Apparatus for filling containers with dehydrated agglomerates

A machine for filling containers with predetermined quantities of dry particles, comprising

• a frame,
• indexing means including a drive shaft mounted on said frame to be intermittently rotated in one direction about its axis,
• a sleeve mounted on said frame for intermittent rotation by said drive shaft and coaxially about a vertical axis, said sleeve having an unobstructed axial bore disposed to be filled with said dry particles,
• means for connecting said bore of said sleeve adjacent its upper end to a supply of said dry particles to be filled thereby,
• a plate mounted on said sleeve for intermittent rotation therewith, and extending transversely across said lower end of said sleeve in axially spaced relation thereto partially to obstruct the opening in said lower end of said sleeve thereby normally to cause the particles filling said bore in the sleeve to pile up on the upper surface of said plate and to accumulate in said sleeve above said plate and the pile of particles thereon,
• said indexing means further including means connecting said sleeve to said shaft and operative to transmit the intermittent rotation of said shaft simultaneously to said sleeve and to said plate, and whereby each time said shaft is rotated said sleeve and said plate are rotated a fraction of a revolution about the axis of said sleeve so that a predetermined quantity of said particles is discharged by centrifugal force radially off the edge of said plate from said pile, and said pile is replenished by gravity from the particles accumulated in the unobstructed bore of said sleeve, and
• means for guiding into one of said containers said quantity of particles discharged from said plate.