Patent ID: 7401694

Claim:
A loading system for loading dough balls onto a moving upper surface of a conveyor belt comprising a transport mechanism arranged to receive dough balls in a sequential stream and to deliver said dough balls to said moving conveyor belt at a speed equal to a speed of said upper surface of said conveyor belt, wherein said transport mechanism comprises a pocket wheel positioned above said upper surface of said conveyor belt, said pocket wheel having at least one depression in an outer circumference thereof to receive said sequential stream of dough balls and wherein said transport mechanism further comprises a servo motor drivingly connected to rotate said pocket wheel, including a control for receiving a signal indicative of a speed of said upper surface of said conveyor belt and for generating a signal to said servo motor to control a speed of said motor so that said dough balls carried in said at least one depression of said pocket wheel are delivered to said upper surface of said conveyor belt at said speed of said upper surface.