the apparatus shown in fig1 comprises a feed conveyor 1 , an intermediate conveyor 2 , and a downstream conveyor 3 , all of which may be formed in a per se known manner of hinged link chains 4 mounted on a frame 5 ( fig2 ). in the embodiment shown , feed conveyor 1 comprises four laterally adjacent hinged link chains driven with the same speed vz and carrying the bottles in an upright and aligned position and in a densely closed arrangement , so that all of the hinged link chains of feed conveyor 1 may be wholly occupied by upright bottles . located adjacent one side of feed conveyor 1 is an intermediate conveyor 2 extending parallel to feed conveyor 1 . located adjacent the end section of intermediate conveyor 2 at the side thereof opposite feed conveyor 1 is a downstream conveyor 3 consisting of a single hinged link chain extending parallel to intermediate conveyor 2 and serving to feed the bottles to a not shown processing machine such as a bottle labelling machine or the like . in the embodiment shown , intermediate conveyor 2 consists of six parallel hinged link chains 4 disposed closely adjacent one another and adapted to be driven at different speeds by a motor - gearbox unit ( not shown ). as indicated by speed arrows v1 to v6 in fig1 the speed of hinged link chains 4 increases stepwise in the direction towards downstream conveyor 3 . as shown in fig2 the plane conveying surface of intermediate conveyor 2 is inclined downwards in the direction of downstream conveyor 3 at an angle of about 10 ° with respect to the horizontal . the end section of feed conveyor 1 and the starting section of downstream conveyor 3 are inclined in the same manner , so that their conveying surfaces form a continuous plane surface free of any obstacles together with the surface of intermediate conveyor 2 . feed conveyor 1 is enclosed between a railing 9 at its higher side and a support railing 7 at its lower side . adjacent intermediate conveyor 2 , support railing 7 is joined to a support rail 6 extending obliquely across intermediate conveyor 2 at an acute angle to the direction of movement of hinged link chains 4 . adjacent the end portion of intermediate conveyor 2 , support rail 6 is smoothly joined to a support railing 8 of downstream conveyor 3 . opposite support railing 8 , the single file downstream conveyor 3 is defined by a further railing 10 having an arcuate end portion adjacent the end section of intermediate conveyor 2 so as to form an enlarged entry to downstream conveyor 3 . the optimum angle of inclination for feed conveyor 1 , intermediate conveyor 2 and downstream conveyor 3 lies between about 10 ° and 12 ° as shown in fig2 . the speed vz of feed conveyor 1 is lower than the speed v1 of the adjacent hinged link chain 4 of intermediate conveyor 2 . the speed of each successive hinged link chain 4 of intermediate conveyor 2 is increased by one step relative to that of the preceding chain . the speed va of downstream conveyor 3 finally is again faster than the speed v6 of the last hinged link chain 4 of intermediate conveyor 2 . the upper surface of each hinged link chain may be provided with a lubricant or the like for reducing the friction between the respective hinged link chain and the bottles standing thereon . the bottles arrive on the feed conveyor 1 in a closely packed arrangement on the laterally adjacent hinged link chains thereof , and at the uniform speed vz . due to the inclination of feed conveyor 1 , the bottles standing on the lowermost hinged link chain are brought into supporting engagement with support railing 7 , while the bottles on the adjacent higher chains are supported by the bottles travelling at a lower level . this is due to the tendency of the bottles to slide or drift downwards to the lowermost side of feed conveyor 1 under the effect of gravity . in other words , conditions must be provided for assuring the laterally downward sliding velocity vector of each bottle and the conveying velocity vectors ( vz , v1 - v6 , va ) of each bottle will produce a resultant velocity vector which will intersect each of the support railing sections 6 , 7 and 8 . as the bottles standing on the lowermost hinged link chain 4 of the feed conveyor 1 arrive at the upstream end portion of the support rail 6 and are subsequently supported thereby , they drift downwards onto the first hinged link chain 4 of intermediate conveyor 2 , which is driven at the higher speed v1 , whereby these bottles are drawn apart due to the speed difference . this lowermost row of bottles remains in supporting engagement with the support rail 6 also along the further conveying path , as the declivity drift causes them to slide downwards across intermediate conveyor 2 , resulting in their being successively accelerated by each hinged link chain 4 up to the speed v6 of the last hinged link chain . in the meantime , the declivity drift causes the bottles travelling at higher levels to support themselves on the bottles at lower levels and to intrude into the spaces forming therebetween due to the successive accelerations of the travelling speed , so that during the travel of the bottles across intermediate conveyor 2 these spaces are filled by the bottles crowding thereinto from the respective higher levels , resulting in a single file or row of bottles being formed at the level of downstream conveyor 3 . despite the relatively great angle of inclination of feed conveyor 1 , intermediate conveyor 2 and downstream conveyor 3 , there is no tendency of the upstanding bottles to topple over even in the acceleration zone of intermediate conveyor 2 , because the lowermost row of bottles is always supported by support rail 6 , while the bottles travelling at higher levels are caused by the declivity to drift downwards into supporting engagement with the bottles at lower levels and to intrude with a gentle force into the spaces forming between the bottles of the lowermost row . this intrusion is favoured by the fact that the bottles travelling at higher levels of intermediate conveyor 2 move at a slower speed than those travelling at lower levels , so that there is always a speed difference between the lowermost bottles supported by rail 6 and the bottles immediately thereabove . the relationship between the speeds of feed conveyor 1 , intermediate conveyor 2 and downstream conveyor 3 is suitably selected such that the speed v1 of the first hinged link chain of intermediate conveyor 2 is about twice the speed va of feed conveyor 1 . the speed va of downstream conveyor 3 may for instance be five times the speed vz of feed conveyor 1 . the speeds of the further hinged link chains 4 of intermediate conveyor 2 preferably increase by substantially uniform steps , the speed va of downstream conveyor 3 being about one further such step faster than the speed v6 of the fastest - running hinged link chain of intermediate conveyor 2 , so that the bottles are drawn apart slightly further as they pass onto the downstream conveyor . this is particularly important in case there are bottles left over adjacent the entry of the downstream conveyor that have not been able to crowd themselves into the single row of bottles , which might otherwise result in problems occurring in that section of the downstream conveyor which is provided with railings on both sides . the feed conveyor 1 , intermediate conveyor 2 and downstream conveyor 3 do not have to be inclined exactly at the same angle , as long as it is ensured that the declivity drifting force is great enough to cause the bottles to slide across the intermediate conveyor transversely to the conveying direction , while avoiding the danger of the bottles &# 39 ; toppling over . for obvious reasons , this danger is considerably smaller on feed conveyor 1 as well as on downstream conveyor 3 .