Abstract: The distributor of a cigarette maker has an upright duct with an inlet at the top and an outlet at the bottom. The inlet receives particles of tobacco from a magazine and the accumulated particles descend in the duct to be removed at the outlet by the carding of a rotary drum-shaped conveyor in a substantially horizontal direction. The front wall of the duct, as considered in the direction of removal of tobacco particles from the duct, and the lower portion of the rear wall of the duct are oscillated, out of phase, by a common drive which moves the front wall and the lower portion of the rear wall horizontally at right angles to the direction of advancement of removed particles and in the general plane of the respective wall. The inner side of the front wall has protuberances which oscillate with reference to stationary protuberances at the inner side of the upper portion of the rear wall to promote the distribution of particles across the duct.

Abstract: An arrangement for orienting and conveying barrels of catamenial tampon inserters includes a support which is constituted by a plurality of alternating cylindrical first and second support elements which rotate in opposite directions. Each first support element forms with the associated second support element a receiving channel, and an upper run of a V-belt conveyor is arranged at the bottom of this receiving channel and advances longitudinally of the support elements. The barrels are piled on top of the support elements in a randomly oriented collection, such as a layer or pile, and enter the respective receiving channels only when assuming one of two orientations. The engagement of the lowermost barrel with the external surfaces of the support elements causes the barrel to turn toward a position of parallelism with the axes of the support elements.