Billet orientation system

Apparatus for urging into a first orientation plane elongated billets having lengths within a predetermined range of lengths and falling under the influence of gravity in a randomly orientated stream of billets into the apparatus, said apparatus comprising a hopper having an open top, an open bottom, two side walls and two shorter end walls with at least said side walls converging toward said open bottom, the shortest distance between said side walls and the shortest distance between said end walls being respectively less than the shortest billet and longer than the longest billet in said predetermined range of billet lengths;

• a primary orientating means to urge said billets into a first orientation plane, said primary orientation means comprising two rotatable discs located between said hopper top and bottom, one in each side wall and generally co-planar therewith;
• at least one billet orientating vane on each said disc projecting into said hopper;
• driving means to rotate the discs in opposite directions;
• secondary billet orientating means to urge said billets to lie in said first orientation plane and a second mutually perpendicular orientation plane, said secondary billet orientating means being located adjacent to and below said hopper bottom and comprising a conveyor having spaced-apart transverse vanes, the distance between consecutive vanes being greater than or at least equal to the longest billet in said predetermined range of billet lengths.