US3089554A

US3089554A - Meat packaging machine

Info

Publication number: US3089554A
Application number: US28991A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas A Watson
Original assignee: E W KNEIP Inc
Current assignee: E W KNEIP Inc
Priority date: 1960-05-13
Filing date: 1960-05-13
Publication date: 1963-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 1980-05-14

Description

'May 14, 1963 $089,554

T. A. WATSON MEAT PACKAGING MACHINE Filed May 13. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [aw-afar 77/0/7175 14 M750 30mg @nGZi-JL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 15. 1960 United States Patent ()fifice Patented May 14-, 1%63 3,089,554 MEAT PACKAGlNG MACHINE Thomas A. Watson, Barrington, lill., assignoito E. W. Kncip, inc, Forest Park, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 13, was, Ser. No. 283% 1 Claim. (Cl. 177-52) This invention relates generally to material handling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for packaging material.

Material handling is an important part of almost any business which deals with a tangible product. It plays a very important role in food product businesses including the meat business. While improvements in material hand-ling are constantly being made, the oftentimes competing considerations of efficiency, dependability, and durability versus economy, and the great variations in the specific job to be done, have contributed to a situation wherein the existing material handling apparatus will not always be the most satisfactory for the job. For example, when handling meat, 2. high value food which is generally quite bulky as well as perishable, strong durable material handling apparatus which will operae quickly and efiiciently and which can be efiectively kept clean and sanitary, is required.

Accordingly, the prime object of this invention is to provide an eificient apparatus for material handling. Another object is to provide a convenient and durable carrier for use in such apparatus. Still another object is to provide an improved filling sleeve or bagging spout for use in such an apparatus.

A more specific object is to provide an improved apparatus for packaging food products. A further specific object is to provide an improved apparatus for weighing food products as an incident to the packaging thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a meat weighing and packaging apparatus embodying various features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, taken along line 2-2. of that figure and showing an unfilled bag and its carrier positioned on the weighing section of the track;

FIGURE 3 is a front view, (partially broken away) of a portion of the apparatus, including the weighing section of the track;

FlGURE 4 is a front view (partially broken away) of a portion of the apparatus, including an unfilled bag, its associated sleeve and carrier, and the weighing section of the track;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional side view of a portion of the apparatus taken along line 5 5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment showing a portion of the upper support rail and means to support the carrier on it;

FEGURE 7 is a perspective view of the modification shown in FIGURE 6, showing a portion of the carrier and a portion of the means supporting it on the upper support rail.

Briefly, the prefer-red embodiment, shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 of the drawings, is in the form of a meat packaging apparatus ill which comprises a track 12 and a carrier 14 which is supported for movement along the track -12. The track has a stationary section 15 and a relatively movable weighing section 16 which is connected to a weight indicator 36. In operation, the carrier 14 is moved onto the weighing section 16, filled with meat 19 until the desired amount registers on the weight indicator 36, and then moved oil the weighing section 16.

More particularly, as shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus it) has a closed circuit in the form of generally ovalshaped track 12, which includes two vertical monorails, in this instance an upper support rail 22 and a lower guide rail 24. While the preferred embodiment of the track 12 is an oval, other configurations such as a circle or a straight line could also be used. The upper support rail 22 describes a proportionally smaller oval than the lower guide rail 24- and is disposed so as to be parallel to but inwardly of the guide rail 24 along the entire length of the track 12,. The purpose of having the support rail 22 inwardly of the guide rail 24 will be discussed in detail below.

The rails 22 and 2.4, respectively, comprise

fixed sections

22a and 24a and relatively movable weighing sections 22b and 24b. The fixed or

stationary rail sections

22a and 24a are secured to a stationary frame 20 and comprise the stationary or fixed track section E5. The frame Zll is made of angle members, plates, and the like. The relatively movable or depressible weighing rail sections 22b and 24b which comprise the weighing section 16 of the track, are secured to an upright plate 26 by suitable brackets 28.

In the illustrated embodiment, the plate 26 is supported upon the vertically movable or depressible weighing platform 32 of a Toledo-type weighing device or scale 18 that is secured to the frame 2% and has a large dial weight indicator 36. The plate 26 is secured in an upright position on the weighing platform 32 and reinforced by a pair of upright angle members 37 and a pair of horizontal angle members 38 which are attached to it and to the platform 32 by suitable fasteners 39. The horizontal angle members 38, which extend across the weighing platform 32, thus serve to distribute the weight carried by the plate 26 over the surface of the platform 32. Anti-friction guide rollers 40 mounted on the frame ill aid in maintaining the plate 26 in the proper upright position while offering little resistance to its vertical movement. The plate so should be positioned so that the movable rail sections 225 and 2417 which it carries will be sufiiciently aligned with the

fixed rail sections

22a and 24a to allow the carrier 14 to move between the weighing section lid and the fixed section 15 of the track 12.

When the carrier means 14- is moved onto the weighing section 16 of track 12 and loaded with meat 19, the weight of the load of meat will be transmitted through the plate 26 to the weighing plat-form 32 of the weighing device 18, causing the platform 32 to move downwardly slightly and, thus, register the weight on the weight indicator as. It should be noted that while the weighing track section 16 moves with the weighing platform 32, the amount of movement is normally slight so that the displacement of the weighing rail sections 22]) and 24b with respect to the fixed rail sections 22a and is also slight.

Secured to the frame 2% of the illustrated apparatus are one or more horizontal shelves or trays 42 upon which some of the meat 19 to be packaged is placed prior to being needed. The remainder of the meat 19 is brought to a platform or table 44 adjacent the weighing track section 16 by suitable conveyor means (not shown).

The carriers 14 of the preferred embodiment each cornprise an open-faced, basket or receptacle 46, seen best in FIGURES 4 and 5, and means to support the basket 46 on the outside of the track 12 for movement along it. For the sake of simplicity, a single carrier 14 will be thereinafter described, it being understood that a number of carriers 14 may be used in a single apparatus 10 and that what is said is equally applicable to any other carriers used in the apparatus. The illustrated open-faced basket or receptacle 46 has a generally rectangular rear wall 43 and a bottom wall 50 having a V-shaped cross-section as viewed from the side. Two side walls 52. are secured to the rear wall 48 and the bottom wall 50 and are tapered rearwardly toward the top of the basket 46. The bottom wall 50 and the lower parts of the side walls 52 form a V-shaped recess or cavity 53 at the bottom of the basket 46.

A pair of rollers or pulleys 54, one pulley being located adjacent either side of the basket 46, are rotatably mounted on the rear of each basket near its top. The pulleys 54 are located with their axes extending generally perpendicularly to the rear Wall 48 of the basket 46. The center portions 56 of the pulleys 54 roll along the upper edge or" the support rail 22, thereby supporting the basket 46 for movement along that rail 22, while the flanges 58 of the pulleys provide shoulders on either side of the rail 22 to maintain the pulley 54 atop the rail 22. The center portions 56 of the pulleys 54 should have a large enough diameter to roll readily between the fixed rail section 22a and the movable weighing rail section 2217 when the sections of the rail 22 are vertically displaced from one another by the slight vertical movement of the weighing track section 16.

Mounted at either side of the lower end of the rail wall 48 of the basket 46 is a guide means or element preferably in the form of a contact ball 60. The contacts 60 are positioned so as to provide low friction rolling engagement with the vertical outer surface of the lower guide rail 24 as the basket 46, supported on the upper support rail 22, moves around the track 12. The two contacts 60, cooperate with the lower guide rail 24, to form guide means for the basket.

In the illustrated apparatus, as described above, the upper support rail 22 is disposed inwardly of the lower guide rail 24- so that the basket 46, supported at its upper end on the upper rail 22, has its lower end held outwardly relative to its upper end. The tendency of that lower end to swing inwardly holds contacts 60 against the lower rail 24, maintaining the basket 46 in a stable condition during its movement.

The basket 46 is free to move in any direction relative to the guide rail 24 and there is substantially no resistance to the movement of the basket 46 along the track 12. The lower guide rail 24 may be sufiicient-ly wide in the vertical direction to allow for vertical movement of the contacts 6% due to variation in the spacing of

rails

22 and 24 with respect to one another. The width of the rail 24 may also compensate for minor differences in the construction of different baskets 46.

In the preferred embodiment the basket 46 holds a container or bag 62 in which the meat '19 is packaged. The bag 62, which is closed at the bottom and open at the top, may be of any desired material suitable for packaging meat, such as kraft paper preferably combined with a conventional water-resistant sheet or coating. The illustrated bag 62 is supported and maintained open to receive the meat 19 by a sleeve 64. The sleeve 64 is made of substantially rigid material such as metal, hard plastic or the like, and has a rectangular crosssection and a flared top 65 providing a funnel to facilitate filling the bag 62. The sleeve 64 is hung from the top of the basket '46 by means of a hook such as a downwardly curved tab 66 which is fixed to the top of the sleeve 64 and which hooks over the upper edge of the rear wall 43 of the basket 46. The sleeve 64 hangs downwardly, the lower end of the sleeve 64 hearing inwardly against the rear wall 48 of the basket 46. In the preferred embodiment, the bag 62' fits rather snugly around the sleeve 64 and is yieldingly held up on the sleeve 64 by friction, though other suitable means for yieldingly supporting the bag 62 might be used. Yielding support is preferable as it allows the load of the meat 19 put into the bag 62-, rather than tearing the bag, to pull it downwardly, if necessary, until it is supported at the bottom of the basket 46.

The illustrated sleeve 64 does not extend downwardly to the bottom of the basket 46, making it easier to remove the sleeve after the bag is filled. The V-shaped recess 53' at the bottom of the basket 46 limits the expansion of the bottom part of the bag 62, which extends below the sleeve 64, so that the sleeve need not extend all the way into the bag. The recess 53 and the sleeve 64, thus, cooperate to prevent the bottom of the bag 62 from bulging, and to produce a generally proportionate distribution of the meat 19 within the bag.

The V-shaped recess 53 and open front construction of the basket 46 facilitate its efiective operation. The open front of the basket 46 allows for easily unloading the filled bags 62 and the sleeve 64-, and loading the empty bag and the sleeve onto the basket. The V-shaped recess 53 prevents the bottom of the bag from becoming jammed in the basket 46 when the bag 62 is filled, while helping to maintain the bag in the proper shape as described above.

The operation of the illustrated appmatus may now be clearly understood. A sleeve 64 is inserted in a bag, and placed in a basket 46. The basket, carrying the sleeve and bag, in due course moves onto the weighing section 16 of the track 12 (room having been made for it). The tare weights of all of the baskets 46, the unfilled bags 62, and the sleeves 64 are uniform so that the weight indicator 36 of the weighing device 18, after having once been adjusted to Zero for the total tare weight, correctly indicates the net weight of meat 19 put into the bag. The operator puts the meat 19 from the trays 42 and the table 44 into the unfilled bag 62, until the desired weight is shown on the weight indicator 36. As the pieces of meat 19 may be of various sizes, the large, readily visible, dial weight indicator 36 enables the operator to watch the progress of the filling operation and select the right size piece of meat to bring the total to the desired amount. In the operation of the desired apparatus, about eighty pounds of meat are put into each bag 62,. After the bag 62 is filled, the basket 46 is moved along the track 12, off of the weighing track section 16, and another basket with an unfilled bag is moved onto it. The sleeve is then removed from the filled bag. Before the filled bag is removed from the basket, the open mouth of the filled bag is then closed by suitable means preferably by sewing. The basket can accommodate a wide variety of bags and sleeves made for different loads. In addition, for larger variations, the basket itself may be changed, and for smaller variations, the amount of .the product put into the bag may simply be varied.

If desired, the carrier support means may be modified as shown in FIGS. 6. and 7. As shown in FIG. 6, an upper support rail 76', made in a generally boxshaped cross-section, has a central longitudinal slot 72 in its lower wall. The edges of the slot 72 are turned upwardly to provide a pair of internal runways 74 which support four wheeled trolleys 76, two wheels of each trolley being disposed in each runway. A pair of the trolleys 76 support a basket 78, one trolley being secured to either side of the basket. As seen in FIG. 7, each trolley 76 has a downwardly extending hook 80 which engages a loop 82 secured to the basket 78 by a bracket 84.

Thus, an improved apparatus is presented, which, in continuous operation, provides means to place and maintain a container in a convenient position to be filled, indicates when that container is sufiiciently full, and then provides means to move the filled container to a position where it can be conveniently and easily removed from the apparatus. Parts of the apparatus are readily disassembled for purposes such as cleaning and repairing, convenience of cleaning being particularly important in the food handling business.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the following claim.

What is claimed is:

In an apparatus for filling a container with a desired weight of food product and for transporting said container unidirectionally through a filling and weighing zone, the combination of 1) a stationary weighing scale having a depressible load-receiving platform located in said zone,

(2) a track extending to and through said filling zone and including,

(a) a pair of spaced stationary outer sections and (b) a generally horizontal depressible weighing section positioned in the space between said outer sections,

(3) a supporting structure having a lower part fixedly mounted on the platform, and an upwardly extending part secured to said weighing section and supporting said weighing section at an elevation substantially higher than the said lower part of the structure,

(4) a carrier for detachably supporting a container for said food product,

(5) said carrier being movable from one of said outer sections onto the weighing section for weighing the filled container and thence off the weighing section and onto the other outer section of the track after the weighing operation has been completed, and

(6) means positioning the upper end of said structure so that said weighing section is at all times substantially aligned with said outer sections, while offering substantially no resistance to the depression of said platform under load.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,112,914 Kendall Oct. 6, 1914 2,000,958 Jarrier May 14, 1935 2,009,018 Flanagan July 23, 1935 2,471,711 Altenpohl May 31, 1949 2,580,993 Brown Ian. 1, 1952 2,757,894 Kindseth Aug. 7, 1956 2,922,612 Bulls Jan. 26, 1960