Apparatus for transporting closing caps in vessel closing machines

In a vessel closing apparatus having means for transporting closing caps to a vessel closing cap position in said vessel closing apparatus from a closing cap supply source, said closing caps having top, bottom and side surfaces, said transpiration means including a conveying chute for feeding said closing caps from said source to a discharge position at a discharge end of the chute in line and in side-by-side relationship and engaging mans moving in a path of travel adjacent the discharge end of the chute and transverse to the direction of discharge of said closing caps from said chute for engaging closing caps discharged from the chute and conveying them one at a time in said path to said vessel closing cap position, the improvement comprising a guide channel having a slide surface over which said closing caps can slide and a pair of spaced guide elements extending parallel to each other along opposite sides of said path of travel of the engaging means, said guide elements being spaced apart a distance slightly larger than the distance between opposite side surfaces of said closing caps, said guide channel having an entrance end adjacent the discharge end of said chute and guiding said closing caps for sliding movement only in said path of travel while they are being conveyed by the engaging means to the vessel closing cap position, and transfer means for transferring closing caps from the discharge position at the discharge end of the conveying chute one at a time to a holding position at least partly into said entrance end of the guide channel and between the guide elements thereof, said transfer means holding a closing cap in said holding position until the closing cap is engaged by the engaging means.