DISPENSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF DISPENSING, CAPPING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CAPPING

摘要

The present invention provides a dispensing apparatus adapted to dispense a cap for capping a container from a plurality of caps. Dispensing apparatus includes a holding portion for holding the plurality of caps; a retaining device including a gap, the gap expandable between a retaining configuration such that the plurality of caps is prevented from passing through the gap thereby retaining the plurality of caps within the holding portion and a releasing configuration wherein the cap is releasable from the holding portion through said gap; a positioning device configured to receive the cap from the retaining device, the positioning device includes an opening, the opening is expandable between a narrow configuration such that the cap is not passable therethrough and a wide configuration such that the cap is passable therethrough. The gap of the retaining device is expandable to the releasing configuration to release the cap therethrough when the opening of the positioning device is retracted to the narrow configuration to retain the cap within the positioning device when the positioning device receives the released cap, and the gap of the retaining device is retractable to the retaining configuration to retain the plurality of caps within the holding portion when the opening of the positioning device is expanded to the wide configuration to release and dispense the cap. Further, a capping apparatus having the dispensing apparatus is adapted to cap a container with a cap. A method of dispensing a cap for capping a container from a plurality of caps is provided. A method of capping a container with a cap is provided.