Patent ID: 7255224

Claim:
An endless conveyor for receiving, conveying in a conveying direction and delivering rotation-symmetrical products, said conveyor comprising: an endless transport mechanism moving in a conveying direction, a number of transverse elements mounted successively to the transport mechanism and extending perpendicularly to the conveying direction, a single roller on each successive transverse element, said transverse elements forming a row in the conveying direction, and wherein between each two successive rollers in the row there is a conveying position for a product, said transverse elements forming a lay-on conveyor portion and a successive downstream conveyor portion, wherein the transverse elements in the lay-on portion are situated in a first plane and wherein the transverse elements in the successive downstream portion are situated in a second plane, the first and second planes intersecting at a kink, and a placement unit provided above the lay-on portion and immediately adjacent the kink for initially placing successive groups of products in the conveying positions of successive rollers of the lay-on portion just upstream from the kink, such that, when a previously-placed group of products placed on the lay-on portion is moved downstream past the kink and completely onto the successive portion and a newly-placed group of products is then initially placed on the lay-on portion by the placement unit, a downstream one of the newly-placed group of products on the lay-on portion adjacent the kink is immediately adjacent an upstream one of the previously-placed group of products in the successive portion adjacent the kink, and such that there is a predetermined plane interspace between products of the newly-placed group placed by the placement unit in the lay-on portion and also between products of the previously-placed group in the successive portion, and wherein the first plane of the lay-on portion and the second plane of the successive downstream portion are situated at an angle therebetween which is greater than 180° as measured from above the portions such that the predetermined plane interspace is less than kink transition interspace between the downstream one of the products of the newly-placed group placed by the placement unit in the lay-on portion and adjacent the kink and the upstream one of the products of the previously-placed group located in the successive downstream portion and adjacent the kink.