A rotative lumber piece charger for transferring lumber pieces. The rotative lumber piece charger comprises: a driving shaft rotating about a longitudinal axis and a transfer wheel comprising a main body mounted to the driving shaft and rotating therewith. The rotative lumber piece charger also comprises a lumber piece grasping assembly rotatably connected to the main body and rotatable with respect to the main body about a lumber rotation axis. The lumber piece grasping assembly is operative to grasp a section of a corresponding one of the lumber pieces, temporarily retain the section of the lumber piece and release the lumber piece. The rotative lumber piece charger further comprises an angular orientation control system connected to the lumber piece grasping assembly. The angular orientation control system rotates the lumber piece grasping assembly about the lumber rotation axis.

A rotative lumber piece charger for transferring lumber pieces. The rotative lumber piece charger comprises: a driving shaft rotating about a longitudinal axis and a transfer wheel comprising a main body mounted to the driving shaft and rotating therewith. The rotative lumber piece charger also comprises a lumber piece grasping assembly rotatably connected to the main body and rotatable with respect to the main body about a lumber rotation axis. The lumber piece grasping assembly is operative to grasp a section of a corresponding one of the lumber pieces, temporarily retain the section of the lumber piece and release the lumber piece. The rotative lumber piece charger further comprises an angular orientation control system connected to the lumber piece grasping assembly. The angular orientation control system rotates the lumber piece grasping assembly about the lumber rotation axis.

A system for handling blister packs includes an overhead vacuum conveyor for conveying blister packs in a first direction. A plurality of conveying elements are mounted for movement along a running rail, wherein each conveying element includes a first blister pack carrier and each blister pack is shifted down from the overhead vacuum conveyor into a respective blister pack carrier.

The present invention provides an article inverting and displacing apparatus and a machine for making sandwiches comprising the apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises an engagement member (12) adapted to engage a lateral edge portion of a sandwich element; a drive unit (14) configured to drive the engagement member (12) to lift and turn the sandwich element engaged thereby about is opposite lateral edge to invert it; and a control unit configured to control the drive unit (14); wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive unit (14) to drive the engagement member (12) so that the opposite lateral edge of the sandwich element is caused to be raised to approximately at or above the level or height of the engaged lateral edge portion during the inverting step, and, optionally subsequently the sandwich element is caused to lie in a generally horizontal plane. The present invention also provides a process of automatically inverting and displacing articles.

The present invention provides an article inverting and displacing apparatus and a machine for making sandwiches comprising the apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises an engagement member (12) adapted to engage a lateral edge portion of a sandwich element; a drive unit (14) configured to drive the engagement member (12) to lift and turn the sandwich element engaged thereby about is opposite lateral edge to invert it; and a control unit configured to control the drive unit (14); wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive unit (14) to drive the engagement member (12) so that the opposite lateral edge of the sandwich element is caused to be raised to approximately at or above the level or height of the engaged lateral edge portion during the inverting step, and, optionally subsequently the sandwich element is caused to lie in a generally horizontal plane. The present invention also provides a process of automatically inverting and displacing articles.

An inversion guide device is configured to guide tofu conveyed by a transfer conveyor and inverted by a turn-back portion at one end of the transfer conveyor. The inversion guide device includes an endless conveyor configured to support the tofu along a track of the turn-back portion and guide the tofu while being driven in a circulating manner.

An inversion guide device is configured to guide tofu conveyed by a transfer conveyor and inverted by a turn-back portion at one end of the transfer conveyor. The inversion guide device includes an endless conveyor configured to support the tofu along a track of the turn-back portion and guide the tofu while being driven in a circulating manner.

A system for forming horizontally stacked groups of containers includes an infeed screw set, an orienting screw set, and a grouping mechanism. Containers are presented to the infeed screw in a vertical orientation, and are progressed from the infeed screw set to the orienting screw set via a transitioning pocket defined by overlapping pockets of the infeed and orienting screw sets. As containers are progressed through the orienting screw the containers are rotated via a series of orienting pockets to a horizontal orientation and progressed via a series of nesting pockets to form a series of horizontally nested containers. The series is discharged to a grouping mechanism which separates a predefined number of containers from the series to form a horizontally stacked group, which is outfed from the stacking system.

A system for forming horizontally stacked groups of containers includes an infeed screw set, an orienting screw set, and a grouping mechanism. Containers are presented to the infeed screw in a vertical orientation, and are progressed from the infeed screw set to the orienting screw set via a transitioning pocket defined by overlapping pockets of the infeed and orienting screw sets. As containers are progressed through the orienting screw the containers are rotated via a series of orienting pockets to a horizontal orientation and progressed via a series of nesting pockets to form a series of horizontally nested containers. The series is discharged to a grouping mechanism which separates a predefined number of containers from the series to form a horizontally stacked group, which is outfed from the stacking system.

A parcel handling and tracking system allows an all-around scanning of identifying features thanks to a scanning window, where the parcels are configured to sit at the scanning window on a resting surface of the parcel itself. The scanning window is light permeable to allow reading of the identifying features at the resting surface, possibly together with other identifying features at surfaces of the parcel other than the resting surface.