A support for transporting containers in a microwave inspection device, including a supporting body which can be moved along a feed path and at least two receiving seats connected to the top of the supporting body to be moved along said feed path, wherein said supporting body has two or more supporting portions (S1, S2) which are at least partly separated from each other by one or more openings and each carrying at least one respective receiving seat, said supporting portions (S1, S2) being connected or integral with each other in a lower region of the supporting body.

A vehicle tilting device for tilting a delivery vehicle for increasing access to items from a storage container transported on the delivery vehicle. The vehicle tilting device comprises a base structure and a tiltable platform connected to the base structure, wherein the tiltable platform comprises guiding features adapted to guide the delivery vehicle onto the tiltable platform. The tiltable platform is arranged to be connected to a delivery grid cell of a delivery rail system such that that there is a path to and/or from the tiltable platform for the delivery vehicle via the delivery grid cell. The invention is also related to an access station, a delivery system and a method of accessing a storage container.

A container handling vehicle for lifting a storage container from an underlying framework structure includes a vehicle body and a container lifting assembly for lifting the storage container. The vehicle body includes a wheeled base, a support, and at least one cantilevered section. The wheeled base includes a first set of wheels, arranged on opposite sides of the vehicle body, for moving the vehicle along a first direction on a rail grid at a top level of the underlying framework structure, and a second set of wheels arranged on other opposite sides of the vehicle body, for moving the vehicle along a second direction on the rail grid, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction. The support includes a lower end connected to the wheeled base and an upper portion connected to the cantilevered section. The container lifting assembly includes a lifting frame and a plurality of lifting bands. The lifting frame is for releasable connection to a storage container and suspended from the cantilevered section by the lifting bands, such that the lifting frame may be raised or lowered relative to the cantilevered section. The cantilevered section extends laterally from the upper portion of the support and is arranged to rotate horizontally about a vertical axis relative to the wheeled base between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the cantilevered section extends beyond the wheeled base, such that the lifting frame may retrieve or deliver a storage container from/to a storage column of the framework structure. In the second position the cantilevered section extends in an opposite direction relative to the direction in the first position. The support holds the cantilevered section above the wheeled base at a height corresponding to a height of multiple storage containers, such that a vertical distance between the lifting frame, when the lifting frame is in an upper position, and the lower end of the support is larger than the height of two storage containers stacked on top of each other.

A container clamping and holding arrangement for moving containers, such as bottles, cans, and similar containers, for holding products, such as beverages. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

A container-handling vehicle picks up storage containers from a three-dimensional grid of an underlying storage system. The container-handling vehicle has a vehicle body and wheels for moving the vehicle in two perpendicular directions on the grid. The vehicle body surrounds a cavity within which at least a first lifting device and a second lifting device are positioned adjacent to each other. Each lifting device is independently controlled and arranged to lift a storage container from the grid and into the cavity. The vehicle includes at least one vertical frame guiding element arranged inside the cavity. The frame guiding element extends between the lifting devices.

An air-driven container twisting system is configured for changing orientation of containers moving through a material-handling system. The air-driven container twisting system may include a container guide that extends through an air drive arrangement with the container guide configured to direct containers longitudinally while simultaneously rotating the containers while moving through the air-driven container twisting system without the need of declining elevation change and gravity assist.

A container handling vehicle for picking up storage containers from a three-dimensional grid of an underlying storage system includes: a first set of wheels arranged at opposite portions of a vehicle body of the container handling vehicle, for moving the vehicle along a first direction on a rail system of the grid; and a second set of wheels arranged at opposite portions of the vehicle body, for moving the vehicle along a second direction on the rail system of the grid, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction. The vehicle body includes walls on all sides forming a footprint defined by horizontal peripheries in the X and Y directions of the vehicle body. The container handling vehicle further includes: a first section and a second section arranged side-by-side such that a centre point of a footprint of the first section is arranged off centre relative a centre point of the footprint of the vehicle body, wherein a size ratio of the footprint F1 of the first section relative a footprint of the second section is at least 2:1, the first section is configured to accommodate a storage container, and the second section includes an assembly of motors for driving at least one wheel of each of the sets of wheels.

An unloading arrangement, an unloading station, and a method of unloading an item (5) from a storage container (6), comprising: a delivery vehicle (30); a storage container (6) carried by the delivery vehicle (30); and an unloading station (10) for unloading an item (5) from the storage container (6) while it is being carried by the delivery vehicle (30) in an automatic storage and retrieval system (1), the unloading station (10) comprising: an unloading device (40); and a destination conveyor (60) configured to convey the item (5) to a target destination (TD), wherein the unloading device (40) is configured to move the item (5) through a side opening of the storage container (6) to the destination conveyor (60).

A method of supplying pouches intended for containing liquid, viscous, or granular products to a carousel includes the steps of: positioning pouches along a first zone that is part of a first feeding component for feeding the pouches to the carousel; moving the pouches in the first zone as far as the carousel; and picking up the pouches from the first zone via the carousel; The method further includes positioning pouches along a second zone that is part of a second feeding component for feeding the pouches to the carousel. The step of positioning pouches along the second zone occurs in part simultaneously with picking up the pouches from the first zone; moving the pouches located in the second zone as far as the carousel queuing the pouches behind the pouches located in the first zone; and picking up the pouches from the second zone via the carousel.

The present disclosure relates to a discharge apparatus for discharging a plurality of flexible spouted containers, the apparatus comprising: a container support comprising a support element with an elongated opening for carrying a row of spouts of a plurality of spouted containers from an inlet to an outlet, wherein the inlet of the support element is configured to receive successive batches of spouted containers in the elongated opening; a biasing unit configured to move at least a subset of the spouts received inside the elongated opening in the support element towards the outlet, wherein the biasing unit further is configured to continuously apply a biasing force to the subset of spouts to continuously discharge the containers from the outlet.