System and method for organizing and feeding cylindrical products from a bulk supply to a product take away conveyance

A method of operating an automated machine to organize and feed cylindrical products, the method comprising:

• conveying the cylindrical products from a hopper to a pair of rollers via a conveyor disposed downstream from the hopper;
• varying a speed of the conveyor to impart spacing between individual cylindrical products as the cylindrical products are introduced to the conveyor;
• passing the cylindrical products longitudinally across a gap defined between the pair of rollers such that a small diameter end of the cylindrical products can pass through the gap but an opposing larger end of the cylindrical products cannot pass through the gap, thereby allowing each individual cylindrical product to freely swing as it travels along the gap;
• and
• rotating a miter wheel to transfer cylindrical products from the pair of rollers to a vertical accumulation chamber while changing the orientation of the cylindrical products from a vertical alignment to a horizontal alignment.

An automated machine for organizing and feeding cylindrical products, comprising:

• a pair of elongated rollers;
• a miter wheel disposed downstream of the pair of elongated rollers;
• and
• a vertical accumulation chamber to receive a plurality of the cylindrical products that exit the miter wheel,
• wherein the miter wheel is coupled to a drive flange of a motor via a magnetic holding clamp.