Can liner system and re-stacker assembly therefor

A re-stacker assembly comprising:

• an offloading assembly having a receiving portion structured to receive a plurality of individually unstacked container closures and a hopper having an opening;
• a loading device coupled to the offloading assembly and structured to direct said container closures through the opening in an incremented manner to be stacked within the hopper;
• and
• a motion control system structured to detect motion of said container closures and in response to detecting said motion, to drive the loading device at a rate based on the detected motion such that a time for the loading device to direct one container closure and then be repositioned to receive a next container closure is less than or equal to a time it takes for the next container closure to arrive at the receiving portion of the offloading assembly,
• wherein the loading device is a kicker wheel including a number of projections including a first projection and a second projection, and wherein the projections are structured to direct said container closures through the opening,
• wherein the motion control system is structured to control a rate of rotation of the kicker wheel such that after the first projection directs one container closure through the opening the kicker wheel is rotated and is in position to direct a next container closure through the opening with the second projection before the next container closure arrives at the kicker wheel.

A can liner system comprising:

• a liner machine for lining a plurality of container closures;
• a conveyor system for conveying said plurality of container closures in an individually unstacked orientation from the liner;
• and
• a re-stacker assembly comprising:
• an offloading assembly disposed adjacent the conveyor system and including a receiving portion structured to receive said individually unstacked container closures from the conveyor system and a hopper having an opening,
• a loading device coupled to the offloading assembly and structured to direct said container closures through the opening in an incremented manner to be stacked within the hopper;
• and
• a motion control system structured to detect motion of said container closures and in response to detecting said motion, to drive the loading device at a rate based on the detected motion such that a time for the loading device to direct one container closure and then be repositioned to receive a next container closure is less than or equal to a time it takes for the next container closure to arrive at the receiving portion of the offloading assembly.