Apparatus and method for loading food articles

A loading apparatus comprising:

• a main conveyor adapted to convey a plurality of food articles;
• an indexing conveyor positioned beneath the main conveyor;
• a transfer member positioned between the main conveyor and the indexing conveyor, the transfer member adapted to transfer the food articles from the main conveyor;
• and
• a buffering mechanism associated with the transfer member and the main conveyor and adapted to move the transfer member and at least a portion of the main conveyor between a first position and a second position.

A method of loading food articles, comprising the steps of:

• transferring food articles from a main conveyor to an indexing conveyor by a transfer member;
• and
• moving the transfer member from a first position to a second position to create a buffer zone for placement of the food articles;
• and moving the main conveyor from the first position to the second position to create an additional buffer zone on a top surface of the main conveyor.

A loading apparatus comprising:

• a main conveyor adapted to convey a plurality of food articles;
• an indexing conveyor positioned beneath the main conveyor;
• a transfer member positioned between the main conveyor and the indexing conveyor, the transfer member adapted to transfer the food articles from the main conveyor;
• and
• a buffering mechanism associated with the indexing conveyor and adapted to move the indexing conveyor between a first position and a variable second position.