Containers are loaded into the floor level hopper and transported in bulk via the cleated belt elevator to the sorter bowl. The containers are fed to the sorter bowl in a timed sequence to match demand from the unscrambler. The slow rotary action of the sorter bowl, coupled with the action of strategically placed optional air jets, move the containers to the outside circumference of the bowl where they fall into the delivery track. The containers exit the bowl laying down in both base and neck leading configuration. Upon reaching the orienting section all containers are inspected and oriented, then dropped vertically, base down. The bowl runs at a higher speed than the orienting section, ensuring a continuous supply of containers.

With all containers now stacked in a base-leading configuration, they are ready to be transferred into the filler star wheel. In some applications an escapement may be required at the bottom of the chute to release one container at a time.