Patent ID: 8371008

Claim:
An apparatus for holding a plurality of hollow cylindrical members and pushing off the hollow cylindrical members, comprising: a holder shaft holding the hollow cylindrical members in tandem thereon; a gripper member projecting outwardly from a side wall surface of the holder shaft and engaging an inner wall surface of a foremost one of the hollow cylindrical members held on the holder shaft; a cam disposed in the holder shaft for displacing the gripper member; pushing means for pressing an end face of a rearmost one of the hollow cylindrical members held by the holder shaft and moving all the hollow cylindrical members forward, to release the foremost one of the hollow cylindrical members from the holder shaft and to position a next one of the hollow cylindrical members as a new foremost one of the hollow cylindrical members on the holder shaft; and turning means for turning the holder shaft about an axis perpendicular to an axis of the holder shaft.