Products are loaded into receptacles by means of a transfer device, which comprises a plurality of pick-up heads, each of which picks up a product. The products are provided in a random arrangement in a pick-up area, and the position of each product is detected. To pick up the products, the transfer device is moved over the pick-up area and each pick-up head picks up an individual product at a pick-up time and in a pick-up position. The pick-up position and the pick-up time for the products are determined on the basis of the previously detected positions of the products. The placement of the products in a placement area also occurs preferably while the transfer device is moving relative to the receptacles.

The present invention provides a device for grouping containers, comprising a plurality of transfer pallets for conveying containers upright on a pallet surface and a first transfer device comprising a first transfer platform and an infeed manipulator, wherein the pallet surface of each transfer pallet has a plurality of ridge-like elevations forming a support surface for the containers, and wherein the first transfer platform has a comb-shaped outlet area configured for allowing the ridge-like elevations of the pallet surface to pass through the intermediate spaces of the comb-shaped outlet area for taking over the at least one container.

An apparatus (10) and method for distributing and/or grouping containers in a container treatment system. The device (10) includes a supply conveyor (12), a discharge conveyor (16) and a transfer conveyor (14). The transfer conveyor (14) uses a guide path (28) and several movement devices (30) that can be driven individually, preferably by a long stator linear motor (32) and which are guided along the guide path (28). The several movement devices (30) include a conveyor device (34) that is designed to transfer several containers from the supply conveyor (12) to the discharge conveyor (16). The device (10) can preferably be used to reduce the risk of the containers tipping over when being transferred, to reduce the number of movement devices (30) and/or to enable the containers to be pre-grouped.

The invention relates to a handling device or layer forming device (10) and a method for forming piece good layers. Piece goods (14) are conveyed on a horizontal conveying device (16) to a grouping station and/or layer forming station (12) comprising a manipulator (20). In a work cycle, the manipulator (20) seizes at least one piece good (14) and moves it into a target position or target alignment, in particular with regard to a piece good layer to be formed. The horizontal conveying device (16), which is arranged upstream of the grouping station and layer forming station (12), comprises at least one sensor device (24) for obtaining positional data or dimensional data or alignment data of the transported piece goods (14). Based on the obtained data, the control device (28) controls the movements of the manipulator (20) within the movement range for the purpose of the layer formation.

A method of using a conveyor device is provided for conveying food products in stacks or interleaved units made of a plurality of slices of cheese or meat products. The method formats the food products in a specific product format on a plurality of parallel conveyor tracks, and fills a product gap on one of the plurality of parallel conveyor tracks incoming on the input side with a food product so that on the output side all parallel conveyor tracks are supplied with the food products.

A conveyor device is provided for conveying food products in stacks or interleaved units made of a plurality of slices of cheese or meat products. The conveyor device formats the food products in a specific product format on a plurality of parallel conveyor tracks, and fills a product gap on one of the plurality of parallel conveyor tracks incoming on the input side with a food product so that on the output side all parallel conveyor tracks are supplied with the food products. At least one product sensor is configured to detect a supply of food product on each conveyor track incoming on the input side.

The invention concerns a conveyor system for formatting slice-shaped food products in product stacks. The conveyor system includes an inlet, a lower product conveyor, an upper product conveyor, a vertically swiveling distributor conveyor for distributing the incoming food products selectively to the lower product conveyor or to the upper product conveyor, an output conveyor receiving the food products partially stacked from the lower product conveyor and the upper product conveyor, and an outlet for outputting the stacked food products in product rows. The individual conveying tracks of the distributor conveyor can be swivelled vertically independently of one another in order to forward the incoming food products individually for each conveying track selectively to the lower product conveyor onto the upper product conveyor.

Buffer device for buffering containers, with an inlet, an inlet manipulator, a first buffer system, a transposition device, a second buffer system, an outlet manipulator, and an outlet, where containers can be transferred by the inlet manipulator from the inlet to the first buffer system and can be transported along a first direction in the first buffer system, where the transposition device can transfer containers from the first buffer system to the second buffer system, and the containers can be transported in the second buffer system along a second direction that is opposite to the first direction, and the containers can be removed from the second buffer system by the outlet manipulator and fed to the outlet, where the buffer capacity of the buffer device is adjustable.

A product management system (100) including a first panel (102) with a first continuous track (106) including a queuing section, a product engagement section and a return section, and a first series of magnetic sources (115) disposed circumferentially along the first continuous track (106). A first series of lugs (116) are movably dispersed around the first continuous track (106) configured to react to the first series of magnetic sources in order to increase or decrease a velocity of each lug (116) of the first series of lugs along the first continuous track (116) and a product engagement member (118) attached to each lug configured and adapted to actuate to engage a product.

A processing system including a singulation system is disclosed. The singulation system includes a conveying system for moving objects to be processed from a source area along a first direction, a detection system for detecting objects at the conveying system, and for selecting certain selected objects for redistribution on the conveying system, and a movement redistribution system for redistributing the certain selected objects on the conveying system for providing a singulated stream of objects.