Abstract: Tubes are directed to a filling station (15) for filling the tubes (T) in a tube-filling machine, and, in the filling station, a liquid or highly viscous product (P) is poured into the tubes by means of a filling apparatus (16). Each tube is also weighed and the actual weight is compared with a desired weight. The filling apparatus is adjusted if the variance between the actual weight and the desired weight lies outside predetermined limits. In the process, the weighing of the tubes in the tube-filling machine occurs within 5 sec. after the end of the filling operation, either already in the filling station or between the filling station and an ejection station (22) for bad tubes (T?).

Abstract: A bag filling and packaging apparatus including hollow guide members that are disposed below ascending/descending hoppers and guide product dropping from hoppers into the interior of bags, the guide members being raised/lowered and moved together with the hoppers in a filling region. The guide members comprise a pair of opening and closing guide frames that are disposed to face each other; and when clogging is detected in a guide member, its guide frames are repeatedly opened and closed while moving through a non-filling region, thus promoting the dropping of product. Directly below the guide members is provided a receiving member that receives the product.

Abstract: There is provided a flexible tube for an endoscope, including a framed structure unit having a plurality of joint members rotatably coupled to each other so that the framed structure unit is able to bend freely, each joint member having a form of a short cylinder, a reticulated tube that is reticulated with thread and is formed to cover the framed structure unit, and a flexible sheath that has flexibility and is formed to cover the reticulated tube. Further, a cross section of an outer surface of the flexible sheath has a circular shape, and a cross section of an outer surface of each joint member has a non-circular shape so that a wall thickness of the flexible sheath has a thicker part in a particular direction about an axis line of the flexible tube than another part of the wall thickness of the flexible sheath.