Conveyor clamping guide

Abstract

A clamping guide including clamps, a clamp actuator and alignment guides where the alignment guides are coupled to and actuated with the clamps. In the preferred embodiment, a pair of clamps and alignment guides are positioned on opposite sides of a power conveyor so that a procession of product, such as blocks, passes between the clamps and between the alignment guides. Each alignment guide is coupled to a corresponding clamp with a linkage. The linkage is configured so that as the clamps close against a portion of the procession on the conveyor, the alignment guides engage another portion of the procession upstream from the clamps to align product between the guides. In another preferred embodiment, the linkage couples the alignment guides to the clamps so that when the clamps are partially or fully withdrawn from the procession, the alignment guides are closer to the procession than the clamps, thereby preventing product from contacting and twisting on edges of the clamps.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.