Patent ID: 7213809

Claim:
A product delivery apparatus comprising: a container indexing device for indexing rows of product receiving spaces in a container having rows and columns of product receiving spaces, a sheet feeding machine with a tray for containing a stack of product and a discharge mechanism for removing product from the tray and dispensing product, a linear motion table for supporting the sheet feeding machine such that the sheet feeding machine is translated perpendicular to the indexing of the container indexing device, whereby columns of product receiving spaces can be filled in the container, a controller for controlling, (a) the container indexing device to index a row of product receiving spaces in the container, (b) the linear motion table to translate the sheet feeding machine to position the sheet feeding machine over each column of the container, (c) the sheet feeding machine to deliver product to receiving spaces in the container, such that arrays of product receiving spaces in a container are filled by translating the sheet feeding machine over the rows, stopping the sheet feeding machine over each column in the rows, and dispensing a product from the sheet feeding machine into the product receiving spaces adjacent the sheet feeding machine, then indexing the container and filling the next row with product until the container is filled.