Patent ID: 7793486

Claim:
A system for enclosing at least one target product in a covering material, comprising: an elongate product chute having an outer surface and opposing ingress and egress end portions with an interior cavity extending therethrough; an elongate breech loading chute having a primary chute body with a substantially constant non-vertical slope with opposing ingress and egress end portions, the primary chute body being disposed above and generally rearward of the product chute, the primary chute body sloping downwardly in a direction of product travel, wherein, in operation, the elongate breech loading chute is configured to introduce at least one product into a product travel path associated with the product chute; an automated product pusher mechanism residing under the breech loading chute having a pusher head that has a home position that is upstream of the product chute, wherein the automated pusher mechanism is configured to advance and retract the pusher head into and out of the ingress end portion of the product chute; and a clipper mechanism disposed downstream of the product chute, the clipper mechanism configured to apply at least one clip to a covering material that encloses a target product after at least a portion of the target product exits the product chute.