and the powder is transferred downward from one element to the next in this way the powder flows from the powder container by way of the intermediate container to the metering mechanism solely by means of gravity and no transport air is required this has the considerable advantage that the powder is not stirred up and that the individual elements do not have to be sealed or only with conventional means to atmosphere on one working example it is envisaged that the intermediate container is essentially designed to be funnel shaped this has the considerable advantage that the powder can settle inside the intermediate container that the air contained in the powder can escape whereby the powder attains a homogenous density the air is expelled from the powder by means of the gradual narrowing of the cross section of the intermediate container an additional advantage of the invention can be seen in the intermediate container having at least partially an elastic outer wall by means of the elastic outer wall which is made for example of plastic or rubber and is in turn also funnel shaped formation of bridges or pillars inside the powder stored in the intermediate container is prevented normally the powder container has a means of causing the powder container to vibrate for example a vibrator or a drive to open and close the discharge opening and normally the metering mechanism also causes vibrations which are transferred to the intermediate container these vibrations create movement in the elastic container wall so that as a result of these vibrations the powder is preventing from baking onto the interior container wall the elastic outer wall is positioned directly ahead of the metering mechanism this is where the cross section in.