Abstract: Whole oriented onions are sliced in a slicer by holding the onions on a horizontal cutter-bearing plate and by rotating the plate to continuously remove slices from the lower ends of the onions until the onions are fully sliced. Non-oriented onions are recirculated between a feed hopper and the conveyor leading to the slicer.

Abstract: In a conveyor line, a pasta stacking apparatus is provided wherein individual spaced strips of pasta such as lasagne are automatically counted and stacked in shingles for loading into a packaging machine. The apparatus comprises an upstream conveyor belt, a downstream conveyor belt disposed slightly below the upstream conveyor belt at a junction, clutch mechanism controlling the motion of the downstream conveyor belt, an air nozzle located below the upstream conveyor belt and disposed to direct the blast of air in a downstream direction across the junction, and a photo-sensor arranged to detect items crossing the junction for operating control apparatus and for tallying the number of items delivered to the junction. In operation, lasagne strips are transported along the upstream conveyor belt to the junction where the presence of each is detected by the photo-sensor as it drops to the downstream belt.