Alignment assembly

1. An alignment system comprising:

a plurality of arms, each arm directly connected to at least one finger, thereby establishing a plurality of fingers; and a linkage bar connected to the plurality of arms;

a sensor adapted to detect a presence of a product in an area defined between the plurality of fingers; and

a controller configured to selectively drive the linkage bar based on a signal from the sensor indicating that a product is in an area defined between the plurality of fingers such that the plurality of fingers are driven from:

(1) a nominal first position in which the plurality of fingers are adapted to extend into a conveying path of a product conveyor, to

(2) a second position in which the plurality of fingers are adapted to be positioned away from the conveying path of the product conveyor.

2. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fingers together form an arcuate orientation.

3. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of arms includes at least four arms.

4. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a photo-sensor.

5. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fingers includes at least four fingers.

6. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the controller actuates a pneumatic cylinder to drive the linkage bar between the first position and the second position.

7. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the controller actuates a servo motor to drive the linkage bar between the first position and the second position.

8. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein each finger of the plurality of fingers is offset relative to each other.

9. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein each finger of the plurality of fingers is disposed at a distinct distance from the linkage bar.

10. The alignment system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of arms includes at least four arms, wherein the first arm comprises a length, the second arm comprises a length greater than the length of the first arm, the third arm comprises a length greater than the length of the second arm, and the fourth arm comprises a length greater than the length of the third arm.

11. A conveyor arrangement comprising:

a product conveyor;

an alignment system comprising:

a plurality of arms, each arm including at least one finger, thereby establishing at least four fingers, wherein the at least four fingers together form an arcuate orientation,

a linkage bar connected to the plurality of arms;

a sensor adapted to detect a presence of a product in an area defined between the at least four fingers; and

a controller configured to selectively drive the linkage bar based on a signal from the sensor such that the at least four fingers are driven between:

(1) a first position in which the at least four fingers extend into a conveying path of the product conveyor, and

(2) a second position in which the at least four fingers are positioned away from the conveying path of the product conveyor;

wherein the controller is configured to wait a first predetermined time period after the sensor detects the presence of a product before driving the at least four fingers from the first position to the second position and wherein the controller is configured to wait a second predetermined time period before driving the at least four fingers back to the first position from the second position.

12. The conveyor arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the linkage bar is mounted above the product conveyor.

13. The conveyor arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the linkage bar is mounted below the product conveyor, the product conveyor includes a plurality of bands, and the at least four fingers extend between the plurality of bands in the first position.

14. The conveyor arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the at least four fingers are each offset relative to each other.

15. The conveyor arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the at least four fingers are each disposed at a distinct distance from the linkage bar.

16. A method of aligning products on a product conveyor, the method comprising:

providing:

a product conveyor adapted to drive products along a conveying path; and

an alignment arrangement including a plurality of arms, each arm directly connected to at least one finger, thereby establishing a plurality of fingers;

a linkage bar connected to the plurality of arms;

a sensor adapted to detect a presence of a product in an area defined between the plurality of fingers; and

a controller configured to selectively drive the linkage bar based on a signal from the sensor indicating that a product is in an area defined between the plurality of fingers;

advancing products on the product conveyor into engagement with the plurality of fingers such that the products are shifted to align with a predetermined centerline;

detecting a presence of the products in the area defined between the plurality of fingers via the sensor;

driving the plurality of fingers from (1) a nominal first position in which the plurality of fingers extend between into the conveying path of the product conveyor, to (2) a second position in which the plurality of fingers are positioned away from the conveying path of the product conveyor based on the signal from the sensor indicating that a product is in an area defined between the plurality of fingers.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the products each include a leading edge with a rounded profile.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to (1) wait a first determined time period after the sensor detects the presence of the products, and (2) wait a second predetermined time period before driving the plurality of fingers back to the first position from the second position.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of fingers together form an arcuate orientation.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:

aligning a row of advancing products via the plurality of fingers, such that a leading edge of each product of the row of advancing products is aligned.