Patent ID: 7975877

Claim:
A bead feeder for serially delivering beads to a downstream location comprising: a bead supply wheel connected to rotate about a substantially vertical axis; the bead supply wheel including or bead supply bowl and a plurality of radially arranged channels below the bead supply bowl connected to rotate with the bowl; a plurality of discharge openings in the bead supply bowl spaced around a lower portion thereof with the openings in alignment with the radially arranged channels for supplying beads to the channels; a bead receiving pocket at an outer end of each channel for receiving an individual bead; a bead transfer wheel connected to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis having a plurality of bead transfer pockets on an outer surface thereof constructed and arranged to register with the bead receiving pockets on the bead supply wheel as the supply wheel and the transfer wheel rotate about their respective axes; vacuum connected to selected bead transfer pockets to effect transfer of the beads from bead supply wheel to the transfer wheel; and a bead delivery wheel connected to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the axis of the transfer wheel and constructed and arranged to receive beads from the transfer wheel and serially delivers the beads to the downstream location.