Apparatus and method to neutralize static electricity present on the surface of containers and/or container-holding trays

Method to neutralize static electricity present on the surface of containers and/or nests, in which said containers are disposed, comprising the following steps:

• preparing an ordered group of containers, each container of said ordered group of containers having a body which develops along a main axis of longitudinal extension of the container;
• preparing a nest having a plurality of seatings, disposed according to an ordered matrix, each seating being configured to house, resting on it, a respective container of said ordered group of containers, and developing along an axis of symmetry substantially vertical and parallel to, or coincident with, said main axis of the container housed in said seating, said axes of symmetry of said plurality of seatings being reciprocally parallel;
• preparing an extraction member configured to engage and move at least one part of said ordered group of containers housed in said nest;
• preparing at least one ionizing device configured to be relatively mobile with respect to the containers and/or with respect to the nest;
• extracting at least one part of said group of containers from respective seatings of said nest occupied by said containers resting on them, moving said extraction member with a relative lifting movement with respect to the nest so as to at least partly extract from the respective seatings of said nest said at least one part of said ordered group of containers;
• reaching a raised condition in which said at least one part of said ordered group of containers extracted from the respective seatings is maintained stationary in a position such as to leave the respective seatings of the nest previously occupied by the containers extracted at least partly free;
• neutralizing static electricity present on the surface of the containers in said raised condition and/or of the nest, by means of said at least one ionizing device by operating a relative motion of the ionizing device with respect to the containers extracted and/or with respect to the nest, while said at least one part of said ordered group of containers extracted is in said raised condition and said nest has the seatings left at least partly free by the respective containers extracted, along a path that develops in the proximity of the containers in a raised condition and/or in the proximity of said nest, so as to ionize the surrounding space and neutralize static electricity present on the surface of the containers in the raised condition and of the nest having the seatings left at least partly free by the respective containers extracted;
• said method being characterized in that said extraction member is provided with a plurality of inter-spaced arms, parallel to each other and defining at least one gripping loop, said at least one gripping loop being configured to house the containers, and in that before said extracting step it comprises a step of engaging said at least one part of said containers by moving said extraction member with relative movement toward the nest laterally aligning said at least one gripping loop with at least one respective row of said ordered matrix of seatings and moving said at least one gripping loop in a direction of engagement transverse with respect to said axes of symmetry of said seatings, so as to house and hold said at least one part of said ordered group of containers in respective gripping loops in order to then carry out the step of extracting said at least one part of said ordered group of containers housed and held in said at least one gripping loop.