Loader machine
AssigneeAmerican Licorice Company
InventorsGerald R. Anderson, David M. Williams
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatic loading machine is provided for aligning and loading a predetermined amount of elongated strips of product into individual containers wherein batches of elongated strips are periodically discharged from a product feed. A turret assembly is provided which has a plurality of buckets and each of the batches from the product feed is received by a separate bucket. The turret assembly is continuously vibrated and, as each bucket moves through a horizontal path, the batches of elongated strips carried therein become somewhat more aligned. The strips are dropped out of the buckets onto a flight conveyor and are conveyed to a discharge point where each batch is transferred into a separate container.
Claims7
In an automatic loading apparatus for aligning and loading a predetermined amount of elongated strips of product into individual containers wherein batches of elongated strips are periodically discharged from a product feed, the improvement comprising:
- turret assembly means having a plurality of buckets, wherein said buckets move through a horizontal path, and wherein each of said batches from said product feed is received by a separate one of said buckets,
- turret vibration means for vibrating said turret assembly means to cause said batches of elongated strips to become somewhat more aligned, and
- bucket door means formed in each of said buckets for periodically emptying said batches from said buckets.
An automatic loading apparatus for aligning and loading a predetermined amount of elongated strips of product into individual containers wherein batches of elongated strips are periodically discharged from a product feed, comprising:
- turret assembly means adapted to rotate about a vertical axis, having a plurality of buckets arranged in a path around said vertical axis, wherein each of said batches from the product feed is fed into a separate one of said buckets,
- turret vibration means for vibrating said turret assembly means to cause said batches of elongated strips to become somewhat more aligned,
- bucket door means formed in each of said buckets for periodically emptyinq said batches from said buckets,
- flight conveyor means, having a horizontal pan and a plurality of flights, wherein each of said buckets empties its batch onto said pan between adjacent flights,
- pan vibrating means for vibrating said pan to cause further alignment of said elongated strips, and
- discharge means for transferring each of said batches from said flight conveyor means into a separate container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.