Patent ID: 8448777

Claim:
Apparatus for metering product comprising, in combination: a conveyor having an upstream end and a downstream end and including an upper run moving from the upstream end to the downstream end in a conveying direction and a lower run moving from the downstream end to the upstream end; a transfer device moveable relative to the conveyor between an extended position and a retracted position, with the transfer device comprising a first support having a leading end and a second support having a leading end, with the second support intermediate the first support and the upper run of the conveyor, with the leading end of the first support being intermediate the upstream end and the leading end of the second support, with the leading ends of the first and second supports located in the conveying direction at a greater spacing from the upstream end in the extended position than in the retracted position, with the leading end of the second support being spaced in the conveying direction from the leading end of the first support in the retracted position for a length generally equal to the product in the conveying direction, with the leading end of the second support being spaced in the conveying direction from the leading end of the first support in the extended position greater than the length to define a gap downstream of the leading edge of the first support, with the transfer device moving from the extended position to the retracted position opposite to the conveying direction.