Transfer conveyor for frozen confections

Abstract

In a system for producing frozen confections without molds, a transfer conveyor is provided for picking up the confections from a freezer conveyor and dropping them on a wrapper conveyor which transfer conveyor includes a large number of carriages pivotally mounted in series to an endless chain. Each carriage has a pair of scissorable arms and tongs detachably mounted to the arms for engaging a confection. The arms are opened by a wedge mounted on a push rod, and a pneumatic cylinder is used at the drop zone to rapidly extend the push rod and thereby quickly open the tongs so that the confection will fall through a predetermined trajectory. The retracted position of the wedge and rod, and thus the closed position of the tongs, is controlled by a stop assembly that is slidably mounted on the carriage. The positions of the stop assemblies of the carriages can be sequentially reset as they engage an adjustable deflector mounted to the main frame, thus vastly reducing the switchover time to a new type of confection. A track arrangement is provided for supporting the free ends of the carriages and includes a rod at the pickup point that is vertically adjustable to select the height at which a confection is grasped. A mechanism is also provided for sensing when a confection is stuck to the freezer conveyor which operates to disengage the tongs from the stuck confection at the pickup point.