Patent ID: 8584828

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 comprising a thin piece of flexible material and having a leading end and a trailing end; and a drive moving the transfer device relative to the conveyor between an extended position and a retracted position, with the leading end located on the upper run of the conveyor in the conveying direction at a greater spacing from the upstream end in the extended position than in the retracted position, with the transfer device being moved from the extended position to the retracted position by the drive pulling the trailing end, with the transfer device being moved from the retracted position to the extended position by the drive pulling the leading end and independently of movement of the upper run of the conveyor.