This group is by far the most complicated in this machine. The most difficult part is to manage to separate just one straw. I tried several models with different shapes-configurations. Apparently, straws have a very bad habit:they stuck! If a funnel is to be used, there will be a time that two or more straws will try to go through the funnel and they will stuck. I tried cylindrical funnels and flat funneled surfaces. They all had this problem.

So i completely changed my orientation to the solution. I tried a revolver mechanism. The straws will be inside a tube. At the bottom of the tube, a 4 positions revolver will be rotating. Each position of the revolver will be able to fit only one straw. Under the revolver, there is a cover with a single hole. When a position of the revolver that has a straw inside lyes over this hole, then the straw will fall from this hole.

First i cut out the plates of the revolver from a 10mm plexi-glass	With the conical drill i drilled the revolver holes	I cut 4 pieces of aluminum tubes	That is the revolver assemble

To fix the revolver on the motor...

First i did some M3 threads vertically on the motor shaft	A screw perpendicular on the shaft will secure the revolver. With the dremel i engraved the shape of the screw on the bottom plate.	Finally, on the tops side, i cut an aluminum piece with 3 holes. The middle hole will be used to screw it on the motors shaft, while the other 2 holes will screw this piece on the revolver piece

Now i need to have a vibrator on te revolver to help the straws go down the pipe. The problem is that the vibrator must be fixed on the revolver - which rotates! So i must make a commutator for the power supply of the vibartor:

From an old cassette recorder/player i removed a small limit contact	on which i soldered only i wire on both pins	I grooved a pocket for the contacts to fit in at the bottom side of the bottom revolver piece. I glued them with hot glue	Now when the piece is inserted onto the motor, the two contacts will touch the shaft of the motor. This is the first pole of the commutator

The other pole:

From a tin can i cut a round (approximately round) ring	I soldered a wire on this ring	And then i glued it on the base of the revolver - the statro

Now to pass the current to the rotor. First from the ring to the rotor:

I made a hole with 2 diameters. The big diameter is a little bit larger than a metal ball that i will use, while the other fits a wire	I passed through the first vibrator wire through this hole and soldered a washer at the end	This is the metal ball with a tension spring. The ball comes from a vandalized ball bearing and the spring from a (same situation) power relay	The washer is at the bottom, the spring follows and then comes the ball. The ball now is always pushed against the ring on the stator

The other wire for the vibrator come from the shaft itself. The wire is connected on the screw that is fixed on the shaft, to hold the revolver on the motor. The vibrator is just a motor with an eccentric weight:

Then, i fixed the vibrator on the top piece of the revolver. I also put a thin cover of white plexi-glass with smaller holes for the straws. This is the finally assembly of the revolver:

The revolver must be inserted into the tube where all the straws are. So, i did 4 holes on the tube and the revolver base (stator). The motor of the revolver is fixed on the base. With 4 screws, i screwed the revolver base on the tube:

I did 4 holes on the tube and the revolver base	With 44 screws, i screwed the revolver on the tube	This is how it looks like from the top side of the tube	The overall assy

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