Patent ID: 8172290

Claim:
In a gripper provided in a vessel feeding means for holding a neck of a bottle made of a resin by gripping opposite sides of the resin bottle neck and conveying the resin bottle to an irradiation region of an electron beam irradiation apparatus, the improvement comprising the gripper having first and second supports provided at opposite sides of the bottle neck, a first abutment disposed on the first support and a second abutment disposed on the second support for abutting against an outer circumferential surface of the bottle neck when holding the bottle, the first abutment comprising a first support body and a second support body which are vertically spaced from each other and the second abutment comprising a third support body and a fourth support body which are vertically spaced from each other, wherein when the gripper holds the resin bottle, the first and second supports are not in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the resin bottle neck and, during irradiation with an electron beam, the electron beam passes through gaps provided between the vertically spaced-apart support bodies.