Fecha de publicación: 11/10/1988 Fuente: WIPO "meat" A sausage filling apparatus comprises a conventional sausage filling machine operable to extrude sausage meat into a compressed length of tubular sausage casing retained over a support pipe through which the meat is fed under pressure. The filled casing passes to a sausage linking machine where the casing is twisted into individually-linked sausages. The invention provides a moveable deflector plate which is moveable into the path of the tubular sausage casing between the nozzle and the linking machine. This causes the sausage casing to follow a tortuous path between these two points, dispelling air present in the casing and leading to more consistent weight and an improved appearance in the final product.