Patent ID: 6886437

Claim:
A device for opening blown plastic bottles which have been air-tightly closed by a dome which is fused shut, and which are provided with a closure screwthread and which are disposed in holding means of the device, by cutting off the dome with a cutting blade which is mounted in a cutting head of the device and which is movable relative to the dome, wherein the holding means engages with the portion of the dome, which is to be cut off, and includes at least two centering fingers which are movable radially relative to the dome and which are arranged closer to the bottle end of the cutting head than the cutting blade; the cutting head includes a passage through which cut-off domes are transported; and the holding means is adapted to be brought into and out of engagement with only the dome, the holding means includes: means adapted to (i) hold the dome when the dome is cut off and (ii) release the dome so that the dome can be pushed into the passage by a lower next dome that has not been cut off of a lower next bottle; and at least one arresting pin arranged in the region of the centering fingers, the at least one arresting pin is adapted to allow the dome to be pushed upwardly into the passage in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the passage such that the at least one arresting pin engages a holding groove of the dome and prevents the dome from being pulled downwardly.