An apparatus and a method for transferring articles from a pick-up area to a delivery area, wherein there is provided a guide element having a guide surface which moves along a closed path at a base speed, and wherein there are provided a plurality of transfer elements, each of which is provided with a gripping surface for holding an article and is movable with respect to the guide surface with a relative speed, so that, with respect to a stationary reference system, each of the transfer elements moves along the closed path with a compound speed given by an algebraic sum of the base speed and the respective relative speed.

A carousel for transporting articles includes: a body rotated by a motor around a main axis, a stationary cam around the main axis and a plurality of transfer units mounted on the body to rotate around the main axis. Each unit includes a transfer element having a radially external portion to retain or release an article. The element is pivoted on the body around an auxiliary axis radial to the main axis and is coupled to the body to move along the auxiliary axis. The element is coupled to the stationary cam to rotate around the auxiliary axis. A pair of auxiliary cams is coupled to the element and integral with the body and auxiliary cam-followers are interposed between the element and the auxiliary cam to move on the auxiliary cams during rotation of the element around the auxiliary axis and move the element along the auxiliary axis.

The current invention concerns a transfer head (24) configured for the transfer of a pad (6) from a pick-up location (26) to a drop-off location (62). According to the invention, the transfer head (24) comprises a support module (28) comprising a vacuum manifold, and a core module (30) comprising an elastic mean (32). The current invention also concerns a method of transferring pad (6) from a pick-up location (26) to a drop-off location (62). The current invention also concerns an apparatus for manufacturing an absorbent article using said method of transferring pad (6) from a pick-up location (26) to a drop-off location (62). The invention also concerns a method of manufacturing an absorbent articles using said method of transferring pad (6).

An apparatus and method for manufacturing glass containers handles the containers individually after a hot forming process and annealing to prevent glass-to-glass contact. By handling the containers individually and preventing glass-to-glass contact damage to the containers in the form of checks and scratches is avoided. To prevent contact of the containers and damage arising from the contact, the equipment including conveyors, pushers, starwheels, shuttles, and transfer heads that move the glass containers through the apparatus maintains the glass containers in uniform spaced relationship at each stage of container processing until the containers are packaged.

A container transport device (100) including: a container holder equipped conveyor belt (1) provided along periphery thereof with plural holders (5) configured to hold containers (101); a container loading mechanism (10) configured to load the containers (101) to the holders (5); an inspection rotor (20) configured to inspect whether the containers (101) have a defect or not while conveying the containers (101) in a circumferential direction; a star wheel (30) configured to transfer the containers (101) from the container holder equipped conveyor belt (1) to the inspection rotor (20); a container sorting mechanism (40) configured to sort the containers (101) based on inspection results. The container holder equipped conveyor belt (1) is arranged to enter an inside of the inspection rotor (20).

A container screening device (200) including: a star wheel (60) arranged on or above a conveyance surface (201) on which inspection objects (101) are conveyed and having an outer periphery formed with plural housing portions (110) configured to house the inspection objects (101); a rotation shaft (220) arranged under the conveyance surface (201) and configured to rotate with the star wheel (60); a bearing portion (230) rotatably supporting the rotation shaft (220); air holes (60a, 60b, 220a, 220b) extending through interiors of the star wheel (60) and the rotation shaft (220) and communicating with the rotation shaft (220) and the housing portions (110); and an air coupling (240) fixed to a periphery of the rotation shaft (220) and configured to generate suction force in the air holes (60a, 60b, 220a, 220b) to suck the inspection objects (101) to the housing portions (110).

The present disclosure relates to a system (100) for handling components (102). The system (100) comprises a turret assembly (200) comprising a turret (202) rotatable about a horizontal axis (204); and a plurality of end effectors (206) around the turret (202) and aligned radially from the horizontal axis (204). The system (100) further comprises a support assembly (300) arranged to support a source substrate (302) comprising singulated components (102); and a component transfer assembly (400) arranged to support a component transfer medium (402) for receiving the singulated components (102) from the end effectors (206). The turret assembly (200), support assembly (300), and component transfer assembly (400) are arranged vertically to each other. During rotation of the turret (202), 200 the end effectors (206) continually pick the singulated components (102) from the source substrate (302) and place the picked singulated components (102) on the component transfer medium (402).

An apparatus for sorting and stacking slab-shaped elements has an inlet line; plural suction gripping units; a sorting carousel rotatable around an axis and including multiple carousel arms mutually solidly constrained and each bearing a respective one of the plurality suction gripping units; a plurality of seats for receiving the slab-shaped elements, forming stacks thereof; and a support crown solidly constrained to a frame. The carousel axis and an axis of the support crown coincide with one another. Each carousel arm is supported by the support crown at or in proximity of a respective free end. A first slab-shaped element from the inlet line can be gripped by a first one of the suction gripping units, rotated by a first one of the carousel arms which bears the first suction gripping unit, and released by the first suction gripping unit on a first of the seats.

A conveying method includes first and second pads conveying workpieces with speeds of the first and second pads being varied; circumferential velocities of the first pads and the second pads are accelerated by variable speed mechanisms; the first and second pads move and separate in a state in which a distance between the first pad and the second pad, whose speeds were increased, is increased; the circumferential velocities of the first pads and the second pads are decelerated by the variable speed mechanisms; and a first slider and a second slider, which were subjected to deceleration, overlap each other in a part in a circumferential direction, which causes the first pad and the second pad to approach each other, and the first pad and the second pad move and approach each other in this state in which the first pad and the second pad have approached each other.

A transporting system and method for a linear motor conveyor system, wherein the conveyor system includes at least one moving element and at least one track on which the moving element moves, the transporting system including: a rotatable element; a motor for rotating the rotatable element; a coupler connected to the rotatable element, wherein the coupler is configured to engage with the moving element when the coupler is positioned in a predetermined relationship with the moving element; and a controller configured to: operatively connect with the linear motor conveyor system; and control at least one of the moving element and the rotatable element so that the coupler is positioned in the predetermined relationship with the moving element on the track such that the coupler strips the moving element off the track.