Transport route and method for the pushed transport of articles

Abstract

A transport path (10) and a method for the pushed transport of a plurality of similar articles (12) are disclosed. The transport path (10) comprises a horizontal support plane (24) provided for multi-row transport of the articles (12) and a pushing device (26) movable in a transport direction (14) of the articles (12) for rearward contact with the articles (12) and for generating a feed movement acting on the articles (12) in the transport direction (14). The transport path (10) is assigned a pulse introduction device (44) for introducing mechanical pulses at least into partial areas of the horizontal support plane (24) and / or into the pushing device (26). In the method, a movable push bar (28) resting on the back of the articles (12) and pushing them in a transport direction (14) brings the articles (12) conveyed in multiple rows on the transport path (10) into a hexagonal arrangement (38) with respect to one another.

Description

The present invention relates to a transport section and a method for the shifted transport of a plurality of articles of the same type.When handling and packaging articles or containers, these are often combined into larger packaging units, which are also referred to as containers, formed by a smaller or larger number of mechanically held articles or containers. The container may be held together, for example, by shrink-film wrapping, by strapping, by cardboard packaging or the like.The relative arrangement of the articles or containers to one another can be characterized in this case by the term rectangular arrangement, in which the articles are arranged next to one another in regular rows and are combined and fixed in such a way. However, in order to produce articles or containers with sectionally cylindrical shapes, such as, for example. To combine beverage cans or beverage bottles in a manner which is as space-saving as possible and with the smallest possible relative mobility with respect to one another, it may be expedient to deviate from such a rectangular composite and, for example, to choose a hexagonal arrangement which can also be referred to as a nested arrangement or as a dense ball packing. In this case, the cylindrical articles or containers are each offset in rows with respect to one another in such a way that the gaps formed between the articles are as small as possible. Such a honeycomb or ball arrangement represents a composite of a given number of cylindrical articles with the smallest possible footprint.In order to achieve such an article arrangement, the articles can be displaced, for example, row by row in the transport direction, as is described, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,845 B1.A reliably operating device for producing such hexagonal arrangements of containers is also described in DE 10 2010 033 549 A1. In this case, the containers are conveyed along a transport path which reduces in width, wherein, by means of a profiled push bar which engages on the rear side of a container grouping, each second row of containers is displaced in the longitudinal direction or transport direction with respect to the respectively adjacent rows of containers. If the offset corresponds to half a container diameter and if the laterally compacted position of the containers with respect to one another is ensured in the required manner by means of the tapering transport path, the result achieved is the compacted hexagonal arrangement of the container grouping treated in this way.However, if the container shell surfaces can only slide against one another in a limited manner, for example due to increased static friction effects between the shell surfaces contacting one another, the described rearrangement of the containers can meet their limits.A primary object of the invention can be seen in the fact that even under difficult conditions, such as can occur, for example, at elevated static friction values between mutually contacting lateral surfaces of regrouping articles or containers, reliable regrouping of conveyed article groups into compacted arrangements is made possible. This as trouble-free rearrangement as possible is to be made possible along a transport path conveying the articles.This object of the invention is achieved with the subjects of the independent claims. Features of advantageous refinements of the invention can be gathered from the respective dependent claims.To achieve the stated aim, the present invention proposes a transport line for the pushed transport of a multiplicity of articles of the same type having the features of the independent claim. The transport section comprises a horizontal support plane provided for a multi-row transport of the articles and a pushing device movable above and approximately parallel to the horizontal support plane in a transport direction of the articles for rear-side contact with the articles and for generating a feed movement acting on the articles in the transport direction.The invention provides that a pulse introduction device for introducing mechanical pulses at least in partial regions of the horizontal support plane and / or into the pushing device is assigned to the transport section.The pushing device can in particular have a profiled push bar which can be placed against the pushed articles on the rear side, preferably a plurality of such push bars which respectively transport individual groups spaced apart from one another with respectively a defined number of articles in a pushing manner.Optionally, the profiling of such a push bar can have projections which are regularly spaced apart from one another over its direction of longitudinal extent for bearing against individual articles and recesses which are located between the projections.The pulse introduction device provided according to the invention can optionally be provided for introducing individual mechanical pulses at least in partial regions of the horizontal support plane and be equipped accordingly.It is likewise conceivable for the pulse introduction device to be provided for introducing individual mechanical pulses at least into the pushing device and to be equipped accordingly.Combinations are also conceivable and are useful in practice, i.e. pulse introduction both into the support plane and into the pushing device.In a further embodiment of the invention, it can also be provided that the pulse introduction device assigned to the transport section is provided and equipped accordingly for the introduction of repeated mechanical pulses and / or vibrations at least in partial regions of the horizontal support plane and / or into the pushing device.The pulse introduction device can comprise, for example, a driven rotating cam with a mechanical pulse transmitter, which can be coupled to the horizontal support plane and / or to the pushing device.It is likewise conceivable for the pulse introduction device to comprise an electromagnetically or electromotively operated linear drive which interacts with an oscillatingly movable pulse transmitter which is coupled to the horizontal support plane and / or to the pushing device.In the transport section according to the invention, provision can preferably be made for guide strips to be provided on each of their two longitudinal sides, the distance between which strips is reduced in the transport direction of the articles. Such rail guides on both sides can form a transporter which narrows in transport directions and which can be used in combination with introduced mechanical pulses for compacting the articles and for producing a nestling pack formation, i.e. a hexagonal arrangement of the conveyed groups.If, from the perspective of the person skilled in the art addressed, it is possible to combine meaningfully with one another, some or all of these aforementioned variations or variant embodiments of the transport section according to the invention can optionally also be combined with one another in order to achieve the object formulated above at least partially and / or in order to achieve the desired effect of the invention.To achieve the above-mentioned aim, the invention proposes, in addition to the transport path according to the invention explained in different embodiments, a method for the pushed conveyance of a plurality of articles of the same type along a horizontal transport path by means of at least one movable pusher bar which bears on the rear side of the articles and pushes the same in a transport direction and has the features of the independent method claim. The push bar, which can be profiled or non-profiled, for example, ensures that the articles conveyed in multiple rows on the transport section are brought into a hexagonal arrangement with respect to one another. According to the invention, it is provided that at least individual mechanical pulses can be introduced into a support plane of the transport section and / or into the push bar.In the method, it can furthermore be provided that repeated mechanical pulses and / or vibrations are introduced into the support plane of the transport section and / or into the push bar.In this context, the method can additionally provide that the mechanical pulses and / or vibrations introduced into the support plane of the transport section and / or into the push bar change their repetition frequency and / or their pulse strength over time.In the method, it can preferably be provided that the articles are compacted by means of lateral guide strips during their transport on the transport section and are pushed together in a direction transverse to the transport direction. These lateral guide strips are preferably located on both longitudinal sides of the transport section, wherein their distance from one another in the transport direction of the articles decreases increasingly, which facilitates and conveys the transfer of the group with the articles conveyed in a rectangular arrangement into the desired hexagonal arrangement.If these can be combined with one another in a meaningful manner from the point of view of the person skilled in the art addressed, some or all of these aforementioned variations or variant embodiments of the method according to the invention can optionally also be combined with one another in order to achieve the object of the invention formulated above at least partially and / or in order to achieve the desired effect of the invention.It should be expressly mentioned at this point that all aspects and embodiment variants explained in connection with the transport line according to the invention relate or can likewise form partial aspects of the method according to the invention. If, therefore, specific aspects and / or relationships and / or effects are mentioned at a point in the description or also in the claim definitions relating to the transport route according to the invention, this applies equally to the method according to the invention. Conversely, the same applies, so that all aspects and embodiment variants explained in connection with the method according to the invention also relate to or can be partial aspects of the transport path according to the invention. If, therefore, certain aspects and / or relationships and / or effects are mentioned at a point in the description or also in the claim definitions relating to the method according to the invention, this applies equally to the transport route according to the invention.Exemplary embodiments are intended to explain the invention and its advantages in more detail below with reference to the appended figures. The size ratios of the individual elements to one another in the figures do not always correspond to the real size ratios, since some shapes are simplified and other shapes are depicted enlarged in relation to other elements for better illustration. FIG. 1A shows a schematic top view of a first embodiment variant of a transport section for articles, which is equipped with a pulse introduction device. FIG. 1B shows a schematic top view of a second embodiment of the transport section for articles, which is equipped with a pulse introduction device. FIG. 2A shows a schematic side view of a part of the transport section according to FIG. 1A. FIG. 2B shows a schematic side view of a part of the transport section according to FIG. 1B.For elements of the invention that are the same or have the same effect, the following description of the figures generally uses the same reference numerals. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, in many cases only those reference numerals are used in the individual figures which are required for the description of the respective figure. The embodiments shown merely represent examples of how the apparatus according to the invention or the method according to the invention can be configured and do not represent a final limitation. The features described below are also not to be understood in each case in close connection with further features of the respective exemplary embodiment, but can each be provided in the general context or be used for this purpose.The schematic top view of FIG. 1A illustrates the operation of a first embodiment of the present invention, while the schematic top view of FIG. 1B illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention. The schematic representations of FIGS. 1A and 1B each show a section of a transport section 10 on which a plurality of articles 12 of the same type are transported in a horizontally pushed manner. A horizontal conveying direction 14 of the articles 12 or along the transport path 10 in the illustration shown of all FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B described here in each case has from left to right.In the exemplary embodiment described here, the articles 12 are each formed by containers 16, which can be filled in particular with beverages or other liquids, so that containers 16 or beverage containers 16 will often be mentioned below instead of articles 12. The articles 12 or containers 16 each have a sectionally cylindrical lateral surface 18, as can be clearly seen in particular in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Moreover, such containers 16 typically have flat or contoured container bottoms and tapered neck portions with top screw caps for gas-tightly closing an upper container or pouring opening, which is also illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B.The plan views of FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a total of three article or container groups 20 each having twenty-four articles 12 or containers 16, which are first of all arranged in a rectangular arrangement 22 having six parallel rows of four articles 12 or containers 16 conveyed one behind the other (in the conveying direction 14) in each case. i.e. in the case of the group 20 located on the left, the articles 12 or containers 16 are first located in a regular rectangular arrangement 22, in which the articles 12 or containers 16 of the six rows located next to one another are each aligned with one another, namely parallel to the conveying direction 14 and also transversely thereto.The three article or container groupings 20 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are each spaced apart from one another. On the rear side of each of the three groups 20 shown there is a movable pushing device 26, wherein these pushing devices 26 are formed here by profiled pushing strips 28 which can be placed on the rear side of the groups 20. The pushing devices 26 formed by the profiled pushing strips 28 are located above the horizontal support plane 24 and are each moved in a feed direction 30 which is parallel to the support plane 24 and to the horizontal conveying direction 14.The article or container groups 20 respectively moved in the conveying direction 14 on the support plane 24 are flanked on both sides by guide strips 32, which are likewise located above the support plane 24 and which ensure a lateral guidance of the groups 20 during their conveying movement in the conveying direction 14. The lateral guide strips 32 can be formed in particular by railing guides 34, which have a sufficient height, which is expediently located in a region above a center of gravity of the articles 12 or containers 16 respectively conveyed on the transport section 10. In this way, tilting or exceeding of the articles 12 or containers 16 can be reliably prevented with a gradually reducing distance 35 of the two railing guides 34 from one another in the conveying direction 14.If reference is made in the present context to a support plane 24 for the articles 12 or containers 16 or the groups 20 formed by them, this can either have a low-friction surface on which the grouped articles 12 or containers 16 are slidingly slid. Alternatively, however, the support plane 24 can also be part of a horizontal conveying device on which the grouped articles 12 or containers 16 are moved in the conveying direction 14 and during which they are additionally regrouped by means of the pushing devices 26 and / or the guide rails 34 in the manner described below.While the article or container groups 20 moved in the conveying direction 14 are initially located in a regular rectangular arrangement 22, as is the case with the group 20 located on the left (FIGS. 1A and 1B ), it is ensured during the conveying course that the articles 12 or containers 16 approach one another further, which can only be effected by a relative displacement of the articles 12 or containers 16 with respect to one another with the rectangular arrangement 22 being resolved. Thus, the articles 12 or containers 16 of the centrally shown array 20 (FIGS. 1A and 1B ) are slid against one another and compacted to form a compacted ball package 36.Although the total of four articles 12 or containers 16 of each of the six rows adjacent to one another in the array 20 are still aligned, the rows are slightly shifted relative to one another in a direction parallel to the conveying direction 14 and are also shifted together in a direction transverse to the conveying direction 14. The displacement of the respectively adjacent rows of the grouping 20 in a direction parallel to the conveying direction 14 is somewhat less than half an article or container diameter in the centrally illustrated compacted ball packing 36. The approach of the respectively adjacent rows of the grouping 20 transversely to the conveying direction 14 is small, but is already recognizable, even if FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic representations.This approach of the articles 12 or containers 16 in order to transfer the grouping 20 from a rectangular arrangement 22 into the compacted ball pack 36 shown takes place by interaction of the guide strips, the distances 36 from one another reducing in the conveying direction 14, with the pushing devices 26 acting on the rear side on the respective article or container groupings 20.As the conveying proceeds, the compacted ball package 36, as shown in the central array 20 in FIGS. 1A and 1B, is transferred into a closest possible ball package or hexagonal array 38 in which further approach of the articles 12 or containers 16 within the array 20 is no longer possible. This array 20 in hexagonal arrangement 38 is shown to the right in the plan views of FIGS. 1A and 1B.In this case, the total of four articles 12 or containers 16 of each of the six rows conveyed next to one another in the grouping 20, are still aligned, but the rows are now displaced with respect to one another in a direction parallel to the conveying direction 14 to such an extent that this displacement of the respectively adjacent rows of the grouping 20 corresponds to half an article or container diameter. The approach of the respectively adjacent rows of the grouping 20 transversely to the conveying direction 14 is significantly smaller, whereby the remaining space between the articles 12 or containers 16 which respectively contact one another in line contact is minimized.The profiling 40 of each of the push bars 28 shown, which profiling bears against the rear side of the groups 20, is designed such that, in plan view, three semicircular recesses 42 spaced apart from one another can bear against a respective article 12 or container 16 in such a way that the latter can enter approximately half into the recess 42, while the push bar regions located in each case between adjacent recesses 42 ensure the offset displacement of every second row of the group 20, such that in each case adjacent rows of the groups 20 are displaced with respect to one another in the manner shown by the amount of half an article or container diameter. This, in cooperation with the tapered transport path formed by the reducing distance 35 of the two guide rails 32 or handrail guides 34 between which the arrays 20 move, provides the desired rearrangement of the rectangular arrays 22 into the hexagonal arrays 38.As can be seen from the schematic side views of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the pushing devices 26 formed by the sliding strips 28 are located above the guide strips 32 or handrail guides 34, wherein the vertical distance between the upper edges of the handrail guides 34 and the underside of the respective sliding strip 28 can optionally be very small. The height of the push bars 28, i.e. their vertical distance from the support plane 24, is to be expediently selected such that the push bar 28 respectively bearing on the articles 12 or containers 16 of the respective grouping 20 acts approximately at the height of the center of mass of the articles 12 or containers 16 during their advancing movement in the advancing direction 30. Optionally, the engagement height of the push bar 28 may be slightly below or above the center of mass of the pushed articles 12 or containers 16.If the articles 12 or containers 16 are those with flexurally soft envelopes, as is the case, for example, with thin-walled PET containers, the envelopes tend to give way and yield to a greater or lesser extent when they are contacted by other containers 16 and / or devices which push through the containers 16 when they are contacted and which engage their outer surfaces 18. These potentially occurring deformation effects of the articles 12 or containers 16 contacting one another and / or contacted by the profiled push bar 28 can be superimposed with other effects, for example adhesion of adjacent containers 16 contacting one another on their lateral surfaces 18.In addition, any adhesion effects can occur in connection with coatings, labelings or contaminants which may be located on the container shell surfaces 18, which may in turn be superimposed with the effects already mentioned. In particular, impurities on the lateral surfaces 18 of the containers 16 can contribute to strong adhesion effects, for example adhering and / or partially dried residues of sugar-containing liquid which was wasted during the filling of the containers 16.Since, in addition, the articles 12 or containers 16 can roll with their lateral surfaces 18 only to a small extent during their rearrangement within the respective grouping 20 from the rectangular arrangement 22 (shown on the left in each of FIGS. 1A and 1B ) via the compacted ball pack 36 (shown in the middle in each of FIGS. 1A and 1B ) into the most dense pack of the hexagonal arrangement 38 (shown on the right in each of FIGS. 1A and 1B ) since there are no pulses for corresponding rotational movements, they inevitably slide against one another during the described rearrangements. All of these sliding movements of the articles 12 or containers 16 of respective adjacent rows within the array are potentially subject to all of the adverse effects described above, which may generally result in the undesirable result of an unachieved hexagonal array 38.Further transport of a grouping 20, in which the article or container arrangement deviates significantly from the desired hexagonal arrangement 38, can cause problems and problems in further article handling, for example during the packaging and / or the palletization of such an arrangement.In order to be able to reliably avoid these problems, the transport section 10 is assigned a pulse introduction device 44, which is designed in such a way that it can generate mechanical pulses and leave them in a suitable manner on the conveyed groups 20, so that the rearrangement of the rectangular arrangements 22 into the desired hexagonal arrangements 38 can take place as reliably and without problems as possible.According to the first embodiment variant of the transport section 10 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1A, the pulse introduction device 44 can interact with the support plane 24 and introduce either single or repeated mechanical pulses into the latter in order to be able to move the articles 12 or containers 16 more easily and better with respect to one another and with respect to one another by means of the vibrations generated in this way. When the support plane 24 or at least areas of the support plane 24 are subjected to such mechanical impulses, this leads to sudden slight changes in shape, which, due to their sudden and impulse-like character, lead to a vibration of the articles 12 or containers 16 sliding along or transported there on the support plane 24, which in turn facilitates their sliding into the desired hexagonal arrangement 38.The impulse-like vibrations which are transmitted through the support plane 24 to the articles 12 or containers 16 ideally ensure their neutralization in the event of adhesion effects occurring between the lateral surfaces 18 of individual articles 12 or containers 16. From the foregoing it is clear that the pulses generated by the pulse introduction device 44 and introduced into the support plane 24 should have at least such amplitudes and such amplitude slopes that can ensure a brief lifting of the articles 12 or containers 16 from the support plane 24 or at least small displacements of adjacent articles 12 or containers 16 with respect to one another with a sufficient vertical directional component, whereby the adhesion effects described have to be overcome.The pulse introduction device 44 can comprise, for example, a motor-driven rotating cam or a plurality of such rotating cams, which form a mechanical pulse transmitter, which can be coupled to the horizontal support plane 24, for example by regularly abutting against an underside of the flat support plane 24 and thus introducing the mechanical pulses into the latter. The drive speed of the motor drive defines the frequency of the pulses.Alternatively, the pulse introduction device 44 can also comprise an electromagnetically or electric motor-operated linear drive 46 which is equipped with an oscillatingly movable pulse transmitter in the form of a plunger 48 or the like which can be coupled to the horizontal support plane 24 in such a way that the plunger 48 strikes the underside of the flat support plane 24 in the desired manner, i.e. with an adjustable frequency and pulse intensity, and introduces the mechanical pulses there. The pulses, their frequency and their strength can be generated by a pulse generator 50 which actuates the linear drive 46 and which, for example, is controlled by a pulse generator. This may be a component of a superordinate control device (not shown here).The schematic side view of FIG. 2A illustrates such a configuration with the linear drive 46 arranged below the support plane 24, the plunger 48 of which can strike the support plane 24 from below, wherein the actuation of the linear drive 46 can preferably take place by means of the schematically indicated pulse generator 50.FIGS. 2A and 2B also show a reasonable dimensioning of the lateral guide strips 32, formed by the rail guides 34, and the profiled push strip 28 of the pushing device 26 moved above these guide strips 32 in the feed direction 30, which push strip has already brought the container grouping 20 shown into the hexagonal arrangement 38 during its feed movement in the feed direction 14.The profiling 40 of the push strip 28 is indicated in that the container 16 gripped by the push strip 28 dips with half its container diameter into the corresponding recess 42 of the profiling 40.According to the second embodiment variant of the transport section 10 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1B, the pulse introduction device 44 can also interact with the pushing strips 28 of the pushing device 26 and can introduce either single or repeated mechanical pulses into the latter in order to be able to move the articles 12 or containers 16 more easily and better with respect to one another and with respect to one another by means of the vibrations generated in this way. If the push bars 28 are exposed to such mechanical pulses during their advancing movements, this can mean in particular oscillating movements of the push bars 28 in vertical and / or in horizontal or also in different directions.The action of such mechanical impulses introduced into the slats 28 is such that at least the articles 12 or containers 16 contacted by the profiled slat 28 are shaken, which in turn facilitates the sliding of the entire grouping 20 into one another into the desired hexagonal arrangement 38.The impulse-like vibrations which are transmitted by the push bars 28 to the articles 12 or containers 16 ideally ensure that the articles 12 or containers 16 are attenuated or neutralized in the event of adhesion effects occurring between the lateral surfaces 18 of individual articles 12 or containers 16. From the foregoing it is clear that the pulses generated by the pulse introduction device 44 and introduced into the pusher strips 28 should have at least such amplitudes and such amplitude slopes that can ensure a brief detachment of the articles 12 or containers 16 from the pusher strip 28 that conveys them in a pushing manner and ideally at least for small displacements of adjacent articles 12 or containers 16 with respect to one another with a sufficient horizontal directional component, whereby the adhesion effects described have to be overcome.The pulse introduction device 44 can comprise, for example, a motor-driven rotating cam or a plurality of such rotating cams, which form a mechanical pulse transmitter, which can be coupled to the respective push bar 28, for example by regularly abutting against an end face of the flat push bar 28 and thus introducing the mechanical pulses into the latter. The drive speed of the motor drive defines the frequency of the pulses.Alternatively, the pulse introduction device 44 can also comprise an electromagnetically or electromotively operated linear drive, as is shown schematically in FIG. 2B. Such a linear drive can be equipped, for example, with an oscillatingly movable pulse transmitter 52 in the form of a plunger or the like, which can be coupled to the horizontal push bar 28 in a manner such that the plunger (not shown in FIG. 2B ) strikes the push bar 28, for example its end face, in a desired manner, i.e. with an adjustable frequency and pulse intensity, and initiates the mechanical pulses there. The pulses, their frequency and their strength can be generated by a pulse generator 50 which controls the linear drive and which, for example, controls the linear drive. This may also be a component of a superordinate control device (likewise not shown in FIG. 2B ).As FIG. 1B schematically indicates, the activation of the pulse introduction device 44 interacting with the push bars 28 is expedient at least during the transfer of the grouping 20 into the compacted ball packing 36, and also during the further advancement in order to bring the grouping 20 into the hexagonal arrangement 38, which is indicated by the two signal transmission arrows from the pulse generator 50 to the right push bar 28 and to the middle push bar 28. On the other hand, the activation of the pulse introduction device 44 is not yet absolutely necessary in the case of the left grouping 20 located only on the rectangular arrangement 22, which is illustrated by the signal transmission arrow, which is drawn with a broken line, from the pulse generator 50 to the left push bar 28.The schematic side view of FIG. 2B illustrates a configuration with a pulse transmitter 52 interacting with the push bar 28, the plunger or the rotating cam of which can strike the push bar 28 at a suitable point, wherein the pulse transmitter 52 can preferably be actuated by means of the pulse generator 50 indicated schematically.It should be emphasized in addition at this point that the alternative variants of the pulse introduction shown in FIGS. 1A to 2B can also be combined with one another without problems, since it can be entirely expedient, for example, to introduce mechanical pulses in each case both into the support plane 24 and into the push bars 28. In this case, no synchronous pulse introduction is necessary; on the contrary, asynchronous pulse introduction with different times of the pulses in the push bars 28 or in the support plane 24 and differing from one another can be expedient and lead to improved effects.If, in addition, repeated mechanical pulses have been mentioned above, which can be introduced into the support plane 24 and / or into the push bars 28 by means of the pulse introduction device 44, this can also mean vibrations which are generally understood as repeated pulses with a temporarily constant frequency and a temporarily constant amplitude. However, since the repeated mechanical pulses can be introduced as required with frequencies varying over time and with amplitudes varying over time, vibrations with varying frequency and varying intensity would have to be mentioned in this case.The pushing strips 28 shown in the side views of FIGS. 2A and 2B and moved in each case in the feed direction 30 parallel to the support plane 24 and parallel to the conveying direction 14 can be mounted, for example, on their two end sides in continuously revolving traction means drives, for example in chain drives, which can ensure equidistant conveying of the groups 20 shown in plan views in FIGS. 1A and 1B, wherein the pushing strips 28 can engage with the groups 20 to be pushed along a defined section of the transport section 10, while they descend into the engagement region with the articles 12 or containers 16 before this defined section and are elevated upward again after passing through the defined section in order to return again above the transport section 10.The principle of such a traction mechanism drive for a plurality of push bars 28 mounted thereon can be taken from FIG. 8 of German laid-open specification DE 10 2010 033 549 A1 and the associated parts of the description, for example, but is also described elsewhere in this document.The transport section 10 described here is fundamentally not limited in its length. It is expedient, however, to use a transport section which is limited in terms of length, since the engagement region of the pushing device 26, in which it interacts with the re-enveloping article or container groups 20, is a defined section which is normally limited in terms of length. In this respect, the term of the transport section 10 used here can be considered as the entire engagement region or as a subsection of such an engagement region in which the articles 12 or containers 16 conveyed on the support plane 24 interact with the pushing strips 28 of the pushing device 26.The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that modifications or alterations of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.List of reference characters10 Transport section 12 Article 14 Conveying direction, horizontal conveying direction 16 Container, beverage container 18 Lateral surface 20 Grouping, article grouping, container grouping 22 Rectangular arrangement 24 Support plane 26 Pushing device 28 Pushing strip 30 Advancing direction 32 Guide strip 34 Handrail guide 35 Distance 36 Compacted ball packing 38 Hexagonal arrangement 40 Profiling 42 Recess 44 Impulse introduction device 46 Linear drive 48 Plunger 50 Impulse generator 52 Impulse transmitterReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedU.S. Pat. No. 6,490,845 B1

[0004] DE 10 2010 033 549 A1 [0005, 0064]

Claims

Transport section (10) for the pushed conveyance of a plurality of articles (12) of the same type, - with a horizontal support plane (24) provided for a multi-row transport of the articles (12), and - with a pushing device (26), which is movable above and approximately parallel to the horizontal support plane (24) in a transport direction (14) of the articles (12), for rear-side contact with the articles (12) and for generating a feed movement in the transport direction (14) acting on the articles (12), wherein a pulse introduction device (44) for introducing mechanical pulses at least in partial regions of the horizontal support plane (24) and / or into the pushing device (26) is assigned to the transport section (10).Transport section (10) according to claim 1, in which the pulse introduction device (44) is provided and equipped accordingly for the introduction of individual mechanical pulses at least in partial regions of the horizontal support plane (24).Transport section (10) according to claim 1 or 2, in which the pulse introduction device (44) is provided and equipped accordingly for introducing individual mechanical pulses at least into the pushing device (26).Transport section (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the pulse introduction device (44) is provided and equipped accordingly for the introduction of repeated mechanical pulses and / or vibrations at least in partial regions of the horizontal support plane (24) and / or into the pushing device (26).Transport section (10) according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pulse introduction device (44) comprises a driven rotating cam with a mechanical pulse transmitter (52), which is coupled to the horizontal support plane (24) and / or to the pushing device (26).Transport section (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, in which the pulse introduction device (44) comprises an electromagnetically or electric motor-operated linear drive (46) which interacts with an oscillatingly movable pulse transmitter (52) which is coupled to the horizontal support plane (24) and / or to the pushing device (26).Transport section (10) according to one of claims 1 to 6, which are each assigned on their two longitudinal sides guide strips (32), the spacing (35) of which reduces in the transport direction (14) of the articles (12).Method for the pushed conveyance of a plurality of articles (12) of the same type along a horizontal transport section (10) by means of at least one movable push bar (28) which bears against the rear of the articles (12) and pushes the latter in a transport direction (14) and can ensure a transfer of the articles (12) conveyed in multiple rows on the transport section (10) into a hexagonal arrangement (38) with respect to one another, wherein at least individual mechanical pulses are introduced into a bearing plane (24) of the transport section (10) and / or into the push bar (28).Method according to claim 8, in which repeated mechanical pulses and / or vibrations are introduced into the support plane (24) of the transport section (10) and / or into the push bar (28).Method according to Claim 8 or 9, in which the mechanical pulses and / or vibrations introduced into the bearing plane (24) of the transport section (10) and / or into the push bar (28) change their repetition frequency and / or their pulse strength over time.Method according to one of Claims 8 to 10, in which the articles (12) are compacted by means of lateral guide strips (32) during their transport on the transport section (10) and are pushed together in a direction transverse to the transport direction (14), which lateral guide strips are located on both longitudinal sides of the transport section (10), wherein their distance (35) from one another in the transport direction (14) of the articles (12) is increasingly reduced.

Images