Apparatus for orienting bottle caps and the like

Claim 1

IN APPARATUS FOR INVERTING IMPROPERLY POSITIONED CROWN CAPS FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING CHUTE MEANS DEFINING CHANNEL MEANS FOR CONVEYING THE CAPS, SAID CHUTE MEANS INCLUDING A FIRST PORTION ARRANGED TO CONVEY RANDOMLY DISTRIBUTED CAPS AND A SECOND PORTION ARRANGED TO RECEIVE PROPERLY POSITIONED CAPS FROM SAID FIRST PORTION; DEFLECTING MEANS PROVIDED IN THE FIRST PORTION OF SAID CHUTE MEANS FOR ENGAGING THE CROWNS OF IMPROPERLY POSITIONED CAPS AND FOR EJECTING SUCH CAPS FROM SAID FIRST PORTION; AND INVERTING MEANS COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY V-SHAPED INVERTING TRACK HAVING A FIRST AND A SECOND SECTION EACH DEFINING AN ARCUATE BYPASS CHANNEL, SAID FIRST AND SECOND SECTIONS HAVING FIRST END PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY MERGING INTO THE FIRST AND SECOND PORTIONS OF SAID CHUTE MEANS AND SECOND END PORTIONS MAKING SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES WITH SAID FIRST END PORTIONS AND COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER, THE FIRST END PORTION OF SAID FIRST SECTION BEING ARRANGED TO RECEIVE CAPS EJECTED BY SAID DEFLECTING MEANS SO THAT SUCH CAPS ARE AUTOMATICALLY INVERTED DURING PASSAGE THROUGH SAID BYPASS CHANNELS AND ENTER THE SECOND PORTION OF SAID CHUTE MEANS.