Claims
- 1. An insertion device for inserting a stick in a food item, comprising:
a carrier; a first smooth belt mounted on the carrier; a first drive mechanism to drive the first smooth belt so that a portion of the first smooth belt moves along a stick drive direction; a second smooth belt mounted on the carrier; a second drive mechanism to drive the second smooth belt so that a portion of the second smooth belt moves along a stick drive direction; the stick captured between said portions of the first and second smooth belts to drive the stick in the stick drive direction.
- 2. The insertion device of claim 1 wherein the first and second smooth belts are formed of urethane.
- 3. The insertion device of claim 1 wherein each drive mechanism includes three rotatable shafts mounted in the carrier with a smooth wheel mounted on each of the shafts to support the smooth belt.
- 4. The insertion device of claim 3 further including a first drive motor to rotate a first of said rotatable shafts in said first drive mechanism and a second drive motor to rotate a first of said rotatable shafts in said second drive mechanism.
- 5. The insertion device of claim 4 wherein each of said three rotatable shafts has a toothed wheel mounted thereon, each of said drive mechanisms further having a toothed belt engaging the toothed wheels on said three rotatable shafts to ensure joint rotation of the three rotatable shafts.
- 6. The insertion device of claim 5 wherein each drive mechanism further includes a tensioner to tension the smooth belt and toothed belt.
- 7. The insertion device of claim 6 wherein each tensioner includes annular portions to extend between the smooth belt and toothed belt to maintain the belts on the wheels.
- 8. The insertion device of claim 3 wherein at least one of the smooth wheels has a groove to receive a portion of the smooth belt, the groove extending in the stick drive direction.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of pending application Ser. No. 09/880,697 filed Jun. 13, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/427,319 filed Oct. 26, 1999.
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09880697 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Child |
10340028 |
Jan 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09427319 |
Oct 1999 |
US |
Child |
09880697 |
Jun 2001 |
US |