US20060283150A1 - System and method of processing and packing disk-like objects - Google Patents
System and method of processing and packing disk-like objects Download PDFInfo
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- US20060283150A1 US20060283150A1 US11/403,927 US40392706A US2006283150A1 US 20060283150 A1 US20060283150 A1 US 20060283150A1 US 40392706 A US40392706 A US 40392706A US 2006283150 A1 US2006283150 A1 US 2006283150A1
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- stacks
- objects
- supports
- platform
- disk
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
- B65B5/10—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
- B65B25/06—Packaging slices or specially-shaped pieces of meat, cheese, or other plastic or tacky products
- B65B25/065—Packaging slices or specially-shaped pieces of meat, cheese, or other plastic or tacky products of meat
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
- B65B35/02—Supply magazines
- B65B35/04—Supply magazines with buffer storage devices
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
- B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
- B65B35/50—Stacking one article, or group of articles, upon another before packaging
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
- B65B5/10—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles
- B65B5/101—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles by gravity
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
- B65B5/10—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles
- B65B5/106—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles by pushers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
- B65G47/74—Feeding, transfer, or discharging devices of particular kinds or types
- B65G47/90—Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials
- B65G47/902—Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials provided with drive systems incorporating rotary and rectilinear movements
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G57/00—Stacking of articles
- B65G57/02—Stacking of articles by adding to the top of the stack
- B65G57/03—Stacking of articles by adding to the top of the stack from above
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G57/00—Stacking of articles
- B65G57/02—Stacking of articles by adding to the top of the stack
- B65G57/03—Stacking of articles by adding to the top of the stack from above
- B65G57/035—Stacking of articles by adding to the top of the stack from above with a stepwise downward movement of the stack
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
- B65G2201/02—Articles
- B65G2201/0202—Agricultural and processed food products
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
- B65G2201/02—Articles
- B65G2201/0202—Agricultural and processed food products
- B65G2201/0205—Biscuits
Definitions
- This application is directed to a system and method for processing and packing disk-like objects, and, more specifically, toward a system and method for forming multiple stacks of disk-like objects, arranging the stacks in a matrix of rows and columns, and packing the stacks thus arranged in a container.
- Machines for processing hamburger patties, chicken patties, sausage patties, and similar disk-like objects are known and often include a conveyor belt or similar mechanism for moving the patties into and out of a freezer, moving the patties beyond a metal detector to check for contamination, and otherwise supporting the patties while they are processed.
- a conveyor belt or similar mechanism for moving the patties into and out of a freezer, moving the patties beyond a metal detector to check for contamination, and otherwise supporting the patties while they are processed.
- they in order to package the patties, they generally must be removed from the conveyor and stacked, and the stacks must then be placed into the boxes, cartons, or other containers.
- various machines have been proposed for performing some or all of the packing functions. For example, stacking machines such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,969, assigned to the assignee of the present application, form hamburger patties into stacks as they exit a conveyor.
- the present invention comprises an integrated system for receiving moving multiple rows of frozen hamburger patties along a conveyor belt, forming the patties into stacks, and packing the stacks into boxes at a rate at least as great as the rate at which the patties are presented by the conveyor.
- the subject invention finds particular utility in connection with the packaging of frozen hamburger patties; however, it could just as easily be used to package other food products or flat, non-food objects.
- the invention is described herein in connection with the processing of frozen hamburger patties, but is in no manner limited to use with such products.
- a first portion of the subject system includes a conveyor that moves frozen patties toward a stacking device which receives the patties as they fall from the end of a conveyor belt and forms the patties into stacks.
- the stacker includes a first holder, sometimes referred to as an upper holder or upper shelf, onto which the rows of patties fall as they reach the end of the conveyor.
- the upper holder preferably comprises a plurality of pairs of parallel pins that extend from a support toward the end edge of the conveyor so that individual patties in a given row drop one at a time off the end of the conveyor onto a pair of pins.
- the upper holder is lowered as each new patty falls, to keep the top of the stack about the same distance beneath the end edge of the conveyor.
- the height of the top of the stack varies somewhat during processing, but it is preferably maintained within a fairly narrow range of heights to ensure that the patties drop consistently onto the stacks.
- a counter adjacent the conveyor counts patties in a row just before they fall onto the upper support, and a cam lowers the upper support at a known rate.
- a second holder comprising a plurality of fingers is positioned beneath the upper support, with each finger aligned with the opening between a pair of upper support pins.
- the pins eventually pass to each side of one of the fingers, and as the upper support drops further, the bottom of the stack contacts a finger on the second holder and is supported thereby.
- the upper support pivots away from the stream of falling patties and returns to its starting position while the second holder continues to drop, keeping the top of the stack at a generally constant height.
- a transfer device is mounted beneath the second support, which device includes a plurality of openings aligned with each of the fingers on the second support.
- the second holder drops so that the fingers pass through the openings in the transfer device, leaving the stacks supported by the transfer device.
- the first shelf rises and pivots back to its starting position to catch the falling patties, while the end of the conveyor is moved to lengthen the conveyor and create a gap in the flow of patties; this delays the release of the next group of patties and allows the upper shelf to move into position to catch additional patties.
- the upper support thus supports a next group of falling patties, while the following processing steps are carried out on the first stack.
- the transfer device grips the stacks and moves sideways to transfer the stacks to a buffer. As the transfer device is moving the stacks to the buffer, the second holder is free to return to its starting position beneath the top shelf. Once the transfer of patties to the buffer is complete, the transfer device returns to its starting location beneath the second holder, and the process is repeated.
- a second portion of the system is a buffer which receives a first number of stacks from the stacker.
- the buffer comprises a carousel to which a plurality of carriers are attached, each carrier holding a tray that receives a single stack of frozen hamburger patties.
- Each carrier is attached by a clamp to a belt that runs continuously around the carousel, the clamp engaging the belt on opposites sides thereof.
- the clamp is attached tightly enough to cause the carrier to move with the belt when its path is unobstructed, but loosely enough that the belt will slide through the clamp when the path of the carrier is blocked. In this manner, the position of the carriers can be controlled independently of the positions of the other carriers, without a need to provide separate controllers for the clamps on each carrier.
- the movement of the carriers is controlled so that a first number of trays is always available when needed to receive a first number of incoming stacks, and, when full, the carriers are released to a second location where they are stopped so that stacks of patties can be removed therefrom by a transfer device in groups of a second number.
- the second number is less than the first number, the stacks must be removed at a rate greater than the rate at which the stacks of patties arrive at the carousel, and full carriers are buffered at a location between the first and second locations.
- full carriers are accumulated at the second location until a second number of carriers is present.
- the carriers move around the carousel in equal size groups.
- the number of carriers is related to the maximum number of incoming rows of patties, to minimize the number of carriers needed, and thus reduce the amount of space occupied by the machine.
- Applicants have found, for example, that a stacking machine that produces four rows of patties used with and a packaging machine that requires three rows at a time as input, a buffer having a total of eleven carriers is needed. In this manner, the width of the buffer can be minimized and the resulting buffer need not be much greater than the width of the stacking machine.
- a third portion of the system comprises a transfer device for removing the stacks of patties from the trays of the buffer device and placing them on a platform from which they can be further processed.
- the transfer device comprises a generally rectangular frame having parallel top and bottom members, a plurality of stack supports mounted on the bottom member and a plurality of actuators supporting plates depending from the top member. The actuators cause the plates to move toward and away from the bottom member, and the bottom member is movable relative to the top member via additional actuators.
- the frame is shiftable between the buffer, where it engages several stacks of patties, and a platform, where the stacks are deposited for further processing.
- the stacks at the first location are located in individual trays of the buffer, and are oriented at a small angle to the vertical so that the stacks are supported by both a bottom wall and a side wall of a holder, while the second location comprises a shelf-like member on which the stacks are supported by the lower-most patty in the stack.
- the frame is pivotable about an axis parallel to the bottom frame member so that it can shift the stacks from a first orientation with respect to vertical to a second generally vertical orientation.
- the frame moves and pivots until it substantially surrounds a plurality of stacks of patties, and so that the support members on the lower frame member are positioned beneath slots in the bottoms of the trays and with the plates located over the tops of each of the stacks.
- Actuators then move the bottom frame member up against the bottoms of the stacks and move the plates against the tops of the stacks to grip each stack between one bottom frame stack support member and a plate.
- the frozen patties have relatively rough surfaces, and therefore only a small amount of pressure needs to be applied to hold the stacks securely together while they are being moved. If the objects in the stacks were formed of a low-friction material, a greater force would be required to compress the stacks and keep them together.
- the frame next pivots about an axis below and parallel to the bottom frame member and moves away from the trays to a second location where the patties are to be deposited.
- the second location comprises a matrix former, which receives several stacks of patties and arranges the stacks for placement into a case or other container.
- the matrix former includes a generally horizontal lower support surface with slots wider than the bottom frame member stack supports but narrower than the width of the stacks, and three upstanding sidewalls extending away from the lower support surface, which side walls are movable relative to the bottom support surface to square the stacks on the lower support surface.
- the distance between the frame side members is greater than the distance between the matrix former side walls, so the frame surrounds the matrix former as the stacks are deposited thereon.
- the frame bottom moves away from the stack bottoms through the slots to deposit the stacks on the lower support surface and the plates are also moved away from the top of the stacks.
- the transfer mechanism then returns to the first location, where another set of stacks has been moved into position for transfer and repeats the above process, but leaves the second group of stacks at a third location between the first location and the second location one patty diameter closer to the first location than the second location.
- a fourth portion of the system comprises a packer comprising the matrix former having a first platform on which a plurality of stacks of patties are placed, and a second platform for supporting a box into which the stacks are to be packed.
- the second platform is movable vertically, and pivots about an axis parallel to its box-contacting surface.
- the second platform includes at least one gripper for holding the bottom of the box securely against the box-contacting surface, and preferably also includes a plurality of grippers for engaging the top edges of the box to control the movement of the box and to hold down flaps extending from the top edge of the box.
- the box-contacting surface of the second platform also preferably includes a plurality of rollers that allow an empty box to roll on and off the platform when the platform is inclined.
- the second platform is aligned with a conveyor that feeds empty boxes one at a time to the second platform, where an individual box is gripped by at least one gripper on the second platform to hold it in place with its bottom on the rollers and its open top facing away from the rollers.
- the second platform is then pivoted about 158 degrees to an inverted position with the open box top positioned over and facing the first platform over the stacks of patties on the first platform.
- the second platform is next lowered over the stacked patties and over the first platform so that the products and platform are disposed completely within the box.
- the orientation of the patties is maintained by the walls of the box and the platform, and the first and second platforms are pivoted together until the top opening of the box is again facing up and the patties are supported on the closed bottom of the box.
- the second platform and box are moved away from the first support, and the first support is returned to its original orientation.
- the second support is moved to a discharge location to slide the fully loaded box onto a conveyor for further processing and then tilts and moves to its original position to receive another empty box to start the process again.
- multiple rows of hamburger patties drop over the edge of a moving conveyor belt and form a plurality of stacks on a stacker as they fall.
- the stacks When the stacks achieve a predetermined size, they are transferred automatically to a buffer carousel while a second set of stacks is formed on another portion of the stacker. Transfer of stacks from the stacker to the buffer is accomplished without slowing the conveyor or interfering with the upstream processing of the patties.
- a first number of stacks of patties four for example, are loaded into four trays of the buffer and moved from a first location to a second location. At the second location, a second number of stacks of patties, three for example, are removed from the trays and moved to the support surface of the matrix former.
- Additional patties are received four stacks at a time at the first location, and moved to the second location where they are removed three stacks at a time.
- the stacks on the matrix former are boxed and removed each time a desired number of stacks has been received on the matrix former. Because the stacks may be removed from the buffer at a rate greater than the rate they are placed on the buffer, a constant throughput is achieved, and the flow of patties on the conveyor is substantially matched to the output flow of patties from the boxer. Because the stacks are flipped twice during processing, once between the stacker and the buffer and again when the filled carton is inverted, the stacks end up in a carton in the same orientation as they are in when they are formed on the stacker.
- an apparatus for forming stacks of disk-like objects and packing the stacks in a box that includes a stacker for forming a plurality of stacks of the disk-like objects, a buffer, and a first transfer mechanism for transferring the plurality of stacks from the stacker to the buffer.
- a second transfer mechanism is also provided for transferring at least some of the stacks on the buffer to a platform, and a boxer is included for boxing the stacks of objects on the platform.
- a further aspect of the invention comprises a method for processing a flow of disk-like objects that involves conveying at least two rows of disk-like objects toward and over an edge and providing at least two catchers adjacent the lip.
- the disk-like objects of each row are caught by the catchers as they fall over the edge thus forming a stack of objects on each of the catchers.
- a buffer comprises a plurality of stack carriers individually movable around a closed loop, and at least two stacks of objects from the catchers are moved to at least two of the carriers.
- the two carriers are moved from a first location to a second location.
- At the second location a number of stacks are removed and placed on a platform to form a first column. Additional stacks are removed from the second location and placed on the platform to form a second column.
- a box is placed over the first and second columns of stacks, and inverted together with the stacks, to transfer the stacks from the platform to the box, after which the box is moved away from the platform.
- a further aspect of the invention comprises an apparatus for packing disk-like objects and includes a stacker receiving a first number of rows of objects from a conveyor and forming the rows into stacks, a buffer for receiving the stacks in groups of a first number, a packer for packing the stacks in a box, and a transfer mechanism for transferring the stacks from the buffer to the packer in groups of a second number.
- Another aspect of the invention is a method of packing disk-like objects that involves moving a first number of rows of disk-like objects along a conveyor toward a conveyor end edge, and providing a first number of catchers in a row adjacent the end edge, each of the catchers being aligned with one of the first number of rows of disks.
- the disks in each of the rows are caught to form a stack on each of the catchers, after which they are transferred from the catchers to a buffer. From the buffer, the stacks are transferred to a packer in groups of a second number, and automatically packed into a box.
- FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a system of a processing system according to the present invention which system includes a stacking device, a buffer, a transfer device, and a packer.
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stacking device according to the present invention which device includes a conveyor, an upper support, a lower support and a transfer device.
- FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the stacking device of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 4 is an assembly drawing of the stacking device of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the upper support and lower support of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper support of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lower support of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the transfer device of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the transfer device of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the stacking device of FIG. 2 showing a stack of objects that has Just been transferred from the second support to the transfer device.
- FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the stacking device of FIG. 2 showing the transfer device in a position to release a stack at a discharge location while a second stack of objects on the upper support moves toward the lower support.
- FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the stacking device of FIG. 2 showing a stack of objects supported on the lower support moving toward the transfer device which has returned to its starting location beneath the second support.
- FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the stacking device of FIG. 2 showing the transfer device rotating and translating a stack of objects toward a discharge location while the upper support catches objects dropping off the conveyor.
- FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the buffer device having a plurality of trays supported on carriers as shown in FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 15 is a fragmentary assembly drawing of a portion of the buffer device of FIG. 14 with the carriers and trays removed.
- FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of one of the carriers shown in FIG. 14 .
- FIG. 17 is a rear elevational view of the carrier of FIG. 16 .
- FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of the buffer of FIG. 14 .
- FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of the buffer of FIG. 14 showing a stop for preventing the movement of the carriers in a non-engaged position.
- FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of the buffer and stop of FIG. 19 showing the stop in an engaged position.
- FIGS. 21 a - h are top plan views of the buffer of FIG. 14 showing the locations of full and empty trays around the periphery of the buffer as the buffer is used according to the method of the present invention.
- FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the stack transfer device of FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 23 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 .
- FIG. 24 is a front elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 .
- FIG. 25 is a rear elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 .
- FIG. 26 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 positioned adjacent a plurality of stacks of hamburger patties on a buffer mechanism.
- FIG. 27 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 gripping a plurality of stacks of hamburger patties on a buffer mechanism.
- FIG. 28 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 holding a plurality of stacks of hamburger patties adjacent a horizontal support platform.
- FIG. 29 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 releasing a first plurality of stacks of hamburger patties onto a horizontal support platform.
- FIG. 30 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 22 releasing a second plurality of stacks of hamburger patties onto a horizontal support platform.
- FIG. 31 is a fragmentary perspective view of the packing system of the FIG. 1 which system includes a feeding conveyor, a discharge conveyor, a lift apparatus and a matrix former.
- FIG. 32 is a perspective view of the lift apparatus of the packing system shown in FIG. 31 .
- FIG. 33 is an assembly drawing of matrix former of FIG. 31 .
- FIG. 34 is a rear elevational view of the motor of the matrix former of FIG. 31 .
- FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the box holding portion of the lift apparatus in an inverted position.
- FIG. 36 is an elevational view, partially in section, of the matrix former of FIG. 31 .
- FIG. 37 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a first configuration with the lift positioned to receive an empty box from the feeding conveyor.
- FIG. 38 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a second configuration with an empty box gripped on a platform of the lift apparatus.
- FIG. 39 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a third configuration with the platform and box positioned over the matrix former.
- FIG. 40 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a fourth configuration with the platform held near the matrix former so that the matrix former is substantially covered by the box.
- FIG. 41 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a fifth configuration with the platform and matrix former rotated 180 degrees from the position shown in FIG. 8 .
- FIG. 42 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a sixth configuration with the platform moved away from the matrix former.
- FIG. 43 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a seventh configuration showing the matrix former pivoted 180 degrees from the position shown in FIG. 42 .
- FIG. 44 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in an eighth configuration with the platform and box raised to the level of the discharge conveyor.
- FIG. 45 is a side elevational view of the packing system of FIG. 31 in a ninth configuration showing a full box that has been released from the platform to the discharge conveyor and a new empty box in position on the feeding conveyor.
- FIG. 46 is sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown in FIG. 38 .
- FIG. 47 is a sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown in FIG. 39 .
- FIG. 48 is a sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown in FIG. 40 .
- FIG. 49 is a sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown in FIG. 41 .
- FIG. 50 is a top plan view of the buffer device with the trays removed to show the positions of several sensors.
- FIG. 1 shows a hamburger patty processing system 1 that includes a stacker 10 , a buffer 310 , a stack transfer device 510 and a packing machine 810 . Each of these elements is described in more detail below.
- a stacking device 10 is positioned adjacent a conveyor 12 having an end edge 14 .
- a plurality of disk-shaped objects 16 in this case, frozen hamburger patties, are arranged in rows on the conveyor 12 extending in the direction of movement of the conveyor 12 .
- Upper support 18 is downwardly movable in order to keep the top of stacks 20 at a generally constant level with respect to end edge 14 of the conveyor 12 .
- upper support 18 As upper support 18 descends, it transfers the accumulating stacks 20 to a lower support 22 , as best shown in FIG. 4 , and moves laterally out of the falling streams of patties so that further patties 16 from the conveyor 12 fall directly onto the stacks 20 supported by lower support 22 .
- the lower support 22 is downwardly movable and continues to drop until a sensor 226 detects that the stacks 20 have reached their final size.
- lower support 22 transfers the stacks 20 to a stack transfer mechanism 24 that moves the stacks 20 laterally away from the conveyor 12 toward a discharge location. Additional falling patties 16 are caught by upper support 18 or lower support 22 as discussed above, and transfer device 24 returns to its starting position beneath the upper support 18 and the conveyor 12 before a subsequent set of stacks of patties 16 is complete.
- Controller 23 controls the operation of the stacking device, and is preferably a computer or PLC that controls the speed of various drives and the operation of the actuators that are described herein.
- the present system allows for a continuous processing of patties 16 arriving at the end edge 14 of a conveyor 12 without the need to stop the conveyor each time a stack is completed.
- Stacker 10 is installed on a fixed support 26 , such as a factory floor, and includes a fixed frame portion 28 fixed with respect to support 26 and a movable frame portion 30 that moves with respect to the fixed frame portion 24 , which fixed frame portion 28 and movable frame portion 30 together form a frame for the stacker.
- Movable frame portion 30 includes four support wheels 32 resting on four platforms 34 , which in turn rest on the fixed support 26 .
- a motor 36 is operably connected to a shaft 38 , which is rotatably supported by two bearings 40 that are supported by bearing supports 42 , one of which is shown in FIG. 2 , mounted on floor 26 .
- Two arms 44 are fixed to shaft 38 and extend radially therefrom so that the ends of arms 44 describe an arc of a circle as the shaft 38 rotates.
- Tie rods 46 connect arms 44 to movable frame 30 so that, as motor 36 turns shaft 42 in a first direction, the movable frame portion 30 is pulled along platforms 34 toward motor 36 , and as motor 36 turns in a second direction, the movable frame portion 30 is pushed along platforms 34 away from motor 36 .
- the roller 48 supporting the end edge 14 of the conveyor 12 ( FIG. 4 ) is supported on the movable frame portion 30 while other portions of conveyor 12 are supported by the fixed frame portion 28 . Therefore, the conveyor 12 includes a slack take-up mechanism 50 , shown in FIGS.
- Movable frame portion 30 comprises a first vertical plate member 52 having an inner wall 54 and an outer wall 56 , and a second vertical plate member 58 having an inner wall 60 and an outer wall 62 .
- a guide 64 is formed on inner wall 54 of the first vertical plate member 52 by a pair of spaced rails 66 , while an upper guide is formed in the second vertical plate 58 by an upper slot 70 , and a lower guide is formed in second vertical plate 58 by a lower slot 74 .
- Rods 76 and 77 extend between the inner walls of the first and second vertical plates to maintain their spacing.
- upper support 18 comprises a carrier 78 including a first side plate 80 having an inner side 82 and an arcuate slot 84 , and a second side plate 86 having an inner side 88 , an outer side 90 and an arcuate slot 92 aligned with arcuate slot 84 in the first side plate 80 .
- the second side plate 86 is parallel to the first side plate 80 and spaced therefrom by connecting rod 94 .
- Carrier 78 supports a pivoting member 96 comprising a first L-shaped member 98 having an outer wall 100 with a pin 102 (seen in FIG.
- first L-shaped member 98 overlies the inner side 82 of first side plate 80 , with pin 102 received in arcuate slot 84 , and extends beyond the first side plate 80 .
- the outer wall 110 of the second L-shaped member 106 overlies the inner side 88 of second side plate 86 with pin 112 received in arcuate slot 92 of the second side plate 16 .
- a first rod 114 extends between the middle portions of the inner walls 104 , 108 of the first and second L-shaped members 98 and 106 , respectively, and a second rod 116 extends between the portions of the first and second L-shaped members 98 and 106 , respectively, that project beyond the first side plate 80 and second side plate 86 .
- a plurality of pins 118 arranged in pairs 120 spaced apart by a given distance extend radially from second rod 116 as best shown in FIG. 6 .
- First L-shaped member 98 is pivotally connected to the inner wall 82 of first side plate 80 at a pivot point 122
- second L-shaped member 106 is pivotally connected to the inner wall 108 of the second side plate 86 at a pivot point 124 .
- An actuator 126 preferably a pneumatically actuated cylinder, is connected between first side plate 80 and an end 128 of first L-shaped member 98 on the opposite side of pivot point 122 from rod 114 , which actuator 126 causes first L-shaped member 98 , and hence carrier 78 , to pivot about pivot points 122 and 124 , while pins 102 and 112 in arcuate slots 84 , 92 guide the movement of the pivoting member 96 with respect to the carrier 78 .
- Guide wheels 130 are mounted on the outer walls of the first side plate 80 and second side plate 86 which wheels are received in the guides 64 , 70 of the vertical plates 52 and 58 of the movable frame portion 30 .
- a cam follower 132 also extends from the outer side 90 of the second side plate 86 . Plates 133 attached to rod 94 form a backstop against which patties impact as they form stacks on the pairs 120 of pins 118 .
- FIG. 7 illustrates lower support 22 , which includes a first side plate 134 having an inner side 136 and an outer side 138 , and a second side plate 140 having an inner side 142 and an outer side 144 .
- a strut 146 connects the inner sides of the first and second side plates 134 and 140 , respectively, and a hexagonal rod 148 extends between the inner sides of the first and second plates parallel to strut 146 .
- Guide wheels 150 are attached to outer sides 138 and 144 of first side plate 134 and second side plate 140 , respectively, and the outer side 144 of second side plate 140 further includes a cam follower 152 .
- a plurality of fingers 154 are attached to hexagonal rod 148 , each of which includes at least one planar surface 156 .
- Transfer mechanism 24 comprises a first L-shaped plate member 158 and a second plate member 160 parallel to and spaced from first plate member 158 by a rod 162 extending between end portions of plate members 158 and 160 which rod 162 is supported at either end by bearings 164 .
- a tray assembly 166 includes two side plates 168 connected by a connecting rod 170 .
- a plurality of trays 172 each having a bottom wall 174 having a slot 176 and side walls 178 , are pivotally attached to plate members 158 , 160 .
- a hexagonal rod 180 is rotatably attached between side plates 168 , and a plurality of L-shaped covering fingers 182 are attached thereto.
- Actuator 184 connected between the plate member 158 and hexagonal rod 180 , rotates the hexagonal rod 180 to move the L-shaped fingers 182 between a first position where a portion of the L-shaped fingers 182 overlies the trays 172 and a second position, as best shown in FIG. 8 , where no portion of the L-shaped fingers 182 overlies the trays 172 .
- a belt drive 186 is located in housing 188 (seen in FIG. 3 ) attached to plate member 160 , and includes a first flanged wheel 190 mounted on the outer side of plate member 160 , which flanged wheel is coupled to a member 192 having an extending lever arm 193 connected to an actuator 194 .
- a second flanged wheel 196 is operably coupled to connecting rod 170 and rotationally coupled to first flanged wheel 190 by a belt 198 .
- actuator 194 presses against lever arm 164 , it rotates the first flanged wheel 180 which rotation moves belt 198 and causes the second flanged wheel 196 and hence connecting rod 170 to rotate; this tilts tray assembly 166 with respect to plates 158 , 160 .
- Actuator 200 attached to second plate member 160 causes the entire tray assembly 166 to pivot about the axis of rod 162 , while actuator 202 moves the tray assembly 166 away from the conveyor 12 toward a stack discharge location and return the tray assembly 166 to its starting position after the patties have been discharged.
- a motor support 204 is mounted on the outer wall 62 of vertical support plate 58 , and a motor 206 is mounted on the support.
- the motor 206 turns a shaft connected to vertical plate 58 and two cams—an inner cam 208 adjacent plate 58 and an outer cam 210 between the inner cam and the motor 206 .
- FIG. 4 illustrates the guide wheels 130 of second L-shaped member 106 received between rails 66 of guide 64 and guide wheels 130 of first L-shaped member 98 extending toward upper slot 70 of second vertical plate member 58 .
- Cam follower 132 rides along the outer surface of inner cam 208 and the downward movement of the upper support 18 is limited by the bottom end of slot 70 .
- the mechanism for holding the upper support 18 against cam 208 is best seen in FIG. 4 , and comprises an actuator 212 mounted on the outer wall 56 of first vertical plate 52 which moves a lever arm 214 attached to a rotatable shaft 216 mounted between first vertical plate 52 , and second vertical plate 58 at an upper edge thereof.
- first and second angled arms 218 which overlie connecting rod 94 of the upper support.
- actuator 212 raises and lowers angled arms 218 to press down upon the upper support or to move the arms 218 away from the upper support.
- Lower support 22 is mounted between first vertical plate 52 and second vertical plate 58 with the guide wheels 150 of the outer sides 138 of first plate 134 received between rails 66 of guide 64 and the set of guide wheels 150 on the outer side 144 of second plate 140 extending through lower slot 74 of second vertical plate 58 .
- Cam follower 152 is biased upwardly against outer cam 210 by a mechanism that includes an actuator 220 mounted on the outer wall of 56 of the first vertical plate 52 connected to a lever arm 222 which in turn is connected to a shaft 224 rotatably mounted between the first and second vertical plates 52 , 58 on the edge of the plates beneath the conveyor 12 .
- Two arms 223 connect shaft 224 to first side plate 134 and second side plate 140 of lower support 22 so that, when actuator 220 moves lever arm 222 and turns shaft 224 in a first direction, cam follower 152 of the lower support 22 is pressed upwardly against outer cam 210 and pulled away from outer cam 210 when shaft 224 is turned in the opposite direction.
- FIGS. 10 though 13 illustrate the stacker in various stages of forming a plurality of hamburger patties into stacks and transferring those stacks from a stacking location toward a discharge location.
- patties 16 move along conveyor 12 and fall over the end edge 14 of the conveyor onto fingers 118 of upper support 18 .
- FIG. 10 illustrates one patty 16 already supported by the fingers 118 with another about to fall onto the first patty to begin to form a stack.
- the upper support 18 and the lower support 22 are located generally beneath the end edge 14 of the conveyor 12 , and thus the stacks that form on the upper and lower supports are also formed generally beneath the conveyor 12 .
- This formation of stacks beneath the end of the conveyor advantageously contributes to the compact size of this stacking device because the stacks are formed against the direction of movement of conveyor 12 .
- Actuator 212 rotates lever arm 214 to turn shaft 216 to press arms 218 against the upper support to hold the upper support cam follower 132 against inner cam 208 , and, as the radius of cam 132 decreases while it rotates counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 10-13 , the upper support 18 moves downwardly toward the lower support 22 .
- the rotation of the inner cam 208 is based on the rate that the stack is forming as detected by optical detector 226 , best shown in FIG. 2 , so that the top of stack 20 remains approximately the same distance below conveyor end edge 14 and ensures that each patty drops a similar distance in a similar manner to form consistent stacks.
- FIG. 11 illustrates stack 20 on finger elements 154 of lower support 22 .
- the pair of fingers 118 of the upper support 18 supporting the stack will pass to either side of one of the fingers 154 of the lower support 22 so that, as the upper support 18 continues to drop past the lower support 22 , the stack 16 will be deposited on the lower support 22 .
- Actuator 126 pivots the upper support 18 away from the conveyor 12 so that additional patties 16 may fall onto the stack on the lower support 22 .
- the stack has grown to its finished size, at which point actuator 220 pivots shaft 224 to drop the lower support 22 to cause lower support finger 154 to pass through the slot 176 in bottom wall 174 of one of the trays 172 of the transfer mechanism 24 , to leave the stack supported on the transfer mechanism 24 .
- the pins 118 of the upper support 18 can be seen moving back toward conveyor 12 to catch the next patty falling therefrom in order to start a second stack rather than allowing it to fall on to the completed stack on the transfer mechanism 24 .
- motor 36 rotates shaft 38 to pull movable frame 30 away from fixed frame 28 to lengthen the conveyor (effectively moving end edge 14 away from the next row of patties) and delay the passage of additional patties over end edge.
- This second stack will be processed in the same manner as was the first stack.
- FIG. 13 shoes that the transfer mechanism 24 has rotated and translated away from the conveyor 12 toward a discharge location 228 on which the stacks will be deposited.
- actuator 200 first pulls and then pushes against lever arm 201 , as best shown in FIG. 9 , to rotate lever arm 201 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 9 which, through a gearing mechanism, rotates tray assembly 166 to the inverted orientation seen in FIG. 13 .
- Actuator 194 presses against lever arm 193 to pivot the tray assembly 166 relative to the transfer mechanism wall 158 to fully invert the stack 20 of patties and deposit them onto holder 228 , which holder has a slot in a bottom support wall to allow covering fingers 182 to pass therethrough when actuator 184 moves the covering fingers 182 away from the stack prior to returning to its starting location beneath the conveyor 12 in time to receive the next stack of patties from the lower support 22 .
- drive 36 rotates shaft 38 to move movable frame 30 along supports 34 on fixed frame 28 to position the movable frame portion 30 and hence the transfer mechanism 24 for optimal operation.
- movable frame portion 30 is closest to fixed frame portion 30 , and wheels 32 are positioned near the right edges of supports 34 as viewed in FIGS. 10-13 .
- FIG. 10 illustrates the transfer mechanism 24 has moved to a point approximately halfway between the conveyor 12 and discharge location 228 , and movable frame portion 30 has also moved in this direction as can be seen from the positions of wheels 32 on the supports.
- FIG. 10 illustrates the transfer mechanism 24 has moved to a point approximately halfway between the conveyor 12 and discharge location 228 , and movable frame portion 30 has also moved in this direction as can be seen from the positions of wheels 32 on the supports.
- transfer mechanism 24 has reached discharge location 228 , and the movable frame portion 30 has also moved closer to the discharge location as can be seen from the positions of wheels 32 on the supports 34 .
- this motion provides for lengthening and shortening the conveyor as needed to vary the spacing between advancing rows of patties to give the upper support time to move into a stream of falling patties.
- FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate buffer device 310 which includes a frame 312 , a drive 314 and a plurality of carriers 316 , as best shown in FIGS. 16-20 , supported by the frame 312 .
- Frame 312 includes vertical support portions 318 adapted to support the frame on a horizontal support surface, a generally planar upper support portion 320 that includes first and second openings 322 , and a motor support 324 mounted beneath upper planar portion 320 .
- Drive 314 includes a motor 326 mounted on motor support 324 and operably connected to a drive gear 328 which turns a continuous drive belt 330 about a plurality of flanged wheels, including a first wheel 332 and a second wheel 334 .
- First and second wheels 332 and 334 each include a center opening 336 having a notch 338 for receiving a splined shaft.
- Two splined shafts 340 extend from center openings 336 upwardly through first and second openings 322 in the frame upper support 320 .
- a bottom plate 342 having first and second openings 344 , as best shown in FIG. 18 , a peripheral edge 346 and a raised rail 348 running around the peripheral edge is mounted on frame upper support 320 with first and second openings 344 aligned with openings 322 in the frame upper support 320 so that splined shafts 340 extend though these openings.
- Wheels 350 are mounted on each of the splined shafts which wheels include center openings 352 shaped to receive shafts 340 and peripheral grooves 354 for receiving and holding a drive belt 356 .
- the drive belt 356 preferably has a circular cross section and is formed from a flexible, wear-resistant material, such as urethane.
- a top plate 358 having first and second openings 360 , a peripheral edge 362 and a raised rail 364 running around the peripheral edge is mounted over bottom plate 342 and spaced apart therefrom by spacers 366 , with openings 360 positioned to receive splined shafts 340 .
- Bearings 368 are mounted on top plate 356 to rotatably secure the ends of shafts 340 .
- motor 326 turns drive gear 328 and causes drive belt 330 to move about first wheel 332 and second wheel 334 , which in turn causes splined shafts 340 and wheels 350 mounted thereon to rotate and drive drive belt 356 about a continuous path between bottom plate 342 and top plate 358 .
- Drive belt 356 preferably has a diameter greater than the width of peripheral grooves 354 , so that the belt only contacts the wheels about a small portion, less than 180 degrees, of the belt's circumference.
- FIG. 14 illustrates a plurality of carriers 316 mounted on the top and bottom plates which carriers comprise trays 370 supported by trolleys 372 as best shown in FIG. 15-17 .
- Each tray 370 includes a bottom wall 374 having a centrally located slot 376 with a slot edge 378 , a rear wall 380 and sidewalls 382 .
- the trays 370 are preferably mounted on the trolleys 372 in a manner that allows for easy removal thereof, so that appropriately sized trays 370 can be used for the objects being processed.
- Each trolley 372 shown in more detail in FIGS. 16 and 17 , includes a body portion 386 having a lower portion 388 with a lower end 390 and an upper portion 392 angled with respect to the lower portion 388 .
- a wall 394 projects from body lower portion 388 in the same direction as the angle of the upper portion, and includes a small wall 396 projecting from its end in the direction of angled upper portion 392 .
- a boss 398 is mounted on upper portion 392 and supports a shaft 400 on which a wheel 402 having a V-shaped peripheral notch 404 is rotatably mounted and held in place by a retainer 406 .
- a wheel support 407 is connected to wall 394 , and small wall 396 supports shaft 408 on which guide wheel 410 is mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to lower portion 388 of body portion 386 .
- Projections 412 extending from the lower side of wall 394 support two additional guide wheels 414 , which guide wheels 414 are mounted for rotation about axes normal to body lower portion 388 .
- Guide wheels 415 are also mounted on the bottom side of wall 394 , with axes parallel to body portion 388 and between guide wheels 414 and body portion 388 .
- a clamp 416 is mounted on body lower portion 388 between guide wheels 410 and notched wheel 402 , and includes an upper clamp member 418 pivotably supported on lower body portion 388 by a shaft 420 , and a lower clamp member 422 pivotably supported on a shaft 424 extending between lower body portion 388 and small wall 396 .
- Both the upper and lower clamp members are coated with, or preferably formed from, a low-friction, wear resistant material, such as UHMW polyurethane.
- the angular relationship between the upper and lower clamp members, and hence the distance separating the ends of the clamp members, can be adjusted by pivoting the upper clamp member and fixing it in place with fastener 426 .
- FIG. 18 The mounting of carriers 316 on the upper and lower plates is best shown in FIG. 18 , wherein trays 370 are detachably connected to trolleys 372 , and the trolleys are arranged such that notch 404 of wheel 402 on the angled upper portion 392 of the trolley fits over an edge of raised rail 64 on the periphery of top plate 358 , guide wheels 410 engage the inner edge of raised rail 348 on bottom plate 342 , guide wheels 415 engage the outer edge of raised rail 348 , and guide wheels 414 engage the underside of bottom plate 342 .
- the upper and lower members 418 and 422 , respectively, of clamp 416 are attached to drive belt 356 by placing the belt between the members and clamping the upper member in place so that a small force is exerted against the belt by the clamp members.
- the force must be great enough that friction between the clamp 416 and the belt 356 will keep the trolleys 372 fixed with respect to the belt when the path of the trolleys 372 is clear.
- the force also must be small enough that the frictional force between the belt 356 and the clamp 416 can be overcome by the drive motor to cause the belt to slip through the clamp when movement of one or more of the trolleys 372 is blocked by a stop.
- a first solenoid-actuated stop 428 is mounted on frame 312 with a trolley-engaging portion 430 shiftable between a first, release position, shown in FIG. 19 , below the lower ends 390 of the trolley bottom portions 388 and a second, stop, position, shown in FIG. 20 , where the trolley engaging portion 430 blocks a path of the trolley 372 by forming a stop against which the lower ends 390 of the trolleys impact when the stop 428 is in its stopping position.
- a second, separately controllable, solenoid-actuated stop 434 is provided on the other side of the buffer device.
- the shifting of the stops 428 and 434 between stop and release positions is controlled by a controller 436 , operably coupled to sensors 432 and 433 mounted on frame 312 below the tray bottom walls 394 , as best shown in FIG. 18 . These sensors are used to count the number of trays passing thereby.
- the controller 436 monitors the number of trays 370 passing over each of the sensors 432 or 433 , and causes the first stop 428 to shift to its stop position when a predetermined number of trays has passed. For example, when the buffer receives four stacks of patties at a time from a stacker, the trays 370 will be released in groups of four.
- the controller 436 shifts the second stop 434 into the blocking position and only allows the trays 370 to pass in groups of three.
- the operation of the stops 428 and 434 is coordinated with the operation of the stacker 10 and stack transfer device 510 so that, in the embodiment described herein, at least four empty trays are always available to receive incoming stacks of patties and that at least three stacks of patties are present at the second stop 434 to be removed by a stack transfer device 510 .
- An optical sensor 435 is also provided for detecting patties on the trays as they approach the side of buffer 310 facing stacker 10 . Since these trays 370 should all be empty, an alarm occurs or the system shuts down when full trays are seen approaching the loading position.
- two additional sensors 444 and 446 are also provided to help ensure that enough trays 370 are present upstream of stop 428 to receive incoming stacks of patties and that the correct number of stacks of patties are available for removal by a stack transfer device.
- Sensor 444 upstream of sensor 428 is counting the passage of empty trays toward sensor 432 and stop 428 .
- Controller 436 is preferable coupled to the controller for a transfer device that brings stacks of patties to the buffer device 310 and configured so that stacks of patties will not be transferred to buffer device 310 until sensor 444 has detected the passage of four trays 370 .
- the transfer device will not attempt to transfer stacks of patties to the buffer device 310 . This reduces the likelihood that patties will be dropped or otherwise mishandled during processing.
- sensor 446 counts trays 370 approaching sensor 433 , and as sensor 433 is counting the release of three empty trays 370 , for example, sensor 446 is counting approaching trays to ensure that at least three full trays are present at stop 434 and that at least three stacks are available for removal.
- Controller 436 is preferably connected to the controller for the downstream stack transfer device and prevents stacks from being removed from the trays stopped at stop 434 until three stacks are present for removal.
- the number of stacks arriving at and leaving the buffer device 310 can be varied, and the position of sensors 444 , 446 is adjustable so that these sensors can be placed near the location where the last of a given group of trays 370 will be found when the system is operating properly.
- sensors 432 and 433 are used both to count the number of trays passing thereby and to detect, optically, for example, whether the tray adjacent the sensor is full or empty, based upon whether slot 376 is blocked.
- the controller 436 monitors the status of the trays 370 passing over each of the sensors, and causes the first stop to shift to its stop position whenever an empty tray is detected and to shift to its release position when a full tray is detected.
- controller 436 shifts the second stop into the stop position when a full tray is detected by sensor 433 and into the release position when actuated in an opposite manner, that is, set to prevent the passage of full trays while allowing empty trays to pass.
- motor 326 drives drive belt 330 , turning first and second wheels 332 , 334 and rotating shafts 340 and wheels 352 mounted thereon.
- This causes drive belt 356 to move continuously about the periphery of buffer 310 between plates 342 and 358 .
- the carrier trolleys 372 are clamped to belt 356 tightly enough that they are pulled about the peripheries of the upper and lower plates by the movement of the belt.
- the trolleys are guided by the engagement of trolley wheels 402 with upper plate raised rail 64 and the engagement of guide wheels 410 , 412 and 414 with the peripheral portion 346 of lower plate 342 .
- Stops 428 and 432 are selectively moved into and out of the path of travel of the trolleys and, when positioned in the stop position, prevent trolleys from moving past the stops.
- the motor 326 continues to operate at a continuous speed, however, sliding belt 356 through clamps 416 even when all trolleys are prevented from moving by the position of the stops.
- the urethane from which belt 356 is formed is sufficiently wear resistant that it provides reliable operation even after many hours of continuous use. And, as the relative positions of clamp upper member 418 and lower member 422 are adjustable, the clamps can be repositioned in the event that the diameter of belt 356 decreases slightly after a long period of use to maintain the proper pressure on the belt.
- FIGS. 21 a - 21 h illustrate the operation of the system set up for use with a patty stacker that forms four stacks of patties simultaneously which patties must be packed in boxes that are three patties wide.
- the buffer 310 will receive stacks of patties four at a time from a first direction, shown by arrows 438 in FIG. 21A , on a first side of the buffer 310 and present them for removal three stacks at a time on a second side of the buffer 310 where they are removed in a the direction of arrows 440 in FIG. 21C .
- FIG. 21A shows four trays 370 a , 370 b , 370 c and 370 d on a first side of buffer 310 which trays have received four stacks 442 of hamburger patties from the transfer mechanism 24 .
- Controller 436 causes stop 428 to move between stop and release positions in order to release carriers in groups of four at predetermined intervals. After four stacks of patties are received in trays 370 a - 370 d , stop 428 shifts to its release position and allows these carriers to pass.
- the fifth carrier, 470 e which is empty, and the carriers behind it, are stopped by stop 428 for a predetermined period of time, a period long enough for theses carriers to receive four more stacks of patties from the stacking machine.
- additional carriers 370 f and 370 g impact against stopped carrier 370 e and are held in this position as belt 356 slips through clamps 416 on each trolley.
- Carriers 370 e - g remain stopped for a predetermined amount of time.
- carriers 370 a - d have been carried around buffer 310 by belt 356 toward a second stop 434 that blocks the path of the trays, and tray 370 a impacts against the second stop.
- Trays 370 b - d impact against stopped tray 370 a and are also brought to a stop with drive belt 356 sliding freely through clamps 416 on each of the stopped trays.
- a second transfer device 510 removes three stacks of patties from carriers 70 a , 70 b and 70 c in the direction of arrows 140 , and the first transfer device 24 places four additional stacks of patties on carriers 70 e , 70 f , 70 g and 70 h on the first side of the buffer 310 .
- carriers 70 a - c will be empty, and therefore the controller cause these three trays to be released, while the next tray (the last full tray) is stopped.
- Full carriers 70 e , 70 f , 70 g and 70 h are released by first stop 132 in FIG. 21C and moved around the buffer until they impact full carrier 70 d held up at second stop 134 resulting in the positioning of trays shown in FIG. 21D .
- FIG. 21E shows that three stacks of patties have been removed from carriers 370 d , 370 e and 370 f and that additional stacks of patties have been placed on carriers 370 i , 370 j , 370 k and 370 a .
- Four full carriers are released by stop 428 and three empty carriers are released by stop 432 as described above resulting in the arrangement of carriers shown in FIG. 21 f .
- three additional stacks of patties are removed from trays 370 g , 370 h and 370 i and these now-empty carriers are also released.
- Full carriers 370 j , 370 k and 370 a remain stopped at stop 432 .
- the buffer 310 is able to permit patties to be received in trays 392 in essentially any number from transfer device 24 and to be removed by transfer device 510 in groups of essentially any number.
- FIG. 22 shows transfer device 510 which includes guide tracks 512 , a drive 514 , and a carrier 516 which is moved linearly back and forth along the guide tracks 512 by the drive 514 .
- Guide tracks 512 comprise a first pair of feet 518 having aligned openings 520 , best seen in FIG. 25 , and a second pair of feet 522 having aligned openings 524 best seen in FIG. 24 .
- Two lower rail members 526 connect the first and second pairs of feet, and two upper rail members 528 are mounted above lower rail members 526 to define a guide channel 530 therebetween.
- Drive 514 comprises a motor 532 , a drive shaft 534 extending through aligned openings 520 in the first pair of feet, first and second geared wheels 536 coupled to the drive shaft 534 , an axle 538 extending between aligned openings 524 in the second pair of feet, and first and second idler wheels 540 mounted at either end of axle 538 .
- a first belt 544 extends between one of the geared wheels 536 and one of the idler wheels 540
- a second belt 546 extends between the other one of the geared wheels 536 and the other idler wheel 540 .
- the portions of belts 544 and 546 facing the guide tracks 512 include an attachment plate 548 as best shown in FIG. 23 .
- Motor 532 is reversible, and can be driven in a first direction to rotate the geared wheels to drive the belts 544 and 546 in a first direction, to move the attachment plate 548 from a first end 550 of the guide tracks 512 to a second end 552 of the guide tracks, and in a second direction to move the attachment plate 548 back to the first end 550 .
- Carrier 516 is mounted on the guide tracks 512 and attached to attachment plate 548 , so that it can be driven between first end 550 and second end 552 by motor 532 .
- Carrier 516 comprises a support frame 554 and a pivot frame 556 that is pivotally connected to support frame 554 for pivoting motion about a pivot axis 558 between a first position, shown in FIG. 23 , where the support frame is oriented at a right angle to the guide tracks 512 and generally vertically when support feet 518 and 522 rest on a horizontal floor or other support surface, and a second position, shown in FIG. 26 , where the frame is tipped about 30 degrees from vertical. As best seen in FIG.
- support frame 554 includes first and second spaced plate members 560 , 561 and a pair of wheels 562 carrying the frame and rotatably attached to each attachment plate 548 , which wheels are sized to fit in channel 530 between the upper and lower rail members of the guide tracks 512 .
- a dog 564 depends from each of the attachment plate 548 which dogs 564 are securely fastened to each of the attachment plates 548 on the first and second belts 544 and 546 .
- a lower strut 566 is connected between and carried by the first plate 560 and second plate 561 .
- first axle 568 projecting inwardly from plate member 560 and a second axle 570 is supported by plate member 561 , with an inner end 572 projecting toward first axle 568 and an outer end 574 projecting from the opposite side of the plate member 561 .
- First axle 568 and second axle 570 are coaxially aligned with pivot axis 558 .
- Pivot frame 556 includes first and second side plate members 575 connected by a lower strut 577 , and the side plate members 575 each include an upper portion to which the axles 568 and 570 are attached.
- First side support 578 projects upwardly from first plate 560 and is fixedly attached to plate 560 .
- a second side support 580 parallel to the first side support, is fixed to outer end 574 of second axle 570 .
- the upper ends of the first and second side supports are connected by a strut 582 , and plate members 584 are attached to either end of the strut 582 which plate members form attachment points for elements described below.
- a gripper mechanism 586 is carried by pivot frame 556 and comprises a lower gripper member 588 and an upper gripper member 590 as best seen in FIG. 22 .
- the lower gripper member 588 includes a gripper frame 592 slidingly supported between plate members 560 and 561 of pivot frame 556 , and first and second linear actuators 594 , preferably pneumatic actuators, connected between the pivot frame 556 and the gripper frame 592 for moving the gripper frame 592 relative to the pivot frame 556 .
- Four stack supports 596 are mounted on the gripper frame 592 , each of which includes a stack-engaging top portion 598 adjustably connected thereto. As all of the stack supports 596 are connected to the gripper frame 592 , they all move in unison when actuators 594 move the frame. However, it is within the scope of this invention to use individually controllable actuators as well.
- Upper gripper member 590 comprises a strut 600 connected between plate members 584 at the top ends of the first and second side supports 578 , 580 to which four independently controllable pneumatic actuators 602 are attached at various selectable positions along rod 600 , which positions are selected so that the actuators 602 on the upper gripper member 590 are aligned with the stack supports 596 on the gripper frame 592 .
- Each actuator 602 includes a tubular housing 604 within which a piston 606 is mounted for reciprocal motion with respect to the housing. At the end of each piston is mounted a stack-engaging plate member 608 as best shown in FIG. 24 .
- the actuators 602 are connected to a suitable controller, not shown, which moves the pistons 606 to move the plate members 608 between first and second positions with respect to the housing 604 .
- a suitable controller not shown
- the same controller that controls the motion of the actuators 594 controls the lower gripper member so that the stack-engaging members 598 of the gripper frame 592 can be moved toward the stack-engaging plates 608 of the upper gripper 590 while the stack-engaging plates 608 of the upper gripper 590 are being moved toward the stack-engaging members 598 of the lower gripper 588 to grip a stack of objects, such as frozen hamburger patties, therebetween.
- the controller also controls the separation of the upper gripper 590 and the lower gripper 588 .
- a tipper actuator 610 is connected between support frame 554 and pivot frame 556 to tip or pivot the pivot frame between the first and second positions.
- the operation of transfer device 510 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 26-30 which figures show device 510 positioned between buffer device 310 and matrix former 818 .
- the buffer device 310 includes a plurality of individual trays 70 for supporting a plurality of stacks 20 of frozen hamburger patties, which stacks each include a bottom 708 and a top 710 . Only one of the trays and one stack of patties is visible in these figures; however two other holders holding two other stacks of patties are positioned therebehind.
- each tray 920 is angled with respect to the horizontal to help keep the stacks 20 of patties 16 in place while the trays 70 are moved around the buffer device 310 , and the bottom of each tray includes a slot that is narrower than the diameter of the patties in each stack but wide enough to allow the stack-engaging tops 598 of the lower gripper member to pass through the slots and contact the bottoms 708 of the stacks.
- the matrix former 818 has a horizontal bottom wall 920 and upstanding sidewalls 924 , 926 between which the stacks of patties are placed for further processing.
- the bottom wall 920 includes a plurality of slots narrower than the width of the patties but wider than the stack-engaging tops 598 to allow stacks of patties to be placed on the bottom wall 920 inwardly from the edge thereof.
- the transfer device is well suited for use in this environment, it could be used to transfer stacks between other supports as well, one, both, or neither of which are inclined with respect to horizontal.
- the matrix former can be adjusted to accommodate different numbers of rows and/or rows having different numbers of stacks.
- FIG. 26 shows a stack 16 of frozen hamburger patties supported on a tray 70 of a buffer device 310 .
- Carrier 516 is positioned at the second end 552 of the guide track and tilted to the second position, wherein the plane of the stack-engaging surfaces of the lower gripper 588 and the upper gripper 590 are inclined at about a 30 degree angle from vertical and parallel to tray 704 .
- Lower stack-engaging top member 598 is positioned directly under stack bottom 708
- upper stack-engaging plate 608 is positioned over stack top 710 .
- FIG. 27 shows the configuration of device 510 after actuators 594 have raised the lower gripper 588 so that the stack-engaging tops 598 of the lower gripper 588 are in contact with stack bottoms 708 , and after actuators 602 have lowered stack-engaging plates 608 into contact with top surfaces 710 of the stacks 20 .
- the upper and lower grippers 590 and 588 are moved toward one another firmly enough to securely hold the stack 20 therebetween.
- the distance that the upper and lower grippers are moved toward one another can be a constant based upon the height of the stacks 706 , or, alternatively, a pressure sensor can be provided which will stop the movement of the grippers 588 and 590 when a predetermined pressure is applied to the stacks 20 .
- the pressure applied to the stacks 20 must be sufficient to keep the stacks 20 from falling apart when they are rotated from an inclined to a generally vertical orientation.
- FIG. 28 shows carrier 516 after tipper 610 has pushed pivot frame 556 back to the first position and drive 514 has moved the carrier 516 to the first end 550 of the guide track 512 and positioned the bottom of stack 20 over the horizontal matrix former bottom wall 920 .
- FIG. 29 shows the upper and lower grippers 590 and 588 , respectively, after they have separated to release the stacks onto horizontal platform 920
- FIG. 30 shows a second stack 716 of patties about to be placed on the platform 920 .
- the controller for the carrier can be programmed to leave additional rows of stacks at other locations if more than two rows of stacks are needed.
- FIG. 31 shows a packing apparatus designated generally by the numeral 810 which includes an empty-box feeding conveyor 812 , a packed-box discharge conveyor 814 , a lift mechanism 816 , and a matrix former 818 .
- Lift mechanism 816 includes a reversible motor 820 for turning a drive shaft 822 which is supported on one end by motor 820 and on the other by a bearing 824 mounted on a support (not shown).
- First and second flanged wheels 826 are mounted on shaft 822 for rotation therewith, and a second shaft 828 is rotatably supported by first and second bearing plates 830 mounted to supports (not shown) parallel to the drive shaft 822 .
- First and second flanged wheels 832 are mounted on second shaft 828 and aligned with the flanged wheels 826 on the drive shaft 822 .
- First and second belts 834 extend between aligned pairs of flanged wheels 826 and 832 on the shafts 822 and 828 such that shafts 822 and 828 are rotated simultaneously when motor 820 turns drive shaft 822 .
- Parallel guide tracks 836 are mounted adjacent the belts 834 , each track 836 defining a channel facing toward the channel of the other track 836 .
- Lift platform 840 includes a first sidewall 842 , a second sidewall 843 , a top support 844 , and a bottom support 846 supported for rolling movement along the guide tracks 836 by wheels 848 , as best shown in FIG. 37 , and is clamped to belts 834 by clamps 850 .
- motor 820 moves lift platform 840 between raised and lowered positions on guide tracks 836 by rotating shaft 822 .
- Motor controller 851 controls the operation of motor 820 , and thus the position of lift platform 840 with respect to the guide tracks 836 and the matrix former 818 .
- Lift platform 840 further includes a pivoting platform 852 mounted on lift platform 840 for pivoting movement with respect to platform 840 .
- Platform 852 includes a base frame 854 , including a projecting arm 856 and a sidewall 858 .
- a first axle 860 extends from first sidewall 842 and connects to sidewall 858
- a second axle 862 extends from second sidewall 843 and connects to projecting arm 856 .
- the axles 860 and 862 are coaxial. Under the influence of appropriate actuators, pivoting platform 852 may be pivoted between first and second positions with respect to lift platform 840 .
- Pivot platform 852 further includes a guide track 864 , as best shown in FIG. 35 , connected between sidewall 858 and sidewall 843 , a first fixed wall 865 adjacent track 864 and a second wall 866 slidingly connected to track 864 .
- An actuator 868 shown in FIG. 35 , is mounted adjacent track 864 , for moving sliding wall 866 toward and away from fixed wall 865 to grip a box placed therebetween.
- a roller support 870 comprising a plurality of free-spinning rollers, is mounted on base frame 854 between sidewalls 843 and 858 .
- Four posts 872 extend from walls 865 and 866 which posts are mutually parallel and arranged generally in a square.
- each post 872 includes a finger 874 pivotally attached thereto, and an actuator 876 connects each finger 874 to the top of sidewall 865 or sliding wall 866 , so that the fingers 874 can be pivoted between first and second positions with respect to the sliding walls by the actuators 876 and function as grippers for gripping the top edge of a box.
- a crank arm 880 is attached to the end of axle 860 , and a first cylinder and piston assembly 882 extends between crank arm 880 and sidewall 842 of lift platform 840 .
- a second cylinder and piston assembly 884 extends between pivot platform 852 and sidewall 842 . Operation of the first and second cylinder and piston assemblies 882 and 884 moves pivot platform 852 between first and second positions.
- matrix former 818 can be seen to comprise a reversible motor 890 for rotating a drive shaft 892 approximately 180 degrees between first and second positions.
- Plate 894 having first and second ends 896 , is supported on shaft 892 , and first and second arms 898 are attached to the ends 896 of plate 894 .
- Arms 898 are connected to a shaft 900 by a triangular plate member 902 .
- One ends of shaft 900 is connected to a first vertex of plate member 902 , while arms 898 are connected to the other two vertices of the triangular plate member 902 .
- Shaft 900 is securely supported by two bearing plates 904 fixedly mounted to a support structure 906 , as best shown in FIG.
- An L-shaped support 908 depends from shaft 900 and includes a projection 910 for supporting an actuating assembly 912 .
- Actuating assembly 912 comprises side plates 914 connected by telescoping cylinders 916 and an actuator 918 .
- the matrix former 818 as best shown in FIG. 33 , further includes a patty-receiving platform 920 having three slots 922 therein, a first sidewall 924 connected to one of the side plate 914 , and a second sidewall 926 connected to the other of the side plates 914 .
- FIG. 36 illustrates three stacks 16 of hamburger patties between the sidewalls 924 , 926 of the matrix former 818 in a closely spaced relationship.
- a first set of three stacks of hamburger patties is placed onto receiving platform 920 , one stack over each of slots 922 , by stack transfer device 510 .
- a second set of three stacks is then placed on receiving platform 920 next to the first set of stacks by the stack transfer device.
- the stacks are formed with a spacing between them, and are thus transferred to the receiving platform 920 with a spacing.
- controller 851 operates actuator 918 to move side plates 914 , and thus first and second sidewalls 924 and 926 which are connected to side plates 914 , toward each other to slide the patties toward one another and form a tighter matrix of patties.
- FIGS. 37 through 45 illustrate the interaction of the lift mechanism 816 and the matrix former 818 during one patty boxing operation.
- system 810 can be seen with an empty box 930 , having an opening 932 , that has been released to slide down box feed roller conveyor 812 toward and onto roller support 870 of lift platform 840 .
- matrix former 818 already holds six stacks (two rows of three stacks each) of hamburger patties.
- sliding side wall 866 is moved towards wall 865 by actuator 868 , until it engages the sidewalls of the box and holds box 930 securely on platform 870 .
- Actuators 876 pivot fingers 874 and move them into the opening 932 of box 930 , where they further secure the box to the roller platform 870 and help hold down any flaps that the box might have.
- Platform 870 is then pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 38 , with its surface generally normal to guide tracks 836 .
- First cylinder and piston assembly 882 with a first end connected to first sidewall 842 , presses against crank arm 880 on first axle 860 , which causes pivoting platform 852 to pivot about the axes of first axle 860 and second axle 862 from the position shown in FIG. 38 to the position shown in FIG. 39 so that roller platform 870 is positioned over matrix former 818 and with the opening 932 of box 930 facing the stacks of patties on the matrix former.
- Sliding sidewall 866 and fingers 874 held in place by actuators 876 , keep box 930 secured with its bottom wall against roller platform 870 .
- Controller 851 next causes motor 820 to rotate shaft 822 , in order to move belts 834 and thus platform 870 toward matrix former 818 until the sidewalls 924 , 926 of the matrix former 818 and the patties on the matrix former surface 920 are inside box 930 , as best shown in FIG. 40 .
- shaft 900 of the matrix former is coaxially aligned with axles 860 and 862 of the lift platform.
- matrix former motor 890 actuates to rotate plate 894 and move one of the arms 898 toward shaft 900 and the other of arms 898 away from the shaft 900 , thus rotating triangular plate 902 and shaft 900 connected thereto.
- This causes the receiving platform 920 to pivot about the axis of shaft 900 .
- first cylinder and piston assembly 882 and second cylinder and piston assembly 884 contract to pivot roller support platform 870 about axles 860 and 862 , so that the box 930 on the roller support platform 870 and the patty support platform 920 of the matrix former remain essentially parallel as they rotate through 180 degrees to the position shown in FIG. 41 .
- the patties, which had been supported by receiving platform 920 and covered by box 930 are in this new orientation supported by box 930 with the receiving platform 920 positioned thereover.
- Motor 820 next rotates shaft 822 to move roller support platform 870 and box 930 thereon away from patty support platform 1920 and away from shaft 822 until the patty support platform 920 is clear of the box 930 , as best shown in FIG. 42 .
- Motor 890 rotates shaft 900 to return the patty support platform 920 to its starting orientation as best shown in FIG. 43 .
- Roller support platform 870 is next raised to the position shown in FIG. 44 , generally parallel to the surface of discharge conveyor 814 .
- Actuators 876 pivot fingers 874 out of top opening 932 of the box 930 and sliding sidewall 866 moves away from box 930 .
- the box 930 may then slide under the force of gravity off roller platform 870 and onto the adjacent discharge conveyor 814 as best shown in FIG. 45 .
- the lift platform 840 is then raised back toward the feed conveyor 812 to receive another box and start the cycle again.
- FIGS. 46-49 show in more detail the transfer of the stacks 20 of patties 16 from the matrix former 818 to the box 930 .
- FIG. 46 is a sectional view showing the inside of the box 930 and the matrix former 818 when the box 930 is held over the matrix former 818 as shown in FIG. 39 .
- the support platform 920 of the matrix former fits within the inside of box 930 , with a small amount of clearance, and at about the level of opening 932 .
- FIG. 48 shows the inside of box 930 when the matrix former 818 and lift platform 840 are positioned as in FIG. 41 , so that the stacks 20 of patties are now resting on the bottom of box 930 .
- FIG. 49 corresponds to the position of the matrix former 818 and lift platform 840 shown in FIG. 42 .
Abstract
A system for automatically forming several parallel rows of disk-like objects on a conveyor into stacks and packing those stacks into boxes is disclosed along with a method of operating the system. The system includes a stacker receiving the disk-like objects as they fall of the conveyor, a buffer receiving stacks from the stacker in groups of a first number, a transfer device for removing the stacks from the buffer in groups of a second number, and a packer for packing the stacks into boxes. The second number can be less than, greater than, or equal to the first number.
Description
- The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/290,342, filed May 14, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
- The present application is related to the following four applications, which are being filed concurrently herewith, are assigned to the assignee of the subject application and are incorporated herein by reference: “Method And Apparatus For Stacking Discrete Planar Objects,” “Method And Apparatus For Buffering A Flow Of Objects,” “Stack Transfer Device,” and “Method And Apparatus For Packing.”
- This application is directed to a system and method for processing and packing disk-like objects, and, more specifically, toward a system and method for forming multiple stacks of disk-like objects, arranging the stacks in a matrix of rows and columns, and packing the stacks thus arranged in a container.
- Machines for processing hamburger patties, chicken patties, sausage patties, and similar disk-like objects are known and often include a conveyor belt or similar mechanism for moving the patties into and out of a freezer, moving the patties beyond a metal detector to check for contamination, and otherwise supporting the patties while they are processed. However, in order to package the patties, they generally must be removed from the conveyor and stacked, and the stacks must then be placed into the boxes, cartons, or other containers. Heretofore, various machines have been proposed for performing some or all of the packing functions. For example, stacking machines such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,969, assigned to the assignee of the present application, form hamburger patties into stacks as they exit a conveyor.
- One reason that manual labor has heretofore been required is that the number of rows of patties on a conveyor belt is not always the same as the number of rows that will be placed in a container. For example, the number of rows of hamburger patties on a conveyor is generally related to the width of the conveyor. Processing multiple rows simultaneously increases efficiency. However, this number is sometimes greater than the number of rows that will fit into a case or box, so the rows must somehow be consolidated before they are boxed. In the past, this has been done by having laborers take individual stacks as they were formed and manually placing the stacks in a box.
- Moreover, even when individual machines exist that either stack or pack objects such as hamburger patties, they are not always easily integratable and do not function as a system. For example, if one element of the system works more slowly than other elements, a bottleneck will develop and reduce system throughput. There is therefore a need for a system that can receive substantially any number of rows of disk-like objects from a conveyor, form the objects into stacks, and place appropriate numbers of these stacks into rows and columns in a box.
- These and other difficulties are addressed by the present invention which comprises an integrated system for receiving moving multiple rows of frozen hamburger patties along a conveyor belt, forming the patties into stacks, and packing the stacks into boxes at a rate at least as great as the rate at which the patties are presented by the conveyor. The subject invention finds particular utility in connection with the packaging of frozen hamburger patties; however, it could just as easily be used to package other food products or flat, non-food objects. The invention is described herein in connection with the processing of frozen hamburger patties, but is in no manner limited to use with such products.
- A first portion of the subject system includes a conveyor that moves frozen patties toward a stacking device which receives the patties as they fall from the end of a conveyor belt and forms the patties into stacks. In a preferred embodiment, the stacker includes a first holder, sometimes referred to as an upper holder or upper shelf, onto which the rows of patties fall as they reach the end of the conveyor. The upper holder preferably comprises a plurality of pairs of parallel pins that extend from a support toward the end edge of the conveyor so that individual patties in a given row drop one at a time off the end of the conveyor onto a pair of pins. Hereafter, the processing of a single stack of patties will sometimes be discussed, it being understood that second and additional stacks are being formed substantially simultaneously on adjacent pairs of pins. The upper holder is lowered as each new patty falls, to keep the top of the stack about the same distance beneath the end edge of the conveyor. The height of the top of the stack varies somewhat during processing, but it is preferably maintained within a fairly narrow range of heights to ensure that the patties drop consistently onto the stacks. In the preferred embodiment, a counter adjacent the conveyor counts patties in a row just before they fall onto the upper support, and a cam lowers the upper support at a known rate.
- A second holder comprising a plurality of fingers is positioned beneath the upper support, with each finger aligned with the opening between a pair of upper support pins. As the upper support drops, the pins eventually pass to each side of one of the fingers, and as the upper support drops further, the bottom of the stack contacts a finger on the second holder and is supported thereby. When the stack is completely supported by the fingers, the upper support pivots away from the stream of falling patties and returns to its starting position while the second holder continues to drop, keeping the top of the stack at a generally constant height. A transfer device is mounted beneath the second support, which device includes a plurality of openings aligned with each of the fingers on the second support. When a stack contains the correct number of patties, or is otherwise determined to be complete, the second holder drops so that the fingers pass through the openings in the transfer device, leaving the stacks supported by the transfer device. Preferably, as soon as the second shelf begins to drop, the first shelf rises and pivots back to its starting position to catch the falling patties, while the end of the conveyor is moved to lengthen the conveyor and create a gap in the flow of patties; this delays the release of the next group of patties and allows the upper shelf to move into position to catch additional patties. The upper support thus supports a next group of falling patties, while the following processing steps are carried out on the first stack.
- Once the stacks are supported on the transfer device and the fingers of the second holder are located beneath the transfer device, the transfer device grips the stacks and moves sideways to transfer the stacks to a buffer. As the transfer device is moving the stacks to the buffer, the second holder is free to return to its starting position beneath the top shelf. Once the transfer of patties to the buffer is complete, the transfer device returns to its starting location beneath the second holder, and the process is repeated.
- A second portion of the system is a buffer which receives a first number of stacks from the stacker. In a preferred embodiment, the buffer comprises a carousel to which a plurality of carriers are attached, each carrier holding a tray that receives a single stack of frozen hamburger patties. Each carrier is attached by a clamp to a belt that runs continuously around the carousel, the clamp engaging the belt on opposites sides thereof. The clamp is attached tightly enough to cause the carrier to move with the belt when its path is unobstructed, but loosely enough that the belt will slide through the clamp when the path of the carrier is blocked. In this manner, the position of the carriers can be controlled independently of the positions of the other carriers, without a need to provide separate controllers for the clamps on each carrier.
- The movement of the carriers is controlled so that a first number of trays is always available when needed to receive a first number of incoming stacks, and, when full, the carriers are released to a second location where they are stopped so that stacks of patties can be removed therefrom by a transfer device in groups of a second number. When the second number is less than the first number, the stacks must be removed at a rate greater than the rate at which the stacks of patties arrive at the carousel, and full carriers are buffered at a location between the first and second locations. When the second number is greater than the first number, full carriers are accumulated at the second location until a second number of carriers is present. When the first and second numbers are the same, the carriers move around the carousel in equal size groups.
- In the preferred embodiment, the number of carriers is related to the maximum number of incoming rows of patties, to minimize the number of carriers needed, and thus reduce the amount of space occupied by the machine. Applicants have found, for example, that a stacking machine that produces four rows of patties used with and a packaging machine that requires three rows at a time as input, a buffer having a total of eleven carriers is needed. In this manner, the width of the buffer can be minimized and the resulting buffer need not be much greater than the width of the stacking machine.
- A third portion of the system comprises a transfer device for removing the stacks of patties from the trays of the buffer device and placing them on a platform from which they can be further processed. In the preferred embodiment, the transfer device comprises a generally rectangular frame having parallel top and bottom members, a plurality of stack supports mounted on the bottom member and a plurality of actuators supporting plates depending from the top member. The actuators cause the plates to move toward and away from the bottom member, and the bottom member is movable relative to the top member via additional actuators. The frame is shiftable between the buffer, where it engages several stacks of patties, and a platform, where the stacks are deposited for further processing. In the preferred embodiment, the stacks at the first location are located in individual trays of the buffer, and are oriented at a small angle to the vertical so that the stacks are supported by both a bottom wall and a side wall of a holder, while the second location comprises a shelf-like member on which the stacks are supported by the lower-most patty in the stack. The frame is pivotable about an axis parallel to the bottom frame member so that it can shift the stacks from a first orientation with respect to vertical to a second generally vertical orientation.
- In operation, the frame moves and pivots until it substantially surrounds a plurality of stacks of patties, and so that the support members on the lower frame member are positioned beneath slots in the bottoms of the trays and with the plates located over the tops of each of the stacks. Actuators then move the bottom frame member up against the bottoms of the stacks and move the plates against the tops of the stacks to grip each stack between one bottom frame stack support member and a plate. The frozen patties have relatively rough surfaces, and therefore only a small amount of pressure needs to be applied to hold the stacks securely together while they are being moved. If the objects in the stacks were formed of a low-friction material, a greater force would be required to compress the stacks and keep them together. The frame next pivots about an axis below and parallel to the bottom frame member and moves away from the trays to a second location where the patties are to be deposited.
- The second location comprises a matrix former, which receives several stacks of patties and arranges the stacks for placement into a case or other container. The matrix former includes a generally horizontal lower support surface with slots wider than the bottom frame member stack supports but narrower than the width of the stacks, and three upstanding sidewalls extending away from the lower support surface, which side walls are movable relative to the bottom support surface to square the stacks on the lower support surface. The distance between the frame side members is greater than the distance between the matrix former side walls, so the frame surrounds the matrix former as the stacks are deposited thereon. When the bottoms of the stacks are located over the lower support surface of the matrix former, the frame bottom moves away from the stack bottoms through the slots to deposit the stacks on the lower support surface and the plates are also moved away from the top of the stacks. The transfer mechanism then returns to the first location, where another set of stacks has been moved into position for transfer and repeats the above process, but leaves the second group of stacks at a third location between the first location and the second location one patty diameter closer to the first location than the second location.
- A fourth portion of the system comprises a packer comprising the matrix former having a first platform on which a plurality of stacks of patties are placed, and a second platform for supporting a box into which the stacks are to be packed. The second platform is movable vertically, and pivots about an axis parallel to its box-contacting surface. The second platform includes at least one gripper for holding the bottom of the box securely against the box-contacting surface, and preferably also includes a plurality of grippers for engaging the top edges of the box to control the movement of the box and to hold down flaps extending from the top edge of the box. The box-contacting surface of the second platform also preferably includes a plurality of rollers that allow an empty box to roll on and off the platform when the platform is inclined.
- In operation, the second platform is aligned with a conveyor that feeds empty boxes one at a time to the second platform, where an individual box is gripped by at least one gripper on the second platform to hold it in place with its bottom on the rollers and its open top facing away from the rollers. The second platform is then pivoted about 158 degrees to an inverted position with the open box top positioned over and facing the first platform over the stacks of patties on the first platform. The second platform is next lowered over the stacked patties and over the first platform so that the products and platform are disposed completely within the box. The orientation of the patties is maintained by the walls of the box and the platform, and the first and second platforms are pivoted together until the top opening of the box is again facing up and the patties are supported on the closed bottom of the box. The second platform and box are moved away from the first support, and the first support is returned to its original orientation. The second support is moved to a discharge location to slide the fully loaded box onto a conveyor for further processing and then tilts and moves to its original position to receive another empty box to start the process again.
- Thus in operation, multiple rows of hamburger patties drop over the edge of a moving conveyor belt and form a plurality of stacks on a stacker as they fall. When the stacks achieve a predetermined size, they are transferred automatically to a buffer carousel while a second set of stacks is formed on another portion of the stacker. Transfer of stacks from the stacker to the buffer is accomplished without slowing the conveyor or interfering with the upstream processing of the patties. A first number of stacks of patties, four for example, are loaded into four trays of the buffer and moved from a first location to a second location. At the second location, a second number of stacks of patties, three for example, are removed from the trays and moved to the support surface of the matrix former. Additional patties are received four stacks at a time at the first location, and moved to the second location where they are removed three stacks at a time. The stacks on the matrix former are boxed and removed each time a desired number of stacks has been received on the matrix former. Because the stacks may be removed from the buffer at a rate greater than the rate they are placed on the buffer, a constant throughput is achieved, and the flow of patties on the conveyor is substantially matched to the output flow of patties from the boxer. Because the stacks are flipped twice during processing, once between the stacker and the buffer and again when the filled carton is inverted, the stacks end up in a carton in the same orientation as they are in when they are formed on the stacker.
- It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an automated system for processing and packing a plurality of disk-like objects such as frozen food patties.
- It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for receiving a plurality of rows of disk-like objects from a conveyor, forming the objects into stacks and packaging the stacks thus formed.
- It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for stacking a first number of rows of objects and packing a second number of rows of stacks into a box.
- It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an automated system for processing and packing a plurality of disk-like objects, including a stacker for forming a first number of stacks, a packing subsystem that packs stacks into a box in rows of a second number of stacks, and a buffer for converting said first number of stacks into groups of said second number of stacks.
- In furtherance of these objects, an apparatus is provided for forming stacks of disk-like objects and packing the stacks in a box that includes a stacker for forming a plurality of stacks of the disk-like objects, a buffer, and a first transfer mechanism for transferring the plurality of stacks from the stacker to the buffer. A second transfer mechanism is also provided for transferring at least some of the stacks on the buffer to a platform, and a boxer is included for boxing the stacks of objects on the platform.
- A further aspect of the invention comprises a method for processing a flow of disk-like objects that involves conveying at least two rows of disk-like objects toward and over an edge and providing at least two catchers adjacent the lip. The disk-like objects of each row are caught by the catchers as they fall over the edge thus forming a stack of objects on each of the catchers. A buffer comprises a plurality of stack carriers individually movable around a closed loop, and at least two stacks of objects from the catchers are moved to at least two of the carriers. The two carriers are moved from a first location to a second location. At the second location a number of stacks are removed and placed on a platform to form a first column. Additional stacks are removed from the second location and placed on the platform to form a second column. Finally, a box is placed over the first and second columns of stacks, and inverted together with the stacks, to transfer the stacks from the platform to the box, after which the box is moved away from the platform.
- A further aspect of the invention comprises an apparatus for packing disk-like objects and includes a stacker receiving a first number of rows of objects from a conveyor and forming the rows into stacks, a buffer for receiving the stacks in groups of a first number, a packer for packing the stacks in a box, and a transfer mechanism for transferring the stacks from the buffer to the packer in groups of a second number.
- Another aspect of the invention is a method of packing disk-like objects that involves moving a first number of rows of disk-like objects along a conveyor toward a conveyor end edge, and providing a first number of catchers in a row adjacent the end edge, each of the catchers being aligned with one of the first number of rows of disks. The disks in each of the rows are caught to form a stack on each of the catchers, after which they are transferred from the catchers to a buffer. From the buffer, the stacks are transferred to a packer in groups of a second number, and automatically packed into a box.
- These objects and advantages will be better understood after a reading of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention together with the following drawings.
-
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a system of a processing system according to the present invention which system includes a stacking device, a buffer, a transfer device, and a packer. -
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stacking device according to the present invention which device includes a conveyor, an upper support, a lower support and a transfer device. -
FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the stacking device ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 4 is an assembly drawing of the stacking device ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the upper support and lower support ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper support ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lower support ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the transfer device ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the transfer device ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the stacking device ofFIG. 2 showing a stack of objects that has Just been transferred from the second support to the transfer device. -
FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the stacking device ofFIG. 2 showing the transfer device in a position to release a stack at a discharge location while a second stack of objects on the upper support moves toward the lower support. -
FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the stacking device ofFIG. 2 showing a stack of objects supported on the lower support moving toward the transfer device which has returned to its starting location beneath the second support. -
FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the stacking device ofFIG. 2 showing the transfer device rotating and translating a stack of objects toward a discharge location while the upper support catches objects dropping off the conveyor. -
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the buffer device having a plurality of trays supported on carriers as shown inFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 15 is a fragmentary assembly drawing of a portion of the buffer device ofFIG. 14 with the carriers and trays removed. -
FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of one of the carriers shown inFIG. 14 . -
FIG. 17 is a rear elevational view of the carrier ofFIG. 16 . -
FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of the buffer ofFIG. 14 . -
FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of the buffer ofFIG. 14 showing a stop for preventing the movement of the carriers in a non-engaged position. -
FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of the buffer and stop ofFIG. 19 showing the stop in an engaged position. -
FIGS. 21 a-h are top plan views of the buffer ofFIG. 14 showing the locations of full and empty trays around the periphery of the buffer as the buffer is used according to the method of the present invention. -
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the stack transfer device ofFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 23 is a side elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 . -
FIG. 24 is a front elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 . -
FIG. 25 is a rear elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 . -
FIG. 26 is a side elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 positioned adjacent a plurality of stacks of hamburger patties on a buffer mechanism. -
FIG. 27 is a side elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 gripping a plurality of stacks of hamburger patties on a buffer mechanism. -
FIG. 28 is a side elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 holding a plurality of stacks of hamburger patties adjacent a horizontal support platform. -
FIG. 29 is a side elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 releasing a first plurality of stacks of hamburger patties onto a horizontal support platform. -
FIG. 30 is a side elevational view of the device ofFIG. 22 releasing a second plurality of stacks of hamburger patties onto a horizontal support platform. -
FIG. 31 is a fragmentary perspective view of the packing system of theFIG. 1 which system includes a feeding conveyor, a discharge conveyor, a lift apparatus and a matrix former. -
FIG. 32 is a perspective view of the lift apparatus of the packing system shown inFIG. 31 . -
FIG. 33 is an assembly drawing of matrix former ofFIG. 31 . -
FIG. 34 is a rear elevational view of the motor of the matrix former ofFIG. 31 . -
FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the box holding portion of the lift apparatus in an inverted position. -
FIG. 36 is an elevational view, partially in section, of the matrix former ofFIG. 31 . -
FIG. 37 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a first configuration with the lift positioned to receive an empty box from the feeding conveyor. -
FIG. 38 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a second configuration with an empty box gripped on a platform of the lift apparatus. -
FIG. 39 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a third configuration with the platform and box positioned over the matrix former. -
FIG. 40 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a fourth configuration with the platform held near the matrix former so that the matrix former is substantially covered by the box. -
FIG. 41 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a fifth configuration with the platform and matrix former rotated 180 degrees from the position shown inFIG. 8 . -
FIG. 42 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a sixth configuration with the platform moved away from the matrix former. -
FIG. 43 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a seventh configuration showing the matrix former pivoted 180 degrees from the position shown inFIG. 42 . -
FIG. 44 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in an eighth configuration with the platform and box raised to the level of the discharge conveyor. -
FIG. 45 is a side elevational view of the packing system ofFIG. 31 in a ninth configuration showing a full box that has been released from the platform to the discharge conveyor and a new empty box in position on the feeding conveyor. -
FIG. 46 is sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown inFIG. 38 . -
FIG. 47 is a sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown inFIG. 39 . -
FIG. 48 is a sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown inFIG. 40 . -
FIG. 49 is a sectional side elevational view of the lift apparatus and the matrix former in a position similar to that shown inFIG. 41 . -
FIG. 50 is a top plan view of the buffer device with the trays removed to show the positions of several sensors. - Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only, and not for the purpose of limiting same,
FIG. 1 shows a hamburgerpatty processing system 1 that includes astacker 10, abuffer 310, astack transfer device 510 and apacking machine 810. Each of these elements is described in more detail below. - Stacker
- The stacker portion of the subject system is described in an application entitled “Method And Apparatus For Stacking Discrete Planar Objects” filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the assignee of this application.
- As best shown in
FIGS. 2 and 4 , a stackingdevice 10 is positioned adjacent aconveyor 12 having anend edge 14. A plurality of disk-shapedobjects 16, in this case, frozen hamburger patties, are arranged in rows on theconveyor 12 extending in the direction of movement of theconveyor 12. Asconveyor 12 moves, it causespatties 16 to be advanced so as eventually to drop offend edge 14 onto anupper support 18, as best shown inFIG. 6 , to formstacks 20 of patties thereon as best shown inFIG. 12 .Upper support 18 is downwardly movable in order to keep the top ofstacks 20 at a generally constant level with respect to endedge 14 of theconveyor 12. Asupper support 18 descends, it transfers the accumulatingstacks 20 to alower support 22, as best shown inFIG. 4 , and moves laterally out of the falling streams of patties so thatfurther patties 16 from theconveyor 12 fall directly onto thestacks 20 supported bylower support 22. Thelower support 22 is downwardly movable and continues to drop until asensor 226 detects that thestacks 20 have reached their final size. At this point,lower support 22 transfers thestacks 20 to astack transfer mechanism 24 that moves thestacks 20 laterally away from theconveyor 12 toward a discharge location. Additional fallingpatties 16 are caught byupper support 18 orlower support 22 as discussed above, andtransfer device 24 returns to its starting position beneath theupper support 18 and theconveyor 12 before a subsequent set of stacks ofpatties 16 is complete.Controller 23, as best shown inFIG. 2 , controls the operation of the stacking device, and is preferably a computer or PLC that controls the speed of various drives and the operation of the actuators that are described herein. The present system allows for a continuous processing ofpatties 16 arriving at theend edge 14 of aconveyor 12 without the need to stop the conveyor each time a stack is completed. -
Stacker 10 is installed on a fixedsupport 26, such as a factory floor, and includes a fixedframe portion 28 fixed with respect to support 26 and amovable frame portion 30 that moves with respect to the fixedframe portion 24, which fixedframe portion 28 andmovable frame portion 30 together form a frame for the stacker.Movable frame portion 30 includes foursupport wheels 32 resting on fourplatforms 34, which in turn rest on the fixedsupport 26. Amotor 36 is operably connected to ashaft 38, which is rotatably supported by twobearings 40 that are supported by bearingsupports 42, one of which is shown inFIG. 2 , mounted onfloor 26. Twoarms 44 are fixed toshaft 38 and extend radially therefrom so that the ends ofarms 44 describe an arc of a circle as theshaft 38 rotates.Tie rods 46 connectarms 44 tomovable frame 30 so that, asmotor 36 turnsshaft 42 in a first direction, themovable frame portion 30 is pulled alongplatforms 34 towardmotor 36, and asmotor 36 turns in a second direction, themovable frame portion 30 is pushed alongplatforms 34 away frommotor 36. Theroller 48 supporting theend edge 14 of the conveyor 12 (FIG. 4 ) is supported on themovable frame portion 30 while other portions ofconveyor 12 are supported by the fixedframe portion 28. Therefore, theconveyor 12 includes a slack take-upmechanism 50, shown inFIGS. 10-13 , which allows the effective length of theconveyor 12 to increase and decrease as themovable frame portion 30 moves away from and back towards the fixedframe portion 28. When the effective length of theconveyor 12 is increased in this manner, the spacing is increased between rows ofpatties 16 arriving atend edge 14, and this extra spacing allows theupper support 18 to pivot back into the flow of falling patties to start a new stack. -
Movable frame portion 30 comprises a firstvertical plate member 52 having aninner wall 54 and anouter wall 56, and a secondvertical plate member 58 having aninner wall 60 and anouter wall 62. Aguide 64 is formed oninner wall 54 of the firstvertical plate member 52 by a pair of spacedrails 66, while an upper guide is formed in the secondvertical plate 58 by anupper slot 70, and a lower guide is formed in secondvertical plate 58 by alower slot 74.Rods 76 and 77 extend between the inner walls of the first and second vertical plates to maintain their spacing. - With reference to
FIGS. 4 and 6 ,upper support 18 comprises acarrier 78 including afirst side plate 80 having aninner side 82 and anarcuate slot 84, and asecond side plate 86 having aninner side 88, anouter side 90 and anarcuate slot 92 aligned witharcuate slot 84 in thefirst side plate 80. Thesecond side plate 86 is parallel to thefirst side plate 80 and spaced therefrom by connectingrod 94.Carrier 78 supports a pivotingmember 96 comprising a first L-shapedmember 98 having anouter wall 100 with a pin 102 (seen inFIG. 4 ) projecting therefrom and aninner wall 104, and a second L-shapedmember 106 having aninner wall 108 facinginner wall 104 of the first L-shapedmember 98 and anouter wall 110 from which apin 112 projects. Theouter wall 100 of first L-shapedmember 98 overlies theinner side 82 offirst side plate 80, withpin 102 received inarcuate slot 84, and extends beyond thefirst side plate 80. Theouter wall 110 of the second L-shapedmember 106 overlies theinner side 88 ofsecond side plate 86 withpin 112 received inarcuate slot 92 of thesecond side plate 16. Afirst rod 114 extends between the middle portions of theinner walls members second rod 116 extends between the portions of the first and second L-shapedmembers first side plate 80 andsecond side plate 86. A plurality ofpins 118 arranged inpairs 120 spaced apart by a given distance extend radially fromsecond rod 116 as best shown inFIG. 6 . First L-shapedmember 98 is pivotally connected to theinner wall 82 offirst side plate 80 at apivot point 122, while second L-shapedmember 106 is pivotally connected to theinner wall 108 of thesecond side plate 86 at apivot point 124. Anactuator 126, preferably a pneumatically actuated cylinder, is connected betweenfirst side plate 80 and anend 128 of first L-shapedmember 98 on the opposite side ofpivot point 122 fromrod 114, which actuator 126 causes first L-shapedmember 98, and hencecarrier 78, to pivot about pivot points 122 and 124, whilepins arcuate slots member 96 with respect to thecarrier 78.Guide wheels 130 are mounted on the outer walls of thefirst side plate 80 andsecond side plate 86 which wheels are received in theguides vertical plates movable frame portion 30. Acam follower 132 also extends from theouter side 90 of thesecond side plate 86. Plates 133 attached torod 94 form a backstop against which patties impact as they form stacks on thepairs 120 ofpins 118. -
FIG. 7 illustrateslower support 22, which includes afirst side plate 134 having aninner side 136 and anouter side 138, and asecond side plate 140 having aninner side 142 and anouter side 144. Astrut 146 connects the inner sides of the first andsecond side plates hexagonal rod 148 extends between the inner sides of the first and second plates parallel to strut 146.Guide wheels 150 are attached toouter sides first side plate 134 andsecond side plate 140, respectively, and theouter side 144 ofsecond side plate 140 further includes acam follower 152. A plurality offingers 154 are attached tohexagonal rod 148, each of which includes at least oneplanar surface 156. -
Transfer mechanism 24, best shown inFIGS. 8 and 9 , comprises a first L-shapedplate member 158 and asecond plate member 160 parallel to and spaced fromfirst plate member 158 by arod 162 extending between end portions ofplate members rod 162 is supported at either end bybearings 164. Atray assembly 166 includes twoside plates 168 connected by a connectingrod 170. A plurality oftrays 172, each having abottom wall 174 having aslot 176 andside walls 178, are pivotally attached to platemembers hexagonal rod 180 is rotatably attached betweenside plates 168, and a plurality of L-shaped coveringfingers 182 are attached thereto.Actuator 184, connected between theplate member 158 andhexagonal rod 180, rotates thehexagonal rod 180 to move the L-shapedfingers 182 between a first position where a portion of the L-shapedfingers 182 overlies thetrays 172 and a second position, as best shown inFIG. 8 , where no portion of the L-shapedfingers 182 overlies thetrays 172. - As best shown in
FIG. 8 , abelt drive 186 is located in housing 188 (seen inFIG. 3 ) attached toplate member 160, and includes a firstflanged wheel 190 mounted on the outer side ofplate member 160, which flanged wheel is coupled to amember 192 having an extendinglever arm 193 connected to anactuator 194. A secondflanged wheel 196 is operably coupled to connectingrod 170 and rotationally coupled to firstflanged wheel 190 by abelt 198. When actuator 194 presses againstlever arm 164, it rotates the firstflanged wheel 180 which rotation movesbelt 198 and causes the secondflanged wheel 196 and hence connectingrod 170 to rotate; this tiltstray assembly 166 with respect toplates Actuator 200 attached tosecond plate member 160 causes theentire tray assembly 166 to pivot about the axis ofrod 162, whileactuator 202 moves thetray assembly 166 away from theconveyor 12 toward a stack discharge location and return thetray assembly 166 to its starting position after the patties have been discharged. - Referring now to
FIG. 2 , amotor support 204 is mounted on theouter wall 62 ofvertical support plate 58, and amotor 206 is mounted on the support. Themotor 206 turns a shaft connected tovertical plate 58 and two cams—aninner cam 208adjacent plate 58 and anouter cam 210 between the inner cam and themotor 206. - The mounting of
upper support 18 between firstvertical plate 52 and secondvertical plate 58 is apparent inFIG. 4 which illustrates theguide wheels 130 of second L-shapedmember 106 received betweenrails 66 ofguide 64 and guidewheels 130 of first L-shapedmember 98 extending towardupper slot 70 of secondvertical plate member 58.Cam follower 132 rides along the outer surface ofinner cam 208 and the downward movement of theupper support 18 is limited by the bottom end ofslot 70. The mechanism for holding theupper support 18 againstcam 208 is best seen inFIG. 4 , and comprises anactuator 212 mounted on theouter wall 56 of firstvertical plate 52 which moves alever arm 214 attached to arotatable shaft 216 mounted between firstvertical plate 52, and secondvertical plate 58 at an upper edge thereof. Fromshaft 216 extend first and secondangled arms 218 which overlie connectingrod 94 of the upper support. By movinglever arm 214,actuator 212 raises and lowers angledarms 218 to press down upon the upper support or to move thearms 218 away from the upper support. -
Lower support 22, as best seen inFIG. 4 , is mounted between firstvertical plate 52 and secondvertical plate 58 with theguide wheels 150 of theouter sides 138 offirst plate 134 received betweenrails 66 ofguide 64 and the set ofguide wheels 150 on theouter side 144 ofsecond plate 140 extending throughlower slot 74 of secondvertical plate 58.Cam follower 152 is biased upwardly againstouter cam 210 by a mechanism that includes anactuator 220 mounted on the outer wall of 56 of the firstvertical plate 52 connected to alever arm 222 which in turn is connected to ashaft 224 rotatably mounted between the first and secondvertical plates conveyor 12. Twoarms 223connect shaft 224 tofirst side plate 134 andsecond side plate 140 oflower support 22 so that, when actuator 220 moveslever arm 222 and turnsshaft 224 in a first direction,cam follower 152 of thelower support 22 is pressed upwardly againstouter cam 210 and pulled away fromouter cam 210 whenshaft 224 is turned in the opposite direction. - The operation of the stacker will now be described with reference primarily to FIGS. 10 though 13 which illustrate the stacker in various stages of forming a plurality of hamburger patties into stacks and transferring those stacks from a stacking location toward a discharge location. Beginning with
FIG. 10 ,patties 16 move alongconveyor 12 and fall over theend edge 14 of the conveyor ontofingers 118 ofupper support 18.FIG. 10 illustrates onepatty 16 already supported by thefingers 118 with another about to fall onto the first patty to begin to form a stack. Beneficially, theupper support 18 and thelower support 22 are located generally beneath theend edge 14 of theconveyor 12, and thus the stacks that form on the upper and lower supports are also formed generally beneath theconveyor 12. This formation of stacks beneath the end of the conveyor advantageously contributes to the compact size of this stacking device because the stacks are formed against the direction of movement ofconveyor 12.Actuator 212 rotateslever arm 214 to turnshaft 216 to pressarms 218 against the upper support to hold the uppersupport cam follower 132 againstinner cam 208, and, as the radius ofcam 132 decreases while it rotates counterclockwise as viewed inFIGS. 10-13 , theupper support 18 moves downwardly toward thelower support 22. The rotation of theinner cam 208 is based on the rate that the stack is forming as detected byoptical detector 226, best shown inFIG. 2 , so that the top ofstack 20 remains approximately the same distance belowconveyor end edge 14 and ensures that each patty drops a similar distance in a similar manner to form consistent stacks. -
FIG. 11 illustratesstack 20 onfinger elements 154 oflower support 22. As theupper support 18 continues its descent, the pair offingers 118 of theupper support 18 supporting the stack will pass to either side of one of thefingers 154 of thelower support 22 so that, as theupper support 18 continues to drop past thelower support 22, thestack 16 will be deposited on thelower support 22.Actuator 126 pivots theupper support 18 away from theconveyor 12 so thatadditional patties 16 may fall onto the stack on thelower support 22. - In
FIG. 12 , the stack has grown to its finished size, at whichpoint actuator 220pivots shaft 224 to drop thelower support 22 to causelower support finger 154 to pass through theslot 176 inbottom wall 174 of one of thetrays 172 of thetransfer mechanism 24, to leave the stack supported on thetransfer mechanism 24. In this figure too, thepins 118 of theupper support 18 can be seen moving back towardconveyor 12 to catch the next patty falling therefrom in order to start a second stack rather than allowing it to fall on to the completed stack on thetransfer mechanism 24. At this point,motor 36 rotatesshaft 38 to pullmovable frame 30 away from fixedframe 28 to lengthen the conveyor (effectively movingend edge 14 away from the next row of patties) and delay the passage of additional patties over end edge. This second stack will be processed in the same manner as was the first stack. -
FIG. 13 shoes that thetransfer mechanism 24 has rotated and translated away from theconveyor 12 toward a discharge location 228 on which the stacks will be deposited. To accomplish this movement,actuator 200 first pulls and then pushes against lever arm 201, as best shown inFIG. 9 , to rotate lever arm 201 in a counterclockwise direction as seen inFIG. 9 which, through a gearing mechanism, rotatestray assembly 166 to the inverted orientation seen inFIG. 13 .Actuator 194 presses againstlever arm 193 to pivot thetray assembly 166 relative to thetransfer mechanism wall 158 to fully invert thestack 20 of patties and deposit them onto holder 228, which holder has a slot in a bottom support wall to allow coveringfingers 182 to pass therethrough when actuator 184 moves the coveringfingers 182 away from the stack prior to returning to its starting location beneath theconveyor 12 in time to receive the next stack of patties from thelower support 22. - During the foregoing process, drive 36 rotates
shaft 38 to movemovable frame 30 alongsupports 34 on fixedframe 28 to position themovable frame portion 30 and hence thetransfer mechanism 24 for optimal operation. As seen inFIG. 12 , wherestack 20 is transferred from thelower support 22 to thetransfer mechanism 24,movable frame portion 30 is closest to fixedframe portion 30, andwheels 32 are positioned near the right edges ofsupports 34 as viewed inFIGS. 10-13 .FIG. 10 illustrates thetransfer mechanism 24 has moved to a point approximately halfway between theconveyor 12 and discharge location 228, andmovable frame portion 30 has also moved in this direction as can be seen from the positions ofwheels 32 on the supports. InFIG. 12 ,transfer mechanism 24 has reached discharge location 228, and themovable frame portion 30 has also moved closer to the discharge location as can be seen from the positions ofwheels 32 on thesupports 34. As discussed above, this motion provides for lengthening and shortening the conveyor as needed to vary the spacing between advancing rows of patties to give the upper support time to move into a stream of falling patties. - Buffer
- The buffer portion of the subject system is described in an application entitled “Method And Apparatus For Buffering A Flow Of Objects” filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the assignee of this application.
FIGS. 14 and 15 illustratebuffer device 310 which includes aframe 312, adrive 314 and a plurality ofcarriers 316, as best shown inFIGS. 16-20 , supported by theframe 312.Frame 312 includesvertical support portions 318 adapted to support the frame on a horizontal support surface, a generally planarupper support portion 320 that includes first andsecond openings 322, and amotor support 324 mounted beneath upperplanar portion 320. - Drive 314 includes a
motor 326 mounted onmotor support 324 and operably connected to adrive gear 328 which turns acontinuous drive belt 330 about a plurality of flanged wheels, including afirst wheel 332 and asecond wheel 334. First andsecond wheels center opening 336 having anotch 338 for receiving a splined shaft. Twosplined shafts 340 extend fromcenter openings 336 upwardly through first andsecond openings 322 in the frameupper support 320. - A
bottom plate 342 having first andsecond openings 344, as best shown inFIG. 18 , aperipheral edge 346 and a raisedrail 348 running around the peripheral edge is mounted on frameupper support 320 with first andsecond openings 344 aligned withopenings 322 in the frameupper support 320 so thatsplined shafts 340 extend though these openings.Wheels 350, as best shown inFIG. 15 , are mounted on each of the splined shafts which wheels includecenter openings 352 shaped to receiveshafts 340 andperipheral grooves 354 for receiving and holding adrive belt 356. Thedrive belt 356 preferably has a circular cross section and is formed from a flexible, wear-resistant material, such as urethane. - A
top plate 358 having first andsecond openings 360, aperipheral edge 362 and a raisedrail 364 running around the peripheral edge is mounted overbottom plate 342 and spaced apart therefrom byspacers 366, withopenings 360 positioned to receivesplined shafts 340.Bearings 368 are mounted ontop plate 356 to rotatably secure the ends ofshafts 340. Thus,motor 326 turns drivegear 328 and causes drivebelt 330 to move aboutfirst wheel 332 andsecond wheel 334, which in turn causes splinedshafts 340 andwheels 350 mounted thereon to rotate and drivedrive belt 356 about a continuous path betweenbottom plate 342 andtop plate 358.Drive belt 356 preferably has a diameter greater than the width ofperipheral grooves 354, so that the belt only contacts the wheels about a small portion, less than 180 degrees, of the belt's circumference. -
FIG. 14 illustrates a plurality ofcarriers 316 mounted on the top and bottom plates which carriers comprisetrays 370 supported bytrolleys 372 as best shown inFIG. 15-17 . Eachtray 370 includes abottom wall 374 having a centrally locatedslot 376 with aslot edge 378, arear wall 380 andsidewalls 382. Thetrays 370 are preferably mounted on thetrolleys 372 in a manner that allows for easy removal thereof, so that appropriatelysized trays 370 can be used for the objects being processed. Eachtrolley 372, shown in more detail inFIGS. 16 and 17 , includes abody portion 386 having alower portion 388 with alower end 390 and anupper portion 392 angled with respect to thelower portion 388. Awall 394 projects from bodylower portion 388 in the same direction as the angle of the upper portion, and includes asmall wall 396 projecting from its end in the direction of angledupper portion 392. Aboss 398 is mounted onupper portion 392 and supports ashaft 400 on which awheel 402 having a V-shapedperipheral notch 404 is rotatably mounted and held in place by aretainer 406. Awheel support 407 is connected to wall 394, andsmall wall 396 supportsshaft 408 on whichguide wheel 410 is mounted for rotation about an axis parallel tolower portion 388 ofbody portion 386.Projections 412 extending from the lower side ofwall 394 support twoadditional guide wheels 414, which guidewheels 414 are mounted for rotation about axes normal to bodylower portion 388.Guide wheels 415 are also mounted on the bottom side ofwall 394, with axes parallel tobody portion 388 and betweenguide wheels 414 andbody portion 388. - A
clamp 416 is mounted on bodylower portion 388 betweenguide wheels 410 and notchedwheel 402, and includes anupper clamp member 418 pivotably supported onlower body portion 388 by ashaft 420, and alower clamp member 422 pivotably supported on ashaft 424 extending betweenlower body portion 388 andsmall wall 396. Both the upper and lower clamp members are coated with, or preferably formed from, a low-friction, wear resistant material, such as UHMW polyurethane. The angular relationship between the upper and lower clamp members, and hence the distance separating the ends of the clamp members, can be adjusted by pivoting the upper clamp member and fixing it in place withfastener 426. - The mounting of
carriers 316 on the upper and lower plates is best shown inFIG. 18 , whereintrays 370 are detachably connected totrolleys 372, and the trolleys are arranged such thatnotch 404 ofwheel 402 on the angledupper portion 392 of the trolley fits over an edge of raisedrail 64 on the periphery oftop plate 358, guidewheels 410 engage the inner edge of raisedrail 348 onbottom plate 342, guidewheels 415 engage the outer edge of raisedrail 348, and guidewheels 414 engage the underside ofbottom plate 342. - The upper and
lower members clamp 416 are attached to drivebelt 356 by placing the belt between the members and clamping the upper member in place so that a small force is exerted against the belt by the clamp members. The force must be great enough that friction between theclamp 416 and thebelt 356 will keep thetrolleys 372 fixed with respect to the belt when the path of thetrolleys 372 is clear. The force also must be small enough that the frictional force between thebelt 356 and theclamp 416 can be overcome by the drive motor to cause the belt to slip through the clamp when movement of one or more of thetrolleys 372 is blocked by a stop. - As best shown in
FIGS. 18-20 , a first solenoid-actuatedstop 428 is mounted onframe 312 with a trolley-engagingportion 430 shiftable between a first, release position, shown inFIG. 19 , below the lower ends 390 of thetrolley bottom portions 388 and a second, stop, position, shown inFIG. 20 , where thetrolley engaging portion 430 blocks a path of thetrolley 372 by forming a stop against which the lower ends 390 of the trolleys impact when thestop 428 is in its stopping position. A second, separately controllable, solenoid-actuatedstop 434 is provided on the other side of the buffer device. - The shifting of the
stops controller 436, operably coupled tosensors frame 312 below the traybottom walls 394, as best shown inFIG. 18 . These sensors are used to count the number of trays passing thereby. Thecontroller 436 monitors the number oftrays 370 passing over each of thesensors first stop 428 to shift to its stop position when a predetermined number of trays has passed. For example, when the buffer receives four stacks of patties at a time from a stacker, thetrays 370 will be released in groups of four. Similarly, when stacks are removed in groups of three, thecontroller 436 shifts thesecond stop 434 into the blocking position and only allows thetrays 370 to pass in groups of three. The operation of thestops stacker 10 and stacktransfer device 510 so that, in the embodiment described herein, at least four empty trays are always available to receive incoming stacks of patties and that at least three stacks of patties are present at thesecond stop 434 to be removed by astack transfer device 510. Anoptical sensor 435 is also provided for detecting patties on the trays as they approach the side ofbuffer 310 facingstacker 10. Since thesetrays 370 should all be empty, an alarm occurs or the system shuts down when full trays are seen approaching the loading position. - As best shown in
FIG. 50 , twoadditional sensors enough trays 370 are present upstream ofstop 428 to receive incoming stacks of patties and that the correct number of stacks of patties are available for removal by a stack transfer device. Thus, for example, assensor 428 is counting the passage of fourtrays 370,sensor 444 upstream ofsensor 428 is counting the passage of empty trays towardsensor 432 and stop 428.Controller 436 is preferable coupled to the controller for a transfer device that brings stacks of patties to thebuffer device 310 and configured so that stacks of patties will not be transferred tobuffer device 310 untilsensor 444 has detected the passage of fourtrays 370. Thus, in the event that a problem arises that prevents four empty trays from lining up behindstop 428, the transfer device will not attempt to transfer stacks of patties to thebuffer device 310. This reduces the likelihood that patties will be dropped or otherwise mishandled during processing. In a similar manner,sensor 446counts trays 370 approachingsensor 433, and assensor 433 is counting the release of threeempty trays 370, for example,sensor 446 is counting approaching trays to ensure that at least three full trays are present atstop 434 and that at least three stacks are available for removal.Controller 436 is preferably connected to the controller for the downstream stack transfer device and prevents stacks from being removed from the trays stopped atstop 434 until three stacks are present for removal. The number of stacks arriving at and leaving thebuffer device 310 can be varied, and the position ofsensors trays 370 will be found when the system is operating properly. - In a second embodiment,
sensors slot 376 is blocked. Thecontroller 436 monitors the status of thetrays 370 passing over each of the sensors, and causes the first stop to shift to its stop position whenever an empty tray is detected and to shift to its release position when a full tray is detected. Similarly,controller 436 shifts the second stop into the stop position when a full tray is detected bysensor 433 and into the release position when actuated in an opposite manner, that is, set to prevent the passage of full trays while allowing empty trays to pass. - In operation,
motor 326 drives drivebelt 330, turning first andsecond wheels rotating shafts 340 andwheels 352 mounted thereon. This in turn causes drivebelt 356 to move continuously about the periphery ofbuffer 310 betweenplates carrier trolleys 372 are clamped to belt 356 tightly enough that they are pulled about the peripheries of the upper and lower plates by the movement of the belt. The trolleys are guided by the engagement oftrolley wheels 402 with upper plate raisedrail 64 and the engagement ofguide wheels peripheral portion 346 oflower plate 342.Stops motor 326 continues to operate at a continuous speed, however, slidingbelt 356 throughclamps 416 even when all trolleys are prevented from moving by the position of the stops. The urethane from whichbelt 356 is formed is sufficiently wear resistant that it provides reliable operation even after many hours of continuous use. And, as the relative positions of clampupper member 418 andlower member 422 are adjustable, the clamps can be repositioned in the event that the diameter ofbelt 356 decreases slightly after a long period of use to maintain the proper pressure on the belt. - The operation of the subject system will now be described with particular reference to
FIGS. 21 a-21 h which illustrate the operation of the system set up for use with a patty stacker that forms four stacks of patties simultaneously which patties must be packed in boxes that are three patties wide. Thus thebuffer 310 will receive stacks of patties four at a time from a first direction, shown byarrows 438 inFIG. 21A , on a first side of thebuffer 310 and present them for removal three stacks at a time on a second side of thebuffer 310 where they are removed in a the direction ofarrows 440 inFIG. 21C . -
FIG. 21A shows fourtrays buffer 310 which trays have received four stacks 442 of hamburger patties from thetransfer mechanism 24.Controller 436 causes stop 428 to move between stop and release positions in order to release carriers in groups of four at predetermined intervals. After four stacks of patties are received intrays 370 a-370 d, stop 428 shifts to its release position and allows these carriers to pass. The fifth carrier, 470 e, which is empty, and the carriers behind it, are stopped bystop 428 for a predetermined period of time, a period long enough for theses carriers to receive four more stacks of patties from the stacking machine. - As shown in
FIG. 21B ,additional carriers carrier 370 e and are held in this position asbelt 356 slips throughclamps 416 on each trolley.Carriers 370 e-g remain stopped for a predetermined amount of time. Meanwhile,carriers 370 a-d have been carried aroundbuffer 310 bybelt 356 toward asecond stop 434 that blocks the path of the trays, andtray 370 a impacts against the second stop.Trays 370 b-d impact against stoppedtray 370 a and are also brought to a stop withdrive belt 356 sliding freely throughclamps 416 on each of the stopped trays. - As shown in
FIG. 21C , asecond transfer device 510, as later explained, removes three stacks of patties from carriers 70 a, 70 b and 70 c in the direction ofarrows 140, and thefirst transfer device 24 places four additional stacks of patties on carriers 70 e, 70 f, 70 g and 70 h on the first side of thebuffer 310. After a predetermined time,carriers 70 a-c will be empty, and therefore the controller cause these three trays to be released, while the next tray (the last full tray) is stopped. Full carriers 70 e, 70 f, 70 g and 70 h are released byfirst stop 132 inFIG. 21C and moved around the buffer until they impact full carrier 70 d held up atsecond stop 134 resulting in the positioning of trays shown inFIG. 21D . -
FIG. 21E shows that three stacks of patties have been removed fromcarriers carriers stop 428 and three empty carriers are released bystop 432 as described above resulting in the arrangement of carriers shown inFIG. 21 f. As shown inFIG. 21G , three additional stacks of patties are removed fromtrays Full carriers stop 432. Three additional stacks of patties will be removed fromcarriers FIG. 21H while an additional four stacks are added totrays buffer 310, and from there the process continues repeatedly as described above. - Because of the
stops buffer 310 is able to permit patties to be received intrays 392 in essentially any number fromtransfer device 24 and to be removed bytransfer device 510 in groups of essentially any number. - Stack Transfer Device
- The stack transfer portion of the subject system is described in an application entitled “Stack Transfer Device” filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the assignee of this application.
FIG. 22 showstransfer device 510 which includes guide tracks 512, adrive 514, and acarrier 516 which is moved linearly back and forth along the guide tracks 512 by thedrive 514. Guide tracks 512 comprise a first pair offeet 518 having alignedopenings 520, best seen inFIG. 25 , and a second pair offeet 522 having alignedopenings 524 best seen inFIG. 24 . Twolower rail members 526 connect the first and second pairs of feet, and twoupper rail members 528 are mounted abovelower rail members 526 to define aguide channel 530 therebetween. - Drive 514 comprises a
motor 532, adrive shaft 534 extending through alignedopenings 520 in the first pair of feet, first and second gearedwheels 536 coupled to thedrive shaft 534, anaxle 538 extending between alignedopenings 524 in the second pair of feet, and first and secondidler wheels 540 mounted at either end ofaxle 538. Afirst belt 544 extends between one of the gearedwheels 536 and one of theidler wheels 540, and asecond belt 546 extends between the other one of the gearedwheels 536 and theother idler wheel 540. The portions ofbelts attachment plate 548 as best shown inFIG. 23 .Motor 532 is reversible, and can be driven in a first direction to rotate the geared wheels to drive thebelts attachment plate 548 from afirst end 550 of the guide tracks 512 to asecond end 552 of the guide tracks, and in a second direction to move theattachment plate 548 back to thefirst end 550.Carrier 516 is mounted on the guide tracks 512 and attached toattachment plate 548, so that it can be driven betweenfirst end 550 andsecond end 552 bymotor 532. -
Carrier 516 comprises asupport frame 554 and apivot frame 556 that is pivotally connected to supportframe 554 for pivoting motion about apivot axis 558 between a first position, shown inFIG. 23 , where the support frame is oriented at a right angle to the guide tracks 512 and generally vertically whensupport feet FIG. 26 , where the frame is tipped about 30 degrees from vertical. As best seen inFIG. 24 ,support frame 554 includes first and second spacedplate members wheels 562 carrying the frame and rotatably attached to eachattachment plate 548, which wheels are sized to fit inchannel 530 between the upper and lower rail members of the guide tracks 512. Adog 564 depends from each of theattachment plate 548 which dogs 564 are securely fastened to each of theattachment plates 548 on the first andsecond belts lower strut 566 is connected between and carried by thefirst plate 560 andsecond plate 561.FIG. 24 shows afirst axle 568 projecting inwardly fromplate member 560 and asecond axle 570 is supported byplate member 561, with aninner end 572 projecting towardfirst axle 568 and anouter end 574 projecting from the opposite side of theplate member 561.First axle 568 andsecond axle 570 are coaxially aligned withpivot axis 558. -
Pivot frame 556 includes first and secondside plate members 575 connected by alower strut 577, and theside plate members 575 each include an upper portion to which theaxles First side support 578 projects upwardly fromfirst plate 560 and is fixedly attached toplate 560. Asecond side support 580, parallel to the first side support, is fixed toouter end 574 ofsecond axle 570. The upper ends of the first and second side supports are connected by astrut 582, andplate members 584 are attached to either end of thestrut 582 which plate members form attachment points for elements described below. - A
gripper mechanism 586 is carried bypivot frame 556 and comprises alower gripper member 588 and anupper gripper member 590 as best seen inFIG. 22 . In the preferred embodiment, thelower gripper member 588 includes agripper frame 592 slidingly supported betweenplate members pivot frame 556, and first and secondlinear actuators 594, preferably pneumatic actuators, connected between thepivot frame 556 and thegripper frame 592 for moving thegripper frame 592 relative to thepivot frame 556. Four stack supports 596, as best shown inFIG. 24 , are mounted on thegripper frame 592, each of which includes a stack-engagingtop portion 598 adjustably connected thereto. As all of the stack supports 596 are connected to thegripper frame 592, they all move in unison whenactuators 594 move the frame. However, it is within the scope of this invention to use individually controllable actuators as well. -
Upper gripper member 590, as best seen inFIG. 22 , comprises astrut 600 connected betweenplate members 584 at the top ends of the first and second side supports 578, 580 to which four independently controllablepneumatic actuators 602 are attached at various selectable positions alongrod 600, which positions are selected so that theactuators 602 on theupper gripper member 590 are aligned with the stack supports 596 on thegripper frame 592. Eachactuator 602 includes atubular housing 604 within which apiston 606 is mounted for reciprocal motion with respect to the housing. At the end of each piston is mounted a stack-engagingplate member 608 as best shown inFIG. 24 . Theactuators 602 are connected to a suitable controller, not shown, which moves thepistons 606 to move theplate members 608 between first and second positions with respect to thehousing 604. Preferably the same controller that controls the motion of theactuators 594 controls the lower gripper member so that the stack-engagingmembers 598 of thegripper frame 592 can be moved toward the stack-engagingplates 608 of theupper gripper 590 while the stack-engagingplates 608 of theupper gripper 590 are being moved toward the stack-engagingmembers 598 of thelower gripper 588 to grip a stack of objects, such as frozen hamburger patties, therebetween. The controller also controls the separation of theupper gripper 590 and thelower gripper 588. Atipper actuator 610 is connected betweensupport frame 554 andpivot frame 556 to tip or pivot the pivot frame between the first and second positions. - The operation of
transfer device 510 will now be described with reference toFIGS. 26-30 which figures showdevice 510 positioned betweenbuffer device 310 and matrix former 818. Thebuffer device 310 includes a plurality ofindividual trays 70 for supporting a plurality ofstacks 20 of frozen hamburger patties, which stacks each include a bottom 708 and a top 710. Only one of the trays and one stack of patties is visible in these figures; however two other holders holding two other stacks of patties are positioned therebehind. The lower portion of eachtray 920 is angled with respect to the horizontal to help keep thestacks 20 ofpatties 16 in place while thetrays 70 are moved around thebuffer device 310, and the bottom of each tray includes a slot that is narrower than the diameter of the patties in each stack but wide enough to allow the stack-engagingtops 598 of the lower gripper member to pass through the slots and contact thebottoms 708 of the stacks. The matrix former 818 has ahorizontal bottom wall 920 andupstanding sidewalls bottom wall 920 includes a plurality of slots narrower than the width of the patties but wider than the stack-engagingtops 598 to allow stacks of patties to be placed on thebottom wall 920 inwardly from the edge thereof. While the transfer device is well suited for use in this environment, it could be used to transfer stacks between other supports as well, one, both, or neither of which are inclined with respect to horizontal. Furthermore, the matrix former can be adjusted to accommodate different numbers of rows and/or rows having different numbers of stacks. -
FIG. 26 shows astack 16 of frozen hamburger patties supported on atray 70 of abuffer device 310.Carrier 516 is positioned at thesecond end 552 of the guide track and tilted to the second position, wherein the plane of the stack-engaging surfaces of thelower gripper 588 and theupper gripper 590 are inclined at about a 30 degree angle from vertical and parallel to tray 704. Lower stack-engagingtop member 598 is positioned directly understack bottom 708, while upper stack-engagingplate 608 is positioned overstack top 710.FIG. 27 shows the configuration ofdevice 510 afteractuators 594 have raised thelower gripper 588 so that the stack-engagingtops 598 of thelower gripper 588 are in contact withstack bottoms 708, and afteractuators 602 have lowered stack-engagingplates 608 into contact withtop surfaces 710 of thestacks 20. The upper andlower grippers stack 20 therebetween. The distance that the upper and lower grippers are moved toward one another can be a constant based upon the height of the stacks 706, or, alternatively, a pressure sensor can be provided which will stop the movement of thegrippers stacks 20. The pressure applied to thestacks 20 must be sufficient to keep thestacks 20 from falling apart when they are rotated from an inclined to a generally vertical orientation. -
FIG. 28 shows carrier 516 aftertipper 610 has pushedpivot frame 556 back to the first position and drive 514 has moved thecarrier 516 to thefirst end 550 of theguide track 512 and positioned the bottom ofstack 20 over the horizontal matrix formerbottom wall 920. -
FIG. 29 shows the upper andlower grippers horizontal platform 920, whileFIG. 30 shows asecond stack 716 of patties about to be placed on theplatform 920. The controller for the carrier can be programmed to leave additional rows of stacks at other locations if more than two rows of stacks are needed. - Packing Machine
- The packing machine portion of the subject system is described in an application entitled “Method And Apparatus For Packing” filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the assignee of this application.
FIG. 31 shows a packing apparatus designated generally by the numeral 810 which includes an empty-box feeding conveyor 812, a packed-box discharge conveyor 814, alift mechanism 816, and a matrix former 818. -
Lift mechanism 816, as best shown inFIG. 32 , includes areversible motor 820 for turning adrive shaft 822 which is supported on one end bymotor 820 and on the other by a bearing 824 mounted on a support (not shown). First and secondflanged wheels 826 are mounted onshaft 822 for rotation therewith, and asecond shaft 828 is rotatably supported by first andsecond bearing plates 830 mounted to supports (not shown) parallel to thedrive shaft 822. First and secondflanged wheels 832 are mounted onsecond shaft 828 and aligned with theflanged wheels 826 on thedrive shaft 822. First andsecond belts 834 extend between aligned pairs offlanged wheels shafts shafts motor 820 turns driveshaft 822. Parallel guide tracks 836 are mounted adjacent thebelts 834, eachtrack 836 defining a channel facing toward the channel of theother track 836. -
Lift platform 840 includes afirst sidewall 842, a second sidewall 843, a top support 844, and abottom support 846 supported for rolling movement along the guide tracks 836 bywheels 848, as best shown inFIG. 37 , and is clamped tobelts 834 byclamps 850. Thus,motor 820 moveslift platform 840 between raised and lowered positions onguide tracks 836 by rotatingshaft 822.Motor controller 851 controls the operation ofmotor 820, and thus the position oflift platform 840 with respect to the guide tracks 836 and the matrix former 818. -
Lift platform 840, as best shown inFIG. 32 , further includes apivoting platform 852 mounted onlift platform 840 for pivoting movement with respect toplatform 840.Platform 852 includes abase frame 854, including a projectingarm 856 and asidewall 858. Afirst axle 860 extends fromfirst sidewall 842 and connects to sidewall 858, while asecond axle 862 extends from second sidewall 843 and connects to projectingarm 856. Theaxles platform 852 may be pivoted between first and second positions with respect to liftplatform 840. -
Pivot platform 852 further includes aguide track 864, as best shown inFIG. 35 , connected betweensidewall 858 and sidewall 843, a first fixed wall 865adjacent track 864 and asecond wall 866 slidingly connected to track 864. Anactuator 868, shown inFIG. 35 , is mountedadjacent track 864, for moving slidingwall 866 toward and away from fixed wall 865 to grip a box placed therebetween. Aroller support 870, comprising a plurality of free-spinning rollers, is mounted onbase frame 854 betweensidewalls 843 and 858. Fourposts 872 extend fromwalls 865 and 866 which posts are mutually parallel and arranged generally in a square. The top of eachpost 872 includes afinger 874 pivotally attached thereto, and anactuator 876 connects eachfinger 874 to the top of sidewall 865 or slidingwall 866, so that thefingers 874 can be pivoted between first and second positions with respect to the sliding walls by theactuators 876 and function as grippers for gripping the top edge of a box. - A
crank arm 880, as best shown inFIG. 31 , is attached to the end ofaxle 860, and a first cylinder andpiston assembly 882 extends between crankarm 880 andsidewall 842 oflift platform 840. A second cylinder andpiston assembly 884 extends betweenpivot platform 852 andsidewall 842. Operation of the first and second cylinder andpiston assemblies moves pivot platform 852 between first and second positions. - Referring now to
FIGS. 33, 34 and 36, matrix former 818 can be seen to comprise areversible motor 890 for rotating adrive shaft 892 approximately 180 degrees between first and second positions. Plate 894, having first and second ends 896, is supported onshaft 892, and first andsecond arms 898 are attached to theends 896 of plate 894.Arms 898 are connected to ashaft 900 by atriangular plate member 902. One ends ofshaft 900 is connected to a first vertex ofplate member 902, whilearms 898 are connected to the other two vertices of thetriangular plate member 902.Shaft 900 is securely supported by two bearingplates 904 fixedly mounted to asupport structure 906, as best shown inFIG. 31 . An L-shapedsupport 908 depends fromshaft 900 and includes aprojection 910 for supporting anactuating assembly 912.Actuating assembly 912 comprisesside plates 914 connected by telescopingcylinders 916 and anactuator 918. The matrix former 818, as best shown inFIG. 33 , further includes a patty-receivingplatform 920 having threeslots 922 therein, afirst sidewall 924 connected to one of theside plate 914, and asecond sidewall 926 connected to the other of theside plates 914. (Theslots 922 are narrower than the width of the patties to be placed thereover.) Thesidewalls actuating assembly 912 which is attached to the twoside plates 914.FIG. 36 illustrates threestacks 16 of hamburger patties between thesidewalls - In operation, a first set of three stacks of hamburger patties is placed onto receiving
platform 920, one stack over each ofslots 922, bystack transfer device 510. A second set of three stacks is then placed on receivingplatform 920 next to the first set of stacks by the stack transfer device. The stacks are formed with a spacing between them, and are thus transferred to thereceiving platform 920 with a spacing. To remove or substantially decrease this spacing,controller 851 operatesactuator 918 to moveside plates 914, and thus first andsecond sidewalls side plates 914, toward each other to slide the patties toward one another and form a tighter matrix of patties. -
FIGS. 37 through 45 illustrate the interaction of thelift mechanism 816 and the matrix former 818 during one patty boxing operation. InFIG. 37 ,system 810 can be seen with anempty box 930, having anopening 932, that has been released to slide down boxfeed roller conveyor 812 toward and ontoroller support 870 oflift platform 840. At this stage, matrix former 818 already holds six stacks (two rows of three stacks each) of hamburger patties. Oncebox 930 is received onroller platform 870, slidingside wall 866 is moved towards wall 865 byactuator 868, until it engages the sidewalls of the box and holdsbox 930 securely onplatform 870.Actuators 876pivot fingers 874 and move them into theopening 932 ofbox 930, where they further secure the box to theroller platform 870 and help hold down any flaps that the box might have.Platform 870 is then pivoted to the position shown inFIG. 38 , with its surface generally normal to guidetracks 836. First cylinder andpiston assembly 882, with a first end connected tofirst sidewall 842, presses against crankarm 880 onfirst axle 860, which causes pivotingplatform 852 to pivot about the axes offirst axle 860 andsecond axle 862 from the position shown inFIG. 38 to the position shown inFIG. 39 so thatroller platform 870 is positioned over matrix former 818 and with theopening 932 ofbox 930 facing the stacks of patties on the matrix former. Slidingsidewall 866 andfingers 874, held in place byactuators 876, keepbox 930 secured with its bottom wall againstroller platform 870. -
Controller 851 next causes motor 820 to rotateshaft 822, in order to movebelts 834 and thusplatform 870 toward matrix former 818 until thesidewalls former surface 920 are insidebox 930, as best shown inFIG. 40 . In this position,shaft 900 of the matrix former is coaxially aligned withaxles - Next, matrix
former motor 890 actuates to rotate plate 894 and move one of thearms 898 towardshaft 900 and the other ofarms 898 away from theshaft 900, thus rotatingtriangular plate 902 andshaft 900 connected thereto. This causes thereceiving platform 920 to pivot about the axis ofshaft 900. Simultaneously, first cylinder andpiston assembly 882 and second cylinder andpiston assembly 884 contract to pivotroller support platform 870 aboutaxles box 930 on theroller support platform 870 and thepatty support platform 920 of the matrix former remain essentially parallel as they rotate through 180 degrees to the position shown inFIG. 41 . The patties, which had been supported by receivingplatform 920 and covered bybox 930, are in this new orientation supported bybox 930 with the receivingplatform 920 positioned thereover. -
Motor 820 next rotatesshaft 822 to moveroller support platform 870 andbox 930 thereon away from patty support platform 1920 and away fromshaft 822 until thepatty support platform 920 is clear of thebox 930, as best shown inFIG. 42 .Motor 890 rotatesshaft 900 to return thepatty support platform 920 to its starting orientation as best shown inFIG. 43 .Roller support platform 870 is next raised to the position shown inFIG. 44 , generally parallel to the surface ofdischarge conveyor 814.Actuators 876pivot fingers 874 out oftop opening 932 of thebox 930 and slidingsidewall 866 moves away frombox 930. Thebox 930 may then slide under the force of gravity offroller platform 870 and onto theadjacent discharge conveyor 814 as best shown inFIG. 45 . Thelift platform 840 is then raised back toward thefeed conveyor 812 to receive another box and start the cycle again. -
FIGS. 46-49 show in more detail the transfer of thestacks 20 ofpatties 16 from the matrix former 818 to thebox 930.FIG. 46 is a sectional view showing the inside of thebox 930 and the matrix former 818 when thebox 930 is held over the matrix former 818 as shown inFIG. 39 . As can be seen inFIG. 47 , thesupport platform 920 of the matrix former fits within the inside ofbox 930, with a small amount of clearance, and at about the level ofopening 932.FIG. 48 shows the inside ofbox 930 when the matrix former 818 andlift platform 840 are positioned as inFIG. 41 , so that thestacks 20 of patties are now resting on the bottom ofbox 930.FIG. 49 corresponds to the position of the matrix former 818 andlift platform 840 shown inFIG. 42 . - The present invention has been described herein in terms of a preferred embodiment. However, numerous changes and additions to this embodiment will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts upon a reading and understanding of the foregoing description. It is intended that all such changes and additions be included within this invention to the extent that they are covered by scope of the several claims appended hereto.
Claims (21)
1-31. (canceled)
32. A method for processing a flow of disk-like objects comprising:
conveying at least two rows of disk-like objects toward and over a lip;
providing at least two catchers adjacent said lip;
catching the disk-like objects of each row as said disk-like objects fall over said lip and forming a stack of objects on each of said catchers;
providing a buffer comprising a plurality of stack holders individually movable around a closed loop;
transferring said at least two stacks of objects from said catchers to at least two of said stack holders;
moving said at least two stack holders from a first location on said closed loop to a second location on said closed loop;
removing a number of stacks from the second location on said closed loop and placing said removed stacks on a platform to form a first column;
removing additional stacks from the second location on said closed loop and placing said removed additional stacks on said platform to form a second column;
placing a box over said first and second columns of stacks;
inverting said box and said platform to transfer said stacks from said platform to said box; and
moving said box away from said platform.
33. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of catching the disk-like objects of each row as the disk-like objects fall over said lip and forming a stack of objects on each of said catchers comprises the step of catching the disk-like objects on a first plurality of supports and transferring stacks formed on said first plurality of supports to a second plurality of supports.
34. The method of claim of claim 32 wherein the step of catching the disk-like objects of each row as the disk-like objects fall over said lip and forming a stack of objects on each of said catchers comprises the step of catching the disk-like objects on a first plurality of supports, transferring stacks formed on said first plurality of supports to a second plurality of supports and transferring stacks formed on said second plurality of supports to a third plurality of supports comprising a first transfer mechanism.
35. The method of claim 34 wherein the step of transferring said at least two stacks of objects from said catchers to at least two of said stack holders comprises the step of moving said first transfer mechanism from a first location to a second location adjacent said buffer.
36. The method of claim of claim 32 wherein the step of catching the disk-like objects of each row as the disk-like objects fall over said lip and forming a stack of objects on each of said catchers comprises the step of catching the disk-like objects on a first plurality of supports, transferring stacks formed on said first plurality of supports to a second plurality of supports, transferring stacks formed on said second plurality of supports to a third plurality of supports comprising a first transfer mechanism, and catching additional disk-like objects on said first plurality of supports as said first transfer mechanism moves from a first position to a second position adjacent said buffer.
37. The method of claim 32 including the additional step of counting the disk-like objects in one of the at least two rows of disk-like objects as they approach the lip.
38. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of transferring said at least two stacks of objects from said catchers to at least two of said stack holders comprises the step of inverting said at least two of said stack holders.
39. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of removing a number of stacks from the second location on said closed loop and placing said removed stacks on a platform to form a first column comprises the step of gripping said number of stacks and simultaneously moving said number of stacks from the second location.
40. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of removing a number of stacks from the second location on said closed loop and placing them on a platform to form a first column comprises the steps of:
providing a movable frame having a top and a bottom and a center opening;
providing a plurality of lower supports on said frame bottom;
positioning said frame at a first location around a plurality of stacks of discrete objects with one of said lower supports adjacent each of said stack bottoms and with said frame top adjacent the tops of said stacks;
moving at least a portion of said frame top against said stacks to hold said stacks between said frame top and said frame bottom;
moving said frame to said second location; and
moving said at least a portion of said frame top away from said stacks to release said stacks at said second location.
41. The method of 32 wherein the step of removing a number of stacks from the second location on said closed loop and placing them on a platform to form a first column comprises the steps of:
providing a movable frame having a top and a bottom and a center opening;
providing a plurality of lower supports on said frame bottom;
providing a plurality of actuators on said frame top each connected to a plate member and aligned with one of said plurality of lower supports;
positioning said frame at a first location around a plurality of stacks of discrete objects with one of said plurality of lower supports beneath each one of said plurality of stacks and one of said plate members above each of said stacks;
moving said plate members against said stacks to compress each of said stacks between one of the supports and one of the plate members;
pivoting said frame about an axis parallel to said bottom;
moving said frame to said second location; and
moving said lower supports away from said upper supports to release said stacks at said second location.
42. An apparatus for packing disk-like objects comprising:
a stacker receiving a first number of rows of objects from a conveyor and forming the rows into stacks;
a buffer for receiving the stacks in groups of a first number;
a packer for packing the stacks in a box; and
a transfer mechanism for transferring the stacks from said buffer to said packer in groups of a second number.
43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said stacker includes a plurality of catchers arranged in a row.
44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein said catchers include a first support and a transfer mechanism and means for transferring said stacks from said first support to said transfer mechanism.
45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein said buffer comprises a plurality of individual stack holders.
46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein said buffer comprises a continuously moving drive belt and wherein said plurality of individual stack holders are connected to said drive belt.
47. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein said buffer comprises a carousel.
48. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said transfer mechanism comprises a plurality of grippers for simultaneously gripping a plurality of stacks.
49. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said packer comprise a first platform for supporting a plurality of stacks and a second platform for supporting a box.
50. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein said second platform is movable relative to said first platform.
51. A method of packing disk-like objects comprising:
moving a first number of rows of disk-like objects along a conveyor toward a conveyor end edge;
providing the first number of catchers in a row adjacent said end edge, each of said catchers being aligned with one of said first number of rows of disks;
catching the disks in each of said rows of disks on the aligned catcher to form a stack on each of said catchers;
transferring said first number of stacks from said row of catchers to a buffer;
transferring stacks from said buffer to a packer in groups of a second number; and
automatically packing said stacks on said packer into a box.
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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US7080969B2 (en) | 2006-07-25 |
US20060263192A1 (en) | 2006-11-23 |
US20050249577A1 (en) | 2005-11-10 |
US20020189201A1 (en) | 2002-12-19 |
US20090087297A1 (en) | 2009-04-02 |
US20020189205A1 (en) | 2002-12-19 |
US20020189209A1 (en) | 2002-12-19 |
US20030007859A1 (en) | 2003-01-09 |
US6918736B2 (en) | 2005-07-19 |
US20060104758A1 (en) | 2006-05-18 |
US20020182050A1 (en) | 2002-12-05 |
US6679033B2 (en) | 2004-01-20 |
US7028450B2 (en) | 2006-04-18 |
WO2002092481A1 (en) | 2002-11-21 |
US7462012B2 (en) | 2008-12-09 |
US6957941B2 (en) | 2005-10-25 |
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