Patent ID: 7305933

Claim:
A seasoning apparatus that transports groups of articles supplied from an upstream apparatus to a downstream apparatus, said seasoning apparatus comprising: a transport unit that has a supply part and a discharge part, accommodates each of the groups of articles supplied at said supply part in separate sections, and is configured to transport each of the groups of articles to said discharge part, the transport unit further having a tube and a solid helical blade which is installed within said tube and forms a plurality of solid partitions provided between said supply part and said discharge part to form said separate sections, such that the groups of articles are accommodated in said separate sections and transported by moving said partitions from said supply part toward said discharge part; a seasoning feeding unit that is configured to spray seasoning only between a first partition and a second partition of said plurality of partitions onto each of the groups of articles in said separate sections, said first partition adjacent to said second partition; and a control unit that is configured to control said transport unit so that an article group supplied with seasoning is reciprocatingly moved toward said discharge part and toward said supply part, said transport unit configured such that seasoning sprayed onto the groups of articles is incapable of moving between adjacent sections.