Ice cream sandwich collating apparatus

Abstract

Apparatus for collating ice cream sandwiches for packaging, includes a substantially flat dead plate; a conveyor which conveys the sandwiches in a first direction onto the dead plate; an optical detector which detects when a predetermined number of the sandwiches have been conveyed to a first position on the dead plate; a rodless air cylinder mounted above the dead plate and including a sliding plate for movement therealong and opposite air ports for controlling movement of the sliding plate by pressurized air supplied thereto; a mounting bracket fixed to the underside of the sliding plate and extending therefrom in a cantilevered manner; a pusher plate pivotally mounted by a pivot rod to the underside of the mounting bracket and retrained from moving past a limit position in a first direction by a stop pin secured to the mounting bracket, such that upon detection of a predetermined number of ice cream sandwiches on the dead plate by the detector, the sliding plate is caused to move from a start position to an end position such that the pusher plate biases the ice cream sandwiches off of the dead plate onto boxer infeed chute and upon reaching the end position, pressurized air is supplied to the opposite air port so as to quickly move the sliding plate back to its start position, whereupon the pusher plate is forced to pivot out of the way of incoming sandwiches substantially solely by air pressure without any mechanical devices so that subsequent articles can be conveyed onto the flat plate during movement of the pusher plate from the end position to the start position.