Patent ID: 7322310

Claim:
An apparatus for grasping and retaining a frangible conical confection shell, said apparatus comprising: (a) a carrier plate having first and second sides, the carrier plate having a plurality of receiving apertures, each receiving aperture adapted to accept a frangible conical confection shell from the first side; (b) a pair of support plates residing adjacent to the second side of the carrier plate and slidably coupled thereto, each of the support plates having a plurality of receiving apertures located to be aligned with the receiving apertures in the carrier plate and adapted to accept the frangible conical confection shell; (c) a retaining pin associated with each receiving aperture and residing adjacent to a bottom side of each support plate, each retaining pin having a pair of opposed arms moveable between a closed position and an open position for grasping and releasing a confection shell, respectively; (d) a guide post associated with each retaining pin, the guide posts for slidably coupling the support plates to the carrier plate and for securing each retaining pin; (e) an actuator pair associated with each retaining pin and attached to the bottom side of each support plate, the actuator pairs provided to move the opposed arms of the retaining pins between the closed position and the open position upon slidable displacement of the support plates; and (f) an actuating means for causing slidable displacement of the support plates.