A container conveyor system includes a first endless conveyor and a second endless conveyor. The first endless conveyor is provided with a plurality of neck grippers that holds the neck of a capped container and conveys the container held by the neck gripper by moving the neck gripper. The second endless conveyor is provided with a plurality of vertical grippers that comprises an upper grip member, which is liftable and abuts against the top of the cap of the container, and a support plate that supports the base of the container. The second endless conveyor conveys the container held by the upper grip member and the support plate by moving the vertical gripper. The container conveyor system conveys the container by transferring the container between the neck gripper and the vertical gripper.

A handling device includes a support element, a support plate fixed to the support element, a drive shaft, a rotation plate hinged to the drive shaft and an elastic return element. Clamps connect to the rotation plate and include first and second jaws, each having a handling portion and a drive portion. A conduction wheel connects to the drive portion of the first jaw. The second jaw drive portion has a slot with a pressure surface. The second jaw drive portion connects to the first jaw drive portion. A cam profile at a peripheral area of the support plate provides for opening. The first jaw opens when the conduction wheel rotates on the cam profile. A wheel mounts onto the first jaw drive portion inserts inside the slot. The second jaw opening couples to the first jaw opening by the wheel, which acts on the pressure surface.

The present invention provides a bottle conveyor for a filling machine, comprising multiple pairs of bottle-gripping members and a circulating chain conveyor mechanism, and a pair of bottle-gripping members is mounted, via an open-close modular mechanism, to a convey chain of the circulating chain conveyor mechanism. The open-close modular mechanism is provided with a rotary support capable of being opened as a V-shape, a synchronization mechanism configured to define the opened V-shape, an elastic mechanism configured to provide a bottle-gripping force to the bottle-gripping member and a self-restoring force for the opened V-shape, and an external force import mechanism. A mechanism configured to open the bottle-gripping members is provided respectively at a bottle entrance location and a bottle exit location of the bottle conveyor, and the mechanism configured to open the bottle-gripping members cooperates with the external force import mechanism to provide an external force. The bottle conveyor can rapidly open or close the bottle-gripping members on the circulating chain conveyor mechanism directly, thus improving the conveyance efficiency and speed, alleviating loading of a motor, and simplifying the structure of a robotic arm and the structure for opening or closing the bottle-gripping members in the filling machine.

A transport system for the transport of containers in a container treatment facility includes a transport track with at least one long stator of a linear motor and multiple transport elements for transporting one or multiple containers. The transport elements are arranged movably on the transport track and formed to be guided along the transport track through magnetic interaction with the at least one long stator. The front and back sides of the transport elements are formed to driven into one another at least in pairs and to have a minimal attainable transport spacing that is smaller than the longitudinal extension of the transport elements.

A gripper assembly for gripping a portion of a container may include a spindle configured to rotate about a vertical axis. The assembly may also include an actuating plate disposed on or about the spindle. The actuating plate may be configured to actuate toward a central shaft in response to a force applied to a first cam follower. The assembly may also include a gripper configured to at least one of open and close in response to the actuating plate being actuated toward the central shaft and a locking cam configured to contact the first cam follower and in at least one position to limit movement of the actuating plate toward the central shaft.

An active clamping device for holding a container in a container treatment device, for example for holding a beverage container by a neck section, includes two clamping arms and a pre-tensioning element. Each clamping arm has a holding section for holding the container that is to be held, and a control section for interacting with a control cam to actively displace each holding section. The pre-tensioning element pre-tensions the holding sections in a predetermined position. The clamping arms and the pre-tensioning element are formed as a single piece. A clamping arm and a container treatment device are also provided.

A device for transporting containers in a beverage filling plant is provided. The device has at least one first clamp, which can be pivoted between an open switching position and a closed switching position and is disposed in a pivoting plane, for holding a container of a first container size, and one second clamp, which can be pivoted between an open switching position and a closed switching position and is disposed in the pivoting plane, for holding a container of a second container size. A first control cam is provided for controlling the switching position of the first clamp and a second control cam is provided for controlling the switching position of the second clamp. The first control cam is disposed in a first control plane parallel to the pivoting plane, and the second control cam is disposed in a second control plane parallel to the pivoting plane. The first control plane and the second control plane are spaced apart from each other.

A container clamping and holding arrangement for moving containers, such as bottles, cans, and similar containers, for holding products, such as beverages. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. 1.72(b). As stated in C.F.R. 1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading Abstract of the Disclosure. The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

An apparatus for printing on containers includes a transport arm and a lift that cooperate to form a first container-transport device that moves a container at a container-loading position into a printing position. The transport arm is arranged on the lift and pivotable about a pivot axis thereof. The lift is axially displaceable and displaces the transport arm axially in relation to the pivot axis. At the printing position, a print head prints on the container.

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.