Transfer star-wheel (1) of containers (100) made of thermoplastic material provided with concave closures (200), comprising: a rotary carousel (2) having a plurality of supporting stations (3) for supporting the containers (100), each supporting station (3) comprising a pocket (4) at the external circumference of the rotary carousel (2) for receiving and supporting the neck (100b) of one of the containers (100), characterized in that each supporting station (3) comprises a striking element (5) located above the corresponding pocket (4), said striking element (5) being configurable in an operative position in which it is in contact with the concave closure (200) of the container (100) supported in the corresponding pocket (4), and a neutral position in which it is spaced from the concave closure (200).

A method for converting a first container stream into a second container stream that has a different width from said first container stream includes moving a container from the first container stream to a first transfer position, at the first transfer position, using a container holder of a conversion section to grip the container, to move it along a third transport direction until it arrives at a selected one of a several second transfer positions, and to then release it onto the second transport section, thereby enabling the container to join the second container stream. The second transfer positions are offset relative to each other in a direction along the second width.

Device and a corresponding method for orienting containers having a noncircular cross-section, in particular bottles, which are transported along a transport path by way of neck handling, the device including at least one rotary device arranged along the transport path, the rotary device being stationary and including one or more stationary resilient rotary elements which are suitable for orienting a container in a specified direction.

A container-treatment machine having plural treatment stations for treating containers includes a transport element that rotates about a vertical machine axis, thereby moving the treatment stations circumferentially. A first transfer star supplies untreated containers simultaneously to corresponding treatment stations that are next to each other in the circumferential direction. A second transfer star removes treated containers simultaneously from corresponding treatment stations.

An apparatus for receiving, from a wide container stream upstream from the apparatus, single-lane container streams and creating package units of containers includes a separating and/or combining unit, application elements, and a linear transporter. The unit separates and/or combines containers to form partial packaged units that are then combined into a package unit. The application elements are disposed so that at least one container of a package unit has, on a contact surface thereof, adhesive or glue. The linear transporter comprises transport elements circulate along a guide element, and a controllable drive. Each transport element of the linear transporter comprises as many head guides as there are containers in the package unit, each of which is axially movable or rotatable relative to the transport element.

A method for transporting articles (2) to a station, in particular preforms to a blow-molding apparatus, wherein each article has a protrusion (10) and is moved along a guide (16) by a drive means (18), the article (2), along at least part of the guide (16), should be retained on an abutment (19, 21, 23), and advanced along this abutment, by an air stream.

The invention relates to a device and a method for transporting and handling containers, in particular containers made of a thermoplastic material. The, containers are transported from an inlet point (41) to an outlet point (30) in a transport direction by the transport device, The transport device has at least one handling device (26) which moves in the transport direction for handling one or more of the containers in a simultaneous manner in particular, and the handling device (26) is arranged in a movable manner relative to the transport device in order to move in a direction which deviates from the transport direction. The invention is characterized in that the transport device has at least one motor (32, 34, 37), by means of which the at least one handling device (26) can be moved in a motor-driven manner in the direction which deviates from the transport direction.

A primary container handling system comprising a transportation unit transporting at least one container handling unit (108) mounted on at least one independently motion controlled mover or levitating tile (106), said container handling unit being configured to provide 3-dimensional translation and/or rotation of an individual primary container.

The present invention relates to a compact bottle processing device comprising: an automatic bottle conveyor unit for moving a plurality of bottles along a closed circuit, a gripping area enabling an operator to place a bottle from the plurality of bottles on the conveyor unit and/or to pick up a bottle from the plurality of bottles on the conveyor unit, a bottle cleaning station, a bottle filling station, a bottle encapsulation station,
each of these stations being arranged along the closed circuit, so that a bottle passes successively through the cleaning station, the filling station and the encapsulation station as it is moved by the conveyor unit, wherein a length of the closed circuit is less than or equal to 20 m, preferably less than 15 m.

The invention also relates to a method of processing bottles using the device described above.

Brush systems for transferring preforms along a rail include a cam including a follow extending from the cam, and a bracket positioned adjacent the cam. The bracket includes a slot for receiving the follow of the cam. The brush system also includes a brush assembly coupled to the bracket. The brush assembly includes a yoke positioned adjacent to and operably connected to the cam, a brush holder coupled to the yoke, opposite the cam, and a plurality of brushes positioned within the brush holder. Additionally, the brush system includes a motor coupled to and configured to rotate the cam. Rotation of the cam causes the bracket and the brush assembly to move in a first direction, and the brush holder and the plurality of brushes of the brush assembly to move in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction.