Tube filling apparatus

A method of filling tubes with a herb mixture using an apparatus which has a filling assembly mountable on a base, a vibration plate located between the filling assembly and the base, and a transducer which is in connection with the vibration plate, wherein the filling assembly has a plurality of tube receiving recesses extending substantially vertically and being open at both ends, wherein the vibration plate is located in a generally horizontal plane between the base and the filling assembly, and spaced apart by a predetermined distance below the filling assembly, the method including the steps of:

• receiving the tubes to be filled into at upper ends of the plurality of tube receiving recesses to move freely along their longitudinal direction sinking into the plurality of tube receiving recesses to protrude partially from lower ends of the plurality of tube receiving recesses, wherein the tubes sunken into the plurality of tube receiving recesses are filled with the herb mixture via the upper ends of the plurality of tube receiving recesses, wherein the tubes located in the plurality of tube receiving recesses protrude from the lower ends of the plurality of tube receiving recesses and contact a surface of the vibration plate;
• and
• using the transducer to vibrate the vibration plate in a generally vertical direction, independently of the filling assembly, wherein the filling assembly is kept stationary while the vibration plate vibrates, wherein the tubes oscillate freely up and down inside the plurality of tube receiving recesses, accelerated downward by gravity and intermittently impacted by the surface of the vibration plate for compacting the herb mixture inside the tubes.