The invention relates to a thermal treatment device, such as a pasteurizer, cooler or heater, having at least one container feed device for feeding containers each to one mass flow conveyor comprised by the thermal treatment device. The treatment device adjoins the at least one container feed device. The container feed device comprises: an at least one-track infeed conveyor; a first group of a plurality of parallel first conveyors; a second group of a plurality of parallel second conveyors which are arranged so as to be parallel and adjoining the first group. The containers can be transferred from the second group to a mass flow conveyor transversely to the second direction, in the direction. The invention furthermore relates to a method for operating the thermal treatment device with the at least one container feed device.

A material handling system includes a very high speed linear sortation conveyor that receives articles at an operating speed of 650 to 700 feet per second (fps) and up to 100 fps with gapping as small as one inch. In one or more embodiments, a recirculation sortation conveyor receives articles that are not diverted by the linear sortation conveyor with dynamic capacity sufficient to handle a high speed shutdown of the linear sortation conveyor. The recirculation sortation conveyor is itself a very high speed linear sortation conveyor having a pusher pre-sort feature that can distribute received articles at different lateral positions on an endless conveyor to align with more than one recirculation sortation conveyors that may be operating at a slower operating speed. In an exemplary embodiment, the recirculation sortation conveyor has a divert section for diverting articles to a divert target on a lateral side.

An apparatus for unloading packages (103) from a container (106), the apparatus comprising: a conveyor system (109); a supporting frame (209) mounted on the conveyor system, the supporting frame being substantially perpendicular to a length of the conveyor system; and an end effector assembly (112) coupled to the supporting frame and being moveable about a horizontal axis relative to the supporting frame, the end effector assembly comprising: a manifold plate (203) extending along a vertical plane that is generally parallel to the supporting frame; a gripping component (115) coupled to and extending outwardly from the manifold plate along the horizontal axis relative to the supporting frame, the gripping component being configured to engage with one or more of the packages stacked in the container; and one or more sensors (303), the one or more sensors being configured to determine a distance between the end effector assembly and the packages.

An improved swing arm manipulator is provided for displacing objects on an object carrier surface of an object carrier. The swing arm manipulator includes a swing arm rotatable around a rotation axis transverse to the object carrier surface. The swing arm includes a hollow elongate body and at least one extension part. The at least one extension part has an at least substantially cylindrical portion with which it is rotatably arranged in a hollow inner space of the hollow elongate body and has an at least substantially wedge shaped portion connected thereto, that extends towards the object carrier surface at an angle with respect to a surface normal of the object carrier surface. The improved swing arm manipulator is better arranged to manipulate objects of various sizes, while mitigating the risk that objects get stuck and/or are damaged.

An online material moisture measurement system is provided. The online material moisture measurement system includes a fixed conveyor unit, a sensor and a constant-volume material guiding device. The fixed conveyor unit has a conveying side provided for passing a material. The sensor is installed onto the conveying side. A flow channel is formed between the constant-volume material guiding device and the fixed conveyor unit and has a material inlet and a material outlet. When the material enters into the material inlet and passes through the material outlet, the material has a volume greater than a lower limit and moves and passes through the sensor steadily. The material measured in a unit time can be situated at a stable state to improve the measurement precision.

An adjustable capacity reservoir for processing rod-like elements for tobacco industry, having partitioned multiple chambers.

A system to deliver a cargo using a railway, such as a subway or a national railway, rather than ground transportation. A cargo loading/unloading unit is provided on a platform of a railway station. The cargo loading/unloading unit is configured to load and unload cargoes is provided inside a railway vehicle, such that a large quantity of cargo can be quickly loaded and unloaded while the railway vehicle is stopped at the station. The cargo delivery capacity can also be adjusted, thereby enabling a large quantity of the cargo to be delivered more quickly and conveniently.

A system to deliver a cargo using a railway, such as a subway or a national railway, rather than ground transportation. A cargo loading/unloading unit is provided on a platform of a railway station. The cargo loading/unloading unit is configured to load and unload cargoes is provided inside a railway vehicle, such that a large quantity of cargo can be quickly loaded and unloaded while the railway vehicle is stopped at the station. The cargo delivery capacity can also be adjusted, thereby enabling a large quantity of the cargo to be delivered more quickly and conveniently.

In a case where an article (A) is advanced along an inclined transport direction (C) by use of an article transverse-pushing body (4) configured to move along a main transport direction (T) and to be movable in a width direction (W) perpendicular to the main transport direction (T), the article transverse-pushing body (4) is accelerated in the width direction (W) in a sorting region (B) and then inertially moved such that the article transverse-pushing body (4) thus moving inertially is brought into contact with the article (A).

A crop cart loading system for loading a crop. The crop cart loading system generally includes a hopper having a floor and a sidewall extending from the floor to an upper edge thereof. The sidewall defines a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and an interior space for accommodating a crop. A conveyor is mounted to the hopper and configured to receive a crop at one of the first and second ends, and to longitudinally translate the crop above the floor toward the other of the first and second ends.