Claims
- 1. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot between the one pair of arms being laterally dimensioned to receive only one longitudinally extending row of objects between the one pair of arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; and an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot.
- 2. The row former of claim 1, wherein:the pair of arms are parallel to each other and the angled surface is oriented at an oblique angle relative to the arms.
- 3. The row former of claim 1, wherein:the pair of arms is one pair of a plurality of pairs of arms forming a plurality of slots between the arms, and the angled surface is one angled surface of a plurality of angled surfaces that are each positioned in a slot of the plurality of slots.
- 4. The row former of claim 3, wherein:each angled surface of the plurality of angled surfaces is oriented at an equal angle relative to the plurality of arms.
- 5. The row former of claim 1, wherein:the angled surface is on a bracket at the closed end of the slot.
- 6. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; a gate is mounted on one arm of the pair of arms and is movable between an opened position where the gate projects in a direction that is parallel with the one arm and a closed position where the gate projects into the slot in a direction that is angled relative to the one arm.
- 7. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; and, a plurality of protrusions project from one arm of the pair of arms and are equally, spatially positioned along the one arm.
- 8. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to the row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; and, an infeed conveyor is positioned beneath the row former where the infeed conveyor can supply objects to the slot through the open end of the slot.
- 9. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; and the row former forms rows of objects having triangular cross-sections with width dimensions between apexes and opposite side walls of the objects, and the pair of laterally spaced arms are spaced by a lateral dimension that is larger than the object width dimension.
- 10. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; and, an accumulating table is positioned laterally adjacent the pair of arms, the table has a surface and the pair of arms are movable laterally over the table surface, and a pair of laterally extending guide rails are positioned on longitudinally opposite sides of the table surface.
- 11. The row former of claim 10, wherein:an array rake is mounted on the accumulating table surface for lateral movement of the rake across the surface, the array rake extends longitudinally across the surface and has a plurality of protrusions that project from the array rake over the table surface and are spatially positioned along the array rake.
- 12. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; an accumulating table positioned laterally adjacent the pair of arms, the table has a surface and the pair of arms are movable laterally over the table surface, and a pair of laterally extending guide rails are positioned on longitudinally opposite sides of the table surface; an array rake is mounted on the accumulating table surface for lateral movement of the rake across the surface, the array rake extends longitudinally across the surface and has a plurality of protrusions that project from the array rake over the table surface and are spatially positioned along the array rake; and, the array rake has a front surface on an opposite side of the array rake from the row former arms and the plurality of protrusions project from the front surface.
- 13. The row former of claim 12, wherein:the array rake has a rear surface on an opposite side of the array rake from the front surface and the plurality of protrusions also project from the rear surface.
- 14. The row former of claim 13, wherein:the plurality of protrusions on the front surface and the rear surface of the array rake are not laterally opposite each other.
- 15. The row former of claim 12, wherein:a plurality of protrusions project from one arm of the pair of arms and the protrusions on the one arm and the protrusions on the array rake are equally, spatially positioned along the one arm and the array rake.
- 16. A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end; an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot; an accumulating table is positioned laterally adjacent the pair of arms, the table has a surface and the pair of arms are movable laterally over the table surface, and a pair of laterally extending guide rails are positioned on longitudinally opposite sides of the table surface; and, a sweep mechanism is positioned adjacent the accumulating table surface for movement of the sweep mechanism relative to the table surface, the sweep mechanism has a pair of longitudinally spaced side panels that extend downwardly on opposite sides of the table surface and a front panel and rear panel that extend across the table surface, and the front panel and rear panel have respective front protrusions and rear protrusions that project toward each other.
- 17. The row former of claim 16, wherein:the front protrusions and rear protrusions are not laterally opposite each other.
- 18. The row former of claim 16, wherein:the front panel and rear panel have surfaces that oppose each other and the front protrusions and the rear protrusions are on the surfaces of the front panel and rear panel that oppose each other.
- 19. An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of the objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:a surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface; an array rake mounted on the accumulating table for lateral movement of the rake across the table surface, the rake extending longitudinally across the table surface; and a plurality of protrusions projecting from the array rake over the table surface, the plurality of protrusions being spatially arranged along the array rake.
- 20. The accumulating table of claim 19, wherein:the array rake has opposite front and rear surfaces and the plurality of protrusions project from the front surface.
- 21. An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:a surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface; an array rake mounted on the accumulating table for lateral movement of the rake across the table surface, the rake extending longitudinally across the table surface; the array rake has opposite front and rear surfaces and the plurality of protrusions project from the front surface; and, the plurality of protrusions also project from the rear surface of the rake.
- 22. The accumulating table of claim 21, wherein:the plurality of protrusions on the front surface and rear surface of the array rake are not laterally opposite each other.
- 23. An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:an surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface; an array rake mounted on the accumulating table for lateral movement of the rake across the table surface, the rake extending longitudinally across the table surface; and, a sweep mechanism is positioned adjacent the accumulating table surface for movement of the sweep mechanism relative to the table surface, the sweep mechanism has a pair of longitudinally spaced side panels that extend downwardly on opposite sides of the table surface and a front panel and rear panel that extend across the table surface, and the front panel and rear panel have respective front protrusions and rear protrusions that project toward each other.
- 24. The accumulating table of claim 23, wherein:the front protrusions and rear protrusions are not laterally opposite each other.
- 25. The accumulating table of claim 23, wherein:the front panel and rear panel have surfaces that oppose each other and the front protrusions and the rear protrusions are one the surfaces of the front panel and rear panel that oppose each other.
- 26. An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of the objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:a surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface; a sweep mechanism positioned adjacent the accumulating table surface for movement of the sweep mechanism across the table surface, the sweep mechanism having a pair of longitudinally spaced side panels that extend downwardly on opposite sides of the table surface and a front panel and a rear panel that extend longitudinally across the table surface, and the front panel and the rear panel have respective front protrusions and rear protrusions that project outwardly from the front and rear panels toward each other.
- 27. The accumulating table of claim 26, wherein:the front protrusions and rear protrusions are not laterally opposite each other.
- 28. The accumulating table of claim 26, wherein:the front panel and rear panel have surfaces that oppose each other and the front protrusions and the rear protrusions are on the surfaces of the front panel and rear panel that oppose each other.
Parent Case Info
This application is related to application Ser. No. 09/861,827, filed May 21, 2001 which is presently pending and is incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (5)