Patent ID: 8413789

Claim:
A method of sorting and orienting caps, the method comprising: a. providing a plurality of pucks to a conveyor, each puck comprising a surface and a cavity defined in the surface; b. providing a plurality of caps to the surfaces of at least a portion of the plurality of pucks, wherein the number of the plurality of caps exceeds the number of the cavities in the portion of the plurality of pucks; c. settling a group of the plurality of caps into at least some of the cavities in the portion of the plurality of pucks; d. removing excess caps by blowing the excess caps with air; e. vibrating the portion of the plurality of pucks to cause at least a portion of the settled caps to orient uniformly wherein the vibrating the portion of the plurality of pucks comprises applying one of horizontal vibration, vertical vibration, and combinations thereof; f. detecting one of proper orientation and improper orientation of the settled caps; and g. transferring the properly oriented caps to a capping machine.