METHOD AND DEVICE FOR HANDLING PRODUCTS

The invention relates to a method and a device for handling products in a production process, in which a conveyor device (14) conveys products between a first upstream production unit (12) and a second downstream production unit (13) in a, in particular continuous, conveying flow. The method is characterised by the following measures: a) products coming from the direction of the first production unit (12) are supplied to a transfer region of a belt conveyor system (11) of the conveyor device (14) in a row one after another and spaced apart from one another in a supply flow; b) multiple belt conveyors (19, 20, 21) of the belt conveyor system (11), which can be controlled independently of one another and are assigned to a common conveyor track of the belt conveyor system (11), convey respective products supplied to the transfer region as product groups, in which the products are arranged in a row in the conveying direction and follow one another at a distance, from the transfer region to a discharge region of the belt conveyor system (11), from where the products are conveyed onwards in the direction of the second production unit (13), forming a discharge flow, and also following one another in a row and spaced apart from one another; c) the belt conveyors (19, 20, 21) convey the product groups conveyed by them in chronological succession and spaced apart from one another along the common conveyor track (22) from the transfer region to the discharge region.