Patent ID: 7673733

Claim:
In a packaging system for packing cases with product, a product metering system for metering first and second different products into a common lane in a controlled manner to result in a repeating sequence of X first product followed by Y second product in the common lane, where X and Y are whole numbers, the product metering system comprising: a first product lane along which the first product travels; a second product lane along which the second product travels; a first movable barrier associated with the first product lane and having a first position that obstructs progress of the first product and a second position that allows progress of the first product; a second movable barrier associated with the first product lane and having a first position that allows progress of the first product and a second position that obstructs progress of the first product, the second movable barrier upstream of the first moveable barrier and a spacing between the first movable barrier and the second movable barrier corresponding to the travel dimension of X first product; and the first product lane and second product lane merge into the common lane downstream of the first movable barrier.