Patent ID: 8256191

Claim:
A method of shaping a food product, comprising; automatically pushing at least one food product through a product chute using an actuator driven pusher mechanism, the product chute sized and configured to compress the food product as the food product moves through the product chute with sufficient force to cause the food product to take on the shape of the chute cavity as the food product exits the product chute; pulling netting material from an exterior surface of the product chute to automatically enclose the food product in the netting material as the object exits the product chute; automatically extending a pusher head located at a forward end portion of the pushing mechanism out of the product chute; then retracting the pusher head back into the chute a distance; then applying at least one clip to the netting material using an automated clipper residing downstream of the product chute to secure the food product in the netting material; and translating the pusher head away from the clipper so that it resides upstream and outside of the product chute in a home position before repeating the automatically pushing step.