Patent ID: 6871566

Claim:
A cap opening system for automatically opening a cap of a container which includes a container body and the cap attached thereto, the system comprising: a container body handling apparatus for holding the container body of the container to raise and lower it; a cap handling apparatus arranged above the container body handling apparatus for grasping and then opening the cap of the container when the container body is raised; and positioning means for positioning the cap with respect to the cap handling apparatus, wherein: the cap has a top surface defining a reference surface, and the positioning means positions the cap with respect to the cap handling apparatus based on the reference surface of the cap; said positioning means includes a cap receiving member to which the top surface of the cap is adapted to abut, said cap receiving member being arranged underneath the cap handling apparatus, in which positioning of the cap is carried out by abutting the top surface of the cap against the cap receiving member; wherein said cap receiving member has a central portion and a peripheral portion, in which a concave part is formed in the central portion and an extending part is formed in the peripheral portion thereof; and wherein a protruding portion is formed on the central portion of the top surface of the cap, and the concave part has size and shape that can receive the protruding portion therein.