Product orienter and loader

摘要

A product orienting and loading system includes a powered disk conveyor which receives product to be oriented from an infeed conveyor. A turntable is parallel to the support plane of the disk conveyor and is movable between a lowered position below the support plane and a raised position above the support plane and accommodating rotation of the turntable to orient the product. The turntable has cruciform slots for respectively receiving the disks to allow the turntable to pass to its lowered position in any of several rotational orientations spaced 90 DEG apart. The reoriented product is transferred to an endless window conveyor overlying a container supported at a loading level of a loading station. A counter-rotating pusher shifts the product through the window of the window conveyor into the container while the window conveyor moves the container in a discharge direction. Empty containers are delivered to the loading station at a delivery level from which a first elevator lifts them to a standby level and then to an access level, from which they are picked up by a second elevator and carried to the loading level.