A system, and associated method, for launching and delivering separated food product in organized groups to a robotized packaging station for the product. The system initiates the delivery via a metered hopper of food product delivering the product to a launch V-belt that aligns the product end to end. A successive singulator belt, positioned adjacent to and receiving product from the launch belt, further organizes the product into a single file alignment. An optional separator belt may follow the singulator belt to create gaps between successive product units. The product is then delivered to a pick belt for product to be provided to the packaging robot. The system product information is from a single (per product delivery line) sensor, enabling intergrated end-to-end control from hopper to robot, and a nearly continuous motion of said pick belt.

A container-handling device includes two rotors, holders that are arranged around a periphery of the first rotor and receptacles around the first rotor such that as it rotates, the receptacles pass through distinct angular ranges. When a receptacle has a container, relative movement therebetween causes its centering element and its counter-bearing to clamp a container between them with the holder engaging the container above the counter-bearing A first partial-stroke occurs while the receptacle is in a first angular region and a second partial-stroke occurs after the receptacle has left the first angular region. During the first partial-stroke, the centering element bears against a container's mouth with a pressure, and, during the second partial-stroke, this pressure increases.

An apparatus for transporting a case along a conveyor moving in a transport direction includes an engagement plate for positive engagement with the case. The engagement plate has a planar face and a vacuum source for vacuum attachment to a case outer surface face. The apparatus further includes a mechanism for moving the plate in the transport direction and for rotating the plate a selected angle from the transport direction. Related, corresponding, or associated methods for transporting a case along a conveyor moving in a transport direction are also disclosed.

A system, and associated method, for launching and delivering separated food product in organized groups to a robotized packaging station for the product. The system initiates the delivery via a metered hopper of food product delivering the product to a launch V-belt that aligns the product end to end. A successive singulator belt, positioned adjacent to and receiving product from the launch belt, further organizes the product into a single file alignment. An optional separator belt may follow the singulator belt to create gaps between successive product units. The product is then delivered to a pick belt for product to be provided to the packaging robot. The system product information is from a single (per product delivery line) sensor, enabling intergrated end-to-end control from hopper to robot, and a nearly continuous motion of said pick belt.

The invention includes a method (100) and an apparatus to handle irregularly conveyed and/or irregularly aligned and/or non-upright articles of an article stream under prevention of disturbances. The method (100) comprises the following steps: identifying at least one non-upright article in an article stream as an error; performing a correction step to resolve the error, the correction step comprising removal from the article stream of the at least one irregularly aligned article, or transfer to an upright orientation of the at least one irregularly aligned article, with a defined action being exerted temporally before and/or in temporal overlap with the correction step upon the at least one irregularly aligned article or upon regularly conveyed articles of the article stream.

Various embodiments of aligning wafers are described herein. In one embodiment, a photolithography system aligns a wafer by averaging individual via locations. In particular, some embodiments of the present technology determine the center locations of individual vias on a wafer and average them together to obtain an average center location of the set of vias. Based on a comparison of the average center location to a desired center location, the present technology adjusts the wafer position. Additionally, in some embodiments, the present technology compares wafer via patterns to a template and adjusts the position of the wafer based on the comparison.

The invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for transporting products (10), in particular for packaging machines, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one product feed (12), via which products (10) can be fed in one after another, at least one transfer device (18) having a multiplicity of mutually independently movable movers (22), wherein at least one mover (22) has at least one product holder (24) for removing at least one of the products (10) fed in by the product feed (12), comprising at least one product discharge (36, 39, 40), wherein at least one intermediate transport (30) is provided to receive the product (10) removed from the product holder (24), wherein the intermediate transport (30) is arranged upstream of the product discharge (36, 39, 40) and is designed to be movable independently of the product discharge (36, 39, 40).

An automatic egg tray stacking apparatus turns alternate egg trays through the operation of movable guides at the junction with a loading conveyor before conveying the egg trays toward a stacking mechanism that first stops the egg tray and then lowers the stack on top of the egg tray before re-elevating the partially formed stack to permit the entrance of a new egg tray into the stacking mechanism. Once the stack of egg trays is completed, the stack is allowed to move onto a stack conveyor and is moved forwardly for shipment. The stacking mechanism is operated by a single actuator having dual pneumatic cylinders that provide a three position operation of the lifting function with the stacking mechanism having lifter members engaging all four sides of the lowermost egg tray of the elevated stack. A control mechanism operates the apparatus with input from appropriately positioned sensors.

A selective transplanter is provided for transplanting seedlings from a tray to seedling planting apparatus. The tray includes a plurality of cells for holding plugs of growing medium containing seedlings. The transplanter is arranged to eject plugs from the cells of the tray to a conveyor which conveys the plugs to the seedling planting apparatus. The transplanter is arranged to remove plugs that do not contain germinated seedlings from the conveyor at a removal position before they are transferred to the seedling planting apparatus. A seedling retention roller engages with plant material of the seedlings projecting from the plugs at the removal position before the plugs are transferred to the seedling planting apparatus, preventing removal of plugs containing seedlings with projecting plant material. The transplanter provides the advantage that the plugs containing seedlings can be planted in rows in a field without dud plugs being planted, leaving the rows substantially gap free.

The present application proposes an improved position sensor, a conveying device comprising the same and a method for position correction by using the same. The position sensor includes at least two light emitters, a light receiver array and a pedestal, the pedestal having a central plane and at least two sloping surfaces tilting towards a center of the pedestal at opposite edges, the at least two light emitters being arranged on the at least two sloping surfaces respectively, and the light receiver array being arranged on the central plane of the pedestal.