Patent ID: 7980381

Claim:
An apparatus for aligning a plurality of food products into a plurality of rows comprises: a first continuous belt conveyor; a second continuous belt conveyor adjacent the first continuous belt conveyor; a dispersal plate at a junction of the first continuous belt conveyor and the second continuous belt conveyor, the dispersal plate being articulable in opposing directions transverse to a conveying direction of the first continuous belt conveyor; an alignment apparatus disposed above the second continuous belt conveyor comprising: a plurality of longitudinal partitions extending along a portion of and substantially aligned with a conveying direction of the second continuous belt conveyor, the plurality of longitudinal partitions forming a plurality of channels above the second continuous belt conveyor; a plurality of guiding fingers disposed at a first end of the alignment apparatus, each guiding finger comprising a first portion disposed vertically and a second portion disposed horizontally and parallel to the conveying directions; and a plurality of actuators, each of the actuators coupled to a proximal end of the first portion of each respecting guide finger and operable to extend and retract the respective guide finger.