Patent ID: 7735629

Claim:
An article handling machine comprising: a conveyor for supplying a linear stream of articles to a processing station, a first one of said articles positioned in front of and in physical contact with a second one of said articles and said second one of said articles positioned in front of and in physical contact with a third one of said articles, and a rotary star wheel apparatus for individually moving one-by-one said articles from said conveyor to a downstream processing station, said star wheel apparatus having a plurality of contoured arms and at least one pocket shaped to at least partially receive one of said articles for transport of said one of said articles from said conveyor to said processing station along a tangential path relative to said star wheel apparatus; a passive star wheel with a plurality of contoured arms separated by concave pockets in said passive star wheel for receiving one-by-one said articles and for assisting in separating each article from the next following article wherein the circumferential distance between the contoured arms of the rotary star is greater than the circumferential distance between the contoured arms of the passive star; and a guide section configured to constrain said articles during separation of one of said articles from the next following one of said articles, and to move said one of said articles along a generally tangential path relative to both said star wheel and said passive star wheel upon further rotation of said star wheel apparatus, the guide section having a guide surface facing the rotary star wheel, wherein a distance between the guide surface and a path of the articles passing through the passive star wheel and the rotary star wheel is substantially constant.