Abstract: Apparatus for automatically inserting flat holder sticks into individual food products such as ice cream bars, wieners, etc, that are securely held in an insertion orientation relative to a plurality of feed paths in which sticks are ejected. Comprising the apparatus is an upstanding open hopper into which a batch of unaligned sticks is indiscriminately placed. The hopper overlies a plurality of parallel arranged agitating mechanisms each power operative to orient and dispense individual flat sticks gravity supplied from the hopper into a stacked relation within a plurality of individual spaced apart feed slots. A carriage supporting an ejection bar slidably contained in each of the feed slots is actuated continually for ejecting the bottommost stick outward from the bottom of each feed slot until inserted into the recipient product externally secured in the coincident feed plane adjacent to the apparatus.

Abstract: A transport device includes an elongated housing consisting of parallel spaced bars and end blocks. The housing is mounted for rotation on a pair of conveyor chains by support structure including longitudinally projecting shafts and bushings journaled on the shafts for coupling to the conveyor chain. Adjacent edges of the two housing bars define a support surface for the sticks to be transported. An elongated inner bar is confined between the housing bars for reciprocation, and has an activator rod at one end, extending axially into one of the support shafts and bearing against a cam rotatably mounted transversely at the distal end of that shaft. A spring urges an inner rod into engagement with the cam. The cam is configured to be engaged by support structures associated with the conveyor mechanism, to effect the shifting of the inner rod against the force of the spring.

Abstract: A stick hopper box has a floor and dividers mounted on the floor defining vertical guide channels for stacks of single rows of wieners. A plunger assembly includes individual plungers for expelling the lowermost wiener from the several guide channels into aligned clamps of a wiener clamping mechanism. A stick hopper for round sticks includes a box and transversely spaced dividers defining vertical guide channels for stacks of single sticks, the stick hopper guide channels being aligned with the wiener hopper guide channels and wiener clamps. A push rod mechanism, including individual push rods for each stick hopper guide channel, expels the sticks from the channel and inserts the sticks into wieners clamped in the wiener clamping mechanism.

Abstract: A stick holder is an accessory having an elongated body rectangular in cross-section, and having support brackets at each end including extending arms and transverse legs. The holder body includes transverse passages for receiving and clamping sticks, which are ejected from an adjacent stick box or hopper and urged into food articles or other articles retained in an article holder on the opposite side of the stick holder. To locate the stick holder in desired relation to the stick box, the stick holder and the apparatus have coacting structure to prevent relative movement. Guide blocks are mounted on the sides of the apparatus, adjacent to the ends of the stick box, and coact with the stick holder support brackets to provide a broader support base eliminating rocking movement of the stick holder about a longitudinal axis, to prevent movement of the stick holder away from the stick box, and to locate the stick holder laterally with some precision relative to the stick box.

Abstract: For inserting sticks into wieners or other articles, the apparatus includes: a wiener holder having an array of side-by-side wiener chambers; a stick box including an array of side-by-side feed grooves aligned with the wiener chambers; a push rod assembly including an array of side-by-side push rods for pushing the sticks from the feed grooves into the wiener chambers; and a power mechanism for reciprocating the push rod assembly. The stick box includes means for supporting and guiding respective stacks of sticks for each feed groove. The feed grooves are T-shaped in cross-section having a bar portion for accommodating flat sticks in free sliding relation; and the grooves accommodating push rods having a corresponding T-shaped cross-section for free sliding, reciprocating movement in the feed grooves. The push rods are held in a push bar with a clearance fit for self-guidance through these grooves.