Gripper for beverage cans, gripper head, and method for receiving at least one beverage can

The gripper of claim 18, wherein the at least one tappet (3) interacts with the at least one gripping device (6) wherein the form-fitting grip of the at least one gripping device (6) te-can be undone by the linear actuating movement of the at least one tappet (3), or wherein the at least one tappet (3) interacts with the at least one gripping device (6) such that the at least one gripping device (6) is capable of applying a clamping force by the linear actuating movement of the at least one tappet (3).

The gripper of claim 18, wherein the common tappet (3) interacts with a plurality of gripping devices (6) where the form-fitting grip of the plurality of gripping devices (6) can be undone by the linear actuating movement of the common tappet (3), or wherein the common tappet (3) interacts with that the plurality of gripping devices (6) such that the plurality of gripping devices (6) are capable of applying a clamping force by the linear actuating movement of the common tappet (3).

The gripper of claim 18, wherein the at least one tappet (3) or the common tappet (3) comprises a thread (22), which communicates with a corresponding mating thread (24) such that the at least one tappet (3) or the common tappet (3) performs the linear actuating movement by a rotary movement about its longitudinal axis, or in wherein

• the at least one tappet (3) or the common tappet (3) is pneumatically controllable to perform the linear actuating movement.

The gripper of claim 18, further comprising at least one return spring (55), wherein the at least one return spring (55):

• is capable of applying spring force to the tappet (3) or the common tappet (3) in order to return it into a starting position after performing the linear actuating movement, or wherein
• is capable of pressing the at least one gripping device (6) against the particular beverage can (20).

A gripper head (10) for a plurality of beverage cans (20) comprising:

• at least two grippers (1), wherein each of the at least two grippers (1):
• (a) grips a single beverage can (20) from a plurality of beverage cans (20), and (b) comprises at least one centering device (30) that comes into surface contact with at least one defined region of an outer body surface of a particular beverage at least one defined region is offset along the circumference of the particular beverage can (20) relative to at least one contact region a beverage can (20) with a contiguous at least one other beverage can (20).

A method (100) used to receive at least one beverage can (20) by at least one gripper (1), comprising:

• aligning at least one beverage can (20) with at least one centering device (30), which is part of the at least one gripper (1);
• and
• gripping, with at least one gripping device (6), which is a part of the at least one gripper (1), a particular beverage can (20) from underneath the top seam (5) in a form-fitting manner in the region of a top seam (5) of the particular beverage can (20).

The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one gripper (1) further comprises at least one tappet (3), wherein, when the at least one tappet (3) performs the linear actuating movement, (a) the form-fitting grip by the at least one gripping device (6) is undone, or (b) a clamping force applied onto a particular beverage can (20) by the at least one gripping device (6) is undone.

The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one gripper (1) each has a plurality of gripping device (6) and a common tappet (3), wherein, when the common tappet (3) performs the linear actuating movement, (a) the form-fitting grips by the plurality of gripping devices (6) are undone simultaneously or at least approximately simultaneously, or (b) the clamping forces applied onto the beverage cans (20) by the plurality of gripping devices (6) are undone simultaneously or at least approximately simultaneously.

The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one tappet (3) forms a thread (22), which communicates with a corresponding mating thread (24) of the at least one gripper (1), and wherein the at least one tappet (3) is rotated about its longitudinal axis to perform the linear actuating movement, or wherein

• the at least one tappet (3) is pneumatically controlled to perform the linear actuating movement.

The method of 11, wherein the at least one gripper (1) further comprises at least one torsion spring (17), in contact with each of the at least one gripping devices (6),wherein the at least one gripping devices (6) closes under the top seam (5) of a particular beverage can (20), and wherein the form-fitting grip of the at least one gripping device (6) is undone by a spring-elastic movement of the at least one gripping device (6) against the at least one torsion spring (17).