Method and apparatus for transferring a stick with a food product such as a sausage suspended therefrom

A method for transferring a stick with a food product such as a sausage suspended therefrom, comprising the steps of:

• raising toward stick supporting and relaying means stick supplying means for supporting both end portions of a stick disposed in loops of the sausage or the like suspended in loop form from a plurality of suspending hooks, and abutting the stick against the loops of the sausage or the like, thereby disengaging the loops from said suspending hooks and transferring the loops onto the stick;
• supplying the stick with the loops of the sausage or the like suspended therefrom from said stick supplying means to said stick supporting and relaying means, and supporting the both end portions of the stick by said stick supporting and relaying means;
• and
• causing stick removing and supporting means which removed the stick from said stick supporting and relaying means and supported the both end portions of the stick to move linearly in a substantially horizontal plane in a direction of a longitudinal axis of the supported stick, and transferring the stick with the sausage or the like suspended therefrom to conveying means for conveying the stick in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the supported stick.

An apparatus for transferring a stick with a food product such as a sausage suspended therefrom, comprising:

• loop forming means for suspending a sausage or the like in loop form from suspending hooks and conveying the sausage or the like;
• stick supporting and relaying means having a pair of stick receivers for supporting both end portions of the stick with the sausage or the like suspended therefrom;
• stick supplying means for being raised while supporting the both end portions of the stick disposed in loops of the sausage or the like suspended in loop form from a plurality of suspending hooks, and for supplying to said stick receivers the stick from which the loops of the sausage or the like disengaged from said suspending hooks are suspended;
• stick removing and supporting means having a pair of movable members for removing and supporting the both end portions of the stick being supported by said stick receivers, and movable member actuating means for causing said movable members to remove the stick being supported by said stick receivers;
• and
• transferring means for transferring the stick with the sausage or the like suspended therefrom to conveying means for conveying the stick in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the supported stick, by moving said stick removing and supporting means supporting the both end portions of the stick linearly in a substantially horizontal plane in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the supported stick.

A method for transferring a stick with a food product such as a sausage suspended therefrom, comprising the steps of:

• sequentially separating each leading one of a plurality of sticks from each of which a food product such as a sausage is suspended and which have been moved in parallel;
• and
• moving the separated stick along a stick moving path which extends from the separated stick toward a swiveling axis in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the separated stick;
• and
• causing the separated stick which has been moved along the stick moving path to swivel by a predetermined angle about the swiveling axis located on the stick moving path.