Abstract: A card dispensing system for dispensing cards along a conveying surface which conveys sliced products downstream of a slicer for packaging the sliced products. A hopper contains a stack of cards which are withdrawn from the hopper by a suction force provided via at least one suction cup. The suction cup is moveable vertically to retrieve and remove the card from the hopper. The suction cup is moveable laterally to move the card into a receiving position where a card clamp on a clamp carriage arrives to receive the card. Suction force on the card is released when the card clamp clamps down on the card. The clamp carriage moves the card from the receiving position to the staging position where a nip engages with the card to feed the card through a junction in the conveyor line just as a food product passes over the junction.

Abstract: A card dispensing system for dispensing cards along a conveying surface which conveys sliced products downstream of a slicer for packaging the sliced products. A hopper contains a stack of cards which are withdrawn from the hopper by a suction force provided via at least one suction cup. The suction cup is moveable vertically to retrieve and remove the card from the hopper. The suction cup is moveable laterally to move the card into a receiving position where a card clamp on a clamp carriage arrives to receive the card. Suction force on the card is released when the card clamp clamps down on the card. The clamp carriage moves the card from the receiving position to the staging position where a nip engages with the card to feed the card through a junction in the conveyor line just as a food product passes over the junction.

Abstract: A card dispensing system for dispensing cards along a conveying surface which conveys sliced products downstream of a slicer for packaging the sliced products. A hopper contains a stack of cards which are withdrawn from the hopper by a suction force provided via at least one suction cup. The suction cup is moveable vertically to retrieve and remove the card from the hopper. The suction cup is moveable laterally to move the card into a receiving position where a card clamp on a damp carriage arrives to receive the card. Suction force on the card is released when the card damp damps down on the card. The clamp carriage moves the card from the receiving position to the staging position where a nip engages with the card to feed the card through a junction in the conveyor line just as a food product passes over the junction.

Abstract: A card dispensing system for dispensing cards along a conveying surface which conveys sliced products downstream of a slicer for packaging the sliced products. A hopper contains a stack of cards which are withdrawn from the hopper by a suction force provided via at least one suction cup. The suction cup is moveable vertically to retrieve and remove the card from the hopper. The suction cup is moveable laterally to move the card into a receiving position where a card clamp on a damp carriage arrives to receive the card. Suction force on the card is released when the card damp damps down on the card. The clamp carriage moves the card from the receiving position to the staging position where a nip engages with the card to feed the card through a junction in the conveyor line just as a food product passes over the junction.

Abstract: A system and method for electronically tracking and recording task-specific and location-specific information, including farming-related information, agricultural information, and other information. The system and method comprise a handheld unit having a simple-to-use, fully-customizable user interface that a farmer, for example, can carry with him during his daily tasks. Since the farmer is able to record agricultural-related information on the fly, the system and method facilitate the collection and compilation of highly-accurate information concerning the details of the farming operation. The information that is collected may be used, for example, in complying with various governmental rules and regulations.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for printing multi-color images onto a cylindrical body includes ink adhesion mechanisms that adhere different colors of ink to an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. Ink drying mechanisms are included for drying the different colored inks adhered to the cylindrical body after the completion of the respective ink adhesion processes. Each of the ink adhesion mechanisms is arranged such that a mandrel, about which the cylindrical body is held, is moved in an arc along the outer periphery of a cylinder-shaped blanket which is disposed around the outer peripheral surface of an blanket cylinder. Ink is applied to the cylindrical body from the blanket at a position where the cylindrical body contacts the blanket. The blanket cylinder is rotated about an axis thereof in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the mandrel. The mandrel is rotated about an axis thereof so that a relative velocity of the cylindrical body and the blanket at the contact portion is zero.