Patent ID: 7207241

Claim:
A cap removing apparatus comprising: a transfer path, which has a first position and a second position that is provided at a predetermined distance from the first position, and through which a container closed by a cap having a knob is transferred, at least a part of the container being tube-like; a rotary driving mechanism, which is provided in the first position and rotates the container in a circumferential direction; a correcting mechanism which corrects posture of the knob; and a cap-removing mechanism, which is provided in the second position, pinches the knob whose posture has been corrected by the correcting mechanism, and removes the cap from the container, wherein: a movable body, which is configured to move forward and backward between the first position and the second position along the transfer path, is provided on the transfer path, the movable body having a clamping mechanism; and the clamping mechanism clamps the container with the knob whose protrusion has been posture-corrected in the first position, moves the container from the first position to the second position by forward movement of the movable body while keeping the container in a clamping state, maintains the clamping state until removal of the cap from the container is completed, releases the clamping state at a time when the removal of the cap is completed, and returns to the first position by backward movement of the movable body.