Abstract: Articles are counted into groups and deposited on a conveyor by each of several assemblies arranged along the conveyor. The assemblies are positioned and synchronized so that each assembly deposits articles directly on top of the articles deposited by the previous assembly to form stacks of articles. Each assembly includes a pair of wheels having vacuum ports around their periphery to carry articles and a serrated pick off wheel of smaller diameter positioned between the vacuum wheels. The pick off wheel removes articles from the end of a delivery chute and positions them on the vacuum wheels. The serrations are discontinuous around the periphery of the pick off wheel to count off spaced groups of articles.

Abstract: A system for producing cracker meal by reclaiming baked products such as crackers and cookies from broken and rejected packages. The packages are shredded to break up the product and reduce the packaging material to strips so as to release most of the product from the confinement of the package. The strips of packaging material which are free of product are separated by aspiration from the product prices and the package portions, such as corners, still containing product pieces. The product pieces and remaining wrapper sections are passed through a mill which reduces the product pieces to a fine meal without cutting the wrapper pieces. The cracker meal is separated from these wrapper pieces by means of a shaker screen.

Abstract: Large sheets of rigid cookie wafers carried by a first conveyor are longitudinally divided by a saw. The resulting small sheets are laterally spaced and each is fed between positioning guides onto a pair of edge support members positioned over a second conveyor extending at right angles to the first conveyor. Each support member is mounted on a pair of arms extending upwardly from a rotatable shaft passing beneath the second conveyor. The pair of shafts carrying each pair of edge support members are rotated simultaneously in opposite directions by a cam driven lever arrangement to separate the support members allowing the sheet supported thereby to drop upon the seond conveyor. Separate cams control each pair of shafts and the two sheets are dropped in sequence to provide an uninterrupted flow of evenly spaced sheets on the second conveyor.

Abstract: Products having at least an outer layer of a hot semi-liquid material which crystallizes and hardens upon cooling are placed on a conveyor and transported through a cooling tunnel. Within the cooling tunnel, the product is initially subjected to a high voltage field producing a corona current to accelerate initial cooling. The product is moved out of the field while the surface is still semi-liquid and subjected only to the cool air environment of the tunnel while the surface crystallizes and hardens. The product is then moved into a second high voltage field producing a corona current to remove heat from the inner regions of the material to inhibit remelting of the surface after the product exits the cooling tunnel.