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US 3,994,386 AGranted
Apparatus for producing individually wrapped sliced stacks of a comestible product
AssigneeToby Enterprises
InventorEdward P. Toby
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeToby Enterprises
InventorEdward P. Toby
Estimating the term…
An apparatus for handling individual sliced stacks of a comestible product includes a first roller dropper unit which arranges the output of a slicer into adjacent stacks, and drops the stacks onto a weighing scale. Accepted pairs of stacks are carried by parallel transfer conveyors to second and third roller dropper units which each accumulate two stacks, and which then drop them simultaneously onto a channelizer assembly. The channelizer assembly includes a plurality of parallel, drivable rollers mounted in a frame which is selectively translatable laterally in the direction of the roller axes. The channelizer receives four stacks from the roller dropper units, indexes laterally and receives four more stacks to form a 2.times.4 matrix. The rollers are then driven to unload the stacks onto a ramp conveyor which leads to a vacuum packaging machine. The ramp conveyor includes momentarily actuable stop tabs which bring the rows into exact alignment before being wrapped simultaneously.
A device for accumulating and delivering rows of stacks of articles, comprising a pair of support rails, a carriage slidably disposed on said rails and including a plurality of laterally disposed rollers extending parallel to said rails, drive means for selectively driving said rollers, translating means for driving said carriage reciprocally along said rails, said carriage including a support member at each end thereof, and said rollers extending between said support members and rotatably supported thereby, and wherein said drive means includes a rotatable shaft extending through one of said support members and linking means joining said shaft to said rollers.
A device for forming a plurality of articles, which are conveyed singly and successively from their source, into consecutive rows of articles comprising first means including a first roller dropper device for diverting said articles onto at least one conveyor line, and channelizer means disposed below said conveyor line for receiving said articles, said channelizer means including a carriage, said carriage including a plurality of parallel channelizer rollers for receiving and accumulating said articles in parallel rows, said carriage extending substantially further in the lateral width direction than said conveyor line so that said conveyor line deposits at least one column of said articles in a small width portion of said rollers, further including a translating means for selectively and reciprocally translating said carriage in the lateral direction to receive multiple adjacent columns of said articles on the remaining width portion of said rollers, and drive means for seletively driving said channelizer rollers to advance said rows of articles and deliver said articles in said spaced rows, said at least one conveyor line including at least one other roller dropper device disposed above said channelizer means, said other roller dropper device being disposed to deposit parallel, spaced columns of articles on said channelizer means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.