Feeding unit for feeding beads and apparatus for manufacturing rods

Abstract

The objects of the application are a feeding unit and a rod manufacturing apparatus. The feeding unit for feeding beads comprises a supply channel for feeding a stream of beads, a transferring wheel provided with at least one transferring pocket, a pushing mechanism comprising a holding pocket for receiving the beads from the supply channel, and a pushing element for transferring the beads individually from the holding pocket to the transferring wheel. The unit is characterised in that the pushing element having a pushing edge is a rotatable element of a horizontal rotational axis. The pushing edge is arranged for passing during the rotation through the holding pocket and the transferring channel in order to push the bead out of the holding pocket through the transferring channel to the transferring pocket.

1 . A feeding unit ( 21 ) for feeding beads (C) comprising
 a supply channel ( 24 ) for feeding a stream of beads (C),   a transferring wheel ( 26 ) provided with at least one transferring pocket ( 34 ),   a pushing mechanism ( 25 ) comprising a holding pocket ( 29 ) for receiving the beads (C) from the supply channel ( 24 ) and a pushing element ( 31 ) for transferring the beads (C) individually from the holding pocket ( 29 ) to the transferring wheel ( 26 ),
 characterised in that 
   the pushing element ( 31 ) having a pushing edge ( 32 ) is a rotatable element of a horizontal rotational axis (n),   the pushing edge ( 32 ) being arranged for passing during the rotation through the holding pocket ( 29 ) and the transferring channel ( 30 ) in order to push the bead (C) out of the holding pocket ( 29 ) through the transferring channel ( 30 ) to the transferring pocket ( 34 ).   
     
     
         2 . The unit as in  claim 1  characterised in that the pushing element ( 31 ) is a plate having a cylindrical surface. 
     
     
         3 . The unit as in  claim 1  characterised in that the transferring channel ( 30 ) adjoins tangentially to the transferring wheel ( 26 ). 
     
     
         4 . The unit as in  claim 1  characterised by being provided with at least one guide arranged next to a path of movement of the transferring pocket ( 34 ). 
     
     
         5 . The unit as in  claim 1  characterised in that the guide on a side of the supply channel ( 24 ) has the form of two concentric circular surfaces ( 35 ,  36 ). 
     
     
         6 . The unit as in  claim 1  characterised in that the rotational axis (n) of the pushing element ( 31 ) overlaps a rotational axis (m) of the transferring wheel ( 26 ). 
     
     
         7 . An apparatus for manufacturing rods of a continuous rod (CR) provided with a filling material feeding unit ( 4 ,  4 ′), a feeding unit ( 5 ,  5 ′) for feeding beads (C), a forming unit for forming a continuous rod (CR), a cutting head ( 7 ) for cutting the continuous rod (CR) into individual rods (R, R′, R″),
 characterised in that 
 the feeding unit ( 5 ,  5 ′) for feeding beads (C) is provided with a feeding wheel ( 20 ) having a plurality of transporting pockets ( 22 ) for transferring the beads (C), and at least one feeding unit ( 21 ) according to  claim 1 .