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An apparatus for dispensing charges of high OV moist smokeless tobacco (MST) includes a rotary metering device. The rotary metering device includes a lower disk, a metering disk, a plurality of cavities in the metering disk; and at least one vacuum housing located around the periphery of the lower d

An apparatus for dispensing charges of high OV moist smokeless tobacco (MST) includes a rotary metering device. The rotary metering device includes a lower disk, a metering disk, a plurality of cavities in the metering disk; and at least one vacuum housing located around the periphery of the lower disk and in communication with the plurality of cavities. A vacuum is applied to the cavities to aid in the filling of the cavities and an air discharge mechanism ejects a charge of the MST from each cavity at a discharge station.

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1. An apparatus for dispensing a charge of moist smokeless tobacco (MST), said apparatus comprising: a rotary metering device, said rotary metering device comprising: a rotatable lower disk, said lower disk comprising a plurality of through openings;a rotatable metering disk comprising a plurality o

1. An apparatus for dispensing a charge of moist smokeless tobacco (MST), said apparatus comprising: a rotary metering device, said rotary metering device comprising: a rotatable lower disk, said lower disk comprising a plurality of through openings;a rotatable metering disk comprising a plurality of through openings aligned with the plurality of through openings in the lower disk so as to define a plurality of cavities;pins mounted in the through openings of the lower disk and extending into the through openings of the metering disk, said pins having an upper screen defining bottoms of the plurality of cavities within the metering disk;a vacuum source supplying a vacuum force to the cavities during loading of the cavities;a reservoir above the metering disk supplying MST to the cavities during loading of the cavities;an air discharge mechanism applying a blast of compressed air to each of the cavities when at a discharge station to eject a charge of MST therefrom; andan overlying feed tube positioned at a discharge station, the overlying feed tube comprising at least one pressure release hole and a rotatable closure ring having an aperture operable to adjust a size of an opening and closure of the at least one pressure release hole, wherein the feed tube delivers the charge of MST from a cavity in the rotary metering device to a pouching apparatus. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising: a funnel biased against an upper surface of the metering disk and in communication with the feed tube. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vacuum housing applies pressure to the cavities in an amount less that about 1 inch mercury. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the pins includes a passage in fluid communication with the screen and the vacuum housing. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the passage in the pin directs the air blast from the air discharge mechanism into the cavity located at the discharge station. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vacuum housing is attached to a frame and is stationary. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotary metering device comprises at least two vacuum housings applying vacuum to different groups of the cavities. 8. An apparatus for dispensing a charge of moist smokeless tobacco (MST), said apparatus comprising: a rotary metering device, said rotary metering device comprising: a rotatable lower disk, said lower disk comprising a plurality of through openings;a rotatable metering disk comprising a plurality of through openings aligned with the plurality of through openings in the lower disk so as to define a plurality of cavities;pins mounted in the through openings of the lower disk and extending into the through openings of the metering disk, said pins having an upper screen defining bottoms of the plurality of cavities within the metering disk;a vacuum source supplying a vacuum force to the cavities during loading of the cavities;a reservoir above the metering disk supplying MST to the cavities during loading of the cavities;an air discharge mechanism applying a blast of compressed air to each of the cavities when at a discharge station to eject a charge of MST therefrom; anda discharge opening and a feed tube positioned at a discharge station at which the air discharge mechanism delivers the charge of MST from a cavity in the rotary metering device to a pouching apparatus, and wherein the feed tube comprises at least one pressure release hole and a rotatable closure ring having an aperture to adjust a size of an opening and closure of the at least one pressure release hole. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, comprising: an overlying feed tube positioned at a discharge station, wherein the feed tube delivers the charge of MST from a cavity in the rotary metering device to a pouching apparatus; anda funnel biased against an upper surface of the metering disk and in communication with the feed tube. 10. A method of supplying charges of moist smokeless tobacco comprising: loading a charge of moist smokeless tobacco (MST) into a cavity in a rotatable metering disk;applying a vacuum to the cavity so as to substantially fill the cavity as the cavity rotates to a discharge station;removing the MST from the cavity at the discharge station by applying a blast of compressed air to the cavity when at a discharge station to eject a charge of MST therefrom to an overlying feed tube positioned at the discharge station; andcontrolling a distribution of the MST within an oral pouch by adjusting an aperture of at least one pressure release hole within the feed tube. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the charge of MST has a moisture content of at least about 30% or more. 12. The method of claim 10, further including delivering the MST from the cavity to a pouching apparatus through the feed tube. 13. The method of claim 10, further including placing the charge of moist smokeless tobacco in the oral pouch. 14. The method of claim 13, further including sealing the oral pouch to contain the charge of MST therein and form an oral tobacco pouch product. 15. The method of claim 10, comprising: biasing a funnel in communication with the feed tube against an upper surface of the metering disk; andskimming excess MST off a top of the cavity with an edge of the funnel as the metering disk passes underneath the edge of the funnel. 16. A method of dosing a tacky material, comprising: moving a metering cavity along a path;loading said moving metering cavity with said tacky material by communicating said metering cavity with said tacky material along a first path portion while simultaneously communicating a vacuum of less than 1 inch mercury to said metering cavity through a screen;discharging said tacky material from said metering cavity by moving said cavity beyond said first path portion to a discharge location so as to discontinue communication of said vacuum and to communicate a pulse of compressed air with said metering cavity through said screen;ejecting the charge of MST from the metering cavity with the pulse of compressed air to an overlying metering tube positioned at the discharge location; andcontrolling a distribution of the charge of MST by adjusting an aperture of at least one pressure release hole within the overlying metering tube. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said communication of vacuum is also interrupted at a location along said first path portion. 18. The method of claim 16, wherein said first path is circular. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said method is performed in the absence of a drying of said tacky material and in the absence of reapplying moisture to said tacky material. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein said tacky material is tobacco having at least 35% moisture content. 21. The method of claim 16, wherein vacuum communication includes communicating said metering cavity with a vacuum plenum through a radial channel moving with said metering cavity. 22. An apparatus for repetitively dispensing a charge of material into a pouching apparatus, comprising: a loading arrangement that moves a metering cavity along a path while communicating the metering cavity with a material along a first path portion while simultaneously communicating a vacuum of less than 1 inch mercury to the metering cavity through a screen;a discharge arrangement that discharges the material from the metering cavity by moving the cavity beyond the first path portion to a discharge location so as to discontinue communication of the vacuum and to communicate a pulse of compressed air with the metering cavity through the screen;an overlying metering tube positioned at the discharge arrangement, the overlying metering tube comprising at least one pressure release hole and a rotatable closure ring having an aperture operable to adjust a size of an opening and closure of the at least one pressure release hole, wherein the pulse of compressed air delivers the charge of material from the metering cavity to the metering tube, which is in communication with the pouching apparatus. 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the communication of vacuum is also interrupted at a location along the first path portion. 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first path is circular. 25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the material is not dried and/or rewetted. 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said material is tobacco having at least 35% moisture content. 27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein vacuum communication includes communicating the metering cavity with a vacuum plenum through a radial channel moving with the metering cavity.