A device for separating and aligning pin-shaped piece goods exhibiting a head and a shank includes a funnel-shaped receptacle for receiving the piece goods. The receptacle has two wall sections which delimit the receptacle in a front area, and a rear wall, which are arranged in sections opposite one another and in each case inclined outwards at an angle to the central transversal plane of the receptacle. An endlessly circulating conveying means is arranged underneath a recess which spaces apart the two wall sections and which is arranged at a same angle () as the wall sections inclined relative to the central transversal plane and conveys the piece goods from a receiving plane to a higher discharge plane. The conveying means has a conveying plane provided with drivers. The recess is delimited by parallel front edges of the wall sections which are arranged in a V-shape tapering towards the conveying means and terminate above the conveying means or in a plane with the conveying means. The drivers are in the form of cylindrical pins which are arranged at a distance from one another in the direction of circulation of the conveying means and extend essentially perpendicular to the conveying plane of the conveying means.

A singulation conveyor for conveying and separating piece goods, in particular packages and/or consignments, along at least one transport track bearing the piece goods items is described, wherein in the transport track, in some sections, finger elements adjustable between a lower setting and an upper setting are provided, and wherein the free ends of the finger elements in the upper setting are arranged in an upper position above an adjoining region of the transport track in such a way as to manipulate the motional direction and/or the motional speed of respectively individual piece goods items independently of other piece goods items.

A singulation conveyor for conveying and separating piece goods, in particular packages and/or consignments, along at least one transport track bearing the piece goods items is described, wherein in the transport track, in some sections, finger elements adjustable between a lower setting and an upper setting are provided, and wherein the free ends of the finger elements in the upper setting are arranged in an upper position above an adjoining region of the transport track in such a way as to manipulate the motional direction and/or the motional speed of respectively individual piece goods items independently of other piece goods items.

An apparatus for manufacturing of multi-element rods of the tobacco industry comprising a feeding apparatus, a transferring apparatus, and a forming apparatus, comprising a first rotational element provided with lugs immobile relative to the first rotational element, a second rotational element provided with lugs immobile relative to the second rotational element, a third rotational element provided with lugs immobile relative to the third rotational element, used to convey rod-like elements. The rotational elements having notches between the lugs adapted to receive and convey the rod-like elements, whereas the rotational elements are arranged and adapted to guide the rod-like elements successively through the rotational elements. The apparatus comprises the forming apparatus designed to form a continuous multi-element rod, and a cutting apparatus. The apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the third lugs have a thickness smaller than the thickness of the first lugs.

A device for separating and aligning pin-shaped piece goods exhibiting a head and a shank includes a funnel-shaped receptacle for receiving the piece goods. The receptacle has two wall sections which delimit the receptacle in a front area, and a rear wall, which are arranged in sections opposite one another and in each case inclined outwards at an angle to the central transversal plane of the receptacle. An endlessly circulating conveying means is arranged underneath a recess which spaces apart the two wall sections and which is arranged at a same angle () as the wall sections inclined relative to the central transversal plane and conveys the piece goods from a receiving plane to a higher discharge plane. The conveying means has a conveying plane provided with drivers. The recess is delimited by parallel front edges of the wall sections which are arranged in a V-shape tapering towards the conveying means and terminate above the conveying means or in a plane with the conveying means. The drivers are in the form of cylindrical pins which are arranged at a distance from one another in the direction of circulation of the conveying means and extend essentially perpendicular to the conveying plane of the conveying means.

A device for separating and aligning pin-shaped piece goods exhibiting a head and a shank includes a funnel-shaped receptacle for receiving the piece goods. The receptacle has two wall sections which delimit the receptacle in a front area, and a rear wall, which are arranged in sections opposite one another and in each case inclined outwards at an angle to the central transversal plane of the receptacle. An endlessly circulating conveying means is arranged underneath a recess which spaces apart the two wall sections and which is arranged at a same angle () as the wall sections inclined relative to the central transversal plane and conveys the piece goods from a receiving plane to a higher discharge plane. The conveying means has a conveying plane provided with drivers. The recess is delimited by parallel front edges of the wall sections which are arranged in a V-shape tapering towards the conveying means and terminate above the conveying means or in a plane with the conveying means. The drivers are in the form of cylindrical pins which are arranged at a distance from one another in the direction of circulation of the conveying means and extend essentially perpendicular to the conveying plane of the conveying means.

Rotary conveyor drum (19, 119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 59) for use in tobacco industry machines, for transferring a stream of rod-like elements (S), the drum having a first front base and a second front base and a lateral surface (20, 120, 220, 320, 420, 520, 50) onto which the rod-like elements (S) are delivered successively one by one, the lateral surface (20, 120, 220, 320, 420, 520, 50) being provided with spacer projections (22, 122, 222, 322, 422, 522, 52) between which the rod-like elements (S) are conveyed, the drum (19, 119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 59) being equipped with guiding means (21, 51) forcing the rod-like elements (S) to travel from the first front base to the second front base of the drum (19, 119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 59) during the rotation of the drum while the rod-like elements (S) are oriented substantially transversally to the spacer projections (22, 122, 222, 322, 422, 522, 52). The invention also relates to an apparatus comprising such a drum, to a machine for manufacturing multi-element rods and a method of transferring a stream of rod-like elements.

Rotary conveyor drum (19, 119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 59) for use in tobacco industry machines, for transferring a stream of rod-like elements (S), the drum having a first front base and a second front base and a lateral surface (20, 120, 220, 320, 420, 520, 50) onto which the rod-like elements (S) are delivered successively one by one, the lateral surface (20, 120, 220, 320, 420, 520, 50) being provided with spacer projections (22, 122, 222, 322, 422, 522, 52) between which the rod-like elements (S) are conveyed, the drum (19, 119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 59) being equipped with guiding means (21, 51) forcing the rod-like elements (S) to travel from the first front base to the second front base of the drum (19, 119, 219, 319, 419, 519, 59) during the rotation of the drum while the rod-like elements (S) are oriented substantially transversally to the spacer projections (22, 122, 222, 322, 422, 522, 52). The invention also relates to an apparatus comprising such a drum, to a machine for manufacturing multi-element rods and a method of transferring a stream of rod-like elements.

An automated production line for transferring and processing multiple shoe members includes multiple transferring rail units aligned along a transferring direction, multiple handoff rail units aligned along the transferring direction and alternately arranged with the transferring rail units, multiple transferring unit each being movably mounted to a respective one of the transferring rail unit for transferring the shoe members onto an adjacent one of the handoff rail units, multiple handling units each being movably mounted to a respective one of the handoff rail units and being adapted to transfer the shoe members onto an adjacent one of the transferring rail units, and multiple processing units disposed beside the transferring rail units for processing the shoe members.

An article conveying device having a temporary placement section and capable of conveying articles. The article conveying device has: a supplying section configured to sequentially convey or supply plural articles; a discharging section configured to sequentially convey plural containers for containing the articles; a temporary placement section on which at least one article can be temporarily placed; a first detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the article on the supplying section and successively detect an amount of movement of the supplying section; a second detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the container on the discharging section and successively detect an amount of movement of the discharging section; a working machine configured to convey the article between the supplying section, the temporary placement section and the discharging section; and a controlling section configured to control the working machine based on a predetermined condition.