Patent ID: 7497064

Claim:
A method of loading product into a carton having a score line between a machine-side flap and a vertically aligned opening and a generally vertical carton sidewall, the method comprising: providing a bucket assembly having a gate and a lower portion forming a funnel having a funnel sidewall at an angle relative to a vertical, wherein the gate is connected to the bucket assembly by a hinge; loading the product into the bucket assembly; conveying the gate and the funnel on a product chain in a machine direction; conveying the carton on a carton chain in the machine direction in a synchronized manner with the product chain; positioning the funnel sidewall relative to the vertical carton sidewall; lowering a portion of the funnel into the carton with a cam; opening the gate away from the score line of the carton; vibrating the funnel with a first shaker to urge the product into the carton; vibrating the carton with a second shaker to urge the product into the carton; and streaming the product across the gate and along the funnel sidewall into the vertically aligned opening of the carton.