DE102022106471A1 - Insertion feed unit and method for its operation - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to keep the overall length of an insert feed unit (30) short despite high variability, a buffer (40) with several levels one above the other, i.e. a buffer shelf (40), in particular a buffer belt shelf (40), is selected and used as an insert - or removal unit before/after there is no rocker, but rather a height-adjustable insertion belt/removal belt, which ensures greater positioning accuracy of the articles (A) in the buffer (40).

Description

I. Area of application

The invention relates to a feed unit, in particular for weight-controlled articles - for example individual slices or portions composed of slices - for example from a slicing machine, in particular a slicer, with which in the food industry strands of an only slightly compressible product such as sausage or cheese are cut into slices e.g. to be fed to the insertion point of a packaging machine.

Although such an insertion feed unit usually does not itself carry out the insertion process into the packaging machine, but rather a downstream insertion belt, it is referred to in jargon as an inserter or insertion line.

II. Technical background

The insertion feed unit receives the articles, for example, from a slicer - which will be discussed exclusively below without restricting the invention to this design of slicing machines - which usually includes a discharge unit, which then feeds the feed unit to the insertion unit. Feed unit can be and delivers the items in one or more lanes.

It is known to provide a buffer for the slices or in particular portions produced within an insert in order to bridge the production break of usually 5 - 10 seconds that occurs when the slicer is reloaded and to be able to operate the packaging machines continuously without a break.

The buffers often have a large length due to long ones, for example according to the EP 2 030 898 B2 Buffer belts arranged in just one floor or according to the DE 10 2014 117 392 A1 or the EP 2 878 556 B1 buffer belts arranged one above the other in only two or three levels with rocker belts at the beginning and end, and which also did not allow random access to each of the items stored on such a buffer belt.

Furthermore, for reasons of efficiency, both the packaging machine and the upstream slicing machine are usually designed to have multiple tracks, in that several e.g. calibers lying next to one another are usually cut open in the slicing machine at the same time.

However, common packaging machines are usually not designed for individual packaging to be carried out one after the other, but rather produce several individual packages in the form of a packaging unit at the same time or in quick succession in one work step. The shape and dimensions of this packaging unit determine a two-dimensional arrangement defined in the longitudinal and transverse directions, a so-called format set, in which the articles - usually portions of several slices - must be transferred to the packaging machine.

III. Presentation of the invention

a) Technical task

It is therefore the object according to the invention to provide an insertion feed unit and an insertion supply unit - consisting of a slicing machine such as a slicer and an insertion feed unit - which enables a short design, as well as a method for this Operation, which in particular also enables the creation of format sets

b) Solution to the task

This task is solved by the features of claims 1, 11 and 14. Advantageous embodiments result from the subclaims.

An insertion feed unit typically includes a buffer insertion unit for the delivered items and a buffer removal unit for removing and passing on the delivered items in the direction of flow, as well as a buffer in between in which the items can be temporarily stored in order to accommodate the temporarily different working speeds as flexibly as possible of upstream and downstream work units or to be flexible when putting together portions in particular, as well as a control that controls the movements of the moving parts.

The buffer can be designed as a buffer shelf and have several buffer levels one above the other, in particular in the form of buffer bands one above the other.

It is known that at least one of the several successive units, in particular belts, which transfer the articles to one another, of the insertion feed unit, preferably in front of the buffer, is designed as a path unit, in particular a weighing belt, in order to weigh the article lying thereon can. A different design of a weighing station than designing one of the belts as a weighing belt is also possible.

Downstream of such a weighing station, there is often a switch in or in front of the insertion feed unit for removing articles with incorrect weight from the main conveyor line to a secondary conveyor line, in particular a reject line.

According to the invention, the buffer insertion unit - hereinafter referred to as insertion unit - and/or the buffer removal unit - hereinafter referred to as removal unit - is designed to be height-controlled in order to enable flexible loading and unloading of the buffer.

The buffer shelf is preferably designed as a buffer belt shelf, with an endlessly rotating buffer belt on each floor, since these are easily and inexpensively available as standard components.

The buffer insertion unit is preferably a belt insertion unit with at least one endless, circumferential insertion belt, preferably with the upper run running approximately horizontally, so that no change in the length of the insertion belt is necessary when the height is shifted.

For the same reason, the buffer removal unit is preferably designed as a belt insertion unit with at least one endless, circumferential insertion belt, preferably with the upper run running approximately horizontally.

In this case of an insertion belt and/or a removal belt in the respective unit, height-displaceable means that at least the upper strand, in particular the entire belt, can be displaced in height in a controlled manner over its entire length and not just as in one Rock either end of the band unit. The beginning and end of the respective unit, i.e. insertion unit and/or removal unit, should therefore maintain their relative height distance - which is zero in the case of a horizontal course - despite the height shift of the corresponding unit.

The insertion unit and/or the removal unit can be kept short in the transport direction by only having to be long enough to accommodate the number of items to be placed one behind the other, while when using a rocker belt this must not exceed a certain gradient .

Above all, however, the buffer can have a much larger number of floors in this way than was previously the case with buffer belts running one above the other, between which a rocker belt is used to distribute, namely preferably at least three floors, preferably at least five floors , better at least eight floors, which does not cause increasing problems due to an insertion unit and/or removal unit that can be moved along the entire height of the buffer, while a rocker belt can reach a maximum of two or three floors of an adjacent buffer shelf because of the pivoting of the rocker As the gradient increases, the decreasing length in the direction of travel causes additional difficulties.

Only when the insertion unit and/or the removal unit comprise three or even more floors can it make sense to make the distance between the individual floors changeable in a controlled manner, then preferably in such a way that it can be adjusted in steps to facilitate control and in particular an integer one or more times the floor distance of the buffer.

Preferably, the insertion unit and/or the removal unit itself has several floors, in the case of a design as a belt unit, therefore several insertion belts or removal belts one above the other with a certain, usually fixed distance, in particular the contact surfaces of the upper strands of these belts from one another. This makes loading and unloading even more flexible.

The floor spacing - which is generally the same between all floors of the unit - then preferably corresponds to the floor spacing of the buffer - which is also the same across the entire buffer - and the same applies to the removal unit, which makes controlling the depositor easier.

Then it is also sufficient if the drive for the insertion unit and/or removal unit is designed in such a way that the respective unit can only be moved in height in steps, namely the integer one or multiple times of a floor distance, in particular the buffer, in order to to bring the upper run of the unit into an approximately aligned position with a floor, in particular the upper run of a buffer belt.

• Selbst bei einer Einlegeeinheit mit nur einer Etage kann diese den einen oder die mehreren auf ihr liegenden Artikel nach entsprechender Höhenverlagerung auf jeder gewünschten - sofern freien - Etage des Puffers an diesen übergeben, ohne dabei eine bestimmte Reihenfolge einhalten zu müssen.

In this way, the insertion feed unit can be used very flexibly:

• Even with an insertion unit with only one floor, it can transfer the one or more items lying on it to each desired - if free - floor of the buffer after a corresponding height shift, without having to adhere to a specific order.

Removal is also possible in the same way from any level of the buffer.

If there are several items in a row on the insertion unit in the direction of flow, they do not all have to be transferred together to the buffer, i.e. a specific level of the buffer, but the first item could be transferred to a first level, the second or further items to a second or different floor of the buffer. In this way, sorting and arbitrary grouping of the items in the buffer can be carried out

Even if the insertion unit can only hold one article in the transport direction, while the level of the buffer can accommodate several, any group formations can be carried out in the longitudinal direction on each level of the buffer, for example depending on the determined weight of the individual article or other parameters.

Compliance with certain loading and unloading strategies, such as first in, first out and others, is also possible at any time.

Analogously, the removal unit can have such a length in the transport direction that it can accommodate one or more articles one behind the other in the transport direction, in particular the same number as a floor, in particular a buffer belt, of the buffer, or even a larger or smaller number. The same applies to the insertion unit.

If the insertion unit and removal unit are at the same height and there is a floor, in particular a buffer belt, of the buffer between them at the same height, articles can only be transported through the buffer without buffering, in addition to the transport time for transporting them through the buffer cannot be buffered in the buffer in the transport direction, for example during the normal slicing operation of a caliber or a certain phase of the slicing operation.

In terms of its capacity, the buffer is preferably designed so that it can supply the downstream machine, usually a packaging machine, even during the downtime of the slicing machine while it is being reloaded with product pieces, in particular calibers, which are usually 5 - lasts 10 seconds. During this time, the buffer is not loaded, but only articles are removed from the buffer and forwarded by the removal unit to the downstream machine.

The flexibility of the insertion feed unit can be further increased by the multi-level buffer itself also being able to be moved in height in a controlled manner, and if necessary even the distance between the levels between the levels of the buffer can be changed in a controlled manner, which, however, increases the design and control effort massively increased for such a depositor.

Preferably, the entire insertion feed unit is designed for multi-lane operation, i.e. for receiving several items next to each other in the transverse direction, which are then usually delivered by a multi-lane slicing machine.

The feed unit and/or the buffer and/or the removal unit are then preferably designed to have multiple tracks in such a way that when conveyor belts are used in these units and/or in the buffer, the conveyor belts have a width that extends over several, in particular all, tracks of the multi-lane insert feed unit.

Since the often downstream packaging machine often specifies a specific - two-dimensional - format, a so-called format set, for the arrangement of the items to be transferred to the packaging machine in the transport direction and transverse direction, with an insert feed unit designed in this way, the desired format set can either already be on the buffer supply unit, or first in the buffer, but at the latest in the buffer removal unit.

With regard to an insertion supply unit, which, in addition to the insertion feed unit, also includes an upstream single-lane or multi-lane slicing machine with a discharge unit, the existing task is solved in that the insertion feed unit is designed as described above.

In particular, the discharge unit of the slicing machine can include a weighing station, in particular a weighing belt, for weighing the individual articles.

The buffer feed unit of the insertion feed unit is arranged downstream, in particular immediately downstream, of the discharge unit of the slicing machine and / or the buffer removal unit of the insertion feed unit is upstream, in particular immediately upstream of an insertion point, in particular an insertion belt, arranged in a packaging machine. In this way, an optimally short production and packaging line can be created.

In the case of a multi-lane insertion supply unit that includes a multi-lane slicing machine, the transport medium is the one laying unit, in particular the insertion tape for insertion into the buffer, in particular also the storage area, in particular the buffer tape, on the individual floors of the buffer, is designed to be continuous across the width of several, in particular all, tracks.

The discharge unit of the slicing machine, on the other hand, generally has a separate and, in particular, independently controllable discharge conveyor, in particular discharge belts, for each track.

In order to be able to form continuous article rows across the width, a conveyor belt with a width that extends over several, in particular all tracks, which is called a line belt, is then preferably arranged between the discharge unit of the slicing machine and the insertion feed unit For the first time, one, usually only one, article line is produced on it, running in the transverse direction.

Theoretically, the insertion unit, in particular the insertion belt, could also serve as a line belt, but on such an insertion belt several articles are often placed one behind the other in the transport direction, which makes it possible to produce articles that are correctly positioned relative to one another in the transverse direction in the form of such an article. line makes it difficult.

If only one line of articles is initially created on it using the line conveyor and this is transferred to the subsequent insertion unit, in particular the insertion conveyor, the positioning of the articles in the transport direction relative to one another is more precise, especially if they are two-dimensional Format sets of products should be created according to the format of a subsequent packaging machine, which requires the items to be positioned as precisely as possible relative to one another.

Between the discharge unit of the slicing machine and the insertion feed unit, there can also be an alignment belt, which effects the alignment of the articles, in particular their positioning relative to one another in the transport direction, and/or an expansion belt with which the transverse distance between the individual tracks and thus the items transported on them is adjusted.

• - Zunächst muss die Einlegeeinheit, bei mehr-etagiger Bauform mit einer ausgewählten ihrer mehreren Etagen, insbesondere Einlege-Bändern - hinsichtlich der Auflagefläche - bei einem endlos umlaufenden Förderband die Oberseite von dessen Obertrum - auf die Höhe einer anliefernden Einheit gebracht werden.
• - Dann wird wenigstens ein Artikel, insbesondere pro Spur, von der anliefernden Einheit übernommen.
• - Durch Relativ-Bewegung zwischen Einlegeeinheit und Puffer, die in der Regel nur durch Bewegen der Einlegeeinheit bewirkt wird, wird die mit dem übernommenen Artikel besetzte Etage der Einlegeeinheit auf Höhe der gewünschten Etage des Puffers gebracht und
• - wenigstens einer der Artikel, insbesondere pro Spur, von der Einlegeeinheit an diese gewünschte Etage des Puffers übergeben.

Regarding the procedure for operating a loading feed unit as described above, the loading and unloading process of the buffer is as follows:

• - First of all, the insertion unit, in the case of a multi-level design with a selected one of its several levels, in particular insertion belts, must be brought to the height of a delivering unit with regard to the support surface - in the case of an endlessly rotating conveyor belt, the top of its upper run.
• - Then at least one article, especially per track, is taken over by the delivering unit.
• - Through relative movement between the insertion unit and the buffer, which is usually only caused by moving the insertion unit, the level of the insertion unit occupied by the item taken over is brought to the level of the desired level of the buffer and
• - At least one of the articles, in particular per track, is transferred from the insertion unit to this desired level of the buffer.

It is clear that for a transfer between two conveyor belts following one another in the transport direction, they must be driven in a controlled manner in the transport direction, i.e. they must be started at the right time, driven at the right speed and stopped again at the right time.

• - Zunächst muss die Etage des Puffers festgelegt werden, aus der ein - bei in Transportrichtung hintereinander mehreren der in Transportrichtung vorderste - Artikel entnommen werden soll.
• - Dann wird durch Relativ-Bewegung zwischen Entnahmeeinheit und Puffer, die in der Regel durch Höhenverlagerung nur der Entnahmeeinheit bewirkt wird, die Entnahmeeinheit, insbesondere deren gewünschte Etage, auf die Höhe der vorgesehenen zu entladenden Etage des Puffers gebracht.
• - Dann kann der wenigstens eine gewünschte Artikel, insbesondere pro Spur, von dieser Etage des Puffers übernommen werden auf die Entnahmeeinheit.
• - Anschließend wird die Entnahmeeinheit, insbesondere die Etage, auf der sich der entnehmende Artikel befindet, auf die Höhe einer in Transportrichtung nachfolgenden, abfördernden Einheit gebracht.
• - Dann kann dieser wenigstens eine Artikel von der Entnahmeeinheit an die abfördernde Einheit übergeben werden.

Discharging works in the opposite way:

• - First, the floor of the buffer must be determined from which an article - if there are several of the items at the front in the transport direction - is to be removed.
• - Then, by relative movement between the removal unit and the buffer, which is usually brought about by shifting the height of only the removal unit, the removal unit, in particular its desired floor, is brought to the height of the intended floor of the buffer to be unloaded.
• - Then the at least one desired article, in particular per track, can be transferred from this level of the buffer to the removal unit.
• - The removal unit, in particular the floor on which the item being removed is located, is then brought to the height of a conveying unit following in the transport direction.
• - Then this at least one article can be handed over from the removal unit to the transporting unit.

It should be made clear that the individual steps described do not have to be carried out immediately one after the other.

For example, in the case of an insertion unit with several floors, several or even all floors of the insertion unit can first be filled with one or more items per track before this insertion unit - after a corresponding height shift and, if necessary, also a relative height shift between the individual loading processes - is relative to a certain height is brought to the buffer and the items from the individual floors of the insertion unit are transferred - preferably simultaneously - to the aligned floor of the buffer, which greatly accelerates the loading process.

The same thing is possible in reverse on the withdrawal side, which enables withdrawals from the buffer in a significantly shorter time.

As a rule, when slicing one or more calibers in parallel, the items - be they individual slices or portions made up of several slices - are produced at a shorter cycle than the cycle required by the packaging machine. Therefore, during the slicing operation, some of the articles, for example every second article, can be stored in the buffer and the packaging machine can be supplied with articles from the buffer if the slicing machine does not deliver any articles for a few seconds due to reloading.

With a buffer that is fixed at a fixed height, the insertion unit could convey an article through the buffer and deliver it directly to the packaging machine via the removal unit, while the next article, as soon as it is on the insertion unit, is raised and stored, for example, on the top floor of the buffer after which the insertion unit moves back down into the receiving position.

If, on the other hand, the buffer itself can also be moved in height, for example step by step by one floor distance, then at the start of the cutting process the buffer could have its top floor at the height of, for example, the 1-story insertion unit and, for example, the first arriving article in the top one Level of the buffer are stored, then the buffer is raised by one level and the next or one of the next articles is conveyed through this empty level of the buffer and immediately handed over to the removal unit. The third product, for example, can then be placed back in the empty level of the buffer that was previously used for conveying through and this in turn can be moved up one level apart, etc. until the buffer is completely filled or the cutting of this caliber or caliber layer is finished .

This process can be made even more flexible with a multi-tier insertion unit and/or removal unit.

With a multi-lane feed insertion unit behind a multi-lane slicing machine, two-dimensional format sets of articles can also be formed in the insertion feed unit, in particular its insertion unit, or even in the buffer or even the removal unit, with one-dimensional format sets of articles preferably already being formed for this purpose. Item lines running in the transverse direction are transferred from an upstream line conveyor to the insertion feed unit.

Regardless of how many items in a row in the transport direction the insertion unit, the buffer and / or the removal unit can hold, which should in particular be the same number, not all of the items in a row in the transport direction have to be handed over at once, but can only be handed over one at a time one of the articles lying one behind the other is transferred from the insertion unit to the buffer and / or from the buffer to the unloading unit, and before repeating this step with the next article, other steps, such as putting another article in and out of storage, shifting the height of one of the assemblies, etc. - be performed.

c) Embodiments

• 1a, b: eine Aufschneide-Maschine in Form eines Slicers gemäß dem Stand der Technik in unterschiedlichen perspektivischen Ansichten, mit in die Aufschneidestellung hochgeklapptem Zufuhrband,
• 1c: die Aufschneide-Maschine der 1a, b in der Seitenansicht mit entfernten Verkleidungsteilen, sodass die verschiedenen Förderbänder besser zu erkennen sind
• 2a: einen gegenüber 1c vereinfachte Seitenansicht der Aufschneide-Maschine, beladen mit einem Produkt-Kaliber,
• 2b: eine Seitenansicht gemäß 2a, aber mit in die Beladestellung herabgeklapptem Zufuhrband und bis auf einen Kaliber-Rest aufgeschnittenen Produkt-Kaliber,
• 3a: eine erfindungsgemäße Einlege-Zufuhreinheit in der Aufsicht von oben in einer dreispurigen Bauform stromabwärts einer Aufschneide-Maschine,
• 3b: den Anfang einer erfindungsgemäßen Einlege-Zufuhreinheit für einen größeren Spurabstand in der Aufsicht von oben in einer dreispurigen Bauform stromabwärts einer Aufschneide-Maschine,
• 4a - d: eine Einlege-Zufuhreinheit in verschiedenen Bauformen in der Seitenansicht,
• 5: die Bauform der 4a in der Seitenansicht stromabwärts einer Aufschneide-Maschine.

Embodiments according to the invention are described in more detail below by way of example. Show it:

• 1a, b : a slicing machine in the form of a slicer according to the prior art in different perspective views, with the feed belt folded up into the slicing position,
• 1c : the slicing machine 1a, b in the side view with the paneling parts removed so that the various conveyor belts can be better seen
• 2a : one opposite 1c simplified side view of the slicing machine, loaded with a product caliber,
• 2 B : a side view according to 2a , but with the feed belt folded down into the loading position and the product caliber cut open except for a remaining caliber,
• 3a : an insertion feed unit according to the invention viewed from above in a three-lane design downstream of a slicing machine,
• 3b : the beginning of an insertion feed unit according to the invention for a larger track spacing in a top view in a three-track design downstream of a slicing machine,
• 4a - d : an insert feed unit in different designs in side view,
• 5 : the design of the 4a in the side view downstream of a slicing machine.

The 1a , 1b show different perspective views of a multi-track slicer 1 for simultaneously slicing several product calibers K on one track SP1 to SP4 next to each other and depositing them in shingled portions P from several slices S each with a general direction of travel 10 * through the slicer 1 from right to left .

1c and 2a show - without and with the caliber K inserted - a side view of this slicer 1, omitting covers and other parts that are not relevant to the invention, which, like all other units, are attached to the base frame 2, so that the functional parts, especially the conveyor belts, are easier to access are recognizable. The longitudinal direction 10 is the feed direction of the calibers K to the cutting unit 7 and thus also the longitudinal direction of the calibers K located in the slicer 1.

It can be seen that the basic structure of a slicer 1 according to the prior art is that a cutting unit 7 with knives 3 rotating about a knife axis 3 ', such as a sickle knife 3, has several, in this case four, next to each other transversely to the feed direction 10 Product caliber K lying on a feed conveyor 4 with spacers 15 of the feed conveyor 4 in between are fed by this feed unit 20, from the front ends of which the rotating knife 3 with its cutting edge 3a separates a slice S in one operation, i.e. almost simultaneously.

For cutting the product caliber K, the feed conveyor 4 is located in the 1a - 2a shown, in the side view, oblique cutting position with a low-lying cutting-side front end and a high-lying rear end, from which it runs about a pivot axis 20 'running in its width direction, the first transverse direction 11, which is located in the vicinity of the cutting unit 7, can be folded down into an approximately horizontal loading position, as shown in 2 B is shown.

The rear end of each caliber K lying in the feed unit 20 is according to 2a each held positively by a gripper 14a - d with the help of gripper claws 16. These grippers 14a - 14d, which can be activated and deactivated with regard to the position of the gripper claws 16, are attached to a common gripper carriage 13, which can be tracked along a gripper guide 18 in the feed direction 10.

• Die vorderen Enden der Kaliber K werden jeweils durch eine sogenannte Brillenöffnung 6a - d einer plattenförmigen Schneidbrille 5 geführt, wobei unmittelbar vor der vorderen, schräg nach unten weisenden Stirnfläche der Schneidbrille 5 die Schneidebene 3" verläuft, in der das Messer 3 mit seiner Schneidkante 3a rotiert und damit den Überstand der Kaliber K aus der Schneidbrille 5 als Scheibe S abtrennt. Die Schneidebene 3" verläuft lotrecht zum Obertrum des Zuförderers 4 und/oder wird von den beiden Querrichtungen 11, 12 zur Zufuhrrichtung 10 aufgespannt.

Both the feed of the gripper carriage 13 and of the feed conveyor 4 can be driven in a controlled manner, although the specific feed speed of the caliber K is effected by a so-called upper and lower product guide 8, 9, which is also driven in a controlled manner and is located on the top and Attack the underside of the caliber K to be cut in its front end areas near the cutting unit 7:

• The front ends of the caliber K are each guided through a so-called spectacle opening 6a - d of a plate-shaped cutting spectacle 5, with the cutting plane 3" running directly in front of the front, diagonally downward-pointing end face of the cutting spectacle 5, in which the knife 3 with its cutting edge 3a rotates and thus separates the protrusion of the caliber K from the cutting frame 5 as a disk S. The cutting plane 3 "runs perpendicular to the upper run of the feed conveyor 4 and / or is spanned by the two transverse directions 11, 12 to the feed direction 10.

The inner circumference of the glasses openings 6a - d of the cutting edge 3a of the knife 3 serves as a counter blade.

Since both product guides 8, 9 can be driven in a controlled manner, in particular independently of one another and/or possibly separately for each track SP1 to SP4, they determine the - continuous or clocked - feed speed of the caliber K through the cutting glasses 5.

The upper product guide 8 is displaceable in the second transverse direction 12 - which runs perpendicular to the surface of the upper run of the feed conveyor 4 - to adapt to the height H of the caliber K in this direction. Furthermore, at least one of the product guides 8, 9 can be designed to be pivotable about one of its deflection rollers in order to be able to change the direction of the strand of its guide band resting on the caliber K to a limited extent.

The slices S, which stand at an angle in space when separated, fall onto a discharge unit 17 that begins below the cutting frame 5 and runs in the direction of travel 10*, which in this case consists of several discharge conveyors 17a, b, arranged one behind the other with their upper strands approximately aligned in the direction of passage 10*. c exists, of which the first discharge conveyor 17a in the direction of travel 10 can be designed as a portioning belt 17a and/or one can also be designed as a weighing unit.

The disks S can hit the conveyor unit 17 individually and at a distance from one another in the direction of travel 10* or shingled or stacked by appropriate control of the portioning belt 17a of the conveyor unit 17 - the movement of which, like almost all moving parts, is controlled by the controller 1* Form portions P by gradually moving the portioning belt 17a forward.

Below the feed unit 20 there is usually an approximately horizontally running residue conveyor 21, which begins with its front end below the cutting frame 5 and immediately below or behind the discharge unit 17 and with its upper run there on top - by means of the drive of one of the discharge conveyors 17 Falling residues are transported to the rear in the opposite direction to the flow direction 10.

The 4a until 4d show different designs of an insert feed unit 30 according to the invention, which can be designed to be single-track in the horizontal transverse direction 11 to the transport direction 10, but according to 3a and 3b is usually multi-lane, for example 3-lane or 4-lane. The individual floors of the buffer 40 are each formed by a controlled, drivable, endless, rotating buffer belt 40.1, 40.2, etc., the upper strand of which serves as a support surface for the article A to be placed on it, be it a portion P as shown or just a single disc , and the same applies - especially in multi-level designs - for the buffer insertion unit 41 and the buffer removal unit 42.

The storage area, in particular the respective belt, preferably extends over all tracks when the insertion feed unit 30 is designed with multiple tracks.

In the 4a until 4d Upstream is the delivering unit, in this case the discharge conveyor 17c of an upstream slicing machine, and in between a line belt 26 is shown, and immediately downstream of it a transfer belt to a subsequent machine, usually a packaging machine. The discharge conveyor from the slicing machine, here the discharge conveyor 17c, is usually made up of individual, separately controllable conveyor belts per track Sp1 to Sp3 or Sp4.

The transfer to the insertion feed unit with belts running across all tracks in the transverse direction takes place, not directly, but via a so-called line belt 26 in between, which has the function of producing a line of articles A extending in the transverse direction 11, which in Transport direction 10 and transverse direction 11 are positioned and aligned exactly with one another, in particular with regard to a 2-dimensional format set F, which includes several such article lines at the correct distance from one another in the transport direction 10, as in 3a shown according to the specifications of a downstream, e.g. packaging machine.

While in 3a the distance between the tracks Sp1 to S3, as it existed in the delivering unit, for example the discharge conveyor 7c of the slicing machine 1, is transferred unchanged into the insertion feed unit 30 3b a design in which an expanding belt 22 is arranged between the slicing machine 1, in particular the last discharge conveyor 17c of this slicing machine 1, and the insertion feed unit 30 to increase the track spacing, which can also be an alignment belt 25, or an additional one Alignment belt 25 can be arranged between them.

Furthermore, it is indicated that the belts of the delivering conveyor 17c can be designed as weighing belts 24, i.e. contain a scale 23, as in 5 indicated, which - about the scope of representation of the 4a until 4d in addition - show the insertion feed unit in association with a slicing machine 1, which has a discharge unit 17 with three successive discharge belts 17a to 17c and both together form an insertion supply unit 100.

As usual, the first conveyor belt 17a is designed as a portioning belt, which can be controlled in cycles in order to form portions P from the individually falling disks S, in which the disks S partially or completely overlap one another.

• In allen umfasst der Puffer 40, also das Puffer-Regal sechs Etagen mit jeweils einem endlos umlaufenden Puffer-Band 40.1 bis 40.6 als Etagen übereinander in einem solchen Abstand, dass dazwischen auf dem jeweiligen Obertrum des Puffer-Bandes der gewünschte Artikel A, hier jeweils eine Portion P aus drei Scheiben, in Transportrichtung eingebracht und abgelegt werden kann durch einen dazu fluchtend angeordneten vor- oder nachgelagertes Förderband, von dem aus der Artikel über die möglichst kleine Lücke zwischen den Förder-Bändern in Transportrichtung übergeben werden kann durch vorzugsweise gleich schnelles Antreiben der für die Übergabe zusammenarbeitenden Förder-Bändern.

The 4a until d show different designs of the insertion feed unit 30:

• In all of them, the buffer 40, i.e. the buffer shelf, comprises six floors, each with an endlessly rotating buffer belt 40.1 to 40.6 as floors one above the other at such a distance that the desired article A is in between on the respective upper run of the buffer belt, here in each case a portion P consisting of three disks, can be introduced and deposited in the transport direction by an aligned upstream or downstream conveyor belt, from which the article can be transferred over the smallest possible gap between the conveyor belts in the transport direction by preferably driving at the same speed of the conveyor belts working together for the handover.

Furthermore, a buffer insertion unit 41 is arranged immediately upstream of the buffer 40m, which transfers the articles to the buffer 40, and immediately downstream there is a buffer removal unit 42, which picks up the articles delivered by the buffer 40 and transports them away to a downstream conveying unit.

Insertion unit and removal unit each contain one or more insertion belts or removal belts, which are then arranged one above the other in tiers and are endlessly revolving and can be driven in a controlled manner.

In the 4a until 4d The length in the transport direction of these belts is the same as that of the 40m buffer belts, but this is not absolutely necessary.

According to the design 4a The buffer insertion unit consists of two insertion belts 41.1, 41.2 arranged in alignment one above the other, which can be moved together in a height-controlled manner by means of an insertion lifting device 41H, of which only the vertical guides are shown here but not the lifting drive.

The insertion belts 41.1, 41.2 are aligned at the same height as the lowest two buffer belts 40.1, 40.2, with the upper insertion belt 41.2 being aligned at the same height as an upstream row conveyor 26 and a discharge conveyor upstream of this. Volume 17c of a slicing machine, not shown, is located.

The lower insertion belt 41.1 was previously loaded by the line belt 26 or another delivering unit and was previously adjusted to its height for this purpose.

The removal unit 42, on the other hand, comprises only one floor, also in the form of an endlessly rotating conveyor belt, a removal belt 42.1, which can also be moved in height in a controlled manner with the aid of a removal lifting device 42H, of which only the vertical guides and not the lifting drive is shown.

Since in this design the floor spacing 41A of the two floors, i.e. insertion conveyors 41.1, 41.2, in the form of the distance between their upper strands, is the same as the floor spacing 40A in the buffer 40, which is the same between all floors here, the two insertion conveyors can Belts 41.1, 41.2 are brought to the same height as two adjacent floors, i.e. buffer belts, for example 40.3, 40.4 and the insert belts, each loaded with three portions P one behind the other in the transport direction 10, load their load simultaneously and completely on these two buffer belts. Dispense tapes 30.3, 30.4 after a corresponding height shift of the insertion unit 41 compared to the one in 4a Height shown at which the upper of the two insert belts 41.2 is just loaded with the third and last portion P in the transport direction.

In 4a The two top floors 40.5 and 40.6 are already loaded with articles in the form of portions, with each floor, i.e. each buffer belt, preferably containing a format set F for a downstream packaging machine, for example.

Regardless of this, an insertion belt, for example 41.2, can also only transfer one article line running in the transverse direction 11 to a buffer belt, for example in order to effect a specific sorting of article lines within this insertion belt, for example 41.2 of the buffer 40.

4a but also shows that - after loading the insertion belt 41.2, which is at the same height as the only removal belt 42.1 of the removal unit 42 - a single or all article lines of the insertion belt 41.2 are added to it aligned buffer belt 40.2 could be transferred and this could be passed on immediately to the removal belt 42.1, so that the delivered items could be delivered directly to a unit downstream of the insertion feed unit 30 without intermediate buffering, if this is currently necessary.

Furthermore, it can be seen that the removal belt 42.1 of the removal unit 42, which is movable in height and adjustable to the height of each of the buffer belts, is activated by appropriate control using the control 30 * - which controls all moving parts of the insertion feed unit 30 Each floor of the buffer 40 can remove a single article line or the entire load of a floor, i.e. a buffer belt, and can then be brought back to the height of the conveying unit and can hand over its load to it.

The design of the 4b differs from that of 4a in that the removal unit 42 is now designed with two floors, i.e. has two removal belts 42.1, 42.2 one above the other, which have the same removal distance 42A as the loading distance 41A and also the buffer distance 40A.

As a result, on the removal side, as previously described on the insertion side, it is possible to transfer articles from two floors of the buffer 40 to the two floors of the removal unit 42 at the same time if these are brought to the corresponding height of the buffer floors.

Since the transfer to the downstream machine usually only includes one floor, as shown, the removal unit 42 usually has to be brought one after the other with one of its floors 42.1, 42.2 into alignment with this transfer belt in order to transfer the items stored on it to the transfer -tape to hand in.

4b also shows that conveying through the buffer 40 without intermediate buffering is also possible on both floors, which are present in both the insertion unit and the removal unit.

4c shows a design that differs from that of 4a differs in that the insertion unit in this case even includes three floors, in the form of three insertion belts 41.1 to 41.3 arranged one above the other.

This makes it possible to simultaneously transfer articles to the buffer 40 on more than two, namely three, floors at the same time, since here too the floor distance 41A between the floors of the insertion unit is the same or can at least be made to the same size as the floors -Distance 40A between floors of buffer 40.

Additionally available as an option 4c shown - which, however, is independent of the number of floors of the insertion unit 41 - that the floor distance 41A of the insertion unit 41 can be changed in a controlled manner, in particular to an integer multiple of the floor distance 40A within the buffer 40.

This increases the flexibility to which floors of the buffer 40 items can be transferred from several floors of the insertion unit 41 at the same time.

The same training would also be possible on the withdrawal side.

While in the 4a until c the buffer 40, i.e. the buffer shelf 40, was arranged at a fixed height 4d a solution in which the buffer 40 can be moved in height with all of its levels, here 40.1 to 40.6, whereby here too only the vertical guides in which the buffer shelf 40 is guided vertically are of the corresponding lifting device 40H, are shown.

The height adjustability of the buffer shelf 40 increases the flexibility of the insertion feed unit 30, and in return the movement possibilities of the insertion unit 41 and/or the removal unit 42 can be reduced in height. For example, the removal unit 42, if it only includes one floor, i.e. a removal belt, could do without height adjustment, so that for removal from the buffer 40, the buffer shelf 40 for the delivery of items with the corresponding floor is then at the height of the only one removal band has to be brought.

Of course, the flexibility and speed when storing and retrieving is greatest when all three modules, i.e. insertion unit 41, buffer 40 and removal unit 42, are designed to be movable in height, i.e. the vertical 12*, in a controlled manner - and of course independently of one another .

REFERENCE SYMBOL LIST

1

Slicing machine, slicer

1*

steering

2

Base frame

3

Knife

3

Axis of rotation

3"

Knife plane, cutting plane

3a

cutting edge

4

Feed conveyor, feed belt

5

cutting glasses

6a - d

Glasses opening

7

cutting unit

8th

upper product guide, upper guide band

8.1

Contact strand, lower strand

8a

Glasses-side deflection roller

8b

Pulley facing away from glasses

9

lower product guide, lower guide band

8.1

Contact strand, upper strand

9a

Glasses-side deflection roller

9b

Pulley facing away from glasses

10

Transport direction, longitudinal direction, axial direction

10*

Direction of flow through machine

11

1. Cross direction (width slicer)

12

2. Transverse direction (height-direction caliber)

12*

vertical

13

Gripper unit, gripper carriage

14.14 a - d

Grabber

15

cross bar

15'

Support surface

16

Grab claw

17

Discharge unit

17a, b, c

Portioning belt, discharge belt U.

18

Gripper guidance

19

Altitude sensor

20

Feed unit

21

Remnant conveyor

22

Spreading band

23

Scale

24

Weighing band

25

Alignment tape

26

Line band

30

Insertion feed unit, insertion line

40

buffer

40.1 - 40.6

Buffer band, floor

40A

Floor spacing buffers

40H

Lifting device, guide

41

Buffer insertion unit

41.1 -41.3

Insertion band

41A

Floor distance insertion unit

41H

Lifting device, guide

42

Buffer removal unit

42.1,42.2

Extraction tape

42A

Floor distance from removal unit

42H

Lifting device, guide

43

Insertion band

A

Article

F

format, format set

K

Product, product caliber

KR

Remnant piece

S

disc

P

portion

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• EP 2030898 B2 [0005]
• DE 102014117392 A1 [0005]
• EP 2878556 B1 [0005]

Claims (15)

Insertion feed unit (30) for automatically buffering the delivered articles (A) in a buffer (40) and/or forwarding them from the buffer (40) in a flow direction (10), wherein - the buffer (40) acts as a buffer shelf ( 40) is designed with several buffer levels one above the other, - the insertion feed unit (30) has - a buffer insertion unit (41) immediately upstream of the buffer (40) - a buffer removal unit (42) immediately downstream of the buffer (40) , - a control (30*) for controlling the movable parts of the insertion feed unit (30), characterized in that - the buffer insertion unit (41) and / or the buffer removal unit (42) by means of a lifting device (41H, 42H) The height (12*) is designed to be displaceable in a controlled manner. Insertion feed unit Claim 1 , characterized in that the buffer (40) is fixed in its height. Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the buffer shelf (40) is a buffer belt shelf (40) with one buffer belt (40.1 - 40.6) on each floor (40.1 - 40.6) and / or - the buffer insertion unit (41) is a tape insertion unit (41) with at least one insertion belt (41.1), in particular with its upper strand running horizontally, and/or - the buffer removal unit (42) is a tape removal unit ( 42) with at least one removal belt (42.1), in particular with its upper run running horizontally. Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the buffer insertion unit (41) has several, in particular exactly two, levels one above the other, in particular with an insertion belt on each level and/or - the buffer removal unit ( 42) has several floors, in particular exactly two, one above the other, in particular with one removal belt on each floor. Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insertion feed unit (30), in particular its control (30*), is designed such that an article (A) is fed from the buffer insertion unit (41), in particular directly , can be transferred to the buffer removal unit (42) without being temporarily stored (defined) in the buffer (40). Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the floor spacing (40A) in the buffer shelf (40) is fixed and in particular the same between all floors, and / or - the floor spacing (41A) is Buffer insertion unit (41) and/or the buffer removal unit (42) is fixed and in particular the same between all floors and in particular is the same as the floor spacing (40A) in the buffer shelf (40). Insertion feed unit according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that - the floor spacing (40A) in the buffer shelf (40) can be changed, in particular between all floors can be changed synchronously or independently of one another and / or - the floor spacing (41A) of the buffer insertion unit (41) and / or the floor distance (42A) of the buffer removal unit (42) can be changed, in particular between all floors can be changed synchronously or independently of one another, preferably from a number of three floors. Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the buffer (40), in particular the individual buffer belts 40.1 - 40.6, on the different floors, is designed to be so long in the transport direction (10) that several articles (A ), in particular portions (P) can be placed on it one behind the other, and / or - the insertion feed unit (41) has no rocker belt. Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the buffer (40) and/or the buffer feed unit (41) and/or the buffer removal unit (42) viewed from above for several articles (A). Transverse direction (11) is designed next to each other, - in particular the bands have a continuous width across the several tracks (SP1 - SP4). Insertion feed unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the buffer (40), in particular the buffer shelf (40), is designed to be displaceable in a controlled manner in height. Insertion supply unit (100) with - a single-lane or multi-lane slicing machine (1), in particular a slicer (1), for separating slices (S) from a product caliber (K), comprising - a cutting unit (7) for cutting off slices (S), - a feed unit (20) for feeding the caliber (K) to the cutting unit (7), - a discharge unit (17) for the slices (S), which is also capable of feeding several slices (S) at least partially to be placed on top of each other to form a portion (P), - an insertion feed unit (30) downstream in the direction of travel (10), characterized in that - the insertion feed unit (30) is designed according to one of the preceding claims. Insertion supply unit Claim 11 , characterized in that - the buffer feed unit (30) is arranged downstream, in particular immediately downstream, of the single-track or multi-track discharge unit (17) of the slicing machine (1) and / or - the discharge unit (17) of the slicer ( 1) comprises a weighing belt (24) and/or - the delivered item (A) is a slice (S) separated from the cutting unit (7) or a portion (P) made up of several slices (S) and/or - the Buffer removal unit (42) is arranged upstream, in particular immediately upstream, in an insertion point, in particular of an insertion belt (43), into a packaging, for example a packaging trough. Insertion supply unit Claim 11 or 12 with a multi-track slicing machine (1), characterized in that - the belts (40.1 - 40.6 of the buffer (40) have a continuous width across the several tracks (SP1, SP2, SP3), - the discharge unit (17) of Slicing machine (1) has separate and in particular independently controllable discharge conveyors, in particular discharge belts (17a - 17c), for each of the tracks (SP1, SP2, SP3), - upstream, in particular immediately upstream, of the buffer (40) at least one line -Band (26) with a continuous width across the several tracks (SP1, SP2, SP3) to form an article line is present, - in particular additionally at least one alignment band (25) and / or one spreading band (22 ) is available. Method for operating an insertion feed unit (30) according to one of the preceding Claims 1 - 10 , characterized in that for loading the buffer (40), the buffer insertion unit (41), in particular with its insertion belt (41.1), in particular with a selected one of its several insertion belts (41.1, 41.2) - is brought to the height of a delivering unit - at least one article (A) is taken over from there, - is brought to the height of a desired floor (e.g. 40.3) of the buffer (40) by relative movement, - at least one of the articles (A) is brought to this floor of the buffer (40 ) is transferred, and / or for unloading the buffer (40) the buffer removal unit (42), in particular with its removal belt (42.1), in particular with a selected one of its several insertion belts - by relative movement to the height of a desired level of the buffer (40) is brought, - at least one article (A) is taken over from this floor of the buffer (40), - is brought to the level of a transporting unit, - at least one of the articles (A) is handed over to this transporting unit. Procedure according to, in particular the generic term of, Claim 14 , characterized in that - multi-line article formats (F) are formed for the first time on the buffer insertion unit (41), and / or - the relative movements to the buffer (40) in height at least, in particular only, by movements of the buffer insertion unit (41) and/or the buffer removal unit (42), - in particular the relative movements in height are also caused by movement of the buffer (40).

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