FI80858B - Bag forming machine for automated packing of a food product in plastic packaging - Google Patents

Description

1 80858

Sewage support machine for automatic packaging of a food product in a plastic package

The invention relates to a wooden support machine for automatically packaging a food product in a plastic package, as set out in the preamble of claim 1. The invention relates mainly to a bagging machine used in the slaughterhouse sector, and in particular in the poultry sector.

Fully automatic treatment is sought in this area to increase capacity and ensure hygiene. This goal has been achieved in many different processing stages of the product.

This is the case, for example, in the broiler sector.

However, there are bottlenecks in manual packaging, especially at the stage where the bird is packed in a unit pack, i.e. each bird is packed in its own resealable plastic bag.

The most advanced packaging machine in the field has two people operating each machine, capable of a packing speed of 10 pcs / min. There are four to eight different packing points in normal broiler production, to which birds classified in different weight groups are dropped from the production line. Since all products must be packed immediately, which is essential for hygiene and product shelf life, 8-16 people are needed to operate these packing points.

The above-mentioned semi-automatic packing machine is thus operated by two people, one of whom takes the bird from the feeding place, puts it in the machine and starts the machine, which opens the plastic bag with compressed air and pushes the bird into the bag. The maximum speed is mentioned 10 birds per minute for two people.

The object of the present invention is to provide a packaging machine which automatically packs the birds fed to the packing point in plastic bags and seals the bags airtight. This would allow one person to monitor and operate multi-packing point machines.

This object is achieved by a packaging machine according to the invention, the main features of which appear in the feature part of claim 1.

According to the invention, the work platform of the machine according to the invention, i.e. the work surface, is made inclined downwards in the direction of forming the package. At the upper end of the worktop is the product reception point, where the product to be packaged comes from the production line. Preferably, the product falls into the hopper at the receiving point or slides along the feed surface into the receiving point. The product thus has considerable kinetic energy with which it is directed into the bag-shaped channel formed by the packaging film. The packaging film is guided from the storage roll below the machine to the receiving point of the product to be packaged, where it is turned by means of guides into a transparent bag in cross-section from above. Opposite traction sheaves, preferably Teflon-coated, grip the upwardly turned side edges of the film and pull the film and its packaged products along the work platform of the machine. The longitudinal sealing device in the machine seals the upper edges together and the device which forms the transverse seams of the package and the cutting of the film is synchronized with the drive wheel drive and performs its task synchronously with the drawing of the film. The machine has a sensor that detects the presence of the product to be packaged and instructs the traction wheels to start the packing operations to form the next pack.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the film transverse seams and the film cutting device are adapted to move back and forth in the working plane and to perform film cutting and sealing of the end of the package and sealing of the front end of the package as it moves towards its lower end position. by the force of the movement provided by the cutting and sealing device from the work surface to the collection container. The cutting and eau device immediately moves back to its up position to wait for the sensor to start the next cutting and sealing cycle.

The cutting member is preferably a heated wire, and the transverse seam forming device is preferably heated, Teflon-coated, oppositely displaceable Leu copper.

The longitudinal sealing device is preferably a hot air sealing device.

The device preferably includes a hot steam supply zone which is directed at its upper end into the open bag and causes the air in the bag to condense into a few drops of water. According to another preferred embodiment, the device comprises the injection of a shielding gas, for example carbon dioxide or nitrogen, to remove air from the bag.

The sensor that detects the product fed into the machine is arranged in the feeding hopper of the machine or in its immediate vicinity. The second sensor is preferably arranged in connection with the work platform and the cutting and sealing device.

The film material used is preferably polyethylene in the case of freezer bags and polyethylene laminate which prevents the penetration of bacteria in the case of fresh packages.

The machine control system is a programmable logic known per se and applied to the needs of the machine.

4 80858

The main advantage of the packaging machine according to the invention is its stepless automatic adjustment, which allows the capacity to be adjusted to the production, which means that the machine is able to pack all the products fed to the packing point, at the same rate as the products fed there. The possibility of adjustment is stepless, i.e. it packs 0 to about 1200 products per hour, with a maximum speed of 1200 hours being reached.

This adjustment capability is provided by fast inverter control, which allows the start and stop of the packaging cycle to take place in a controlled manner with accelerated and controlled deceleration, controlled by sensors.

Another significant advantage is the self-feeding in the machine, for example by falling or sliding, to the receiving point, which gives the product considerable kinetic energy with which s e propagates on the working surface of the machine inside the film.

In addition to the film roll in use, the machine has a spare roll, which can be quickly put into packaging work, for example by connecting the front end of a new roll to the end of the previous roll.

Taking a spare roll as an extension of the emptying roll is the only operation that must be done manually during the entire packaging process, in addition to general machine control. This gives a very high packing capacity. It can be calculated that one person is able to monitor and operate five packaging machines, which means a sweetening capacity of 6,000 products per hour, i.e. more than 10 times the current capacity per employee.

In addition, the machine is small in size, ie it takes up considerably little floor space. In addition, it is clearly structured and easy to clean and maintain.

5 80858

A preferred example of a packaging machine according to the invention is shown below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a schematic side elevational view of a baling machine according to the invention, and Figure 2 shows a partial top view of the machine according to Figure 1.

Of the same parts, the same reference numerals have been used in both figures. The packaging film used is indicated by reference number 1, the spare roll by number 2, the film guides for folding the film from the top into an open bag are marked with number 3 and the hopper into which the product falls with number 4. The machine drive wheels are marked with number 5, the steering wheel after length sealing 6.

The bagging machine according to the invention operates as follows: the packaging film 1 is guided over its guides to the receiving point 4 of the machine, where the side edges of the film turn upwards and are subjected to the compression of the traction wheels 5. The film forms an open, cross-sectional channel in the form of a bag, which is pulled along the work platform by the action of the traction wheels 5 and is held in place by the film cutting and sealing device. When the product to be packaged, in this case a bird, falls into the hopper 4, a sensor (not shown) connected to it detects the presence of the bird and instructs the traction wheels to start operating. The bird is at the same time in its own kinetic energy transferred to the film-forming channel, and the film lintuineen pituussaumauslaitteeseen moving contact 9, which forms the upper side of the package longitudinal seal. Next, the heated wire of the cutting device 11 cuts the film between the previous bird and the freshly fed bird while the sealing jaws heat up and press against each other, forming a transverse seam on both sides of the cutting line. During the sealing phase, the cutting and sealing device 11 has moved along the work platform to its lower extreme position, where the package which has received its upper seal is thrown off the machine and transferred to the collection package or the like by the kinetic energy received. The cutting and sealing device 11 is immediately pulled back to its upper position, pulled by the cylinder to the standby position to pack the next bird. The packaging functions are started by a command given by the sensor to the drive wheels 5. The movement of the cutting and sawing device is synchronized with the movement of the traction wheels.

Approximately 10-12 bag packs are directed to a collection package at the end of the bagging device, not shown in the figures, after which the collection package automatically moves aside and the next empty package is automatically replaced.

The longitudinal sealing device shown by reference numeral 9 is a hot air saw, which receives its hot air to be blown out of the heater 10, where the compressed air supplied therein is heated. The traction wheels 5, the steering wheels 6 and the contact surfaces of the sealing device 11 with the film are coated with Teflon.

The upper open end of the bag to be formed is supplied through the feed funnel indicated by the arrow, the hot steam to the air contained in the bag can be sealed with a few water droplets, or a protective gas, with air contained in the bag is removed from the bag.

The bagging machine shown in the figure is intended for packing broilers, but the bagging machine can just as well pack other food products.

Claims (7)

1. A dishwashing machine for automatic packaging of food products in plastic packaging, comprising a device for feeding a packaging film (1) to the machine, drawers (5) for pulling the film through the dishwashing machine, a longitudinal sewing device (9) for joining together. the longitudinal edges of the upper side of the film, a device (11) which performs the transverse joints, and a sensing device arranged to sense the product to be packaged, characterized in that it comprises a working support which in the direction of movement of the packaging product is upwardly inclined inclined and in the front of which are known per se known controls (4), which fold the packaging film into an open packaging tube on its upper side, into whose end the product to be packaged is arranged to be measured from above from the production line in a way which develops motion energy, for example by falling or sliding, the product moving by itself, u by manual or mechanical control, by the packing steps thanks to their movement energy, the device (11) which performs the transverse joints and the cutting is arranged to move forward and back in the direction of the working substrate and perform the cutting of the film; the joining of the upper end of the package and the joining of the lower end of the package during its movement towards its lower limit position, where the finished product separates from the device and from which the device returns to its upper limit position, and the sensing device is arranged to eat the draw wheels initiate the following packing round. 2. Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting member is a heated tree and the device which performs the transverse joints of mutually moving jaw pairs, which are preferably coated with Teflon. Machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the longitudinal sewing device is a hot air sewing device (11). Machine according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that there is hot air supply into the bag which is open in its upper end. Machine according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that there is protective gas supply into the bag which is open in its upper end. Machine according to any preceding claim, characterized in that in the feed hopper (4) or in the immediate vicinity of the product there is a sensing device for sensing the product's arrival in the device. Machine according to claim 6, characterized in that another sensing device is arranged in connection with the working base and the cutting and joining device (11).