Apparatus and Method of Forming a Stack of Food Products Within a Storage Container

An apparatus for forming a stack of food products, the apparatus comprising:

• a first gate moveable between an open position and a closed position;
• a conveyor for sequentially depositing a plurality of food products in a row on the first gate in the closed position;
• a second gate positioned below the first gate for receiving food products from the first gate when the first gate moves from the closed position to the open position, the second gate having a closed position supporting the food products and an open position permitting food products to fall past the second gate;
• and
• a controller for controlling the operation of the conveyer, the first gate and the second gate, the controller operable to move the first gate from the closed position to the open position to cause food products on the first gate to fall to the second gate in the closed position and to cause the conveyer to deposit food products on the first gate while the first gate is moving from the open position to the closed position.

A method of forming a stack of food products, the method comprising:

• sequentially forming a first row of food products on a first gate in a closed position;
• shifting the first gate from the closed position to an open position to move the first row of food products past the first gate and into a temporary storage compartment;
• shifting the first gate from the open position back to the closed position after moving the first row of food products past the first gate;
• sequentially forming a second row of food products on the first gate at least in part during the step of shifting the first gate from the open position back to the closed position;
• repeating the step of forming a row of food products on the first gate and shifting the gate from the closed to the open position to move the row of food products past the gate and into the temporary storage compartment;
• forming a stack of food products on a second gate provided in the temporary storage compartment;
• and
• shifting the second gate from an open to a closed position to release the stack of food products thereon into a storage container.