| 摘要 |
Open containers having uniform dimensions are handled in a group for loading of ballast and/or for filling with container contents prior to sealing. The containers are provided upright on a substantially unobstructed surface and are forced into a substantially contiguous array by inward pressure on the array in at least one direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the containers. Compressing the array of containers in this manner moves the containers into immediately contiguous regular positions in a resulting container array, which is aligned in registry with dispensing orifices. One or more movable sweep arms which may cooperate with fixed walls laterally bounding the conveying surface are used to compress the array. The sweep arms and the fixed walls are scalloped to form receptacles defining a closest possible positioning of the peripheral containers, which during compression cause adjacent inward containers to become correctly positioned. Nozzles coupled to a material dispenser (e.g., for ballast water when running lightweight PET containers) are aligned to the resulting array and are opened momentarily or selectively to discharge into the containers.
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