摘要 |
<p>An air conveyor system conveying a stream of bottles comprises one input air conveyor (10), two output air conveyors (12, 14), and a laterally slidable diverter (16) to selectively connect the input conveyor (10) to one of the output conveyors (12, 14). Each conveyor (10, 12, 14) comprises a pair of flanges (54, 56) coated with a polymeric surface for slidably supporting the neck rings of the bottles, and a plurality of nozzles spaced along the flanges. Each nozzle has a first opening (38, 40) below the respective flange for directing a jet of conveying air against the bottles and a second vacuum opening (50, 52) above the respective flange for drawing air above the bottles to further reduce the sliding friction. The input conveyor (10) includes two pairs of variable-speed belt conveyors (106, 108; 118, 120) at the end thereof to produce a desired spacing of the bottles downstream therefrom. The belts (108, 118) are adjustable horizontally for different shaped bottles by being positionable about different sized, vertically spaced pulleys (106, 120).</p> |