Patent ID: 7121940

Claim:
A system for making and loading sausages, comprising: a sausage stuffer/clipper; a rack loader; and a rack having a plurality of platforms; wherein the rack loader comprises a conveyor rotating on a frame in a path and having a loading side and an unloading side, the sausage stuffer/clipper being located adjacent the loading side and the rack being located adjacent the unloading side; a plurality of gimbals projecting from the conveyor; a plurality of trays each having an open first end adapted to receive a sausage from the stuffer/clipper on the loading side and each being suspended from a one of the plurality of gimbals; an arm within a cylinder mounted at a first end on the frame, the arm movable in a reciprocating manner from a first position proximal to the frame to a second position distal to the frame, the second position being in the path of the conveyor on the unloading side and adjacent a one of the plurality of platforms, the arm being configured to contact in the second position a one of the plurality of trays rotating in the path on the unloading side, to cause the one of the plurality of trays to rotate and to discharge a sausage carried on the one of the plurality of trays, onto the one of the plurality of platforms having a position adjacent the second position; the cylinder further slidably mounted at an intermediate position to a sleeve connected to the frame, the cylinder movable along the sleeve to orient the second position adjacent a different one of the plurality of trays; a step motor to rotate the conveyor; and a controller to control at least the motor and the arm.