Apparatus for automatically stuffing bakery products

Claim 3

An apparatus as per claim 1, wherein said chute is vibrated by means of an electric motor attached thereto which cooperates with a spring system said chute being provided with a rack midway of its slope and a rotating broom downstream of said rack for achieving an orderly travel of the pieces towards said conveyor.

Claim 4

An apparatus as per claim 1, wherein said filling up means comprises a box adapted for being vertically reciprocated towards and away from the upper side of said conveyor, which box is provided with as many vertical pistons projecting downwards as are the cavities in each length of the conveyor intermittently advanced; which pistons being regularly spaced at the same distance as said cavities are lowered into the latter with the reciprocating movement of said box; which pistons cooperate each with a switch contained in said box to open said switch whenever the corresponding cavity is filled with a piece; the switches of the pistons being connected in parallel to one another; a drawer adapted for being reciprocated crosswise of the conveyor from a position on top of it to a position beside it by means of a lever which contacts a cam on the apparatus main shaft; which lever is provided with a notched projection intended for engaging a catch pivotally mounted on the apparatus frame; a solenoid being provided in front of said catch which solenoid is electrically connected in series with said switches whereby whenever one only of the switches is closed and lets a signal pass through towards said solenoid, said catch is attracted and the lever released by which said drawer is reciprocated through a complete cycle.

Claim 5

An apparatus as per claim 1, wherein the stuffing device comprises a slide adapted for being reciprocated along horizontal guides of a frame integral with the apparatus frame in a direction at right angles to the conveyor and with its front side facing the same conveyor; said slide comprising the following components: as many horizontal cylinders as are the cavities in each intermittently advanced length of conveyor which cylinders are bored in the central section of the slide and communicate with a common manifold at the rear ends thereof; as many smaller hollow needles attached to the front side of the slide which communicate with the heads of said cylinders and are coaxial therewith; as many larger hollow needles with open tip attached to the front wall of a first chamber provided in front of said cylinder heads; said smaller needles being made to project across said first chamber and into said larger needles and coaxially thereto without reaching the free end of the latter; a second chamber being provided in front of said first chamber; said larger needles being made to paSs across said second chamber through holes in the opposite walls thereof with sliding fitting said cylinders being provided with as many pistons slidable therein which are connected a their back ends to a transverse common yoke the ends of which are slidably guided in two slits of two arms projecting rearwards from the slide and is connected to the guiding frame of the slide by means of a spring; a three arm lever being provided for moving said pistons along the cylinders by one of its arms while a second arm slidably abuts against a straight cam with adjustable slope and the third arm is pivotally mounted on two side brackets extending downwards from the slide; the reciprocating movement of the slide being obtained through a cam mounted on said main shaft of the apparatus which cam drives a lever to swing in a plane perpendicular to said shaft and is connected to the slide by a link.

Claim 6

An apparatus as per claim 4 wherein said first chamber is provided with an inlet fitting which through a line is connected to said blower, a space being provided around the front wall of said chamber and the smaller needles for letting the pressurized air into the space between the smaller and larger needles to aid the outflow of paste through the holes at the tip of the larger needles and clear the needles of the residual paste; and said second chamber is provided with an inlet fitting on top of it which through a line is connected to said blower and an outlet opening at the bottom whereby the tips of the larger needles are cleaned by a jet of air when withdrawn from the stuffed piece.

Claim 7

An apparatus as per claim 1, wherein said means for intermittently advancing said conveyor comprises a vertical lever pivotally mounted at its lower end on the apparatus frame; which lever is driven to swing in a vertical plane parallel to the conveyor by a button cam follower which fits into a substantially sinusoidal groove on the outer surface of a cylinder mounted on said main shaft which lever at its upper end is pivotally connected to a spring biassed ratchet which engages riblike projections at the bottom of said cavities.

Claim 8

An apparatus as per claim 1, wherein said pump for feeding said paste to the stuffing device comprises a vertical cylinder which is sunk into the paste contained in a tank; within which cylinder a piston is slidably mounted the rod of which extending upwards has a spring wound around it which forces the piston upwards; the walls of said cylinder being provided of ports for the inletting of the paste when the piston is at its lowermost position; an outlet with check valve being provided at the head of the cylinder; a lever being pivotally mounted on the apparatus frame which lever being pivotally mounted on the apparatus frame which lever at one end thereof abuts against a cam of said main shaft and at the other end abuts against the upper end of the piston rod, whereby the cylinder is filled up with paste when the piston at the end of its downwards stroke, discovers said inlet ports and said paste is kept under constant pressure by said spring.