Bead feeder

A bead feeder for delivering separate bead-shaped pieces one by one from a storage pipe to a position just beneath a sewing needle of a sewing machine in accordance with forward and backward movement of a feeding member reciprocally moved on a top surface of a bearing plate, the storage pipe storing therein a large number of separate bead-shaped pieces in stacked relation, the bead feeder comprising:

• a support member for carrying, on the bearing plate, a single bead-shaped piece fed from the storage pipe, the support member arranged movable on the bearing plate in conjunction with the forward and backward movement of the feeding member, the support member arranged to be moved relative to the feeding member at the time of the forward or backward movement of the feeding member;
• and
• a clamping section for clamping a single bead-shaped piece carried on the support member, the clamping section operative to clamp the bead-shaped piece in conjunction with the relative movement of the feeding member and the support member.