Patent ID: 7354338

Claim:
An apparatus for transferring a stick with a food product such as a sausage suspended therefrom, comprising: stick supporting and relaying means disposed along a plurality of suspending hooks for suspending the food product such as the sausage, for being supplied with and supporting thereon a stick from which the food product transferred from the suspending hooks is suspended; stick removing and supporting means having a pair of movable members for removing from said stick supporting and relaying means at a position opposed to said stick supporting and relaying means a stick which is supported at both end portions thereof by said stick supporting and relaying means and from which the sausage or the like is suspended, and for supporting the stick at the both end portions; moving means for moving said stick removing and supporting means while maintaining a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the stick extending when the stick was supported at the both end portions by said stick supporting and relaying means, so as to transfer in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the stick the stick which is supported at the both end portions by said stick removing and supporting means to a predetermined position above conveying means located at a predetermined distance in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the stick from a position opposed to said stick supporting and relaying means; said conveying means including conveying wrapping connector means traveling in a direction intersecting a moving direction of said moving means and for conveying a plurality of sticks placed on said conveying wrapping connector means; and lowering means for lowering the stick toward said conveying means so as to deliver to said conveying means the stick which has reached the predetermined position, wherein said stick removing and supporting means is configured to reciprocate together with said moving means between the position opposed to said stick supporting and relaying means and the predetermined position above said conveying means while maintaining the direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the stick extending when the stick was supported at the both end portions by said stick supporting and relaying means.