Patent ID: 7850403

Claim:
A finishing machine comprising a hopper for receiving loose caps, and an endless belt having laths for extracting said caps from said hopper, wherein the caps are lodged in grooves bounded by said laths and said belt after extraction from said hopper, wherein said belt moves vertically with said caps to automatically sort said caps to retain only the caps having a proper orientation, wherein the machine further comprises a combined system for ejecting and conveying said oriented caps, said combined system comprising: a plate which covers several adjacent grooves of said belt in which said oriented caps are located, said plate forming a screen on said belt and extending laterally, downstream beyond said belt, to direct said oriented caps as they are ejected from said grooves; means for ejecting said oriented caps from their grooves and for subsequently conveying them downstream beyond said grooves, said ejection means comprising jets of propellant fluid which pass through said plate through eye shaped arrangements, said jets being oriented downstream, on said caps; a casing constructed on said plate and into which said propellant fluid is introduced and maintained under pressure by suitable means to serve as a driving agent to eject and entrain said oriented caps, said casing extending over the entire surface of said plate and comprising, in its downstream part, means for accommodating and attaching a routing conveyor which prolongs said casing and routes said caps, with some continuity wherein the means which prolong the grooves and which directs the oriented caps, comprise an intermediate conveyor, said intermediate conveyor comprising a continuous channel divided into several parts: -a first part acting as an inlet, arranged in a V shape, located facing the downstream end of said grooves of said belt at the ejection zone, and subsequently, a second part forming a leader for the routing conveyor, said routing conveyor prolonging said intermediate conveyor and, with a propellant fluid, transporting said oriented caps.