the control unit, where the actuating means are adapted to extend out of the housing or to retract into the housing by a control signal from the control unit. The advantage of the invention is that a self-contained pallet is provided, which can navigate through a conveyor system without the need of dedicated diverters.

Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a movable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.

A stabilizer can include an attachment surface and a non-stick surface. Multiple stabilizers can be arranged in a stack, e.g., such that the attachment surface of one stabilizer is engaged with the non-stick surface of another stabilizer. A stabilizer can be removed from the stack and attached to an item having a curved surface along the length of the item. The item, with the stabilizer attached, can be positioned on a conveyance surface, e.g., such that the stabilizer is between the conveyance surface and the item.