Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for grouping cookies, cracker, or other planar objects, and dispensing a group of said objects into a receptacle. A conveyor is provided which dispenses such planar objects into a substantially vertically-oriented stack. The height of the stack is controlled by providing a combination of a pressure sensor, which, through conventional circuitry, causes an object-supporting carriage to be indexed, depending upon the height of the object stack held by the carriage. Upon receiving a preset number of objects within the carriage, or upon a preset height of objects stacked being accomplished, the carriage is pivoted from a substantially vertical position into a substantially horizontal position, whereupon the group of objects is dispensed into a tray or other conventional receptacle. A dual-stack configuration is also contemplated.

Abstract: Cookies (15) are carried in random spaced series on a surface belt conveyor (11) toward the delivery end of the conveyor. The cookies are diverted by diverter (18) to one side of the conveyor until a predetermined number of the cookies has been counted, whereupon the diverter diverts the cookies to the opposite side of the conveyor. The group of cookies on one side of the surface conveyor moves downwardly about the delivery end of the conveyor belt, between the overhead conveyor belts (25) and (26), so as to change the cookies from a horizontal attitude to an edge standing attitude, and the groups of cookies are received in edge standing attitude in the receptacles (58) or (59). The receptacles progressively move outwardly beneath the delivery end of the surface conveyor as the cookies are counted by photocells (28) or (29), and air nozzles (65) or (66) direct a stream of air toward the last received cookie to hold the cookie in an edge standing attitude.

Abstract: Cookies 20 having irregularly shaped upper surfaces are received in an as-baked, horizontal attitude from the cookie oven first on a slick top belt conveyor 10, then on an edge abutment belt conveyor 11, where the cookies are delivered in edge abutment relationship to a timing belt 12. The timing belt delivers the cookies to cookie loading wheel 14 which reorients each cookie in series from the as-baked, horizontal attitude to an edge standing attitude and aligns each cookie with the preceeding cookie in the cell 56 or 57 of a turret 15. Once the cookies have been properly aligned in an edge standing attitude, the cookies are urged by the loading wheel into the cell, and after a predetermined number of cookies have been properly loaded, the turret is inverted so as to drop the cookies into an awaiting cookie tray 65.

Abstract: Cookies (18) and the like are moved in a horizontal, as-baked attitude from an oven and are automatically loaded in edge standing attitude in the semicylindrical cavities of a tray (146). The cookies are received in series from the cooling belt (19) that leads away from the oven onto a slick top belt, then moved in sequence to a backlog belt conveyor (22), to a timing belt conveyor (24), to a pin conveyor (12), to a loading wheel (13) and into a loading cell (106) of a turret. The slick top belt operates at approximately the same speed as the cooling belt leading away from the oven, and the backlog belt operates at a slower speed as necessary than the slick top belt so as to accumulate the cookies in edge-to-edge relationship. When the supply of cookies on the backlog belt has accumulated to the point where they are backing up on the slick top belt, the operational speed of the system is increased so that the speed of operation matches the operation of the oven.