Method and device for raising, stabilizing and further moving a bottle

Abstract

A device for use with conveyor means and a detector station, said conveyor means for moving empty beverage containers, suitably bottles of different shapes and sizes, past the detector station, and said detector station for providing characteristic data about the containers, and means which based on such data are capable of determining how the containers are to be handled subsequent to detection. At a downstream end of said conveyor there is located a bottle raiser capable of guiding transported bottles into a standing rest position bottom first, said raiser including a bottle stabiliser which on basis of said bottle data is held by means of a motor in a first position in contact freedom with a bottle as a function of data regarding the bottle, such as at least one of its diameter, height and weight, so that the bottle is freely guidable down towards said rest position, said stabiliser then movable to a second position for in a stabilizing step bearing against a portion of the bottle and for pushing the bottle against a stationary back wall, and releasing said bottle from the stabilizing step for onward movement on a further conveyor. There is further disclosed a method for moving the bottle to a standing rest position, stabilizing and pushing out the bottle for further conveyance.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.