# US 9,434,548 B2 · Installation for processing articles, the installation including a screw transfer device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,434,548 B2 - Document ID: US9434548B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/967,615 - Filed: 2013-08-15 - Published: 2014-02-20 - Granted: 2016-09-06 - Earliest claimed: 2012-08-16 - Assignees: Serac Group - Applicants: Serac group - Inventors: Jacky Brunee - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9434548B2 ## CPC - B65G 19/02: for articles, e.g. for containers - B65G 35/08: comprising trains of unconnected load-carriers, e.g. belt sections, movable in a path, e.g. a closed path, adapted to contact each other and to be propelled by means arranged to engage each load-carrier in turn - B65G 35/066: {the bar or the tube being provided with a helical or annular channel} - B65G 47/908: {with inflatable picking-up means (inflatable gripping members on load engaging elements for cranes B66C1/46)} - B65G 2201/0247: Suspended bottles - B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D) ## Abstract An installation for processing articles, the installation comprising an article-transfer device extending between two processing stations, the transfer device comprising a rail having at least one rectilinear segment and defining a closed travel path for carriages that are mounted on the rail to move freely therealong, each of which is provided with means for driving at least one article, the transfer device comprising a screw extending along the rectilinear segment of the rail and having a thread that co-operates with fingers secured to the carriages in order to drive the carriages along the rectilinear segment. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An installation for processing articles, the installation comprising: a first processing station; a second processing station; and an article-transfer device extending between the two processing stations, the transfer device comprising: a rail having at least one rectilinear segment and defining a closed travel path for carriages that are mounted on the rail to move freely therealong, each of which is provided with means for driving at least one article; and a screw extending along the rectilinear segment of the rail and having a thread that co-operates with fingers secured to the carriages in order to drive the carriages along the rectilinear segment, the carriages being in contact with one another and maintaining the articles mutually spaced relative to one another at a first spacing when they are not co-operating with the screw, and the thread of the screw is arranged to hold the carriages at at least one second spacing that is greater than the first spacing in such a manner that, when the carriages are no longer in engagement with the screw, the carriages are in contact with one another and push against one another under effect of movement imparted by the screw to each of the carriages leaving the screw and coming into contact with each other. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) An installation according to claim 1, wherein the screw has a pitch that varies from the first spacing to a second spacing and then back to the first spacing. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) An installation according to claim 1, wherein the carriage comprises a body having a vertical spindle mounted thereon with a bottom end that is provided with an article-gripper member. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) An installation according to claim 3, wherein the spindle is mounted on the body to pivot about the vertical and possesses a toothed portion meshing with a linear gear running along the rail in order to drive the spindle in rotation during movement of the carriage. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) An installation according to claim 4, wherein the gear is a cog belt. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) An installation according to claim 3, wherein the spindle is mounted on the body to slide between the article-gripping position and an article-release position, and the spindle possesses a portion co-operating with a stationary cam path in order to move the spindles between their two positions. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) An installation according to claim 6, wherein the spindle slides in a vertical direction. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) An installation according to claim 1, including a stationary article support member that extends substantially along the rail, each carriage comprising a body provided with a laterally projecting finger arranged to push articles along the stationary support member. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) An installation according to claim 1, having a first intermediate transfer unit mounted tangentially between the first processing station and the transfer device and a second intermediate transfer unit mounted tangentially between the second processing station and the transfer device, the transfer unit being arranged to move the articles while maintaining respective spacings that correspond to the first spacing and to the second spacing of the transfer device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) An installation according to claim 9, wherein the first processing station is arranged to process the articles in succession, the first transfer unit is a star, the second processing station is arranged to process the articles in batches, and the second transfer unit is a comb arranged to move a plurality of articles simultaneously and movable along a rectangular travel path having one side that is tangential to the transfer device. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) An installation according to claim 10, wherein the comb extends facing the screw and is arranged to maintain the articles at a relative spacing corresponding to the second spacing, and the star is arranged to maintain the articles at a relative spacing corresponding to the first spacing. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) An installation according to claim 11, wherein the articles are hollow articles, the first processing station is an article heater tunnel arranged upstream in the travel direction of the articles, and the second processing station, arranged downstream, is a machine for blowing articles, which machine is arranged to convert them into containers. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) An installation according to claim 10, wherein the star extends facing the screw and is arranged to maintain the articles at a relative spacing corresponding to the second spacing, and the comb is arranged to maintain the articles at a relative spacing corresponding to the first spacing. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) An installation according to claim 13, wherein the articles are hollow articles, the first processing station is an article blowing machine that is arranged to convert them into containers and that is arranged upstream relative to the travel direction of the articles, and the second processing station is arranged downstream and is an article-filler machine. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) An installation according to claim 13, wherein the screw has both a segment providing the first spacing and a segment providing the second spacing, and the star and the comb are each arranged facing one of the segments of the screw. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) An installation according to claim 1, wherein the articles are hollow articles, the first processing station is an article heater tunnel arranged upstream in the travel direction of the articles, and the second processing station, arranged downstream, is a machine for blowing articles, which machine is arranged to convert them into containers. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) An installation according to claim 1, wherein the articles are hollow articles, the first processing station is an article blowing machine that is arranged to convert them into containers and that is arranged upstream relative to the travel direction of the articles, and the second processing station is arranged downstream and is an article-filler machine.