Patent ID: 7497319

Claim:
A unit for feeding products in an ordered succession, comprising a conveyor unit with pockets in receipt of products from a dispensing device and extending thence along a predetermined path to a transfer station, an outfeed conveyor by which products are directed in succession and at constant pitch toward a user machine, and a transfer unit operating between the conveyor unit and the outfeed conveyor, wherein the conveyor unit comprises a first belt and a second belt placed one beside the other and set in motion by independent drive means, and the pockets are arranged in first and second groups alternated one with another along the predetermined path, each comprising a given number of pockets ordered at constant pitch and associated respectively with the first belt and second belt; in that the transfer unit comprises means by which products are ejected from the pockets and transferred at predetermined intervals to the outfeed conveyor, and in that the movement of the first and second belts is governed by a control unit in such a way as to establish a predetermined phase relationship with the operating frequency of the ejection and transfer means; wherein the ejection and transfer means comprise an elevating platform, set in motion cyclically by respective drive means, such as will remove the products fed by the conveyor unit at a selected pitch.