METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING OF ITEMS DELIVERED FROM PARALLEL LINES AND TO BE GROUPED AS PORTIONS OF DIFFERENT ITEMS

摘要

In order to transfer articles such as edible ice products of different characters delivered from several parallel production or packing lines into packable groups of such articles it is known to convey the articles on respective accumultion conveyors and to collectively transfer the items from the respective end positions on these conveyors to a common conveyor system for bringing each set of articles thus transferred to be fed to a cartonizer line. According to the invention it is advantageous to use but a single accumulation conveyor, to which the articles are supplied in respective feeding stations arranged longitudinally interspaced along a rear feeding stretch of the conveyor, and to control the article supply in such a manner that each set of different articles is built up serially at a delivery end of the conveyor. The said collective article transfer may then be effected set by set in order to isolate successive groups of articles for cartonizing.