EP4019444B1 - Device for the track-specific delivery of sheet material for underlay - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an output unit for the track-specific provision of sheet material for placing under products fed in two or more lanes, in particular under food portions, and a corresponding material supply unit for the track-specific provision of material webs of sheet material. The invention further relates to an underlay unit for the track-specific provision of sheet material, which has an output unit and a material supply unit.

With such an underlay unit, underlay sheets can be provided under portions of food, which can comprise, for example, one or more slices of a food product. For example, a backing sheet can be inserted between a slice of a food product and a support surface on which that slice rests. Such a function is also referred to as an “underleaver” function and is fundamentally known in the field of slicing and packaging of food products.

At the same time, further underlay sheets can also be provided within a food portion, which are placed, for example, under individual slices of the food product or also under partial portions of the food portion, with a partial portion being able to comprise a certain number of slices of the food product. It is conceivable that first individual partial portions are underlaid with underlay sheets, which are then grouped, for example stacked or shingled, to form a complete food portion.

Such an underleaver function ensures that the products do not, or at least not with their entire underside, lie directly on a support surface, for example before packaging on a conveyor or in the packaged state on the packaging material or another partial portion within the packaging. In addition, the handling and packaging of the food products is made easier, especially in the case of delicate or finely sliced products such as bacon.

For example, paper or a plastic film can be used as the sheet material for the backing sheets. The underlay unit usually conveys webs of sheet material, which are unwound or pulled off a roll of web material, to a transport path for the food portions, for example a conveyor device with one or more conveyor belts. The underlay unit usually includes an output unit with a separating device, which separates suitably dimensioned underlay sheets from the material webs, which are then brought under the food portions by an ejection device of the output unit.

Underlay units of the type described above are integrated, for example, in a portion transport path that is responsible for transporting portions from at least one slicing device, in particular a high-performance slicer, to at least one packaging device. Such systems, which include at least one slicing device and at least one packaging device and a transport device connecting the two devices for transporting the sliced (food) portions from the slicing device to the packaging device, enable the efficient production of ready-packaged products with practically no or only little intervention of an operating staff required. These systems can include additional components, for example for processing and/or checking the product or serve the portions and / or are provided for putting together the portions.

The invention further relates to an underlay device with a product feed which is designed to feed the products to a sheet feed area in two or more lanes, with an underlay unit and with a product discharge which is designed to carry the products away from the sheet feed area in two or more lanes.

The food portions are often conveyed on conveyor belts. A pad assembly is typically positioned between a product infeed belt and a product outfeed belt, with a gap provided between the two belts. The sheet material can be conveyed through the intermediate space from the output unit of the underlay unit into the transport path of the food portions and ultimately introduced between the food portion and the product removal belt, i.e. deposited under the portion.

In addition, the invention relates to a device for cutting and packaging products, which comprises a cutting device for cutting the product, an underlay device, and a packaging device for packaging the portions underlaid with sheet material.

Such cutting devices can include so-called slicers or high-speed slicers, which can cut, for example, bar-shaped or loaf-shaped food products at high cutting speeds of several hundred to several thousand slices per minute. In many applications, stacked or shingled portions, for example, are formed from the separated slices falling onto a support surface formed, for example, by a portioning belt. The portioning belt itself, or one connected to it Conveyor device, can serve as a product infeed conveyor that feeds the food portions to an underleaver.

In particular, the cutting process and the product feed can take place in multiple lanes for optimal performance of a cutting and packaging line, with several products lying next to each other - one product in each lane - being cut open at the same time and transported in multiple lanes, for example by means of one or more portioning belts. In this case, the product feed to the underlay unit is also advantageously multi-lane. Track-specific operation of the individual tracks is particularly advantageous. Depending on the purpose of the respective functional unit and the respective application, multi-track design or track-individual operation means in particular that each track of the device or the respective functional unit can be operated independently of other tracks, e.g. that each track individually driven, controlled, moved, stopped, adjusted, configured, at least partially disassembled and reassembled and at least partially replaced and/or loaded. Such a multi-lane and lane-specific line also requires multi-lane and lane-specific operation of the back-up unit.

Multi-lane underlay units are known in principle, but are usually formed to a certain extent from a plurality of single-lane underlay units arranged functionally parallel but offset in the longitudinal direction of the line. The products are, for example, fed in multiple lanes, for example in two lanes, by means of conveyor belts to the first underlay unit, which provides sheet material for laying under the products of a first lane. Another conveyor belt section feeds the products from both lanes to a second stacking unit, which provides sheet material for stacking under the products in the second lane, before a product discharge belt follows. In the area of each underlay unit, the conveyor belt arranged on the feed side is arranged somewhat higher vertically as the conveyor belt arranged on the discharge side, in order to make it easier to place sheet material under the portion or to place the portion on the backing sheet. Since each underlay unit has such a step, but e.g. the first underlay unit provides no sheet material on the second lane, there is a risk of tearing of sensitive food portions, for example for finely sliced bacon, if such a step is passed without a stabilizing underlay sheet underneath becomes.

A multi-track backing unit constructed in this way is naturally very long, i.e. it requires a large overall line length because the corresponding function modules are arranged one behind the other. Furthermore, a large amount of space is required below the transport route in order to accommodate the individual material supply units including material storage and output units of the individual support units. Lateral accessibility, for example to change the material rolls, must be guaranteed.

Since ultimately several underlay devices have to be installed, such an arrangement is very cost-intensive, in particular since the need for parts multiplies with the number of tracks to be served. The maintenance costs are also high, since all the belt devices have to be dismantled and cleaned for hygienic cleaning, which at the same time reduces the operating time of the entire line due to the associated high time requirement.

The DE 10 2017 118 927 A1 discloses a dispensing unit having the features of the preamble of claim 1.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a backing unit for the track-specific provision of sheet material, which is characterized by greater economy and simpler handling.

Specifically, this object is achieved by a dispensing unit having the features of claim 1, an underlay unit having the features of claim 8 and a device for slicing and packaging products according to claim 14.

An output unit according to the invention for the track-specific provision of sheet material for placing under products fed in two or more lanes, in particular under food portions, has a feed device which is designed for track-specific feeding in one material web of the sheet material per track, and which in particular has at least one driven feed shaft and at least has a feed pressure unit. Furthermore, the output unit has a separating device, which is designed to separate the sheet material from the material webs, and an ejector device, which is designed to eject sheet material in two or more lanes, and which includes a driven ejector roller and an ejector counter-unit that, together with the ejector roller forms an ejection gap for the sheet material, the ejection roller being assigned to at least two tracks in common.

The output unit is therefore designed to provide sheet material on individual, several or all lanes of a food transport route, specifically for each lane, i.e. for each lane independently of the provision on the other lanes and in particular only when a food portion is actually fed on the relevant lane . In this way, it is possible to react optimally to the current product availability. In particular, the entire line can be operated continuously and without delay, even if, for example, faults or interruptions in operation should occur on one of the tracks.

The sheet material for all tracks can, for example, be output through the same ejection gap, i.e. the tracks can be arranged next to one another and run parallel to one another in the area of the output unit, for example.

Starting from a material storage, the intake device, separating device and ejection device are arranged one behind the other in the conveying direction of the material webs in this order. Advantageously, the webs of material for each track are taken from a separate material store assigned to the track in question, for example drawn off or unwound from a roll of material. Material webs are drawn into the output unit by means of the drawing-in device, which has at least one driven, usually rotating, drawing-in shaft, in particular, for example, a drawing-in shaft per track. In addition, the infeed device has at least one infeed pressure unit, in particular one infeed pressure unit per track.

A material web is guided in the infeed pressure unit between the driven infeed shaft and the infeed pressure unit and can be conveyed, i.e. drawn into the output device, by infeed pressure unit and driven infeed shaft being pressed together so that the material web is carried along by the rotating infeed shaft and drawn in. The feed pressure unit can also include one or more rotatable shafts, so-called pressure rollers, which, however, do not have to be driven. When a material web is drawn in, they are rotated by the draw-in shaft. For particularly effective contact with the material web, the feed shaft and/or the feed pressure unit or pressure rollers can have a rubberized surface, for example.

A track-specific infeed can be done by track-individually designed and driven infeed shafts, which are only driven when on sheet material is to be conveyed on the track in question. As an alternative or in addition, track-individually controllable infeed pressure units can be provided, which can produce conveying contact with the material web as required. For example, a hydraulic or pneumatic pressure device can be provided in order to press the feed pressure units in the direction of the feed shafts. In principle, the driven draw-in shaft can also be arranged to be movable, in particular pneumatically movable, while the draw-in pressure unit is mounted in a stationary manner.

The infeed device conveys material webs that have been drawn in track-individually to the separating device. The separating device is designed to separate underlay sheets of suitable dimensions for placing under food portions from the drawn-in webs of material.

Preferably, the separating device is also designed and driven for each track, i.e. the separating device is only actuated when a food portion is actually fed to the specific track assigned to the separating device. In principle, simultaneous operation of a common separating device for all lanes is also conceivable if sheet material is conveyed through the feed device in a lane-specific and intermittent manner in adaptation to the food portions actually fed. Backing sheets are then only separated for the tracks for which a material web was actually fed to the separating device by the feed device.

The separated or at least perforated sheet material is then ejected by an ejection device, ie placed under incoming food portions. The sheet material is conveyed by a driven ejector roller and an ejector counter-unit, which ensures that the sheet material is carried along by the ejector roller. The extension counter unit can also be designed in the form of a roller, but does not have to be driven itself and can, for example, be subjected to a pneumatic force in the direction of the ejection roller in order to form an ejection gap for the sheet material that is small enough to ensure efficient entrainment of the sheet material.

The retraction device and the ejection device can be designed similarly or essentially identically, as a result of which parts of the same type can advantageously be used.

The ejection roller is assigned to at least two tracks of the output unit. An ejection roller jointly assigned to the at least two tracks is to be understood as meaning that the sections of the roller assigned to the two or more tracks are coupled to one another in a rotationally fixed manner, so that they are automatically operated synchronously. The ejector roller can be formed at least partially in one piece; in particular, for example, a (possibly rubberized) surface of the ejector roller can be formed in one piece. The ejection roller is preferably assigned to all tracks. Two, several or all tracks are preferably arranged next to one another in such a way that the ejection gaps of all tracks for the sheet material lie in one line. A particularly compact design is thus achieved.

The ejection roller is preferably designed to be driven synchronously with a speed of the product supply and/or the product discharge, for example with the speed of a conveyor belt for the product supply or product discharge. It is also optionally possible to drive the ejector roller at an ejection speed that deviates slightly from the product speed, for example if this can be used to achieve entrainment effects in interaction with the underside of the products. This can only happen temporarily be provided, for example only for a first contact between the backing material and the product.

The synchronization can preferably take place via a control unit for the entire line. Intermittent or track-specific operation of the ejector roller is not absolutely necessary, since even if the ejector roller is permanently driven, the conveying cycle for the sheet material is specified by the intermittently and track-specifically operating feed device. This means that there is no need for additional control and the number of parts required is reduced, which means that a cost advantage can be achieved on the one hand, and on the other hand the effort required for cleaning and maintenance of the extension device is also reduced.

Advantageous developments of the invention can be found in the dependent claims, the description and the drawing.

According to one embodiment, the ejection gap and an infeed gap formed by the at least one infeed shaft and the at least one infeed pressure unit lie in a plane that is arranged at least essentially vertically when the output unit is in a position of use. The retraction device and the extension device can, for example, be arranged one above the other in the vertical direction. The plane spanned by the ejection gap and one, several or all feed gaps can in particular be arranged at least essentially perpendicularly to the plane in which the food portions are fed. The output unit can advantageously be arranged below the transport route of the food portions, so that a conveying direction of the feed device for the webs of material in a position of use of the feed device runs in particular at least essentially vertically upwards. By arranging the feed and ejection gaps in one plane, a comparatively compact output unit can be provided which, on the one hand, has a low overall length in relation to a transport route Has food portions and on the other hand requires only a small amount of space below the transport route.

The draw-in device can have at least two draw-in shafts, in particular individually driven draw-in shafts, with each draw-in shaft being assigned to a material web and in particular to a track. Alternatively or additionally, the infeed device can have at least two infeed pressure units, one infeed pressure unit being assigned to a respective material web and in particular to a track. Thus, the feeding of material webs can be designed track-specifically.

In principle, the track-specific conveyance of the material web can be constructed and controlled in various ways in order to convey a sheet material only as a function of the product portions that are actually fed. On the one hand, track-individually controllable draw-in shafts and draw-in pressure units can be provided for each track. In this case, the draw-in gap between the draw-in shaft and the draw-in pressure unit can be so narrow that the draw-in shaft and the draw-in pressure unit are always in engagement with the material web guided between them. A track-specific threading of the web of material can take place by intermittently driving the respective threading shaft. On the other hand, a larger feed gap can be provided between the feed shaft and feed pressure unit, for example, so that the material web is only guided loosely in the feed gap and is not conveyed even when the feed shaft is rotating. Conveyance can be effected with this design by temporarily squeezing the rotating infeed shaft and infeed pressure unit together enough to engage the web of material, causing it to be indented. In this case, in principle, either the draw-in shaft or the draw-in pressure unit could be assigned to several tracks together, while a track-specific drawing-in of material webs remains possible. According to a further embodiment, the separating device comprises at least one knife unit, in particular a rotating knife shaft with at least one separating element. The separating element can be driven in such a way that it rotates in the conveying direction of the material web in order to separate sheet material. In particular, the blade unit can be drivable and take the separating element mounted on it with it. The axis of rotation of the separating element can be arranged outside of the separating element and coincide with the axis of rotation of the blade unit or blade shaft.

A longitudinal axis of the cutter shaft can preferably be aligned perpendicular to the conveying direction of the material web and the separating element can be arranged on the cutter shaft in such a way that it grasps the material web transversely to its conveying direction, in particular at least essentially over its entire width. The separating element can be a knife or a blade, which completely severs the material web. In principle, the material web does not have to be completely severed by the separating device, but a perforation of the material web by the separating element can also be sufficient to ensure that the backing sheet is then torn off, in particular during further transport by the push-out device. A rotating knife shaft can have several separating elements, for example two or more separating elements, which can be distributed over the circumference of the knife shaft uniformly or at varying angular distances. A symmetrical structure and/or an even distribution of mass on the blade shaft are preferably aimed at.

In order to ensure a reliable severing result, the severing device can have a counter blade for the severing element. The shearbar can be arranged on the side of the material web opposite the knife unit in order to interact with the severing element when the material web is severed. Counter blade and knife unit can thus be one Define separation gap. For example, the shearbar can be cylindrical and have a plastic surface, for example. The shearbar can be coupled to the blade unit, in particular by means of a gear wheel.

The separating device can be designed for the track-specific separating of sheet material, with the separating device having at least two individually driven knife units, with one knife unit being assigned to one material web in each case. In particular, each track can be assigned a knife unit. It is therefore also conceivable that underlay sheets of different sizes are separated from the material webs for each track, for example to provide suitably dimensioned underlay sheets for different products or portions, in particular portions of different lengths, on different tracks, which increases the versatility of the output unit. In addition to this, it is also possible to provide a control circuit with which the lengths of the assigned underlay sheets are adjusted on the basis of the lengths of the incoming portions (for example, detected by one or more sensors).

The at least two draw-in shafts can be arranged coaxially. Alternatively or additionally, the shafts of pressure rollers of the at least two feed pressure units are arranged coaxially and/or the cutter shafts of the at least two cutter units are arranged coaxially. If more than two draw-in shafts, shafts of pressure rollers or knife shafts are present, all similar shafts of the same unit are preferably arranged coaxially. This results in a particularly compact design of the dispensing unit, which reduces the overall length in relation to the transport direction of the food portions and at the same time reduces the vertical height of the dispensing unit. It is also conceivable that the groups of draw-in shafts, draw-in pressure units and/or knife units are not arranged coaxially, but are slightly offset vertically in height are. For a compact design, the feed gaps can then advantageously be arranged in one plane.

Furthermore, the separating gap formed by the blade unit and shearbar can advantageously lie in one plane with the feed gap of the feed device and the ejection gap of the output device, or at least approximately aligned with the feed gap and the ejection gap. This results in an even more compact design of the output unit.

According to a further embodiment, the output unit is designed as a modular output module. Alternatively or additionally, the retraction device, the separating device and/or the ejection device are each designed in modular form as a retraction module, separating module and/or ejection module, in particular with each of the modules having its own frame or housing. For example, the output module can have receiving sections into which the sub-modules, i.e. the feed module, separation module and/or push-out module, can be inserted, in particular pushed. The sub-modules can be fixed to a frame or housing of the output module. The output module itself can in turn be arranged to be inserted between or below a product feed and a product discharge.

A dispensing unit with such a modular character of the unit itself or the included facilities allows existing systems to be easily retrofitted with a dispensing unit and also simplifies maintenance, repair and cleaning, with tool-free assembly and disassembly of the partial modules and/or for particularly simplified handling. or the output module can be provided. In addition, the modules can be pulled out towards an operating side of the dispensing unit, in particular transversely to the conveying direction of a product feed, which additionally facilitates this work.

The output unit, the drawing-in device, the separating device and/or the ejecting device can each comprise at least one drive unit, in particular an electric motor, which is designed to drive the corresponding unit or device.

The feed device and/or the separating device or the feed module and/or the separating module preferably have a separate drive unit for each track. In the ejection device, the number of drive units is preferably smaller than that of the tracks, in particular the number of drive units is exactly 1, since the ejection roller is assigned to at least two tracks, in particular to all tracks.

The ejection device can have a mechanical interface, by means of which the ejection roller can be coupled to an external drive unit in a drivingly effective manner. For example, the push-out device can be coupled to a drive of a transport unit, by means of which the products on which the sheet material is placed are fed in and/or removed. For example, the ejection device has a belt pulley that can be coupled to a drive belt that is driven by a drive of a conveyor belt. The ejection speed of the ejection device can thus be synchronized directly with a conveying speed of a product removal and/or a product supply.

The present invention further relates to a material supply unit for providing lane-specific material webs of sheet material for placing under products fed in two or more lanes, in particular under food portions, in particular by means of an output device as described above. According to the invention, a material supply unit has a material store, comprising a common receiving shaft for accommodating at least two rolls of web material, from each of which one web of sheet material can be removed, in particular one roll of web of material being assigned to a track on which sheet material can be provided, and a removal device which is designed to remove webs of material from the at least two rolls of web of material.

A material supply unit according to the invention has extremely compact dimensions, since the rolls of web material that are required to supply sheet material for two or more tracks are arranged on a common receiving shaft in a space-saving manner. The rolls of web material are preferably stored individually, so that the removal of webs of material for each roll of web material can be done individually and independently of the other rolls of web material.

The removal device for removing material webs from the material web rolls is preferably designed to remove material webs track-specifically from individual material web rolls, so that the material webs can then be fed to a feed device, for example, which feeds sheet material required track-specifically into an output unit.

According to one embodiment, the take-off device has a take-off shaft jointly assigned to the at least two material webs and at least one take-off pressure unit per roll of material web, which together form a take-off gap for the respective material web. Material webs are unwound or withdrawn from the web rolls only for web rolls for which the withdrawal gap between withdrawal pressure unit and withdrawal shaft is so small that the respective material web is pressed against the withdrawal shaft and taken along by it. This adjustment of the trigger gap can, for example, by, in particular pneumatically, pressing the trigger pressure unit to the take-off shaft take place. In this way, the removal of material webs can be controlled track-specifically.

The take-off shaft can be a driven rotating shaft. Each print pressure unit can comprise at least one pressure shaft, the pressure shafts of a plurality of print pressure units, which are each assigned to a material web, preferably being aligned coaxially with one another, in particular in a pressure position. In order to ensure that the material web is carried along particularly reliably, the take-off shaft and/or the take-off pressure unit can have a suitable surface finish, for example a rubberized surface.

Alternatively or additionally, the removal device can also have several take-off shafts, in particular one take-off shaft for each roll of web material. In the latter case, a track-specific withdrawal of material webs can also take place with a constantly narrow withdrawal gap, in that the withdrawal shaft is only driven intermittently when sheet material is to be made available.

According to a further embodiment, the material supply unit is designed as a modular material supply module, in particular with material storage and/or the removal device being designed in modular form as a material module and/or removal module, in particular with each of the modules having its own frame or housing. For example, the material module and/or the removal module can be inserted, in particular pushed, into a frame or a housing of the material supply module. Furthermore, the material supply module itself can be inserted between a product feed and a product discharge, in particular in combination with an output unit, in particular an output module.

A material supply unit with such a modular character makes it easy to retrofit existing systems with the space-saving, multi-lane and track-individually operable material supply unit. Pulling out the material supply module, the material module and/or the removal module to an operating side of the material supply unit, for example transversely to the conveying direction of a product feed, allows an operator to easily access the modules, so that maintenance work, replacement of the material web rolls and repair and cleaning work are simplified. for a particularly simplified handling, for example, a tool-free assembly or disassembly of the sub-modules and/or the material supply module can be provided.

The removal device preferably comprises at least one drive unit for driving the removal device, in particular an electric motor. In particular, each take-off shaft has a separate drive unit. The trigger pressure units do not have to be driven, but can also be designed to rotate passively.

A further aspect of the invention relates to an underlay unit for the track-specific provision of sheet material for placing under products fed in two or more lanes, in particular under food portions, with an output unit as described above, and with a material supply unit as described above, in particular with the underlay unit being modular is designed as an underlay module, which has its own frame or housing.

With the support unit according to the invention, the above-described advantages of the output unit and the material supply unit can be combined with one another in a particularly effective manner. The resulting underlay unit thus enables a lane-individually controllable, multi-lane underleaver operation, while at the same time the design of the base unit is kept extremely compact. Retrofitting such a base unit is therefore easily possible for existing lines due to the small space requirement of the base unit. In addition, an underlay module can be very easily removed from an existing line for slicing and/or packaging food products if, for example, the line is to be operated without an underleaver function. An underlay module thus results in particularly great flexibility and versatility.

According to one embodiment, the underlay unit has a sheet material detection device which is designed to detect a quantity of sheet material provided by the material supply unit, in particular by means of an ultrasonic sensor, track-specifically and to regulate a supply speed of the material supply unit depending on the quantity of sheet material provided. By means of such a sheet material detection device, the supply speed of the material supply unit can be adapted to the sheet material requirement during operation without the need for further mechanical constructions, such as the known dancer or pendulum rollers. Advantageously, a separate sheet material detection device is provided for each roll of web material, so that the amount of sheet material provided is recorded for each track and can be adapted to requirements. For example, the provided sheet material can run in a loop in the direction of the feed device after passing the take-off shaft, with a sensor, for example an ultrasonic sensor, detecting the size of the loop. Such a sheet material detection device not only saves on parts and thus costs, but also simplifies the overall construction, as a result of which installation space can be saved and maintenance and cleaning are made easier.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to an underlay device for track-specific provision of sheet material for underlaying under two or products fed in in multiple lanes, particularly under food portions. According to the invention, the underlay device has a product feed, which is designed to feed the products to a sheet feed area in two or more lanes, in particular with the product feed being designed as a belt device, as well as an underlay unit, as described above, and a product discharge that is designed for this to guide the products away from the sheet feed area in two or more lanes, in particular with the product removal being designed as a belt device. Product supply and product discharge can be at least essentially in one plane.

The product supply and/or product removal can be, for example, conveyor belts, in particular with all conveyor belts provided being individually drivable. The sheet feed area is in particular a gap which is aligned with the ejection gap, which is arranged in particular underneath.

The belt devices for the product supply and/or the product discharge are designed for transporting food portions on two or more lanes. For example, each track can be defined by a separate conveyor belt, which specifies the transport path of the track with its belt course. In this case, several tracks can be defined, for example, by several conveyor belts running parallel to one another or on individual transport routes independently of one another. However, several tracks can also share a conveyor belt, in which case the tracks can be arranged next to one another on the conveyor belt, so that food portions placed on them each move in the same way. Alternatively or additionally, a conveyor belt itself can also be moved as a whole in addition to its conveying movement, for example displaceable perpendicularly to the conveying direction, which means that different tracks can also be defined by the same conveyor belt, which transports individual portions at different times to different locations, e.g. to different lanes of the sheet feed area.

The output unit, in particular the ejector device, can be drivingly coupled to the product discharge and/or the product discharge can be drivingly coupled to the output unit, in particular the ejector device. In particular, such a mechanical coupling of the output unit and product removal is advantageous because in this way the output of the sheet material is automatically synchronized with the product removal and/or the speed of the output sheet material and the product removal is automatically coordinated. In this way, sheet material can be optimally placed underneath the product at the transition to product removal, in particular at the transition to a product removal belt. Alternatively, a control device can also be used to synchronize the speeds.

The underlay device can advantageously comprise a sensor device which is designed to detect the need for the provision of sheet material for each lane, in particular by detecting products in an area of the product feed for each lane. A sensor device can fall back on fundamentally known and suitable sensors, for example scales, image detection, light barriers or other fundamentally known sensors. Alternatively or additionally, corresponding information can be provided by other sources.

The underlay device can include a control device which is designed to adapt the sheet material to the actual requirement, in particular based on a lane-specific detection of products in the area of the product feed, and/or the feed and/or to control the discharge of products into and/or out of a backing area.

Information from the sensor device about which track and when a food portion arrives in the sheet feed area can be used by the control device to prompt the timely ejection of sheet material on the corresponding track, for example by instructing the material supply unit to provide the required material webs and the output unit is instructed to draw in, cut off and output the required webs of material. By means of a sensor device and/or the control device, it is thus possible to react extremely flexibly to the food portions that are actually available for each individual lane, as a result of which the maximum capacity of the line can be exploited.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to a device for slicing and packaging products, in particular food portions, comprising at least one cutting device, in particular high-performance slicer, for slicing the product, an underlay device as described above, with the product feed receiving portions of the sliced product , a packaging device, in particular thermoforming packaging machine, for packaging the portions underlaid with sheet material.

The above-described advantages of the underlay device and its units can be advantageously combined in the device for slicing and packaging products. In this way, the performance of the device, if necessary with several high-performance slicers, can be optimally utilized, while at the same time a multi-lane and lane-individually controlled underlay of food portions with sheet material is implemented with little space requirement.

An underlay device of the type described above is designed in particular in such a way that the functionality of a conventional grouping belt is also provided. In corresponding embodiments, the sensors required for this purpose for determining the position of the products or portions are present on the individual tracks of the product removal and/or supply and the individual tracks can be controlled individually. Based on the data from the sensors mentioned, it is possible, for example, to control the individual lanes in such a way that the products or portions are arranged at the same height on the lanes.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Seitenansicht einer Unterlegvorrichtung mit einer Materialbereitstellungseinheit und einer Ausgabeeinheit gemäß einer ersten Ausführungsform;

Fig. 2A

eine Seitenansicht einer Ausgabeeinheit gemäß einer zweiten Ausführungsform;

Fig. 2B

eine Seitenansicht einer Ausgabeeinheit gemäß einer dritten Ausführungsform;

Fig. 3

eine Seitenansicht einer Unterlegvorrichtung mit einem Ausgabemodul und einer Materialbereitstellungseinheit gemäß einer vierten Ausführungsform;

Fig. 4

eine Seitenansicht eines Ausgabemoduls gemäß einer fünften Ausführungsform;

Fig. 5

eine perspektivische Seitenansicht einer Unterlegvorrichtung mit einem Ausgabemodul und einer Materialbereitstellungseinheit gemäß einer sechsten Ausführungsform.

The invention is described below purely by way of example with reference to the drawing. Show it:

1

a perspective side view of an underlay device with a material supply unit and an output unit according to a first embodiment;

Figure 2A

a side view of a dispensing unit according to a second embodiment;

Figure 2B

a side view of a dispensing unit according to a third embodiment;

3

a side view of an underlay device with an output module and a material supply unit according to a fourth embodiment;

4

a side view of an output module according to a fifth embodiment;

figure 5

a perspective side view of an underlay device with an output module and a material supply unit according to a sixth embodiment.

1 shows an underlay device 10 for the multi-lane, lane-specific provision of sheet material for laying under food portions fed in two lanes. The underlay device 10 comprises a product feed 12 for transporting food portions (not shown) on a first track 14a and a second track 14b. The feed 12 includes a conveyor belt, not shown. On the product feed belt 12, the food portions reach a sheet feed area 16 of an underlay unit 17. In the sheet feed area 16, sheet material is fed to both lanes 14a and 14b for underlaying the food portions. Via a product discharge 22 (the corresponding belt is not shown), the food portions with sheet material underneath are carried away from the sheet supply area 16, further grouped in two lanes 14a, 14b.

The pad apparatus 10 can be included in a line for slicing and packaging food products. Such a line usually has at least one cutting device (not shown), which is upstream of the product feed 12 and which cuts open product blocks that are fed in, so that the sliced food portions come to rest on the product feed 12 or on a conveyor or sorting line in front of it, whereupon they come to rest be fed to the pad unit 17. High-performance slicers are often used as the cutting device, which slice one or more product blocks on one or more tracks. With a single-lane slicing, the portions can be divided into two or more lanes by a suitable sorting section.

Such a line for slicing and packaging food products may further comprise a packaging device (not shown) which connects to the product discharge 22 and which automatically packs the food portions placed underneath with underlay sheets. The packaging device can be, for example, a thermoforming packaging machine for packaging food portions on one or more lanes. Further conveying and sorting devices can be provided between the product discharge 22 and the packaging device, which, for example, group the food portions in a suitable manner or combine individual partial portions to form complete food portions before they are packaged.

The sheet material is placed underneath in the sheet feed area 16 as follows: A food product that is fed to the sheet feed area 16 on the belt of the product feed 12 first passes through a position correction 19, which optimally aligns the portion. In the subsequent sheet feed area 16, underlay sheets are guided by an underlay unit 17, which is arranged in a position of use below the product feed belt 12, into the transport path of the food portions, i.e. into the tracks 14a, 14b, precisely at the point in time when the correctly aligned food portions of the position correction 19 reach the sheet feed area 16. The supplied underlay sheets are taken along by the food portions transported in the direction of the product discharge 22 as they pass over the sheet supply area 16 . The food portions then come to rest on the underlay sheets on the product discharge 22 . For optimal placement of the food portions on the underlay sheets, these are output by the underlay unit 17 at the very speed at which the belt of the product removal 22 carries the food portions away from the sheet feed area 16 .

During the transition from the product infeed belt 12 to the product outfeed belt 22, the food portion passes a small step, i.e. there is a vertical offset between the product infeed belt 12 and the product outfeed belt 22 in the area of the sheet infeed area 16 (see also 4 ). However, it is also possible to design the transition between the product supply belt 12 and the product discharge belt 22 in such a way that both conveyor belts 12, 22 lie at least essentially in one plane.

The placement of sheet material by the placement unit 17 can be controlled track-specifically with the placement device 10 shown, i.e. the provision and placement of sheet material on the first track 14a are possible independently of the provision and placement of sheet material on the second track 14b and vice versa. The multi-track, track-specific underleaver function is described below using the example of the in 1 shown two-track operation explained. However, with a comparatively simple conversion, the Underleaver shown can also be operated with more than two lanes. The respective operating mode depends, for example, on the products to be sliced, the downstream conveying and sorting devices, and the type of packaging or packaging machine.

For each of the lanes 14a and 14b, providing the sheet material includes removing webs of material 24a and 24b (see, e.g 3 ) of one roll of web material 26a and 26b. For this purpose, the underlay unit 17 has a material supply unit 20 for providing track-specific material webs 24a, 24b (see e.g 3 , 5 ) of sheet material. The first track 14a is assigned a first roll of web material 26a, and the second track 14b is assigned a second roll of web material 26b, which are stored together in a material store 28, which is arranged below the product feed 12. The material storage 28 includes a receiving shaft 30, which receives the two rolls of web material 26a, 26b together. For this purpose, the material web rolls 26a, 26 have a roll core which is designed to receive the receiving shaft 30. The material web rolls 26a and 26b are rotatably mounted independently of one another on the receiving shaft 30, so that the removal of material webs 24a, 24b can be carried out completely individually for each track.

For each track 14a, 14b, the removal of the material web 24a, 24b assigned to the respective track from the roll of web material 26a, 26b includes unwinding by means of a removal device 32. This includes a driven take-off shaft 34, which extends across the width of both rolls of web material 26a, 26b and is associated with both rolls of web material 26a, 26b in common, in order to remove respective webs of material 24a, 24b therefrom. The removal device 32 can have its own drive unit for driving the take-off shaft 34 . The take-off shaft 34 has a rubberized surface, so that good contact with a material web 24a, 24b to be unrolled is ensured.

For track-individual controllable removal of material webs 24a, 24b from material web rolls 26a and 26b, removal device 32 has two take-off pressure units 36a, 36b, of which the first take-off pressure unit 36a is assigned to the first material web roll 26a, and the second take-off pressure unit 36b is assigned to the second material web roll 26b . The trigger pressure units 36a, 36b each comprise a rotatably mounted pressure shaft 38a, 38b with a rubberized surface and a pneumatic device 40a, 40b. A withdrawal gap 42a, 42b is defined by the withdrawal shaft 34 and the pressure shafts 38a, 38b, through which the respective material web 24a, 24b is guided.

For each material web roll 26a and 26b, the respective material web 24a, 24b is removed by the respective pressure shaft 38a, 38b being pressed against the rotating take-off shaft 34 by the respective associated pneumatic device 40a, 40b. The take-off gap 42a, 42b is reduced to such an extent that the respective pressure shafts 38a, 38b and the take-off shaft 34 come into engagement with the material webs 24a, 24b, as a result of which the material webs 24a, 24b are carried along by the take-off shaft 34 and thus from the respective material web rolls 26a , 26b are settled. The control of pressing the Pressure shafts 38a, 38b can be controlled track-specifically, ie the pressure shafts 38a, 38b can be pressed independently of one another onto the take-off shaft 34, so that the material web 24a and the material web 24b can be removed individually and independently from the respective material web roll 26a, 26b.

The removed material webs 24a, 24b are first guided over a dancer roller or pendulum roller 44a, 44b, which keep the tension of the material webs 24a, 24b constant even with fluctuations in the material web length and form a store for the removed sheet material.

The provision of the sheet material for placing under food portions in the sheet supply area 16 of the placing device 10 includes the track-specific output of sheet material by an output unit 18, as shown in Figure 2A is shown in a schematic side view. Only one material web 24, here for example the material web 24b, and the components of the output unit 18 assigned to it are shown in the side view. Nevertheless, the output unit 18 is designed to output two material webs 24a, 24b, which is described below with reference to Figure 2A should be explained.

The material webs 24a, 24b are removed from the associated dancer roller 44a, 44b by a feed device 46 and drawn into the output unit 18. This occurs track-specifically, ie for each track 14a, 14b and the associated material web 24a, 24b independently of a drawing-in on the other track, and depending on whether and when a food portion is supplied on the assigned track 14a, 14b. This can be determined by suitable sensor devices. The draw-in device 46 has two draw-in shafts 48a and 48b, which are assigned to the material webs 24a, 24b. In the side view of Figure 2A only the second draw-in shaft 48b is shown. The first draw-in shaft 48a protrudes into the plane of the drawing and is therefore not visible. In connection with 1 and figure 5 becomes the three-dimensional arrangement however clear. The draw-in shafts 48a and 48b are arranged coaxially and can each be driven individually by means of a drive 50a, 50b, for example by means of an electric motor which is coupled to the associated draw-in shaft 48a, 48b by means of a drive belt.

The feed device 46 also has two feed pressure units 52a (not shown) and 52b, which are each assigned to the material webs 24a, 24b. The feed pressure units 52a and 52b are each arranged opposite the feed shafts 48a and 48b and beyond the material webs 24a, 24b and thus together with the feed shafts 48a and 48b each define a feed gap 54a and 54b through which the material webs 24a and 24b are guided. The feed pressure units 52a, 52b each comprise a rotatably mounted pressure roller 56a, 56b for pressing the material webs 24a, 24b onto the feed shafts 48a, 48b. For this purpose, a track-specific pneumatic system 58a, 58b or another suitable mechanism is provided. For effective contact with the material webs 24a, 24b, both the draw-in shafts 48a, 48b and the pressure rollers 56a, 56b preferably have a rubberized surface. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the material webs 24a, 24b are each pressed continuously against the feed shafts 48a, 48b by means of the pressure rollers 56a, 56b. The pressure rollers 56a, 56b are arranged coaxially in the exemplary embodiment shown.

In this case, the material webs 24a, 24b are drawn in for each individual track in that the feed shafts 48a, 48b are driven as required in order to convey sheet material, depending on the food portions actually fed to the tracks 14a, 14b assigned to the material webs 24a, 24b. The drives 50a, 50b are thus operated intermittently independently of one another in order to draw sheet material into the output unit 18 only when required.

Following the feed device 46, the material webs 24a, 24b fed in pass a separating device 60, which separates sheet material from the material webs, so that individual underlay sheets are obtained for placing under individual food portions. The separating device 60 is also set up for lane-specific operation. For this purpose, it comprises a knife unit for each material web 24a, 24b, which in the specific case comprises a rotatable knife shaft 62a, 62b. The knife shafts 62a, 62b can each be driven intermittently independently of one another by means of a drive 63a, 63b, in this case by means of an electric motor, if underlay sheets are to be made available on the corresponding track. Two separating elements 64-1a, 64-2a and 64-1b, 64-2b are arranged on the knife shafts 62a, 62b with an angular offset of 180°. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the cutter shafts 62a and 62b are arranged coaxially, again only the cutter shaft 62b being shown, since the cutter shaft 62a is arranged behind the plane of the drawing.

The separating elements 64-1a, 64-2a and 64-1b, 64-2b are blades that are designed to sever or at least perforate the material webs 24a, 24b, so that individual backing sheets are separated from the sheet material of the material webs 24a , 24b are separated. A counter blade 66a, 66b is arranged on the side of the material webs 24a, 24b opposite the cutter shafts 62a, 62b in each case, which is intended to ensure a constant cutting result of the separating device 60. The counter-blades 66a, 66b are each designed, for example, as plastic-coated shafts which, together with the knife shafts 62a, 62b, each define a severing gap 68a, 68b, in which the material webs 24a, 24b are guided and severed. For an optimal cutting result, the counter-blades 66a, 66b can each be coupled to the associated knife shafts 62a, 62b, for example by means of a gear.

The drives 63a, 63b can cause the associated cutter shafts 62a, 62b to rotate, so that the separating elements 64-1a, 64-2a and 64-1b, 64-2b also rotate, for example in such a way that they are in the region of the separating gap 68a , 68b in the conveying direction of the material webs 24a, 24b, i.e. in 2 up, move. Will the in Figure 2A When the knife shaft 64-2b shown is rotated 90° from the position shown, the blade 64-2b comes into engagement with the material web 24b, which is severed while the counter blade 66b is held against it.

Sheet material that has passed the separating device 60, i.e. the finished backing sheets, are then ejected from the output unit 18 into the sheet feed area 16 of the backing device 10 by means of an ejection device 70. The ejection by the ejection device 70 takes place simultaneously on both tracks 14a and 14b, i.e. a track-specific operation of the ejection device is not provided and not necessary.

The sheet material is ejected by ejector device 70 by an ejector roller 74 driven by a drive 72, here by an electric motor, and by an ejector counter-unit 76, which includes a pressure roller 78 that is pressed pneumatically with corresponding pneumatics 79 in the direction of ejector roller 74. The pressure roller 78 and the ejection roller 74 each preferably have a rubberized surface. The pressure roller 78 and the ejection roller 74 together define an ejection gap 80 for the sheet material of the material webs 24a and 24b, i.e. the ejection roller 74 is assigned to all tracks 14a, 14b to be supplied with sheet material track-specifically.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the pressure roller 78 is permanently pneumatically pressed against the ejector roller 74, while the ejector roller 74 is constantly at the belt speed of the product supply belt 12 and the product discharge belt 22 is operated. Nevertheless, a track-specific provision of sheet material is achieved with the output unit 18 since the track-specific conveying cycle is already specified by the feed device 46 . Even when the ejection device 70 is operated across tracks, sheet material is only made available on that track 14a, 14b where the feed device 46 has drawn in sheet material and the separating device 60 has separated backing sheets.

The output unit 18 thus conveys the sheet material of the material webs 24a, 24b from below the product feed plane vertically upwards, with the infeed gaps 54a, 54b, the separating gaps 68a, 68b and the outfeed gap 80 being arranged in a common plane (see Fig Figure 2A ). This requires an extremely compact design of the output unit 18, which is further compacted by a coaxial arrangement of the two cutter shafts 62a, 62b, the two draw-in shafts 48a, 48b and the associated shearbars 66a, 66b and pressure rollers 56a, 56b. The output unit 18 can thus easily be accommodated below the product feed belt 12 of the underlay device 10 (see FIG 1 ).

Figure 2B shows an output unit 18 according to a further embodiment, which differs from the output unit 18 in Figure 2A differs only with regard to the configuration of the feed pressure units 52a, 52b. According to the embodiment in FIG Figure 2B the indentation pressure units 52a, 52b are constructed in the same way as the counter-ejection unit 76 of the output unit 18. This results in a standardized control of both units on the one hand and on the other hand an advantageous standardization with regard to maintenance, repair, cleaning and replacement.

The interaction of the individual, above-described functional units of the multi-lane, lane-specific underleaver, for example the interaction of the material supply unit 20 and the output unit 18 the underlay unit 17 and the underlay unit 17 with the product feed 12 and the product discharge 22 of the underlay device 10, as well as the interaction of the underlay device 10 with functional units of a slicer and a packaging machine is controlled by a control device 82 (see 1 ) is controlled, which in the embodiment shown is a central control device 82 of the underlay device 10 (see e.g 1 ). With regard to the underlay unit 17, it is thus to a certain extent an external control device. However, the underlay unit 17 can also have an internal control device which cooperates with a control device 82 of the underlay device 10 or a control device of the entire line for slicing and packaging.

The control device 82 (or a higher-level control device) controls, among other things, the belt drives of the product feed 12 and the product discharge 22, but also the drives of the take-off shaft 34 of the material supply unit 20 and the feed shafts 48a, 48b of the output unit 18, and thus ultimately determines how much material per Unit of time is unrolled from the material web rolls 26a, 26b and how much material of the material webs 24a, 24b is drawn into the feed device 46 for which track 14a, 14b and is thus ultimately output by the output unit 18 into the sheet feed area 16.

The track-related material requirement in the sheet feed area 16 is determined by the control device 82 and ensured by a corresponding track-related activation of the removal device 32, the feed device 46 and the separating device 60. In order to decouple the highly dynamic delivery of sheet material into the sheet feed area 16 by the delivery unit 18 from the unrolling of material webs 24a, 24b from the relatively sluggish material web rolls 26a, 26b, the control device 82 also ensures that there is always a sufficient supply of sheet material per track 14a, 14b on the dancer or pendulum rollers 44a, 44b is stored in order to be able to provide the required sheet material on the tracks 14a, 14b at short notice.

In order to detect the lane-specific requirement for the provision of sheet material, the underlay device 10 comprises a corresponding sensor device 84, which is arranged in the area of the product feed 12 and which detects, lane-specifically, on which lane 14a, 14b the sheet feed area 16 food portions are fed. For this purpose, the sensor device 84 has, for each track 14a, 14b, a respectively assigned, suitable sensor 85a, 85b for detecting portions of food. Based on this information from the sensor device 84, the control device 82 controls the drives of the material supply unit 20 and the output unit 18 in a suitable manner.

In particular, the drive 72 of the ejection roller 74 is controlled by the control device 82 in such a way that the sheet material is ejected in a manner adapted to the speed of the belt of the product removal 22 . For example, the ejection speed of the sheet material and the speed of the product discharge belt 22 are substantially the same.

Alternatively, it is also possible to provide a mechanical coupling between the product removal belt 22 and the ejection roller 74 and to drive these functional units with a common drive unit. For example, this coupling can take place by means of a corresponding roller 87 or a gear wheel of the product feed belt, which meshes with the discharge roller 74 or a gear wheel 87 coupled thereto (see FIG 4 ). A direct mechanical coupling of the speeds of the product removal belt 22 and/or the product feed belt 12 and the ejection roller 74 is thus ensured.

3 shows a side view of an underlay device 10 according to a further embodiment, which is largely identical to the underlay device 10 according to the first embodiment of FIG 1 is comparable. In particular, the material supply unit 20, the dancer rollers 44a, 44b and the product supply belt 12 and the product removal belt 22 are at least essentially designed as described above.

The output unit 18 according to 3 is, however, designed in modular form as an output module 18 ′, which has its own frame 86 . The output module 18' off 3 can be moved out of a corresponding holding device of the underlay device 10 in the direction of the viewer, ie laterally out of the underlay device 10 in relation to the transport direction of the food products, whereby particularly easy access to the individual functional units of the output module 18' is possible. Also figure 5 shows an underlay device 10 according to a further embodiment with an output module 18'.

A detailed view of an output module 18' is shown in FIG 4 shown. The functional units of the output module 18', i.e. the feeder device 46, the separating device 60 and the ejector device 70, are each also designed in modular form as a feeder module 46', separating module 60' and ejector module 70', i.e. each of the functional units is in turn in its own frame or housing arranged. The structure and the mode of operation of the feed module 46′, the separation module 60′ and the extension module 70′ correspond at least essentially to the structure and mode of operation as described above with reference to FIG Figure 2A and 2 B was described.

After the output module 18' has been pulled out laterally from the underlay device 10, the feed-in module 46', the separation module 60' and the push-out module 70' can be individually removed one after the other upwards from the output module 18', for example for cleaning or maintenance purposes.

Replacing individual defective functional units is extremely quick and uncomplicated in this way and, under certain circumstances, even possible without the use of tools. In the event of a fault, the operation of the underlay device 10 can be resumed as quickly as possible. A lateral removal can also be provided.

In principle, the material supply unit 20 can also be designed as a material supply module 20' that can be pulled out to the side and has its own frame or housing in order to make maintenance, cleaning and repair or replacement of the material web rolls 26a, 26b of the underlay device 10 even easier and more efficient. The removal device 32 can also be designed as a separate removal module 32' with its own frame, or as a sub-module of a material supply module 20'. A material storage module 28' can also be designed as an independent module or sub-module of a material supply module 20'.

The drive units for the feed module 46′, the separation module 60′, the extension module 70′ or the removal module 32′ can in principle be integrated into the respective module itself, ie permanently installed in the frame of the respective module. In the illustrated embodiments of 3 (see also figure 5 ) However, the drives 50a, 50b of the first intake shaft 48a and the second intake shaft 48b as well as the drives 63a, 63b of the first and second cutter shaft are attached to a frame of the underlay device 10. The drives are coupled to the associated functional units after the output module 18' has been installed by means of drive belts (see figure 5 ).

Out of 3 it is also clear that it can be advantageous for the entire underlay unit 17 to be in the form of an underlay module 17'. An underlay module 17' can be easily retrofitted in an existing line without an underleaver by simply installing it between the product feed 12 and the product discharge 22 below the Food transport level is installed. If necessary, already existing conveyor or sorting belts can take over the functionality of the product feed belt 12 and the product discharge belt 22 . In a line that already has an underleaver, an underlay module 17' can be used in a particularly simple manner, for example, to expand the functionality to a multi-lane, track-specific underlay function, or to significantly reduce the installation space of an existing multi-lane underleaver. In addition, an underlay module 17' results in significantly increased flexibility for the operation of a line for slicing and packaging products. In particular, it is possible to install and remove the underlay module 17', depending on whether the line is to be operated with or without an underleaver.

figure 5 shows an underlay device 10 of the underlay devices 10 according to FIG 1 and Fig.3 differs in that no dancer rolls 44a, 44b are provided. Instead, the material webs 24a, 24b picked up track-specifically from the material web rolls 26a, 26b by the removal device 32 are stored in loops 88a, 88b arranged next to one another. For the sake of clarity, in figure 5 only one material web loop 88a is shown. In order to always have a sufficient amount of sheet material available in the loop store, it is necessary for the control device 82 to control the removal device 32 track-specifically in such a way that after sheet material has been removed by the output unit 18 or the output module 18', the store is opened by the removal device 32 is refilled on a track-by-track basis.

In order to detect the material web-related unwinding requirement for sheet material, the underlay unit 10 according to figure 5 a sheet material detection device 90, which is designed for lane-specific detection of the loop size and thus the material supply. The sheet material detection device 90 comprises an ultrasonic sensor 92a, 92b (not shown) for each material web 24a, 24b, which is directed from an upper side into the material loops 88a, 88b and always the Size of the material loops 88a, 88b detected. The information about the loop size is transmitted to the control device 82 and serves as a basis for controlling the removal device 32.

Other sheet material detection devices 90 with suitable sensors, such as light barriers or the like, can also be used to monitor the storage of a sufficient quantity of sheet material in the material loops 88a, 88b for each track.

Reference List

10

underlay device

12

product feed

14a

first track

14b

second track

16

sheet feeding area

17

pad unit

17'

underlay module

18

output unit

18'

output module

19

position correction

20

material supply unit

20'

material staging module

22

product removal

24a

first web of material

24b

second web of material

26a

first web roll

26b

second web roll

28

material storage

30

pickup shaft

32

removal device

32'

acceptance module

34

trigger shaft

36a

first trigger pressure unit

36b

second trigger pressure unit

38a

first pressure wave

38b

second pressure wave

40a

first pneumatic device

40b

second pneumatic device

42a

first deduction column

42b

second trigger gap

44a

first dancer roll

44b

second dancer roll

46

collection device

46'

feed module

48a

first feed shaft

48b

second intake shaft

50a

Drive of the first draw-in shaft 48a

50b

Drive of the second draw-in shaft 48b

52a

first feed pressure unit

52b

second feed pressure unit

54a

first indentation

54b

second feed gap

56a

first pinch roller

56b

second pinch roller

58a

first pneumatics

58b

second pneumatics

60

disconnection device

60'

separation module

62a

first knife shaft

62b

second knife shaft

63a

Drive of the first knife shaft 62a

63b

Drive of the second knife shaft 62b

64-1a

first separating element of the first knife shaft

64-2a

second separating element of the first knife shaft

64-1b

first separating element of the second knife shaft

64-2b

second separating element of the second knife shaft

66a

first shearbar

66b

second shearbar

68a

first separation gap

68b

second separation gap

70

extension device

70'

extension module

72

Drive of the ejection roller 74

74

outfeed roller

76

extension counter unit

78

pinch roller

79

Pneumatics of the pressure roller

80

ejection gap

82

control device

84

sensor device

85a

Sensor for detecting a food portion of the first track 14a

85b

Sensor for detecting a food portion of the second track 14b

86

frame of the output module 18'

87

roller or gear wheel

88a

Material loop of the first material web 24a

88b

Material loop of the second material web 24b

90

sheet material detection device

92a

first ultrasonic sensor

92b

second ultrasonic sensor

Claims (14)

1. An output unit (18) for a provision individually per track of sheet material for placing beneath products fed on two or multiple tracks, in particular beneath food portions,

   said output unit (18) comprising a draw-in device (46) which is configured to draw in individually per track a respective one material web (24a, 24b) of the sheet material per track (14a, 14b) and which in particular has at least one driven draw-in shaft (48a, 48b) and at least one draw-in pressure unit (52a, 52b);

   a separation device (60) which is configured to separate the sheet material from the material webs (24a, 24b); and

   an ejection device (70) which is configured to discharge sheet material on two or multiple tracks,

   characterized in that

   the ejection device (70) comprises a driven ejection roller (74) and an ejection counter-unit (76) which forms an ejection gap (80) for the sheet material together with the ejection roller (74),

   wherein the ejection roller (74) is jointly associated with at least two tracks (14a, 14b).
2. An output unit (18) in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the ejection gap (80) and a draw-in gap (54a, 54b), which is formed by the at least one draw-in shaft (48a, 48b) and the at least one draw-in pressure unit (52a, 52b), are disposed in a plane which is arranged at least substantially perpendicular in a position of use of the output unit (18).
3. An output unit (18) in accordance with claim 1 or 2,
   wherein the draw-in device (46) has at least two draw-in shafts (48a, 48b), in particular individually driven draw-in shafts (48a, 48b), wherein one draw-in shaft (48a, 48b) is associated with a respective one material web (24a, 24b), and/or wherein the draw-in device (46) has at least two draw-in pressure units (52a, 52b), wherein one draw-in pressure unit (52a, 52b) is associated with a respective one material web (24a, 24b).
4. An output unit (18) in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the separation device (60) comprises at least one blade unit, in particular a rotating blade shaft (62a, 62b) having at least one separation element (64-1a, 64-1b, 64-2a, 64-2b), wherein the at least one separation element (64-1a, 64-1b, 64-2a, 64-2b) can preferably be driven such that it rotates in the conveying direction of the material web (24a, 24b) to separate sheet material, in particular wherein the separation device (60) is configured to separate sheet material individually per track, wherein the separation device (60) has at least two individually driven blade units, wherein one blade unit is associated with a respective one material web (24a, 24b).
5. An output unit (18) in accordance with claim 3,
   wherein the at least two draw-in shafts (48a, 48b) are coaxially arranged, and/or wherein shafts of pressure rollers (56a, 56b) of the at least two draw-in pressure units (52a, 52b) are coaxially arranged, and/or wherein blade shafts (62a, 62b) of the at least two blade units are coaxially arranged.
6. An output unit (18) in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the output unit (18) is designed in a modular manner as an output module (18'), and/or wherein the draw-in device (46), the separation device (60) and/or the ejection device (70) is/are in each case designed in a modular manner as a draw-in module (46'), a separation module (60'), and/or an ejection module (70'), in particular wherein each of the modules has its own frame or its own housing.
7. An output unit (18) in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the output unit (18), the draw-in device (46), the separation device (60) and/or the ejection device (70) in each case comprises/comprise at least one drive unit (50a, 50b, 63a, 63b, 72), in particular an electric motor which is configured to drive the corresponding unit, and/or wherein the ejection device (70) has a mechanical interface by means of which the ejection roller (74) can be drive-effectively coupled to an external drive unit.
8. An underlay unit (17) for a provision individually per track of sheet material for placing beneath products fed on two or multiple tracks, in particular beneath food portions,

   comprising an output device (18) in accordance with at least one of the claims 1 to 7, and

   comprising a material provision unit (20) for a provision individually per track of material webs (24a, 24b) of sheet material, comprising a material storage (28), comprising a common reception shaft (30) for receiving at least two material web rolls (26a, 26b) from each of which a material web (24a, 24b) of the sheet material can be removed, in particular wherein a respective one material web roll (26a, 26b) is associated with a track (14a, 14b) on which sheet material can be provided; and comprising a removal device (32) which is configured to remove material webs (24a, 24b) from the at least two material web rolls (26a, 26b), in particular wherein the removal device (32) has a removal shaft (34), which is jointly associated with the at least two material webs (24a, 24b), and at least one removal pressure unit (36a, 36b) per material web roll (26a, 26b), said removal shaft (34) and at least one removal pressure unit (36a, 36b) together forming a respective one removal gap (42a, 42b) for the respective material web (24a, 24b),

   in particular wherein the underlay unit (17) is designed in a modular manner as an underlay module which has its own frame or housing.
9. An underlay unit (17) in accordance with claim 8,
   wherein the material provision unit (20) is designed in a modular manner as a material provision module (20'), in particular wherein the material storage (28) and/or the removal device (32) is/are in each case designed in a modular manner as a material module (20') and/or a removal module (32'), in particular wherein each of the modules has its own frame or its own housing.
10. An underlay unit (17) in accordance with claim 8 or 9,
    wherein the underlay unit (17) comprises a sheet material detection device (90) which is configured to detect individually per track an amount of sheet material provided by the material provision unit (20), in particular by means of at least one ultrasound sensor (92a, 92b), and to regulate a provision speed of the material provision unit (20) in dependence on the amount of sheet material provided.
11. An underlay apparatus (10) for a provision individually per track of sheet material for placing beneath products fed on two or multiple tracks, in particular beneath food portions,

    said underlay apparatus (10) comprising a product feed which is configured to feed the products on two or multiple tracks to a sheet feed region (16), in particular wherein the product feed is configured as a belt device (12);

    an underlay unit (17) in accordance with claim 8; and

    a product outfeed (22) which is configured to lead the products away from the sheet feed region (16) on two or multiple tracks, in particular wherein the product outfeed is configured as a belt device (22),

    in particular wherein the product feed and the product outfeed are at least substantially disposed in one plane.
12. An underlay apparatus (10) in accordance with claim 11,
    wherein the output unit (18), in particular the ejection device (70), is drive-effectively coupled to the product outfeed, and/or wherein the product outfeed is drive-effectively coupled to the output unit (18), in particular to the ejection device (70).
13. An underlay apparatus (10) in accordance with claim 11 or 12,
    comprising a sensor device (84) which is configured to detect individually per track the requirement for the provision of sheet material, in particular by a detection individually per track of products in a region of the product feed, and/or comprising a control device (84) which is configured to adapt the provision individually per track of sheet material to the actual requirement, in particular based on a detection individually per track of products in the region of the product feed, and/or to control the feed and/or the outfeed of products into and/or from a sheet feed region (16).
14. An apparatus for slicing and packaging products, in particular food portions, comprising

    at least one cutting apparatus, in particular a high-performance slicer, for slicing the product;

    an underlay apparatus (10) in accordance with at least one of the claims 11 to 13, wherein the product feed receives portions of the sliced product; and

    a packaging apparatus, in particular a deep-draw packaging machine, for packaging the portions underlaid with sheet material.

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