Sheet-interposing device for automatic slicing machine

In combination with a slicing machine that deposits foodstuff slices in a stack atop a support in a stacking station, a sheet-interposing device comprising:

• supply means including a roll of flexible sheet material and a feed roller for feeding in a direction to the stacking station a leading end of the sheet material having an area greater than an area of the stack in the station;
• means including a guide between the station and the roller for imparting to the sheet leading end an upwardly concave U-shape and thereby stiffening the sheet leading end so the sheet leading end projects horizontally stiffly from the guide above the station;
• means including a cutter movable between the guide and the station for cutting off the sheet leading end and dropping the cut-off end down in the station atop the support when the station is empty and, when there is a stack on the support, atop the stack on the support with a periphery of the dropped cut-off sheet projecting horizontally past the stack on the support;
• and
• means including an annular heat-sealing tool engageable downward with the periphery of the cut-off sheets on the support all around the stack for enclosing the stack in the cut-off sheets.