Cylinder orienter

Claim 1

In a vibratory feeder having an output path above a lower region, an orienter arranged in said output path for axially orienting uniform cylinders, said orienter comprising: a. a generally cylindrical tube have a somewhat larger inside diameter than the diameter of said cylinders; b. said tube being arranged to receive said cylinders at any orientation in an input end of said tube for movement through said tube; c. said tube being mounted to be generally horizontal and driven vibrationally with said output path for advancing said cylinders along the axial length of said tube without forcing said cylinders tightly together; d. said tube having a side opening spaced from said input end and extending axially along a portion of said tube, said side opening being sized and oriented so that ones of said cylinders that are not axially oriented fall through said side opening and down to said lower region; e. said side opening having a lower edge; f. said tube wall curving upward from said lower edge to provide a surface that inclines increasingly upward with distance from said lower edge; and g. means for rotationally orienting said tube for positioning said lower edge of said side opening relative to a vertical plane through the axis of said tube so that said axially oriented cylinders move along said tube supported by a bottom region of said tube adjacent said lower edge while overhanging said lower edge without falling through said side opening and cylinders not axially oriented engage said increasingly upwardly inclined surface above said bottom region and thereby fall through said side opening over said lower edge and down to said lower region.