Patent ID: 8336703

Claim:
A unit for separating opening devices supplied in the form of at least one row and to be applied singly to respective sealed packages of pourable food products, comprising: a separating assembly comprising: a first and a second jaw movable along a path and defining a seat; said seat being movable between an open configuration, in which the seat receives one of said opening devices from said row at a first station at a start of said path, and a closed configuration, in which the seat moves said opening device singly along said path to detach the one opening device from the rest of said row and feed it to a second station along said path; and elastic means for loading at least said first jaw towards said second jaw to keep said seat in the closed configuration; a conveyor for conveying said opening devices, the conveyor being separate and independent of said separating assembly; and cam means comprising at least a first cam moved by physically contacting said conveyor and cooperating cyclically with a cam follower integral with said first jaw, to move said first jaw, in opposition to said elastic means, away from said second jaw and move said seat into said open configuration.