Importance

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Abstract

An air conveyor transitional section connects an upstream air conveyor section to a downstream air conveyor section that is not collinear with the upstream air conveyor section. The air conveyor transitional section includes a pair of elongated members having opposed inner edges and upper surfaces adjacent the inner edges. The inner edges of the elongated members are laterally spaced to define a slot that extends in a downstream direction of the air conveyor. The upstream air conveyor section, the transitional section, and the downstream air conveyor section are all configured for conveying containers in the downstream direction. Each container has a neck ring with an outer diameter dimension. The inner edges of the elongated members are laterally spaced by a distance smaller than the container neck ring outer diameter dimension so that the upper surfaces provide slidable support for the container neck rings. The pair of elongated members of the transitional section has a continuous curve that extends without interruption substantially from a downstream end of the upstream air conveyor section substantially to an upstream end of the downstream air conveyor section. At least a portion of the pair of elongated members extends curvilinearly in a vertical plane so that a height of the containers varies vertically as the containers are conveyed in the downstream direction through the curvilinearly extending portion of the pair of elongated members. Thus, the transitional section defines a substantially continuous conveying path connecting the upstream and downstream air conveyor sections.

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First Claim