WO2017051239A1

WO2017051239A1 - An apparatus for packing fruits and vegetable products in crate

Info

Publication number: WO2017051239A1
Application number: PCT/IB2016/001346
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gianmario Sala
Original assignee: Saclark S.R.L.
Priority date: 2015-09-22
Filing date: 2016-09-22
Publication date: 2017-03-30
Also published as: ITUB20153807A1

Abstract

An apparatus (10) for feeding and packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products like carrots, courgettes, and the like in crates (48), comprising a frame (12) supporting a turntable or carrousel (14) arranged with a vertical axis of rotation and on which there are secured pairs of facing roller conveyors (20) diametrically opposed to each other and provided with a plurality of rotational idle rollers (24), each roller conveyor being suitable for supporting a crate (48) for containing fruits and vegetable products, a piling-up and feeding device (16) suitable for piling-up the fruits and vegetable products to be fed into the crate (48), an ejection device (18) suitable for unloading a crate (48) filled up with the fruits and vegetable products, said apparatus comprising mechanical means suitable for constraining said crates (48) with respect to said roller conveyors (20) and mechanical calibration means for calibrating the fruits and vegetable products in the piling-up and feeding device (16).

Description

AN APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING FRUITS AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS IN CRATE

The present invention refers to an apparatus for automatically packaging fruits and vegetable products in crate .

More specifically, the present invention refers to an apparatus for feeding and packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products for instance carrots, courgettes, and the like in crates made from plastic or cardboard or from another known material.

It is known that elongated fruits and vegetable products like, for explanatory not limitative purposes only, carrots having been subjected to washing and cleaning operations, are oriented according to a preferred direction (according to their longitudinal axis) and are subsequently fed and piled up in layers one above the other in crates or similar container elements.

The alignments of such products according to one direction is related to the need for preventing the products (carrots, for instance) of one lower layer from being damaged by those in an upper layer and, in addition, in order to optimally occupy the volume of the crates in which they are put .

Depending on the production requirements and/or on the volume of the crates, carrots are measured out and weigh and are subsequently fed into a crate; the filling up and arrangement of the carrots in said crate are performed manually by an operator.

Such a manual handling entails a number of major drawbacks bound to the fact that the crate filling up operation is typically performed by manual procedures which entail extended production times, and consequently increased related costs. A further drawback is bound to the fact that filling up and arranging the products manually in crates does not allow to always guarantee optimum values of efficiency.

An object of the present invention is to obviate the drawbacks listed above.

More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus suitable for automatically packaging and filling up elongated fruits and vegetable products in crates, said products being arranged according to their longitudinal axis.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for packaging fruits and vegetable products for instance carrots and the like in crates, suitable for allowing an optimum and ordered filling up of the crate volume.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a packaging and filling up apparatus that allows to guarantee an optimization of the production process and an optimum efficiency level thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to put at users' disposal an apparatus for packaging elongated fruits and vegetables products in crates suitable for guaranteeing a high value of strength and reliability over time and also such as to be easily and economically implemented.

These objects and others are achieved by the invention that features the characteristics according to claim 1.

According to the invention an apparatus is provided for feeding and packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products like carrots, courgettes and the like in crates, comprising a frame supporting a turntable o carrousel arranged with a vertical axis of rotation and on which there are secured pairs of facing roller conveyors diametrically opposed to each other and provided with a plurality of rotational idle rollers, each roller conveyor being suitable for supporting a crate for containing fruits and vegetable products, a piling-up and feeding device suitable for piling-up the fruits and vegetable products to be fed into the crate, an ejection device suitable for unloading a crate filled up with such fruits and vegetable products, said apparatus also comprising mechanical means suitable for constraining said crates with respect to said roller conveyors, and mechanical calibration means for calibrating the fruits and vegetable products in the piling-up and feeing device.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are apparent from the dependent claims.

The mechanical and functional characteristics of the apparatus for automatically packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products in crates according to the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the attached drawing tables which illustrate a preferred but not limitative embodiment thereof, and wherein:

figure 1 schematically shows an axonometric view of an apparatus for packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products in crates according to the present invention;

figure 2 shows a schematic front view of the packaging apparatus according to the invention;

figure 3 shows a schematic side view of the apparatus according to the invention;

figure 4 schematically shows an enlarged axonometric view of a component part of the packaging apparatus according to the invention;

figures 5 thru 7 show an axonometric schematic view, a side view, and a top view respectively of a further component part of the apparatus according to the present invention; figure 8 schematically shows a detailed axonometric view of a component part according to figures 5 thru 7;

figure 9 schematically shows an axonometric view of the detail of a component part according to figure 8. With reference to the mentioned figures, the apparatus for packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products in crates according to the present invention, identified by the reference numeral 10 as a whole, comprises a frame 12 defining a supporting and holding structure for the handling of the devices described below and, more specifically, said frame 12 ' comprises a first portion suitable for supporting a turntable 14 with a vertical axis of rotation perpendicular to the plane where the frame 12 rests on, and a second portion 12 ' ' suitable for supporting a piling-up and feeding device 16 and an ejection device 18 which will be better described below.

The turntable 14, driven into a rotary motion by means of an electric motor 15, makes-up a carrousel supporting four roller conveyors 20, diametrically opposed to each other and having the function of allowing a stable positioning and handling, as detailed below, of crates 22 to be filled up or already filled up with elongated fruits and vegetable products like carrots, courgettes and the like, in correspondence with workstations which will be better detailed below with reference to a description of the operating procedure of an apparatus according to the invention .

The roller conveyors 20 are schematically shown in details in figures 5 thru 7 and comprise a pair of facing and parallel shoulders 22 transversally to which there are rotatably stabilized, in an idle manner, a plurality of parallel rollers 24; said facing and parallel shoulders 22 make also it possible to rigidly and firmly secure said roller conveyors with respect to the turntable 14.

Each of the roller conveyors 20 is provided with a braking device 26 secured below to each roller conveyor in correspondence with the peripheral edge of the turntable 14 and suitable for allowing a braking of the rollers 24 of the roller conveyor 20, as better described below. The braking device 26 comprises a support bracket 28, secured to the roller conveyor 20 and with respect to which there is hinged a swinging lever 30 whose facing ends (first end 30' and second end 30' ') support each a rubber block or pad 32 and 33; to the support bracket 28 there is secured a further bracket 34, facing the first end 30' and to which there is secured at least one elastic element 36, preferably consisting of a helical spring, which engages the lever 30.

The above described braking device 26 co-operates with a plate-like element 40 arranged under the roller conveyor 20 and secured in correspondence with an end portion 40' to an end roller 25 of the roller conveyor 20, said end roller 25 comprising (as schematically shown in figure 7) a first roller 25' which is fixed and non-rotating with respect to the roller conveyor 24, and a second roller 25' ' coaxial to the first roller 25', which is rotational idle with respect to said first roller 25' and to a shoulder 22 of the roller conveyor 20.

The end portion 40' of the plate-like element 40 is rigidly constrained to the first roller 25' of the end roller 25 by means of welding or gluing or another known retention means and suitable for this purpose, the end portion 40' ' opposite to said end portion 40' is free and not constrained and is suitable for getting in contact with the block or pad 33 of the lever 30.

The surface of the plate-like element 40 facing the roller 24 of the roller conveyor 20 includes a number of indentations 41 whose shape basically corresponds to that of the outer lateral surface of the rollers (in the embodiment according to the figures, such shaped indentations are at least six and correspond to the last six rollers of the roller conveyor 20 facing the circumferential edge of the turntable) ; said indentations are coated with a layer of friction material suitable for generating a clutch action on to the roller 24 according to what detailed below.

The braking device 26 comprises an activation element consisting of an actuator 42 secured to the frame 12, under the turntable 14 and suitable for co-operating, by exerting a thrust action onto the lever 30 of the braking device 26. In its rest position, the braking device 26 is permanently in an activation, i.e. braking, condition, as schematically shown in the enlarged detail in figure 8.

More specifically, the block or pad 33 secured to the second end 30' ' of the lever 30 of the braking device 26, in its rest configuration, is in contact with the lower surface of the plate-like element 40 and, by pressing it, exerts an upwards thrust action thereupon (i.e. in the direction of the rollers 24) of said plate-like element 40 which, because of the friction generated between the surface of the plate-like element and the surface of the rollers 24, prevents said rollers from rotating.

The pressure and thrust action exerted by the block or pad 33 against the plate-like element 40 is realized by means of elastic elements 36.

The braking action of the braking device 26 can be deactivated via an actuator 42 which, when activated, presses the block or pad 32 of the first end 30 ' of the lever 30 by exerting an upwards thrust action, the magnitude of this force being greater than that of the elastic return force of the elastic element so as to forcedly make the lever 30 swing about its own fulcrum point and consequently make the block or pad 33 lose the contact with the plate-like element 40 and zero the pressing action of said plate-like element with respect to the rollers 24 of the roller conveyor 20 which consequently are free of rotating idle about their own axis.

With reference to figure 4, this one schematically shows the piling-up and feeding device 16 secured to the second portion 12 ' ' of the frame 12 and whose function is to pile- up the fruits and vegetable products to be put into a crate 48, as detailed below.

The piling-up and feeding device 16 is secured to a secondary frame 17 translatorily displaceable according to a vertical axis with respect to the second portion 12 ' ' of the frame 12 and comprises a funnel-like container element 50 which is open on the top (to make it possible the insertion of fruits and vegetable products) and closed on the bottom (on the side facing the turntable 14) by way of a pair of facing V-arranged flaps 51, the opening/closing of said flaps being controlled by means of an actuator 53. The funnel-like container element 50 also comprises a pair of facing shoulders 54, arranged internally to the funnel- like container body in the direction of the longitudinal development thereof and movable by means of facing pistons 56 so as to reciprocally get closer to/move away from each other .

The movement of said shoulders 54 whereby they get closer to/move away from each other makes it possible to calibrate the filling up of the funnel-like container element 50 so as to perform an orderly filling up thereof with fruits and vegetable products; as a matter of fact, the facing shoulders 54 get closer to each other, being driven by the pistons 56, as fruits and vegetable products are fed into the container element and, consequently, it makes it possible to pile-up said products on the bottom of the container element itself in an orderly manner.

The feeding and piling-up device also vibrates in order to compact the fruits and vegetable products fed into the funnel-like container element 50 (the means suitable for implementing such vibratory movement are not described here in details because they are already known in the art) .

The second portion 12 ' ' of the frame 12 also comprises an ejection device 18 (not described here in details because already known) provided with an ejection flap 58 the function of which will be explained below.

The apparatus according to the invention is also provided with a control panel 60 which makes-up an operator interface interfacing to a control unit (accommodated in an electrical cabinet 62) and enables the operator to display and set the production steps, to monitor the work cycle, to modify the operating parameters (for instance, the quantity (kilograms) of fruits and vegetable products to be fed into the crates 48, the volume of the crates 48, the speed of the operating cycle, the number of levels or layers of fruits and vegetable products to be filled up in the crates , etc . ) .

The apparatus according to the invention also comprises product presence sensors, meters, and the like suitable for acquiring the data of the production cycle and for sending them to the control unit in order to enable the operator to adjust and modify the production cycle.

The operation of the apparatus for automatically packaging and filling up elongated fruits and vegetable products in crates according to the present invention, as described in details above with reference to its component parts, is explained below.

The production cycle comprises a sequence of operating steps which are activated after an operator 68 sets the production cycle on his/her control panel 60 (entering the number of layers of fruits and vegetable products, for instance carrots, entering the kilograms of fruits and vegetable products the crates should be filled up with, the speed of the operating cycle, etc.

Then the operator 68 shall place an empty crate 48 on a roller conveyor 20 in correspondence with a loading station (a template 70, interchangeable as a function of the type of crate used, is secured to the roller conveyor 20 to make it possible an easy and fast positioning of the crate 48 and to prevent it from undergoing displacements in a transversal direction during the production cycle) .

A photoelectric cell reads the presence of the crate 48 and sends a signal to the control unit which enables the start- up of the production cycle and the activation of the movement of the turntable 14.

The turntable 14 stops in correspondence with a feeding station in which the empty crate is positioned under the piling-up and feeding device 16 which pours into the crate 48 the fruits and vegetable products contained in the funnel-like container element 50.

More specifically, the elongated fruits and vegetable products (for instance carrots) coming from a conveyor (not shown in the figures) pile-up in the funnel-like container element 50 which, thanks to the movement of the facing shoulders 54 and of the vibration movement, compacts and orderly puts the mentioned products. As soon as the funnel^¬ like container element 50 is filled up with the preset quantity of products, the piling-up and feeding device 16 performs a vertical translatory movement and goes down in the direction of the crate 48 and, by way of the flaps 51 opening (as schematically shown in figure 3), delivers the fruits and vegetable products into the crate 48, closes the flaps 51 and moves vertically back away from the crate 48. Then the turntable 14 moves the crate 48 containing the fruits and vegetable products in the direction of a control station where the operator checks whether the products are arranged in an orderly manner and, if necessary, puts them in order manually.

Then the crate 48 moves to an ejection station where an ejection device 18 unloads the crate, by way of the ejection flap 58.

However, if the crate does not contain the preset quantity of products, when the crate 48 reaches the ejection station, the ejection device 18 does not activate, and the crate is moved in the direction of the loading station, where the piling-up and feeding device 16 feeds a further quantity of products into the crate 48.

This cycle is repeated as described above until the crate is filled up with the preset quantity of products.

Whenever the crate 48 contains the quantity of products set at the start of the cycle, the crate is moved in the direction of the ejection station, where the ejection device 18 unloads said crate.

During the production cycle and the movements of the turntable 14, the braking device 26 is permanently activated in order to hold the rollers of the individual roller conveyors 20 blocked.

Said braking device is deactivated in correspondence with the ejection station whenever the crate is filled up with the preset quantity of the product; the braking device being deactivated, all rollers of the roller conveyor can rotate and consequently the crate, owing to the ejection lever 58 being operated, can slide on the rollers 24 and be unloaded.

While a crate is recirculated (should the preset quantity of products require two or more rounds of the crate in correspondence with the feeding station) , the piling-up and feeding device 16 goes down in the direction of the crate, this stroke featuring a value that decreases proportionally to the quantity of product that had already been fed into the crate during the first feeding step and proportional to the number of filling up cycles preset by the operator; in this way, the fruits and vegetable products are fed into the crate in an orderly manner.

The apparatus according to the invention makes it possible a "masked time" operation, i.e. while a crate is being filled up the operator can check a previous processed crate and/or load a new crate to be filled up. Let's consider, for instance, a case whereby the operator sets a quantity of products of the carrot type corresponding to two layers to be fed into the crate, then the turntable will move the crate two times in correspondence with the piling-up and feeding station before expelling it.

In the light of the previous considerations, the advantages achieved by the apparatus for automatically packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products in crates are apparent .

The apparatus according to the invention advantageously makes it possible to fill crates with elongated fruits and vegetable products, for instance carrots and the like, said products being well aligned and arranged in said crates. A further advantage consists in that the apparatus according to the invention makes it possible to perform the cycle operations in "masked time" with the consequent advantages in terms of production times and related costs. A further advantage consists in the presence of the braking device which, by blocking a part of the rollers of the roller conveyor on which a crate is placed, prevents said crate from being thrown away from the turntable because of the centrifugal force bound to the speed of rotation of the table itself.

Further advantageous is the fact that the braking device comprises a swinging lever (which acts onto the plate-like element that engages the rollers of the roller conveyor) secured to the turntable in correspondence with every roller conveyor and rotating therewith, whereas the actuator that acts onto said lever to unlock the brake is secured to the frame of the apparatus according to the invention in correspondence with the ejection station; consequently, account being taken of the fact that the braking action is mechanically exerted by way of the elastic return force of the spring that acts onto the lever, no pipes or cables are necessary to activate the movements of the swinging lever in a pneumatic or electrical manner and consequently there are no risks of twistings or breakages of said pipes because of the turntable being in rotation.

Even though the invention has been described above with a special reference to an embodiment thereof, which has been provided for explanatory not limitative purposes only, numerous modifications and variants will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the above description. Therefore, the present invention is construed to embrace all modifications and variants that fall in the spirit and in the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus (10) for feeding and packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products like carrots, courgettes, and the like in crates (48), comprising a frame (12) supporting a turntable or carrousel (14) arranged with a vertical axis of rotation and onto which there are secured pairs of facing roller conveyors (20) diametrically opposed to each other and provided with a plurality of rotational idle roller (24), each roller conveyor suitable for supporting a crate (48) for containing fruits and vegetable products, a piling-up and feeding device (16) suitable for piling-up the fruits and vegetable products to be fed into the crate (48), an ejection device (18) suitable for unloading a crate (48) filled up with fruits and vegetable products, the apparatus being characterized in that it comprises mechanical means suitable for blocking the rollers of the roller conveyor and suitable for holding said crates (48) blocked with respect to said roller conveyors (20), and mechanical calibrations means for calibrating the fruits and vegetable products in the piling-up and feeding device (16) to trigger the ejection of the filled up crate.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanical means for holding the crates (48) blocked with respect to the roller conveyors (20) comprise a braking device (26) secured to the turntable or carrousel (14) in correspondence with every roller conveyor (20) .

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the braking device (26) comprises a lever (30) pivoting and swinging with respect to a support bracket (28) secured to the roller conveyor (20), said lever comprising a first end (30') and a second end (30'') supporting, respectively, a rubber block or pad (32) and (33), at least one elastic element (36), subtended between said lever (30) and said support bracket (28) and suitable for activating blocking means for holding the rollers of the roller conveyor (20) blocked .

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises an actuator (42) secured to the frame (12) in correspondence with the ejection device (18) and suitable for deactivating the blocking means used to block the rollers of the roller conveyor by way of an action countering the at least one elastic element (36) .

5. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the blocking means used to hold the rollers (24) of the roller conveyor (20) blocked comprise a plate-like element (40) secured under the roller conveyor (20) and provided with indentations (41) featuring a shape corresponding to that of the lateral surface of the rollers of the roller conveyor formed on a surface in the direction of said rollers.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the indentations (41) are at least six.

7. An apparatus according to any of claims 5 thru 6, characterized in that the indentations (41) of the plate- like element are coated with a layer of friction material suitable for generating a clutch action onto the rollers suitable for blocking the rotation of said rollers.

8. An apparatus according to any of claims 5 thru 7, characterized in that the plate-shaped element (40) is rigidly constrained in correspondence with an end (40') thereof to an end roller (25) of the roller conveyor (20) in the direction of the circumferential edge of the turntable (14) and comprising a first fixed roller (25') with respect to which there is secured the end (40') of the plate-like element (40) and a second roller (25'') coaxial to said first roller (25') and rotational idle with respect to it, the plate-like element (40) whose end (40'') opposite to the fixed end (40') is free and suitable for engaging the rubber block or pad (33) of the lever (30) .

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the piling-up and feeding device (16) is secured to a secondary frame (17) translatorily movable according to a vertical axis with respect to the frame (12), provided with a vibrational movement suitable for compacting the fruits and vegetable products fed to said device and comprises a funnel-like container element (50) open on the top and closed on the bottom by way of a pair of facing V-arranged flaps (51), openable in the direction of the turntable (14) and operated by means of an actuator (53) to open/close, said funnel-like container element (50) comprising a pair of facing shoulders (54), arranged internally to the funnel-like container body (50) according to the direction of the longitudinal development thereof and movable by way of facing pistons (56) so as to get closer to/move away from each other.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the ejection device (18) is secured to the second portion (12' ') of the frame (12) in correspondence with the actuator (42) used to deactivate the braking device (26) and comprises an ejection lever (58) .

11. An apparatus according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises a control panel (60) secured to the frame (12), defining an operator interface for interfacing to a control unit accommodated in an electrical cabinet (62), product presence sensors, meters, and the like suitable for acquiring the data of the production cycle and sending it to the control unit (60) .

12. A procedure for automatically packaging elongated fruits and vegetable products, implemented in accordance with an apparatus according to any of the previous claims and comprising the following operating steps:

- setting the quantity of fruits and vegetable products to be fed into the crates (48) , the volume of the crate, and the number of filling up cycles by means of the control panel (60); - loading an empty crate (48) on one roller conveyor

(20) ;

- starting a filling up cycle upon receipt of a start enable signal provided by a photoelectric cell which detects the presence of the crate (48) on the roller conveyor (20) and feeding a predetermined quantity of fruits and vegetable products in the piling-up and feeding device (16);

- activating the rotation of the turntable (14) for moving the crate in correspondence with the workstations;

- placing the crate under the piling-up and feeding device (16), translatorily moving said piling-up and feeding device (16) in the direction of the crates (48), and activating the opening of the flaps (51) to unload said quantity of fruits and vegetable products into the crate (48) and translatorily and vertically moving said piling-up and feeding device (16) so as to move it away from the crate;

- moving the crate (48) filled up with the fruits and vegetable products by way of the turntable (14) and repeating the filling up step as a function of the preset number of cycles;

- ejecting the crate (48) filled up with the preset quantity of fruits and vegetable products in correspondence with an ejection station by way of the ejection device (18) .

13. A procedure according to claim 12, characterized in that the downwards stroke of the piling-up and feeding device (16) in the direction of the crate (48) is decreasing proportionally to the preset number of crate (48) filling up cycles.

14. A procedure according to claim 12, characterized in that the braking device (26) is held activated in a configuration whereby the rotation of the rollers of the roller conveyor (20) is blocked during the preset crate (48) filling up cycles, the plate-like element (40) exerting a friction action onto the rollers of the roller conveyor (20) by way of a thrust action exerted by the lever (30) via the rubber block or pad (33), said braking device being deactivated by way of the actuator (42) in correspondence with the ejection station upon reaching the preset quantity of fruits and vegetable products fed into the crate (48), said actuator exerting a thrust action onto the rubber block or pad (32) of the lever (30) greater than the elastic return force of the elastic element (36) .