Cake Collator

A baker of snack cakes had a clever and compact device originally concepted by the Franklin Institute that moved cakes from 18 lanes into 3 lanes in a short length of production line. However, this device did not meet modern sanitary standards, was showing considerable wear, and was difficult to maintain, particularly since some of the components were inaccessible in housings that were welded shut.

Graybill designed and built a replacement cake collator unit in a more sanitary and serviceable execution that separated the product zone from the mechanism, while providing access to the mechanism by hinged doors.

Numerous design improvements lengthened component life, reduced mechanism play, and added the ability to do other pack styles. In addition, the output was reduced from 3 to 2 lanes to save the cost of one leg of packaging machinery. Several of these units have been built, as well as units of a similar style that go from 12 lanes to 2 lanes.