apparatus for conveying upright standing containers such as bottles includes a driven star wheel which advances the containers in spaced relationship along a curved path . curved support and guide rails are concentric to the star wheel and are spaced apart a distance to engage the container bottom and top and to restrain the container from being discharged centrifugally from the star wheel path . abnormal containers such as bottles broken off at their tops or necks will not be confined to the curved path of the star wheel and will be rejected by centrifugal force .