US20190382146A1 - Method and System for Efficient Loading of Coextruded Meat Products Into a Packaging Machine Using Controlled Conveying and Handling - Google Patents

Method and System for Efficient Loading of Coextruded Meat Products Into a Packaging Machine Using Controlled Conveying and Handling Download PDF

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Publication number
US20190382146A1
US20190382146A1 US16/480,560 US201816480560A US2019382146A1 US 20190382146 A1 US20190382146 A1 US 20190382146A1 US 201816480560 A US201816480560 A US 201816480560A US 2019382146 A1 US2019382146 A1 US 2019382146A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
meat products
conveyor
packaging machine
coextruded meat
orienting
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US16/480,560
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English (en)
Inventor
Jozinus Johannus Jacobus Petrus Kobussen
Tony J. Haun
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Coextrusionsolutions LLC
Original Assignee
Coextrusionsolutions LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Coextrusionsolutions LLC filed Critical Coextrusionsolutions LLC
Priority to US16/480,560 priority Critical patent/US20190382146A1/en
Assigned to COEXTRUSIONSOLUTIONS, LLC reassignment COEXTRUSIONSOLUTIONS, LLC ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: Haun, Tony J., Kobussen, Jozinus Johannus Jacobus Petrus
Publication of US20190382146A1 publication Critical patent/US20190382146A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
    • B65B19/34—Packaging other rod-shaped articles, e.g. sausages, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws, welding electrodes
    • 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
    • B65B2210/00—Specific aspects of the packaging machine
    • B65B2210/02—Plurality of alternative input or output lines or plurality of alternative packaging units on the same packaging line for improving machine flexibility
    • 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
    • B65B35/10—Feeding, e.g. conveying, single 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
    • B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
    • B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
    • B65B35/54—Feeding articles along multiple paths to a single packaging position
    • 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
    • B65B35/56—Orientating, i.e. changing the attitude of, articles, e.g. of non-uniform cross-section
    • B65B35/58—Turning articles by positively-acting means, e.g. to present labelled portions in uppermost position

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates to methods and systems for loading coextruded sausages into a vacuum packaging machine.
  • Vacuum packing involves placing the sausages in a plastic film package, removing air, and sealing the package.
  • vacuum packing can remove the exposure of the sausages to oxygen to help improve their shelf life and can help to minimize the volume of packaged sausages.
  • a system for transporting and loading coextruded meat products in a packaging machine includes a linear transfer conveyor adapted to convey a single line of the coextruded meat products, an orienting conveyor adapted to receive the single line of the coextruded meat products thereon from the linear transfer conveyor and to establish a group of coextruded meat products thereon, and a pushing device adapted to push the group of coextruded meat products from the orienting conveyor into a respective cavity of the packaging machine.
  • the linear transfer conveyor, the orienting conveyor, and the pushing device establish a process line for transporting and loading coextruded meat products in the packaging machine. It is contemplated that the system may have one or more process lines which may operate in parallel with one another.
  • the orienting conveyor may include a series of parallel slots which are adapted to sequentially receive the coextruded meat products from the linear transfer conveyor.
  • the orienting conveyor may be adapted to simultaneously hold one or multiple groups of coextruded meat products and, if there are multiple groups, then the pushing device may be adapted to simultaneously push the multiple groups of coextruded meat products from the orienting conveyor into respective cavities of the packaging machine.
  • a method of transporting and loading coextruded meat products in a packaging machine is provided.
  • a single line of the coextruded meat products is conveyed using a linear transfer conveyor to an orienting conveyor.
  • the single line of the coextruded meat products is transferred from the linear transfer conveyor to the orienting conveyor to establish one or more groups of coextruded meat products on the orienting conveyor.
  • the group or group(s) of coextruded meat products are then transported from the orienting conveyor into a cavity or cavities of the packaging machine using a pushing device.
  • the method there may be more than one process line, and those lines may be operated in parallel with one another.
  • the number of lines could be based on the output of the upstream cooking device (e.g., a thermal wheel) or the capacity of the packaging machine(s) into which the coextruded meat products are loaded.
  • the step of transferring the single line of the coextruded meat products from the linear transfer conveyor to an orienting conveyor may involve sequentially transferring the coextruded meat products from the linear transfer conveyor to a series of parallel slots in the orienting conveyor.
  • a single coextruded meat product is transferred into an aligned slot of the orienting conveyor and the orienting conveyor advanced one slot so that another slot on the orienting conveyor is available to receive the next coextruded meat product from the linear transfer conveyor.
  • the step of transporting the group of coextruded meat products from the orienting conveyor into a cavity of the packaging machine using a pushing device may involve transporting multiple groups of the coextruded meat products from the orienting conveyor into respective cavities of the packaging machine using the pushing device.
  • the system and related method operation offer many advantages over the state of the art.
  • the use of a linear transfer conveyor in combination with the orienting conveyor provides an elegant and robust way to produce groups which can then be easily pushed into the cavities of the packing machine.
  • This system requires very little manual labor, and workers may be able to simply monitor the loaded cavities to ensure process control and correct any small mis-loadings before packaging.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a system for conveying and loading coextruded meat products from a cooking system (here, a thermal wheel) to a vacuum packaging machine.
  • a cooking system here, a thermal wheel
  • FIG. 2 illustrates, in greater detail, a portion of the system from FIG. 1 in which the terminal ends of a pair of single lane conveyors place the coextruded meat products onto respective orienting belts from which respective pusher devices push groups of the coextruded meat products into empty cavities on the packaging machine.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of the systems illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 .
  • FIGS. 1 through 3 an exemplary system 100 for loading coextruded meat products or sausages (terms which will be used synonymously herein) into a packaging machine is illustrated.
  • the system 100 includes a pair of linear transfer conveyors 102 , a pair of orienting conveyors 104 , and a pair of pushing devices 106 which together define a pair of separate process lines which operate in parallel with one another.
  • the exemplary system 100 as illustrated includes a pair of parallel processing lines, that the system could conceivably include any number of these processing lines (from as few as one processing line to multiple processing lines) and the dual processing line configuration that is illustrated is only one example configuration based on the output of the cooking device and throughput of the packaging machine.
  • the system 100 transports the sausages from a cooking device 108 , shown as a thermal wheel, to a packaging machine 110 into which the sausages will be received for packaging such as vacuum sealing.
  • the sausages are initially unloaded from the exit of the thermal wheel or cooking device 108 onto two single lane, linear transfer conveyors 102 .
  • the sausages As the sausages are placed onto the linear transfer conveyors 102 , they form a single line of sausages on each conveyor 102 in which the axial ends of the sausages face one another to produce a uniform, single row per conveyor 102 .
  • the single lane conveyors 102 then transport the sausages to both sides of the packaging machine to a transfer station 112 .
  • the conveyors 102 bring the sausages initially in line together out of the thermal wheel 108 and then split in two different directions to reach both lateral sides of the packaging machine 110 .
  • the conveyors 102 curve to bring the sausages perpendicular to the orienting conveyors 104 and packaging machine 110 .
  • the sausages are loaded, one at a time, from the linear transfer conveyors 102 onto respective slotted belts which serve as the orienting conveyors 104 .
  • the orienting conveyors 104 run perpendicular to the single lane, linear transfer conveyors 102 and parallel to the packaging machine 110 .
  • the sausages are deposited on the orienting conveyors 104 by simple linear transfer from their continued forward motion from the linear transfer conveyor 102 . As this transfer motion occurs, each sausage will hit a back stop to halt its forward motion and will start moving sideways with the orienting conveyor 104 as the orienting conveyor 104 advances in a direction perpendicular to the transfer motion.
  • the sausages are formed into groups on the orienting conveyor 104 that are oriented in the right packaging pattern configuration for the packaging machine 110 .
  • the orienting conveyors 104 transports the groups of sausages in front of the packaging web of the packaging machine 110 .
  • the packaging machine 110 indexes or moves forward periodically (typically 6 to 18 times per minute) and advances several pockets or cavities 114 to be loaded (advancing being in the leftward direction from the top view of FIG. 3 ).
  • the orienting conveyor 104 matches the speed of travel of the cavities of the packaging machine 110 and they advance or travel parallel with one another. At each index, new web cavities 114 are opened up as the filled ones move forward and the orienting conveyor 104 keeps pace with the indexing speed.
  • a pre-oriented group or groups of sausages are pushed from the orienting conveyor 104 by a mechanical pushing device 106 onto the web from each side into the awaiting packaging cavities 114 .
  • this pushing happens simultaneously from both sides of the packaging machine and thus filling all empty cavities.
  • the pushing device 106 then lifts and returns to its original position and awaits the next index. Meanwhile the orienting conveyor 104 keeps a constant speed.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Processing Of Meat And Fish (AREA)
US16/480,560 2017-01-24 2018-01-17 Method and System for Efficient Loading of Coextruded Meat Products Into a Packaging Machine Using Controlled Conveying and Handling Abandoned US20190382146A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US16/480,560 US20190382146A1 (en) 2017-01-24 2018-01-17 Method and System for Efficient Loading of Coextruded Meat Products Into a Packaging Machine Using Controlled Conveying and Handling

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US201762449674P 2017-01-24 2017-01-24
US16/480,560 US20190382146A1 (en) 2017-01-24 2018-01-17 Method and System for Efficient Loading of Coextruded Meat Products Into a Packaging Machine Using Controlled Conveying and Handling
PCT/US2018/013955 WO2018140267A1 (en) 2017-01-24 2018-01-17 Method and system for loading coextruded meat products into a packaging machine using controlled conveying and handling

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20190382146A1 true US20190382146A1 (en) 2019-12-19

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US16/480,560 Abandoned US20190382146A1 (en) 2017-01-24 2018-01-17 Method and System for Efficient Loading of Coextruded Meat Products Into a Packaging Machine Using Controlled Conveying and Handling

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Country Link
US (1) US20190382146A1 (de)
DE (1) DE112018000498T5 (de)
WO (1) WO2018140267A1 (de)

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4633652A (en) * 1986-02-04 1987-01-06 Les Epiciers Unis Metro-Richelieu Inc. Method and apparatus for automatically packing sausage links
DE8709053U1 (de) * 1987-07-01 1987-09-10 Kvm Kontroll- Und Verpackungsmaschinen Gmbh & Co Kg, 7131 Wurmberg, De
US5057055A (en) * 1990-05-14 1991-10-15 D M P Industries Inc. Sausage link handling and packaging machine
US5927053A (en) * 1996-06-28 1999-07-27 Cannon Equipment Company Case loader and method of loading
DE19821969A1 (de) * 1998-05-18 1999-11-25 Focke & Co Vorrichtung zum Verpacken von Gruppen von (Einzel-)Packungen
DE102014113248A1 (de) * 2014-09-15 2016-03-17 Focke & Co. (Gmbh & Co. Kg) Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Handhaben von langgestreckten Gegenständen

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DE112018000498T5 (de) 2019-10-31
WO2018140267A1 (en) 2018-08-02

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Effective date: 20190723

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