Abstract: A bottle cap orienting apparatus including a cap transfer assembly having a pair of opposing transfer belts each having curved first and second ends and upright facing straight sides opposingly spaced apart to define a gap sized to be equal to or greater than a height of the caps being transferred and reoriented for subsequent feeding into a bottle capping apparatus. A cap feed chute is positioned centrally between the first ends for conveying unoriented bottle caps in edge upright orientation into the gap. Each of the transfer belts have suction holes positioned along each of the transfer belts. A vacuum source within each belt draws air inwardly into the suction holes which holds caps against the belt. The belts move in unison to carry the bottle caps to the second ends where a cap stripper detaches each cap from the transfer belts.

Abstract: An air-conveying apparatus for moving articles along a path of travel at varying speeds comprises in combination a pneumatic conveyor for supporting the articles, a fan operatively coupled to the conveyor to provide air under pressure to the pneumatic conveyor to convey the articles there along, a damper to restrict the flow of air through the fan, and a controller responsive to a signal to vary the positioning of the damper and thereby vary the flow of air through the fan and consequently vary the speed of the articles being conveyed.