Patent ID: 8047208
Filing Date: 2011-11-01
Classification: A24D

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for filling ends of an opened ended tube comprising: a feed wheel; an assembly wheel; a take-off wheel; and a flipping wheel; wherein the feed wheel comprises a plurality of flutes for accepting and retaining open ended tubes, the open ended tubes comprising a substantially solid central portion in the middle of the tube and tubular shaped hollow openings on opposite ends of the central portion, the open ended tubes initially loaded only in every other flute; and wherein the assembly wheel comprises a plurality of flutes for accepting open ended tubes from the feed wheel, the open ended tubes being fed from every other flute of the feed wheel to every other flute of the assembly wheel, the upwardly facing hollow opening in the open ended tube being filled with granular material while on the assembly wheel to form a half-filled tube; and wherein the flipping wheel comprises a plurality of flutes for accepting half-filled tubes from the take-off wheel, the flutes being able to rotate so that the filter tubes can be flipped and the remaining hollow opening of the tube positioned to face generally upward, the flipping wheel configured to transfer flipped tubes into the positions left vacant during the initial loading of the feed wheel so that open ended tubes and half-filled tubes can be loaded in alternating order into every position on the assembly wheel for filling the upwardly facing open ends.