A feeder bowl and preparation system for packaging stick-like objects including a feeder bowl, vee shaped spacing conveyor, and a collator mechanism which permits a robotic pick-up station sufficient time to pick and place the stick-like object. The system simplifies programming the transfer of the objects by presenting a desired amount of product for a specific picker and allowing time to pick and place the object, the system eliminates a feed rate by a robotic process in the system, the system allows for essentially higher feed rate overall due to an oriented pick-up area presentation, and the system provides a sanitary design compatible with a transfer of food products in a food industry.

The present invention relates to an assembly for transporting and separating live poultry birds, in particular chicks. According to the invention, this assembly comprises: a first conveyor (10) for conveying the poultry birds, a carousel (12) comprising a rotating platform (14), said carousel (12) being configured to ensure, during the rotation of this platform (14), a spatial separation of the poultry birds introduced at the entry thereof so as to place them in a single file, an ejector (18) for ejecting the poultry birds thus separated from the carousel (12) and aligning them towards a discharge conveyor (19).

An article feeder assembly having a pocketed separator and a discharge tube configured to deliver articles to the pocketed separator. Some embodiments include an initial feeder assembly in overlying relation with a track extending from the initial feeder assembly to the discharge tube. Articles are oriented in end-to-end orientation in the initial feeder assembly and delivered to the pocketed separator in vertical end-to-end orientation. As pocketed separator rotates with respect to discharge tube, vertical retention members pass through a tunnel in the discharge tube and rotate articles out of the discharge tube. The discharged articles are secured in pockets delineated by the retention members. Some embodiments use one or more cam mechanisms to properly orient the discharged articles as the pocketed separator rotates. Properly oriented articles are then delivered to an advancing mechanism, such as a conveyor system.

Compact orienting and transferring device for unitary elongated food products (1) comprising a circular conveyor (10) surrounded by a limitative wall (11) with an extraction opening (12); an extractor device including an extraction path (31, 32, 33) defined on a first conveyor (21) and with an intake end connected to the extraction opening (12), and a circular wheel (40) including a circular groove (50) on the wheel periphery, the first conveyor (21) being a conveyor belt wider than the circular groove entrance (53), a circular portion of the first conveyor (21) being directly supported on the wheel periphery covering the circular groove entrance (53) on a portion of that wheel periphery, defining a circular portion (32) of the extraction path (31, 32, 33) within the circular groove (50).

A machine for orienting and aligning items supplied in bulk, comprising a first conveyor (10) having a feeder section (11), a collection section (12) and a return section (13); a second conveyor (20); a detection system (30); and a plurality of transfer robots (40) for transferring items from the first conveyor onto the second conveyor, modifying the orientation thereof, where the feeder section is supplied with objects by a feeder device for items in bulk, including a circular centrifugal disc (50) that rotates around an inclined axis (E), with an upper peripheral area (51) adjacent to and substantially at the same level as the feeder section (11), and where the return section (13) is adjacent to the receptacle (50, 53) of the feeder of items in bulk.

Objects in a stream in a duct are singulated and oriented by rotating at least some so that the orientations of all aligned. In one arrangement a slot is provided in the singulation duct into which the shank falls while the head remains in the singulation duct. In another arrangement there is provided a buffering device and a transfer member for transferring the singulated oriented objects from the buffering device to an operating location. In another arrangement a first path changes the orientation of relative to the second path. The objects can be fed from a singulation duct to a supply duct having an exit mouth lying on a rotation axis of the singulation duct.

An aligning and conveying apparatus includes a rotating disk having a bottom wall, a first ring having a first circumferential wall, a second ring having a second circumferential wall. First and second conveying parts are respectively provided in upper parts of the first and second circumferential walls. In the rotating disk and the first ring, the bottom wall is positioned lower than the first conveying part to form a retaining space for retaining preparations inside the first ring. The respective rotational axes are relatively inclined such that the preparations move from the bottom wall to the first conveying part at a first delivery position. In the first and second rings, the first conveying part is positioned lower than the second conveying part, and the respective rotational axes are relatively inclined such that the preparations move from the first conveying part to the second conveying part at a second delivery position.

Objects in a stream in a duct are singulated and oriented by rotating at least some so that the orientations of all aligned. In one arrangement a slot is provided in the singulation duct into which the shank falls while the head remains in the singulation duct. In another arrangement there is provided a buffering device and a transfer member for transferring the singulated oriented objects from the buffering device to an operating location. In another arrangement a first path changes the orientation of relative to the second path. The objects can be fed from a singulation duct to a supply duct having an exit mouth lying on a rotation axis of the singulation duct.

An article feeder assembly having a pocketed separator and a discharge tube configured to deliver articles to the pocketed separator. Some embodiments include an initial feeder assembly in overlying relation with a track extending from the initial feeder assembly to the discharge tube. Articles are oriented in end-to-end orientation in the initial feeder assembly and delivered to the pocketed separator in vertical end-to-end orientation. As pocketed separator rotates with respect to discharge tube, vertical retention members pass through a tunnel in the discharge tube and rotate articles out of the discharge tube. The discharged articles are secured in pockets delineated by the retention members. Some embodiments use one or more cam mechanisms to properly orient the discharged articles as the pocketed separator rotates. Properly oriented articles are then delivered to an advancing mechanism, such as a conveyor system.

Disclosed is a method for unblocking the movement of hollow bodies travelling in a line in a conveyor, including: a guiding chute in which each hollow body is intended to take up a freely suspended position; a component for continuously driving hollow bodies into the chute in a direction of movement; a hollow body being likely to take up a position in which it is stuck against a stationary surface of a member that complements the chute and thus to block the movement of the hollow bodies that build up behind same. The method includes an unblocking step which consists of applying an unblocking pulse to the hollow bodies of the blocked line against the direction of movement in order to move the blocking hollow body away from the stationary surface and to allow the blocking hollow body to swivel into the freely suspended position thereof in the chute.