GB2373708A

GB2373708A - An automated sandwich maker

Info

Publication number: GB2373708A
Application number: GB0108152A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anton John Francis Manning; Martin Reeves; Graham House
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-03-31
Filing date: 2001-03-31
Publication date: 2002-10-02
Also published as: GB0108152D0

Abstract

A sandwich making apparatus comprises retaining means (11, Fig 3) for retaining part and fully assembled sandwiches, support means 4 for supporting the sandwich during assembly and cutting operations, transport means 3 for transporting the retaining means, cutting 6 and folding means 8 for diagonally cutting and then folding together the cut sandwich and discharge means 9 for discharging the sandwich from the apparatus and depositing into packaging. Preferably the retaining means are plates rigidly attached by hinge pins (12, Fig 3) in groups of four making a single sandwich pocket. Preferably the hinge pins rotate within a hinge block (13, Fig 3) and allow the sandwich pocket to rotate and discharge the completed sandwich. The sandwich pocket assemblies may be attached on both sides to transport means 3 and underneath by support means 4. Advantageously manual labour is reduced whilst the production of cut and packaged sandwiches are increased.

Description

SANDWICH MACHINE Field of the Invention This invention relates to an automated device used in the production of sandwiches primarily the pre-packed type found in many outlets throughout the United Kingdom.

Description of the Prior Art With the ever-increasing demand for pre-packed sandwiches there are several problems that current day production lines have to face A sandwich starts life in a flat, horizontal state, therefore before it can be packaged the sandwich has to be cut diagonally, the two halves placed side by side, and deposited into the chosen packaging. Hitherto, although there are known production lines that can carry out the cutting step, they still require a human operator to accurately position the sandwich prior to cutting. Also, after the sandwich has been cut, there is no positive method of retaining the sandwich filling, therefore a percentage of the filling can be lost from around the edges of the sandwich.

Traditionally, most of the sandwich manufacture is carried out manually and is therefore very labour intensive. Typically a sandwich can take 60 to 120 seconds to assemble by hand, clearly a significant need exists for a highly automated sandwich assembly line.

Summary of the Invention The primary object of this invention is to provide an automated sandwich assembly machine, which will rapidly produce cut and packaged sandwiches with minimal human intervention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sandwich making machine for taking the top and bottom slices of buttered bread along with the chosen sandwich filling manually. The completed sandwich is then automatically sliced diagonally, the two halves of the sandwich are folded together with their hypotenuse uppermost and lastly the sandwich is deposited into the awaiting packaging.

During the entire sandwich manufacture, the sandwich is retained within a pocket assembly therefore dramatically reducing spillage of any filling.

Brief description of the drawings FIG I : shows a plan view of the whole machine with several sections removed to show the general layout.

FIG 2. shows a side view of the whole machine with several sections removed to show the general layout FIG 3: shows a plan view of a single sandwich pocket assembly in the fill position.

FIG 3A: shows a side view of a single sandwich pocket assembly.

FIG 3B : shows a sandwich retaining plate with hinge pin.

FIG 3C : shows a perspective view of a single sandwich pocket assembly.

FIG 4. shows the cutter assembly.

FIG 5: shows the folding device.

FIG 5A: shows a folded sandwich.

FIG 6: shows a side view of the sandwich retaining plates 1 just prior to the sandwich being discharged into the packaging.

FIG 7: shows a side view of the sandwich retaining plates 11, just after the sandwich discharge.

FIG 8: is an end elevation showing the relationship between chains 3, table top chain 4 and a sandwich pocket.

Detailed Description of the Invention The following is a description of a single sandwich pocket, refer to FIG 3,3A, 3B, 3C, it will be appreciated there will be a multiple of sandwich pockets depending upon the size and length of machine.

Please note, the arrangement is symmetrical therefore reference numerals have only been shown on one side of the drawing for the sake of clarity.

The pocket consists of four sandwich retaining plates 11, to which are rigidly attached (by welding) hinge pins 12, as can be seen in FIG 3B. Hinge pins 12 rotate within hinge block 13, and are retained by circlips (not shown). Hinge block 13 is located between hinge blocks 14 and secured by hinge pin 15. Hinge blocks 14 are rigidly attached to the pocket frame 16 (preferred method by countersunk screws) therefore allowing hinge block 13, to rotate freely between hinge blocks 14. It can now be appreciated that sandwich retaining plates 11, along with hinge block 13 can rotate through 45 degrees approximately, when viewed from the side and rotate through 90 degrees when viewed from the end.

Attached to one end of hinge pins 15 is plate 17, and cam follower 18, the purpose of which is for discharging the completed sandwich as will be explained later.

Turning to FIG 1 & 2, there is illustrated the plan and side views respectively of the sandwich making machines general layout. It can be appreciated that a plurality of sandwich machines can be aligned side by side depending upon production needs.

As shown in FIG 1 & 2, transports chains 3 run the entire length of the machine and are the transport means for the sandwich pockets 5. The tabletop chains 4, run approximately two thirds of the machine length and whose purpose is to support the sandwich during the fill 21, and cutting 6, operations. Both chains 3, and tabletop chains 4, run in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG 2, their speeds to be closely matched.

As viewed in FIG 8 the sandwich pocket assemblies 5, are attached on both sides to transport chains 3, by mounting plates 19. It can be seen the tabletop chain is underneath the pocket assembly thus forming a base for the sandwich during the fill and cutting operations.

Refer to FIG 1 & 2, sandwich fill area 21, firstly a slice of buttered bread is placed manually into each sandwich pocket whilst the pockets are being transported. The bread is located within retaining plates 11 and supported underneath by tabletop chain 4. The sandwich filling is then added and lastly a top slice of buttered bread completes the sandwich.

The sandwich pockets complete with sandwiches, are now transported through the cutter assembly, see FIG 4, & FIG 2 (6) where the sandwich is sliced diagonally by a pneumatically operated, guillotine type blade 29. To assist the cutting operation, a pressure plate 31, is lowered along with the blade 29 to gently retain the sandwich whilst the blade passes through it. The pressure plate 31 is held in position during the cutting operation by pressure springs 33.

Refer to FIG 4, the cutter assembly is mounted within a sub frame 34, which in turn is attached to the main machine. The complete cutter assembly is supported by linear bearings 35 running on two horizontal linear slides 32, this arrangement allows the cutter assembly to be transported in tandem with the sandwich pockets during the cutting operation.

In this particular embodiment the cutter assembly is transported along the linear slides by servo motor (not shown) driving either a toothed timing belt or rack and pinion assembly. Other arrangements are however also possible.

As the cutter assembly leaves the rest position a proximity switch (not shown) triggers a pneumatic system sending air to pneumatic cylinder 28 which in turn operates the blade 29, thus cutting the sandwich.

After the sandwich has been cut, and the blade 29 is fully retracted, the cutter assembly is returned along the linear slides 32 to its start position to await the next sandwich pocket, thus repeating the cycle.

The individual sandwich pocket now containing a diagonally cut sandwich still in a horizontal position, is transported onto the folding device FIG 5, FIG2 (8) where the two halves of the sandwich are folded together into a vertical position ready for packaging. The folding device is so shaped that over a distance of approximately half a metre the sandwich retaining plates 11, and therefore the sandwich, rotate downwards until the two halves of the sandwich 30, see FIG 5A arrive together in a vertical plane with their hypotenuse uppermost. At this point the sandwich is introduced to side guides 24, which hold the sandwich in a vertical position whilst still being supported by retaining plates 11. Also, see FIG 6, cam followers 18 have entered cam tracks 25 & 26.

As cam followers 18 are positively located within cam tracks 25 & 26, hinge blocks 13 are unable to rotate thus the sandwich retaining plates 11 are held in the closed position, as FIG 6.

Please note: cam track 25 is mounted on the right hand side of the machine and controls the rear retaining plate 11, while cam track 26 is mounted on the left hand side of the machine and controls the forward retaining plate 11. Also the two cam track profiles differ due to the forward movement of the pocket assembly, As the sandwich pocket is transported forward, cam followers 18 lift within cam

tracks 25 & 26, this action results in hinge blocks 13 and sandwich retaining plates 11 rotating approximately 45 degrees as seen in FIG 7. With the retaining plates 11 now in the fully open position, the sandwich, supported only between side guides 24, is free to drop into the packaging below. Although the packaging is to be specified by individual customers, the preferred design is of the triangular plastic type containing two sandwiches with a sealed lid. The packaging will be fed underneath the sandwich discharge station by an indexing conveyor system timed in with the main machine.

The now empty sandwich pockets are returned along the underside of the machine to the start position (on route passing through a cleaning station if specified) thereby completing the cycle.

It should be understood that other variations in the specific construction of the embodiments described herein may be possible whilst still falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS 1 A sandwich making apparatus said apparatus comprising : Retaining means for retaining part and fully assembled sandwiches Support means for supporting sandwich during sandwich assembly and cutting operations Transport means for transporting retaining means along said sandwich making apparatus Cutting means for diagonally cutting completed sandwich Folding means for folding together two cut halves of sandwich Discharge means for discharging sandwich from sandwich making apparatus and depositing into packaging 2 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein retaining means include a plurality of sandwich pockets each of said pockets having four hinged sandwich retaining plates mounted within a ridged frame 3 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said sandwich retaining plates rotate in two separate directions, the first rotational direction is adapted to co-operate with the folding means and the second rotational direction is adapted to co-operate with the discharge means 4 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein support means is provided under the retaining means for supporting the sandwich during assembly and cutting operations 5 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 4 wherein the support means is transported in tandem with the retaining means 6 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein transport means transports a plurality of retaining means along the sandwich making apparatus 7 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 6 wherein the transport means includes two continuously moving chains 8 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein cutting means is provided for cutting the sandwich diagonally 9 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 8 wherein the cutting means is adapted to co-operate with the retaining means in order to cut the sandwich accurately 10 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein folding means is provided for folding together the two halves of the cut sandwich 11 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 10 wherein the folding means is adapted to co-operate with the retaining means in order to fold the two halves of the cut sandwich together 12 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein discharge means is provided for depositing sandwich into packaging 13 A sandwich making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 12 wherein the discharge means is adapted to co-operate with the retaining means in order to discharge the sandwich from the apparatus and into the sandwich packaging 14 A sandwich making apparatus substantially as described herein with references to Figures 1-8 of the accompanying drawing