An alignment station and a method of operating the alignment station allows for rotation of slices such as slices of meat or cheese. The alignment station comprises a conveyor which comprises a plurality of closed loop elements, a first roll unit and a second roll unit. The slice is supported on a first loop section of the plurality of closed loop elements. To reduce problems that may occur during rotation of the slice, said slice is subjected to vibration in the first loop section.

The invention relates to a method for the singulation of packages, especially for the singulation of parcels. The invention is based on the assumption that the parcels are initially present as a bulk flow. The packages are transported in the form of a package flow on fifteen different transport means at different transport speeds, whereby the transport direction is deflected at least once by approximately 90.

An alignment system is disclosed. The system includes at least one arm including a plurality of fingers, and a linkage bar connected to the at least one arm. A sensor is adapted to detect a presence of a product. A controller is configured to selectively drive the linkage bar based on a signal from the sensor such that the plurality of fingers are driven between: (1) a first position in which the plurality of fingers are adapted to extend into a conveying path of a product conveyor, and (2) a second position in which the plurality of fingers are adapted to be positioned away from the conveying path of the product conveyor.

A self-cleaning ring conveyor includes a first roller having a first rotational axis and a second roller having a second rotational axis that is parallel with the first rotational axis. The conveyor also includes a first ring extending around a combination of the first roller and the second roller and a second ring extending around the combination of the first roller and the second roller. The first ring and the second ring are parallel to each other. The conveyor also includes a first scraper having a first scraping slot and a second scraping slot. The first ring extends through the first scraping slot and the second ring extends through the second scraping slot.

An apparatus for handling three-dimensionally curved snack food chips. The apparatus includes a first conveyor for conveying a series of the snack food chips on a conveying surface and an inverting station located at an output end of the first conveyor. The inverting station includes an inverter configured for transferring the snack food chips from an output end of the first conveyor into contact with an internal concave surface of the inverter. A drive system for the inverter is configured to move the internal concave surface downwardly to cause movement of the snack food chips downward from an upper portion to a lower portion of the internal concave surface. A depositing station is located and configured for depositing the snack food chips from the lower portion of the internal concave surface onto a second conveyor configured for receiving snack food chips from the depositing station and conveying them away.

An alignment station and a method of operating the alignment station allows for rotation of slices such as slices of meat or cheese. The alignment station comprises a conveyor which comprises a plurality of closed loop elements, a first roll unit and a second roll unit. The slice is supported on a first loop section of the plurality of closed loop elements. To reduce problems that may occur during rotation of the slice, said slice is subjected to vibration in the first loop section.

This application relates to a conveyor and a baking device. A traction rope may bring an electrode plate to move in a transport space. The traction rope may be of high flexibility and can more smoothly bring the electrode plate to move in various complex environments such as an arcuate oven, thereby effectively avoiding derailment or jamming of the conveyor in the oven and conveying the electrode plate more smoothly in the oven.

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and apparatuses for locating, engaging, and shifting objects. The systems may be used to unload objects from a storage space, e.g., inside a vehicle or facility, including one associated with a logistics network operation. The systems disclosed herein may operate in automated or semi-automated fashion, e.g., at the direction of a control system associated with a computing device. The systems may further utilize shifter mechanisms that each include one or more belt-driven mechanisms and position-changing mechanisms that facilitate the locating, engaging, and shifting of objects in a storage space. The components of these systems may operate independently, or in coordination, thereby increasing the efficiency of an object-handling operation.

A conveyance apparatus, a conveyance method and a food production method that enable to accurately place a conveyance object on a conveyance body while enabling the conveyance object to be conveyed at high speed by the conveyance body are provided. A catcher is moved to be arranged in a raised position where a placement surface is located above a conveyance surface, and in a lowered position where the placement surface is located at a same height as the conveyance surface or where the placement surface is located below the conveyance surface. A conveyance object supply unit places a first conveyance object onto the placement surface in such a manner that the first conveyance object is received by the placement surface above the conveyance surface. The catcher is moved from the raised position toward the lowered position so that the first conveyance object is conveyed downstream by the conveyance body.

Disclosed is a device for transporting plastic-container preforms, the device including an endless circulating element having an outer surface and being capable of moving the preforms along a path by rubbing against the preforms, the device including a stationary mounting defining a planar bearing surface for the preforms, the circulating element having a series of brushes which extend projecting from the outer surface, capable of engaging with the preforms in order to move same by rubbing.