Patent ID: 8851269
Filing Date: 2014-10-07
Classification: B65B,B65G,G01G,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of conveying and selectively discharging individual food products one at a time, the method comprising: i) providing a feeding system, comprising: ii) introducing the food products in bulk into the inlet end of the feeding system individually or in a partially overlapping relationship; iii) determining a first operational mode when no food product is present at the outlet end and no food product is present in the receptacle; iv) in the first operational mode, conveying, by the feeder, the food products in a direction from the inlet end towards the outlet end at a first average velocity; v) determining a second operational mode when a first individual food product is present at the outlet end and no food product is present in the receptacle; vi) in the second operational mode, conveying, by the feeder, the food products in a direction from the inlet end towards the outlet end at a second average velocity that is lower than the first average velocity; vii) determining a third operational mode when the first individual food product either leaving the outlet end or is received within the receptacle; and viii) in the third operational mode, stopping the feeder until the first individual food product has left the receptacle.