GB2178720A - Mobile packaging station - Google Patents

Abstract

A mobile packaging station primarily for the collection and packaging in situ of vegetable produce grown in market gardens. The station is preferably a self propelled vehicle having an endless conveyor extending laterally of the vehicle. The conveyor belt preferably consists of chain links which are connected in such a way that each section is capable of rotational movement in the ame plane as an adjacent section. In a loading zone 1, rising in a lifting zone 3 and extending to a packaging zone 4. The conveyor is pivoted at the inboard end of zone 4 to enable the height of the loading zone to be altered. The conveyor is of variable speed and in the packaging zone passes in front of packaging tables 4 and seats 7 for operative. Further operatives work in front of loading zone 1 and place the produce in receptacles located on the conveyor. The vehicle may be steered from either on or off the vehicle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to mobile packaging stations This invention relates to a mobile packaging station to enable produce to be gathered from their growing positions and packaged in situ for delivery to customers.

One of the problems confronting market gardeners and others concerned with the growing of fruit and vegetables on a commercial basis are the continual demands by customers for improvement in the quality of the produce. In general when certain crops are grown for example lettuces they are gathered and transported to a packaging station where each lettuce may be packaged in a plastics bag. In some cases the station is operated as a co-operative and produce from a number of growers may be collected from different fields. Present practices have a number of defects if produce of the highest quality is required. For example an appreciable time may elapse between the picking of for example a lettuce and packing the lettuce in its plastic bag. In the intervening period the lettuce loses some of its freshness due to evaporation or it becomes bruised.A disadvantage of a co-operative packaging station stems from the risks of cross infection i.e. the infection of produce arriving from one growing area by produce from another area where there is some form of infection. These problems can be reduced or even eliminated by gathering the produce and packaging it in situ.

Accordingly this invention provides a mobile packaging station comprising a vehicle incorporating a conveyor means for receiving items of produce and transporting the items to a packaging zone located on or within the vehicle a part of the conveyor means moving transversely of the direction of movement of the vehicle the part of the conveyor means moving in the transverse direction being supported by a member connected by a hinge to the vehicle and means for rotating the member about the hinge.

This invention is illustrated but not restricted by the following drawings which illustrates one form of the packaging station according to the present invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the packaging station.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the packaging station illustrated in Fig. 1; Figure 3 shows a side view taken in vertical section of a carrier cup which forms part of a conveyor carried by a support shown as numeral 8 in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 shows in plan the carrier cup shown in Fig. 3.

The packaging station shown in Fig. 1 is a self propelled vehicle driven by a 45 HP diesel engine which also supplies the power for operating the packing station. The vehicle is provided with a chassis (1) rear drive wheels (2) and front wheels (3). When the vehicle is to be used for certain produce such as lettuces which generally are grown on raised beds wheels (2) are preferably of the balloon type and have a sufficiently large diameter to run along the grooves between the beds and permit the chassis to remain clear of the beds.

Steering wheels (3) are connected to a steering axle which is responsive to a hydrostratic steering cylinder (4) acting through a trunnion block (5). The vehicle is steered by a hydrostatic steering unit (6) which can be operated from two positions. When the vehicle is in use as a packaging station it is required to move very slowly e.g. 40 feet per minute.

Under these conditions unit (6) is rotated forward in an anti-clockwise direction and it can then be operated by an operative walking along the ground who can, because of the slowness of the vehicle, perform other duties also e.g. picking the produce. On the other hand when the vehicle is not acting as a packaging station but solely as a vehicle moving between destinations higher speeds are required. These are achieved by rotating unit (6) in a clockwise direction until it is in a vertical position from which it can be controlled by a driver from a drivers platform and seat (7).

When unit (6) has been moved to this position the speed of the vehicle can then be raised through operation of a suitable gearing system.

The vehicle is provided with a conveyor consisting of an endless chain belt moving on a support (8) which is connected pivotally to an upright (9). The height of the conveyor support from the ground can be varied by raising or lowering the end of the support with a winch (not shown) causing the whole support to rotate about pivot (9). The height to which the conveyor belt is adjusted depends upon a number of factors. For example if the whole of a bed of lettuces is to be packaged it is usually desireable to set the conveyor as low as possible without contacting the ground. However in certain circumferences only selected items of produce in a row may be ready for packaging in which case the height of the receiving end of the conveyor must be set so that it passes over without touching those items of produce which are required to be left.

Produce is picked by operatives walking in front of the machine and is placed on the conveyor belt moving on support (8), in the direction of pivot (9). The conveyor belt carries the produce up an incline (10) through a packaging zone (11) running along the length of the vehicle where operatives on a packing platform (12) can remove produce from the conveyor belt and package the produce in plastics bags. The packaged product is then placed in boxes on conveyor (13) which then removes them when filled to a packaging table (14). The vehicle is provided with a canopy (15) to provide operatives with shelter and a draw bar (16).

Fig. 2 shows more clearly the relationship between the conveyor belt and the other parts of the packaging station. The belt passes through three zones. In zone (1) the belt moves parallel to the ground and at right angles to the direction of movement of the vehicle. This is the zone where operatives walking beside or ahead of the machine gather the produce and load it onto the belt. The belt support in the produce receiving zone extends from either side of the machine as a boom. In order to permit the machine to pass through gates or other gaps too narrow for the machine the belt support is provided with hinges (2) to enable the end portions of the support to be folded upwards.

The conveyor then inclines upwards through a lifting zone (3) where the produce is raised until it reaches the packaging zone (4) which is disposed parallel to the line of movement of the vehicle. On either side of zone (4) is a packaging platform (5) on which there are a number of packaging tables (6) and seats (7) for the operatives. The packaging tables can be provided with bagging machines which enable the produce to be sealed in plastic bags utilising power supplied by the engine driving the vehicle. Produce thus packaged is then placed in boxes on the conveyor (Numeral 13 Figure 1) and then removed to storage (8).

Numerals 9, 10, 11 and 12 represent a steering wheel, a seat for the driver, a fuel tank and a hydraulic oil tank respectively.

An alternative form of storage can comprise a trailer connected to the packaging station into which an operative can walk while transferring produce from the packaging zone without the need for stopping the machine. In order to permit this arrangement the end of the packaging zone is provided with a doorway through which the operative can pass into the trailer. This arrangement tends to allow draughts through the door way and these can interfere with the packaging of the produce since this utilises very light filmic plastics sheeting which is readily disturbed by air turbulence. In order to reduce this problem the trailer is connected preferably by a telescopic tow bar to the packaging station so that the gap between the trailer and the station can be varied but kept as small as possible.This entails reducing the gap when the station is moving in a straight line and increasing the gap when the station is moving round corners.

The speed of the conveyor belt is preferably adjustable. In general the optimum speed is one which ensures that when produce has been placed on the conveyor and moves through the packaging zone the operatives have sufficient time to remove and wrap all the produce. If the belt moves too quickly the operatives do not have time to wrap all the produce some of which is then transported round the system again before returning to the packaging zone. During this unnecessary journey the produce is exposed to increased possibility of damage. Speeds of about 40 feet per minute have been found to be generally very satisfactory although those up to 100 feet per minute can sometimes be employed to good advantage.

Packaging stations made according to the present invention can be of exceptional compactness if the conveyor belt consists of a single continuous belt for passing through both the produce receiving and packaging zones. Preferred belts are made by the joining together of belt sections in such a way so that adjacent sections have sufficient freedom to move rotationally in the same plane with respect to one another so that the belt is capable of transporting produce round corners.

The preferred form of belt is in effect a chain in which the different belt sections are composed of links.

In order to prevent produce becoming bruised in its passage through the packaging station we prefer to use a conveyor belt which is designed to prevent each item of produce from touching its neighbour. One way of achieving this is to provide the belt as spaced intervals along its length with cups or other forms of receptacles or barriers into which or between which an operative can place each item of produce as soon as it has been harvested. The cups can be made to vary in both size and shape depending upon the kind of produce being collected. Thus if for example the produce consists of lettuces having a rounded shape a cup comprising four finger-like members having a length of about five inches and defining a tulip shaped enclosure is very satisfactory. If produce having a very different shape is to be packaged the conveyor belt may require to be changed for one having cups of a more satisfactory dimension. However in many cases this procedure can be avoided by the simple expediency of extending the length of the fingers of a cup used for lettuces with sleeves of appropriate length made from flexible tubing composed of rubber or synthetic plastics.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a form of cup suit able 'four lettuces which has been enlarged with sleeves. Thus a link (1) in a conveyor belt consisting of a chain of connected linked is provided with a bridge section (2) supporting a T section (3) to which are attached four fingers (4) which have been extended by sleeves (5) of flexible tubing.

Claims (11)

1. A mobile packaging station comprising a vehicle incorporating a conveyor means for receiving items of produce and transporting the items to a packaging zone located on or within the vehicle a part of the conveyor means moving transversely out of the direction of movement of the vehicle the part of the conveyor means moving in the transverse direction being supported by a member connected by a hinge to the vehicle and means for rotating the member about the hinge.

2. A packaging station according to Claim 1 which is self-propelled.

3. A packaging station according to either of Claims 1 or 2 wherein the conveyor means comprises an endless belt formed from sections of the belt connected together so that each section is capable of rotational movement in the same plane with respect to an adjacent section.

4. A packaging station according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the conveyor means is an endless belt composed of chain links.

5. A packaging station according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the conveyor means incorporates means for preventing each item of produce from making contact with an adjacent item.

6. A packaging station according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the conveyor means incorporates a plurality of spaced apart receptacles for containing each item of produce being transported.

7. A packaging station according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the speed of the conveyor means can be varied.

8. A packaging station according to any one of the preceding claims incorporating a steering unit connected for pivotal movement of the vehicle.

9. A packaging station according to any one of the preceding claims wherein storage for packaged produce comprises a trailer connected to the station and which communicates with the packaging zone of the station.

10. Packaging stations as hereinbefore claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

11. Packaging stations as hereinbefore described with particular reference to the drawings.