Bead feeder

A bead feeder for serially delivering beads to a downstream location comprising:

• a bead supply wheel connected to rotate about a substantially vertical axis;
• the bead supply wheel including a bead supply bowl and a plurality of radially and outwardly extending bead passageways connected to rotate with the bowl and dimensioned to receive a single line of beads from the bowl;
• a plurality of discharge openings in the bead supply bowl spaced around a lower portion thereof with the openings in alignment with the radially and outwardly extending passageways;
• each of the passageways having an outer exit end;
• a stationary blocking ring directly below the outer exit ends of the passageways for receiving a lowermost bead from the single line of beads in each passageway;
• a drop-off on the blocking ring constructed and arranged to allow the lowermost beads on the blocking ring to drop away in a downward direction;
• and
• a stationary bead retainer above the drop-off of the blocking ring constructed and arranged to retain the bead adjacent the outermost bead when the lowermost bead reaches the drop-off.