PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15906439
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-02
Publication Date: 2019-03
Patent Classification: ["198", "431000"]

Abstract:
A method and an apparatus are provided for the grouped arrangement, orientation and packaging of stacked food products like patty stacks. The method includes feeding a food product by a first feed belt in the direction of a first X-axis, and then ejecting the food product onto a second feed belt to form stacked food products. The method also includes transporting the stacked food products by the second feed belt along a Y-axis generally perpendicular to the X-axis and in the direction of an orientation mask which is arranged above the second feed belt. The stacked food products are oriented by contacting the orientation mask. The oriented food products may therefore be grouped together in oriented rows for packaging when further moved along the Y-axis by the second feed belt. The method and apparatus enable rapid orienting of various types of food products that are typically stacked and packaged.

Claim (Index 4):
The method of  claim 2 , wherein:\n the plurality of stacked products is successively ejected into a respective U-shaped compartment of the orientation mask so that the plurality of stacked products is arranged at a spacing relative to each other and form a first row on the second feed belt, the second feed belt produces a rearward movement of the first row of stacked products in the direction of the orientation mask whereby the stacked products are moved into a rounded configuration of the U-shaped compartments to be oriented in accurately positioned relationship, the second feed belt produces a forward movement of the oriented first row of stacked products, the first feed belt ejects additional ones of the plurality of stacked products, forming a further row of stacked products, the second feed belt produces a rearward movement of the products in the direction of the orientation mask, more specifically until the oriented first row of products has moved against the further row of products so that the two rows are substantially without a spacing relative to each other, and the second feed belt displaces an oriented group defined by the rows of the plurality of stacked products.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 10.0
- Percentile: 88.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.27536
- Patent Class: 198.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: none
- Component Type: 0
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['10075596', '11327836', '12606846', '12997379', '15668057']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7445860726538234
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4572210790413031
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7158495732925714
- Mean Citation Score: 182.504228
- Max Citation Score: 198.0593
- Similarity Product: 153.29967862122058

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test