Method and apparatus for supplying and fixing snap connectors

An apparatus for feeding and fixing snap connectors of a ripple fold curtain system, each of the snap connectors having a length, a width smaller than the length, and a thickness smaller than the width, the apparatus comprising:

• a drum for receiving the snap connectors, which are loose therein, the drum being rotatable for mixing the snap connectors and comprising an opening for letting one of the snap connectors out, the opening having a height smaller than the width of the snap connectors to force an orientation to the introduction of the one of the snap connectors through the opening, the drum being a cylinder and the opening being formed on a circumference of the cylinder, the opening having a width and a height which are smaller than the length of the snap connector and respectively larger than the width and the thickness of the snap connector;
• and
• a receptacle receiving the one of the snap connectors introduced through the opening, the receptacle comprising shoulders for retaining a larger portion of the one of the snap connectors, the shoulders comprising therebetween a neck of a width smaller than the larger portion of the one of the snap connectors for receiving an elongated portion of the one of the snap connectors which extend further than the larger portion thereof, the receptacle retaining the larger portion of the one of the snap connectors at a definite location for snapping, and a wall on the circumference of the cylinder which is immediately adjacent the opening, wherein the wall has a radial depth toward an inside center of the drum which is between one and three times the length of the snap connector, and a longitudinal height along a cylindrical axis-of-rotation direction of the drum which is between one and three times the length of a snap connector, and greater than the height of the opening.