A bolt supply device includes a conveyor, a bolt absorbing portion, a bolt storage portion, and an allocation portion. The conveyor is an endless belt and is provided to circulate between a first height and a second height above the first height. The bolt absorbing portion protrudes on an outer surface of a ring formed by the conveyor and is configured to absorb a bolt. The bolt storage portion is provided in a region where the bolt absorbing portion ascends, the region located at the first height. The allocation portion is configured to swing to drop the bolt in either one of both width directions of the conveyor at the second height, the bolt absorbed by the bolt absorbing portion in the bolt storage portion.

A loose component supply device including: component support member 150 configured to support multiple components in a scattered state; component collection container 180 configured to collect the components supported on the component support member via an opening in the component collection container; and a container oscillating device configured to scatter the components collected inside the component collection container onto the component support surface by swinging the component collection container such that the opening of the collection container faces the component support member. By this, because components are scattered on the component support member directly form the component collection container, the cycle time is shortened, thereby improving practicality of a component supply device.

According to the present invention there is provided a feeding assembly comprising, a track along which components can be moved, said track comprising a sloped surface and a ledge, wherein said sloped surface slopes in a direction which is perpendicular to the direction which the components move along the track so that the components are maintained in a tilted orientation as they move along the track; a pickup platform which comprises a pocket which can receive components from said track; wherein the feeding assembly further comprise a pivot on which the pickup platform can be selectively rotated between a first position and second position, wherein in its first position the pocket is aligned with the track and the pocket is parallel with the sloped surface of the track, so that a component can move from the track into the pocket of the pickup platform, and in its second position the pocket is in a horizontal orientation. There is further provided a corresponding method of feeding components and a component handing assembly which uses the feeding assembly.

A processing system including a singulation system is disclosed. The singulation system includes a conveying system for moving objects to be sorted from a source area along a first direction, a detection system for detecting objects at the conveying system, and for selecting certain selected objects for removal from the conveying system, and a removal system for removing the certain selected objects from the conveying system for providing a singulated stream of objects.

A cascade conveyor for sorting and conveying container closures, such as for conveying and sorting screw closures in a drinks filling installation, comprising at least one sorting bar which can be moved in a conveying direction and which is orientated transversely relative to the conveying direction for conveying the container closures from a collection receptacle which receives unsorted container closures to a closure unloading zone. There may also be provided in the closure unloading zone a conveyor belt which extends when viewed in the gravitational direction below the sorting bar in order to laterally discharge container closures conveyed by the sorting bar.

A processing system including a singulation system is disclosed. The singulation system includes a conveying system for moving objects to be sorted from a source area along a first direction, a detection system for detecting objects at the conveying system, and for selecting certain selected objects for removal from the conveying system, and a removal system for removing the certain selected objects from the conveying system for providing a singulated stream of objects.

A processing system including a singulation system is disclosed. The singulation system includes a conveying system for moving objects to be sorted from a source area along a first direction, a detection system for detecting objects at the conveying system, and for selecting certain selected objects for removal from the conveying system, and a removal system for removing the certain selected objects from the conveying system for providing a singulated stream of objects.

An apparatus that conveys pellet-shaped articles may include a hopper that receives a quantity of the pellet-shaped articles. The hopper may include one or more openings to direct a flow of air into the hopper to dislodge jamming or bridging of pellet-shaped articles within the hopper.

An automated machine for organizing and feeding cylindrical products includes a conveyor to space apart the cylindrical products. A pair of elongated rollers is disposed downstream from the conveyor to orient the cylindrical products in the same direction. A miter wheel disposed downstream of the pair of elongated rollers transfers the cylindrical products from the pair of rollers to a vertical accumulation chamber while changing the orientation of the cylindrical products from a vertical alignment to a horizontal alignment. The cylindrical products are discharged from the vertical accumulation chamber to a take away conveyance. Operation of the components of the automated machine can be controlled by a computer. Optical sensors can be employed to monitor flow of the cylindrical products through the automated machine during operation.

A method and a device for separating shirred casing sticks, where a row R.sub.1 with a first number of consecutively disposed shined casing sticks in a shined casing stick storage is pushed in a first stroke cycle by a pusher along a sloped plane in the direction of a separation edge and one after the other over the separation edge and, once the last shined casing stick of the row has been pushed over the separation edge, the pusher moves back along the sloped plane and takes a row R.sub.2 with a second number of consecutively disposed shined casing sticks and pushes them in a further stroke cycle in the direction towards the separation edge, characterized in that a control device determines the filling level of shined casing sticks in the shined casing stick storage from the number of shined casing sticks pushed over the separation edge.