Apparatus for transferring glass articles from an is to a high speed transfer conveyor

Abstract

A pusher mechanism of an IS transfers a plurality of glass bottles onto a conveyor belt by rotating the bottles through an arc to align the bottles with the conveyor belt while simultaneously linearly moving the bottles at a converging acute angle toward the conveyor belt. The combined rotational and linear movements effectively lengthen the radius of curvature of the path of the bottles and increases the speed of the bottles onto the conveyor belt. The centrifugal force applied to the bottles is limited or reduced to allow the bottles to be more quickly moved onto the conveyor belt without introducing instabilities in the bottles. Other horizontal and vertical movements may be applied. A nozzle may be positioned to deliver a flow of air against the bottles to counteract instabilities. A take-out mechanism used with the pusher mechanism rotates the bottles at an acute angle to the conveyor belt. This initial acute angle reduces the amount of rotation which the pusher mechanism must impart when placing the bottles on the conveyor, thus reducing the possibility of introducing instabilities.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.