Restaurant Technology Inc.

James P Zavodsky

Edward L Ott

Carl D Deshich

A packing machine for tomatoes or the like has a rear portion with a low backline pressure conveyor arranged into plural lanes divided by tapered walls. The rear portion of the machine is reciprocated sideways so that bulk tomatoes entering the rear of the machine are distributed among the several lanes. Tomatoes are transported to a station where a paddle wheel with flexible arms prevents the forward progress of tomatoes until sensing apparatus determines that a plurality of lane positions are filled by tomatoes. Then a row of tomatoes are discharged through a front chute into a single layer carton. An escrow lane has entry and exit control devices which are responsive to a manually operated switch to add further tomatoes to the carton. The carton is at an incline and reciprocates back-and-forth so that tomatoes nest in a single layer, and are packed more densely thereby. The machine can pack by weight or by count.

Growing community of inventors

Schaumburg, IL, United States of America

James P Zavodsky