Rotary Conveyor with Suction and Change of Pitch for Transferring Containers

A rotary conveyor with suction and change of pitch for transferring containers, comprising:

• a rotary platform (1) rotating about a rotation axis (E);
• a plurality of guiding elements (2) fixed to said rotary platform (1);
• a plurality of grooves (3) formed in the rotary platform (1), each in a position parallel to one of said guiding elements (2), where the guiding elements (2) and said grooves (3) are uniformly distributed around said rotation axis (E) and extend from a peripheral region to a central region of the rotary platform (1);
• a stationary closed-loop cam (4) located below the rotary platform (1), said closed-loop cam (4) defining a path not centered with respect to the rotation axis (E);
• a plurality of runners (5), each being slidingly coupled to one of said guiding elements (2);
• a cam follower (6) assembled on each runner (5), said cam follower (6) being inserted through one of said grooves (3) and coupled to the closed-loop cam (4), whereby each runner (5) performs a back and forth movement along the corresponding guiding element (2) during one rotation of the rotary platform (1);
• and
• a plurality of retaining elements (7), each fixed to one of said runners (5) and provided with a suction port (8) suitable for retaining a container (M), each suction port (8) being in communication with a suction chamber (10) along a portion of each rotation of the rotary platform (1);
• characterized in that:
• said suction chamber (10) is supported in a stationary position above the rotary platform (1) and has a perforated side wall (11) parallel and adjacent to a portion of said path not centered with respect to the rotation axis (E) defined by the closed-loop cam (4), air being suctioned from the outside into the suction chamber (10) through said perforated side wall (11);
• and
• each of the retaining elements (7) has a suction outlet (9) in communication with the suction port (8), said suction outlet (9) moving in a path facing and adjacent to the perforated side wall (11) of the suction chamber (10) during a part of each rotation of the rotary platform (1).