| 摘要 |
The invention, in its various embodiments is a method and apparatus for uniformly orienting shafts which contain an operational feature on one end and which are blunt on the other end. In one aspect of the present invention, a machine feeds the shafts onto a surface containing one or more slots, where the slots are shaped to completely receive a shaft only when the shaft is in a preferred orientation. Shafts which are in the preferred orientation are oriented 180 DEG differently from shafts which are not in the preferred orientation. Shafts which are not in the preferred orientation will be dislodged from the slots and sent down a first exit chute. Shafts which are in the preferred orientation are sent down a second exit chute. The method comprises dispensing the shafts into slots on a surface where the slots are shaped to completely receive a shaft only when the shaft is in a preferred orientation, and selectively removing shafts which are not in the preferred orientation from the slots.
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