Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture is disclosed which involves capturing portions of thermosealing packaging material such as film, stretching the film portions over the article to define isolated annuluses of contacting film, and severing the captured film portions together in isolated areas of the film for providing an annular seal about the article thereby providing a packaged article with the film and the annular seal tightly stretched over and conforming to the shape of the article. If the article is a living article such as a grapefruit, the packaging material is a gas permeable film which minimizes moisture migration from the article and from the package while permitting gases to diffuse into and out of the package slowing down the catabolistic destruction of the living article and resulting in greatly extended shelf life of the article.

Abstract: An apparatus for making wooden pallets includes a conveyor for moving a plurality of parallel stringers under a nailing machine where deckboards are nailed transversely across the stringers to form one side of the pallet. During operation of the preferred embodiment, the gripping carriage of the stringer conveyor normally propels in front of it one set of stringers, on which three bottom deckboards have already been nailed to form a half-pallet, and pulls behind it a set of stringers that have had no deckboards at all nailed thereto. As the stringer of the half-pallet move under the nailing machine, five deckboards are nailed to its upper surface to complete the pallet and, when the trailing stringers move under the nailing machine, a set of three deckboards are nailed thereto to form a half-pallet. At a point downstream from the nailing machine, the full pallet is discharged and the gripper carriage starts to move rearwardly.

Abstract: An apparatus for freezing confection material includes a plurality of separate mold strips which are indexed in a closely spaced single file over several longitudinally spaced, transversely extending rows of nozzles. Coolant is forced upwardly from the nozzles in single vertical jets which impinge perpendicularly against the mold strips midway between adjacent mold cups. The mold cups are arranged with their wide side faces extending in their direction of travel, and the single jets of coolant impinge upon wall portions of the mold strips which extend transversely between such opposing wide side faces. The heat exchanger for refrigerating the coolant includes a vertically super-imposed array of heat exchanger tubes that is located directly under the mold cups so that the coolant will drip from the mold cups onto the heat exchanger tubes. The coolant then cascades from upper to lower heat exchanger tubes and is refrigerated by the time it trickles into a collection housing situated below the heat exchanger.

Abstract: A stick inserter for inserting flat sticks into partially frozen confections in the molds of a confection machine forms a packed column of sticks in face to face engagement above a row of molds, a row of spaced thin blades is lowered and each blade forces a stick out of the column and into a confection. Upon retraction of the blades, pivotally mounted lower guide rails for the column, which have been lowered to accommodate stick insertion, are raised to restore displaced sticks back to their original positions in the column. In order to insure stick singulation, a jogging mechanism partially lowers the blades ad then retracts them slightly and a blade deflection plate releases previously deflected blades so that they spring against the faces of sticks adjacent to those to be inserted.