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US 7,128,217 B2Granted
Bun laner
AssigneeThe Henry Group, Inc.
InventorJames T. Henry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bun laner sorts buns into a predetermined number of lanes, for providing buns to a packaging unit. The bun laner detects when some lanes are filling faster than other and closes those lanes while the other lanes fill. A vacuum may be used to hold buns in a filled lane in order to close the lane. An optical detection unit may be used to determine when a bun has been stationary at a certain position in the lane for a predetermined amount of time.
Claims11
A bun laner comprising:
- a staging area for holding a plurality of buns;
- a predetermined number of lanes into which buns from the staging area are channeled;
- a bun detection unit for detecting each lane having at least a predetermined number of buns;
- and
- vacuum means for selectively closing one or more of the lanes responsive to the bun detection unit.
2 more elements
A method of channeling buns into a plurality of lanes comprising the steps of:
- transferring a plurality of buns into a staging area;
- transporting the buns towards the lanes;
- detecting each lane having at least a predetermined number of buns;
- and
- selectively applying a vacuum to one or more of the lanes responsive to the detecting step.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.