DEVICE FOR ORIENTING BULK-FED TUBULAR PREFORMS

摘要

The invention relates to a device for orienting tubular preforms (1) which are fed in bulk by supply means (2), comprising: two continuous endless conveyors (4, 5) which are disposed side by side and which are equipped respectively with two parallel lines (6, 7) which are separated horizontally from one another by a distance (D) that is greater than the largest cross-sectional dimension of the preforms. According to the invention, the preform-supply means (2) are disposed above one end of the two conveyors (4, 5). The two conveyors are moved by drive means in opposing directions (9, 10) in order to pivot any preforms that arrive positioned sideways across the conveyors (4, 5) and to drop the longitudinally-oriented preforms into the space between the two conveyors. The invention also comprises an endless belt (12) for collecting preforms (1), which extends beneath the two conveyors (4, 5) parallel thereto and which is used to collect and move the horizontally-laid longitudinally-aligned preforms (1) one after the other.