Sandwich machine

Claim 2

A sandwich making machine for automatically making sandwiches having toPping material located between two individual objects, said machine comprising, feeding means for receiving misaligned rows of objects and for automatically aligning said rows and feeding said aligned rows into said machine, first conveyor means for transporting said aligned rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of said objects, a sandwich station located downstream of said topping applicator means, pickup and inverting means located downstream of said layering station for picking up and inverting alternate untopped rows of said objects, second conveyor means located above said first conveyor means for transporting inverted untopped rows of objects from said pickup and inverting means back upstream to said sandwich layering station and, layering means at said sandwich station for placing rows of inverted untopped objects from said second conveyor means on the tops of alternate topped rows of objects passing said sandwich station.

Claim 3

The machine of claim 1 in which said first conveyor means is a continuously moving conveyor and in which, said layering means comprises a deadplate for receiving a row of inverted objects and a pusher plate for pushing said row of objects off of said deadplate onto a row of topped objects in synchronization with movement of a row of topped objects beneath said deadplate.

Claim 4

The machine of claim 1 in which said feeding means comprises a reciprocable pusher bar having pockets defined in the front side thereof for the reception of objects which are in misaligned rows when they arrive at said pusher bar, and trigger means for actuating said pusher bar and causing it to move forwardly in response to detection of a predetermined weight of objects in said pockets.

Claim 5

The machine of claim 3 in which said trigger means comprises a wire extending beneath said pockets which is electrically grounded by the weight of objects on said wire.

Claim 6

The machine of claim 1 in which said first conveyor means is an endless conveyor, said machine further comprising a synchronizing control means for synchronizing said first and second conveyor means, said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means, and said layering means.

Claim 7

The machine of claim 5 in which said synchronizing control means comprises a memory system including, a memory unit having an endless recording element of a length proportional to the length of said first conveyor means, means coupling said first conveyor means and said endless recording element so that said first conveyor means and said recording element each make even multiple revolutions in the same time, a recording means to apply a predetermined signal to the recording element at a position on said element upon placement of each row of objects on said first conveyor means, by said feeding means, and a pickup means responsive to said predetermined recorded signals on said recording element to actuate said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means, and said layering means in synchronization with the arrival of a row of objects at the appropriate position for actuation thereof.

Claim 8

The machine of claim 5 in which said memory unit includes a double channel memory element and said recording means is operable to record sequential signals on alternate channels, said pickup means being operable to actuate selected ones of said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means, and said layering means from signals from the two different channels.

Claim 9

The machine of claim 1 in which said pickup and inverting means comprises a stationary guide located above said first conveyor means and out of the path of travel of objects supported on said first conveyor means, a lifter element located beneath said first conveyor means and operable to lift alternate rows of objects into contact with said stationary guidE means and a rotatable drive wheel for moving said alternate rows of objects upwardly over said stationary guide means from said first conveyor means to said second conveyor means.

Claim 10

The machine of claim 1 in which said layering means comprises a deadplate for receiving a row of inverted objects and a pusher plate for pushing said row of objects off of said deadplate onto a row of topped objects in synchronization with movement of a row of topped objects beneath said deadplate.

Claim 11

A sandwich making machine for automatically making sandwiches having topping material located between two individual objects, said machine comprising, infeeding means for feeding unevenly spaced rows of objects into said machine at whatever rate said rows arrive at said infeeding means, continuously moving first conveyor means for transporting unevenly spaced rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, the spacing of said rows on said first conveyor means being determined by the rate at which said rows arrive at said infeeding means, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of said objects, a sandwich station located downstream of said topping applicator means, pickup and inverting means for picking up and inverting alternate untopped rows of said objects, intermittently movable second conveyor means located above said first conveyor means for transporting inverted untopped rows of objects from said pickup and inverting means to said sandwich layering station, and layering means at said sandwich station for placing rows of inverted untopped objects from said second intermittently movable conveyor means on the tops of alternate topped rows of objects as said topped rows move past said sandwich station on said continuously moving first conveyor means.

Claim 12

A sandwich making machine for automatically making sandwiches having topping material located between two individual objects, said machine comprising, infeeding means for feeding unevenly spaced rows of objects into said machine at whatever rate said rows arrive at said infeeding means, continuously moving first conveyor means for transporting unevenly spaced rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, the spacing of said rows on said first conveyor means being determined by the rate at which said rows arrive at said infeeding means, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of said objects, a sandwich station located downstream of said topping applicator means, pickup and inverting means for picking up and inverting alternate untopped rows of said objects, intermittently movable second conveyor means located above said first conveyor means for transporting inverted untopped rows of objects from said pickup and inverting means to said sandwich layering station, and layering means at said sandwich station for placing rows of inverted untopped objects from said second intermittently movable conveyor means on the tops of alternate topped rows of objects as said topped rows move past said sandwich station on said continuously moving first conveyor means.

Claim 13

The machine of claim 10 in which said infeeding means comprises a reciprocable pusher bar having pockets defined in the front side thereof for the reception of objects when they arrive at said pusher bar, and trigger means for actuating said pusher bar and causing it to move forwardly in response to arrival of a row of objects in front of said pusher plate.

Claim 14

The machine of claim 11 in which said trigger means comprises a wire extending beneath said pockets which is electrically actuated by the weight of objects on said wire.

Claim 15

The machine of claim 10 which further comprises a synchronizing control means for synchronizing said first and second conveyor means, said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means, and said layering means.

Claim 16

The machine of claim 13 in which said synchronizing control means comprises a memory system including, a memory unit having an endless recording element of a length proportional to the length of said first conveyor means, means coupling said first conveyor means and said endless recording element so that said first conveyor means and said recording element each make even multiple revolutions in the same time, a recording means to apply a predetermined signal to the recording element at a position on said element upon placement of each row of objects on said frist conveyor means by said feeding means, and a pickup means responsive to said predetermined recorded signals on said recording element to actuate said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means, and said layering means in synchronization with the arrival of a row of objects at the appropriate position for actuation thereof.

Claim 17

The machine of claim 14 in which said memory unit includes a double channel memory element and said recording means is operable to record sequential signals on alternate channels, said pickup means being operable to actuate selected ones of said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means, and said layering means from signals from the two different channels.

Claim 18

The machine of claim 10 in which said pickup and inverting means comprises a stationary guide located above said first conveyor means and out of the path of travel of objects supported on said first conveyor means, a lifter element located beneath said first conveyor means and operable to lift alternate rows of objects into contact with said stationary guide means and a drive system for moving said alternate rows of objects upwardly over said stationary guide means from said first conveyor means to said second conveyor means.

Claim 19

The machine of claim 10 in which said layering means comprises a deadplate for receiving a row of inverted objects and a pusher plate for pushing said row of objects off of said deadplate onto a row of topped objects in synchronization with movement of a row of topped objects beneath said deaplate.

Claim 20

A sandwich making machine for automatically making sandwiches having topping material located between two individual objects, said machine comprising, infeeding means for feeding unevenly spaced rows of objects into said machine at whatever rate said rows arrive at said infeeding means, continuously moving first conveyor means for transporting rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of said objects, a sandwich station located downstream of said topping applicator means, pickup and inverting means for picking up and inverting alternate untopped rows of said objects, intermittently moveable second conveyor means located above said first conveyor means for transporting inverted untopped rows of objects from said pickup and inverting means to said sandwich layering station, layering means at said sandwich station for placing rows of inverted untopped objects from said second intermittently moveable conveyor means on the tops of alternate topped rows of objects as said topped rows move past said sandwich station on said continuously moving first conveyor means, and synchronizing control means including a memory circuit for synchronizing said first and second conveyor means, said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means and said layering means.

Claim 21

A sandwich making machine for automatically making sandwiches having topping material located between two individual objects, said machine comprising, infeeding means for feeding unevenly spaced rows of objects into said machine at whatever rate said rows arrive at said infeeding means, continuously moving first conveyor means for transporting rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of said objects, a sandwich station located downstream of said topping applicator means, pickup and inverting means for picking up and inverting alternate untopped rows of said objects, intermittently moveable second conveyor means located above said first conveyor means for transporting inverted untopped rows of objects from said pickup and inverting means to said sandwich layering station, layering means at said sandwich station for placing rows of inverted untopped objects from said second intermittently moveable conveyor means on the tops of alternate topped rows of objects as said topped rows move past said sandwich station on said continuously moving first conveyor means, and synchronizing control means including a memory circuit for synchronizing said first and second conveyor means, said topping applicator means, said pickup and inverting means and said layering means.

Claim 22

A sandwich making machine comprising, feeding means for receiving misaligned and unevenly spaced rows of objects from an infeed conveyor and for automatically aligning said rows and feeding said aligned unevenly spaced rows into said machine, the spacing of said unevenly spaced rows when fed into said machine being determined by the rate at which said rows arrive at said infeeding means, main conveyor means for receiving said alinged unevenly spaced rows of objects and for transporting said aligned unevenly spaced rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of objects, and layering means for placing rows of untopped objects on the tops of alternate topped rows.

Claim 23

A sandwich making machine comprising, feeding means for receiving misaligned and unevenly spaced rows of objects from an infeed conveyor and for automatically aligning said rows and feeding said aligned unevenly spaced rows into said machine, the spacing of said unevenly spaced rows when fed into said machine being determined by the rate at which said rows arrive at said infeeding means, main conveyor means for receiving said alinged unevenly spaced rows of objects and for transporting said aligned unevenly spaced rows of objects in a forward direction through said machine, topping applicator means located in the path of travel of said conveyor for applying topping to alternate rows of objects, and layering means for placing rows of untopped objects on the tops of alternate topped rows.

Claim 24

The sandwich making machine of claim 19 in which said feeding means comprises a reciprocable pusher bar having pockets defined in the front side thereof for the reception of objects which are in misaligned rows when they arrive at said pusher bar, and trigger means for actuating said pusher bar and causing it to move forwardly in response to detection of the arrival of objects in said pockets.

Claim 25

The sandwich machine of claim 20 in which said trigger means is responsive to a predetermined weight of objects in said pockets.

Claim 26

The machine of claim 21 in which said trigger means comprises a wire extending beneath said pockets which is electrically grounded by the weight of objects on said wire.

Claim 27

The machine of claim 19 in which said main conveyor means is a continuously moving endless conveyor.

Claim 28

The sandwich making machine of claim 23 further comprising a synchronizing control means for synchronizing said feeding means, said topping applicator means, And said layering means.

Claim 29

The machine of claim 24 in which said synchronizing control means comprises a memory system including, a memory unit having an endless recording element of a length proportional to the length of said main conveyor means, means coupling said main conveyor means and said endless recording element so that said main conveyor means and said recording element each make equal multiple revolutions in the same time, a recording means to apply a predetermined signal to the recording element at a position on said element upon placement of each row of objects on said main conveyor means by said feeding means, and a pickup means responsive to said predetermined recorded signals on said recording element to actuate said topping applicator means in synchronization with the arrival of a row of objects beneath said applicator means.

Claim 30

The sandwich making machine of claim 19 further comprising a synchronizing control means for synchronizing said feeding means, said topping applicator means, and said layering means.

Claim 31

The machine of claim 26 in which said synchronizing control means comprises a memory system including, a memory unit having an endless recording element of a length proportional to the length of said main conveyor means, means coupling said main conveyor means and said endless recording element so that said main conveyor means and said recording element each make equal multiple revolutions in the same time, a recording means to apply a predetermined signal to the recording element at a position on said element upon placement of each row of objects on said main conveyor means by said feeding means, and a pickup means responsive to said predetermined recorded signals on said recording element to actuate said topping applicator means in synchronization with the arrival of a row of objects beneath said applicator means.