Apparatus for forming a succession of mutually overlapping products

Apparatus for forming a succession of mutually overlapping products comprising:

• a rotatable vane wheel;
• said vane wheel having an axis of rotation;
• said vane wheel being comprised of a plurality of spaced apart discs, which are rotatable together around said vane wheel axis;
• said vane wheel discs having vanes thereon;
• a first guide wheel in the space between each pair of said vane wheel discs;
• all said first guide wheels having a rotation axis;
• said first guide wheel axis being offset from said vane wheel axis;
• a respective chain being placed near to said vane wheel and passing in the space between each pair of said vane wheel discs;
• each said chain having a plurality of product grippers thereon for gripping products held in said vane wheel;
• each said chain passing around and being guided by a respective said first guide wheel;
• means for driving said chain to move past said first guide wheel;
• each said first guide wheel and said chain therefor being so placed with respect to said vane wheel that said grippers each remove a product from a respective said vane as each said gripper moves by the respective said vane;
• first gripper opening means on said first guide wheels for opening said grippers as said chains pass said first guide wheels, thereby enabling said grippers to grip product on a said vane and to carry the product, along with said grippers on said chains, away from the said vane from which the product had been gripped;
• second gripper opening means remote from said first guide wheels for opening said grippers and for thereby releasing a product after it has been carried by said gripper away from the said vane that had held the product.