Patent ID: 7874246

Claim:
A food product aligning device for aligning round food products on a conveyor, comprising: a frame; a plurality of conveying surfaces for conveying a plurality of streams of spaced apart food products in parallel lanes along a longitudinal direction, said plurality of conveying surfaces supported by said frame; at least one stop associated with each lane, wherein said at least one stop comprises a pair of pins, said respective conveying surface movable independently of said stop, said at least one stop being movable from a first position of non-interference with the food product conveyed on said respective conveying surface to a second position of interference with the food products conveyed on said respective conveying surface to halt conveying of the food products on said respective conveying surface wherein the first position is substantially parallel to the conveying surface; at least one actuator operatively connected to said stops to move said stops between said first and second positions; and a control operatively connected to said at least one actuator to effect movement of said stops with respect to said respective conveying surfaces.