Abstract: A method of packaging snack food chips, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a plurality of snack food chips as a shingled assembly of the snack food chips; (b) enclosing the shingled assembly within an elongate packaging container; (c) vibrating the shingled assembly supported so as to cause the snack food chips sequentially to fall from a free output end into the elongate packaging container while progressively translationally separating a closed end and the free output end to form a shingled stack extending away from the closed end; and (d) during at least a part of step (c), rotating the elongate packaging container so that the closed end while decreasing an angle of inclination such that the shingled stack is being progressively formed.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling three-dimensionally curved snack food chips. The apparatus includes a first conveyor for conveying a series of the snack food chips on a conveying surface and an inverting station located at an output end of the first conveyor. The inverting station includes an inverter configured for transferring the snack food chips from an output end of the first conveyor into contact with an internal concave surface of the inverter. A drive system for the inverter is configured to move the internal concave surface downwardly to cause movement of the snack food chips downward from an upper portion to a lower portion of the internal concave surface. A depositing station is located and configured for depositing the snack food chips from the lower portion of the internal concave surface onto a second conveyor configured for receiving snack food chips from the depositing station and conveying them away.

Abstract: An apparatus for conveying food slices, the apparatus comprising a conveyor element having an upper conveying surface, the conveying surface being downwardly inclined from an input end thereof towards an output end thereof, a vibratory actuator coupled to the conveyor element and adapted to cause vibratory motion of the conveying surface, the vibratory motion being at least partly in a direction along the conveying surface, and a liquid supply for supplying liquid onto the conveying surface to form a liquid film over at least part of the conveying surface.