Trailing end air hold-up assembly

摘要

An article hold-up assembly for use with an article handling apparatus to maintain at least one article defining a trailing end of a group of articles in an abutting orientation with a group as the group is moved by a conveyor along an elongated lane. The article handling apparatus includes an elongated lane defining an axis of elongation for merging a finite series of articles defining a group of articles with a generally continuous series of articles defining an outfeed stream of articles. The article handling apparatus includes a conveyor for moving articles through at least a portion of the lane. The article hold-up assembly includes an air supply device, a plenum chamber communicating with the air supply device, and a plurality of apertures in the plenum chamber. The air supply device provides positive air flow into the plenum chamber. The plenum chamber and the apertures therein are positioned spaced away from the axis of elongation. The air flowing from the air supply device to the plenum chamber and through the apertures creates a directional air flow against a trailing end article of the group of articles. The directional air flow maintains at least one article which defines the trailing end of the group of articles in an abutting orientation with the group of articles as the group of articles is moved by the conveyor along the elongated lane.