Importance

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Abstract

A pair of endless belts define a downwardly extending path therebetween which progressively reduces in width from the top to the bottom, so that a material of a foodstuff is compressed while being fed downwardly by the belts through the path. A horizontal conveyor belt lies below the path and is indexed to transfer a predetermined cut length of the material to a shaping station where the material is pushed up into a shaped cavity of a flexible cup member. The flexible cup member is embraced by presser members to shape the material under a preselected adjustable pressure. The resulting block of material attains hardness and shape which would be provided by hand-shaping. Regardless of the hardness of the material in the downward path between the belts, the material can always be cut by each predetermined amount by adjusting the width of the path and, therefore, the degree of compression of the material.

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First Claim