Patent ID: 8366523

Claim:
A feeding machine for a production line for a manufacturing of sausage-shaped products, which receive a flowable filling material in a tubular wrapper material, said feeding machine comprising: storage rods for suspending said sausage-shaped products which have a flexible suspension element on one of their ends, where the flexible guide element can be guided via one of the storage rods and can assume a closed configuration and an open configuration for arrangement along one of the storage rods; a device for mounting one end of a storage rod that is free at an other end, and a device for feeding said sausage-shaped products, suspended from their suspension elements, one after another to said storage rod and, under guidance of said suspension elements, depositing said suspension elements over a free end of said storage rod at spaced positions along said storage rod, said device for feeding said sausage-shaped products comprising: an endless conveyor with a strand running parallel to said storage rod; said endless conveyor having conveyor elements spaced at intervals to receive said suspension elements of sausage-shaped products one after the other; said conveyor elements being movable from a position holding said sausage-shaped products by their suspension elements into a position depositing said suspension elements onto said storage rod; and at least one control element arranged along said strand of the endless conveyor and producing a movement of said conveyor elements into their depositing position; said conveyor elements having hooks that are pivotable around horizontal axes from their position holding said suspension elements into their position depositing said suspension elements, and said at least one control element is a moving trigger element along said strand of said endless conveyor against its forward direction, which triggers a movement of said hooks from their holding into their depositing position, where said hooks are each comprised of two identical partial hooks that, before reaching a takeover position from said feeding machine, in which said sausage-shaped products can be taken over by their suspension elements by said conveyor elements, are congruent with one another and, after leaving a takeover position, are capable of spreading crosswise to a span of said strand against a spring force into a position keeping said suspension elements open, the feeding machine further comprising an actuating body, arranged in a return direction of said endless conveyor before said takeover position for said suspension elements, capable of moving said hooks, after the deposition of said sausage-shaped products on said storage rod, back into their position holding said suspension elements.