WO2021005592A1

WO2021005592A1 - Non-homogeneous bulk material portioning system

Info

Publication number: WO2021005592A1
Application number: PCT/IL2020/050749
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ronen Ascher
Original assignee: Ronen Ascher
Priority date: 2019-07-10
Filing date: 2020-07-05
Publication date: 2021-01-14
Also published as: IL267981A

Abstract

A system for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, the system including a control module configured to: receive from a plurality of general bulk material weighing cups their respective sensed content weight; calculate a combination of a sub-group of the sensed content weights that is the closest to the target portion weight but not exceeding the target weight, and select the respective sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups; control at least one of fine material conveyer lanes to convey a calculated weight of fine material to the corresponding at least one fine material weighing cups, the calculated weight corresponds to a difference between the calculated combination and the target weight; and control at least one fine material weighing cups and the selected sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups to transmit their contents to a portion collection module as a bulk material portion.

Description

NON-HOMOGENEOUS BULK MATERIAL PORTIONING SYSTEM

BACKGROUND

[0001] There are various methods for portioning of bulk materials. In most known portioning and packaging systems, in order to obtain accurate portion sizes, the conveying or transmission of materials needs to be very slow. Some of the methods include very slow conveying, halted once a target portion weight is reached. However, slow conveying substantially harms the productivity and profitability of the portioning systems, that should be as fast as possible in order to provide as much packaged portions as possible within a period of time. Therefore, many manufacturers ore forced to trade the portioning accuracy with productivity or vice versa.

SUMMARY

[0002] An aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure provides a system for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, the system including: at least one portion collection module; a weighing apparatus comprising: a fine material dispensing section configured to disperse only fine particles of the non- homogeneous bulk material; a plurality of general bulk material conveyer lanes configured to concurrently receive non-homogeneous bulk material, and convey the bulk material onwards during determined periods of time, determined based on a target portion weight; a plurality of general bulk material weighing cups, each configured to receive bulk material from a corresponding one of the bulk material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to the portion collection module; a plurality of fine material conveyer lanes configured to receive fine material and convey the fine material onwards based on a received signal, the fine material consists of only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material; and

a plurality of fine material weighing cups, each configured to receive fine material from a corresponding one of the fine material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to the portion collection module; and

a control module configured to:

receive from the plurality of general bulk material weighing cups their respective sensed content weight;

calculate a combination of a sub-group of the sensed content weights that is the closest to the target portion weight but not exceeding the target weight, and select the respective sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups;

control at least one of the fine material conveyer lanes to convey a calculated weight of fine material to the corresponding at least one fine material weighing cups, the calculated weight corresponds to a difference between the calculated combination and the target weight; and

control the at least one fine material weighing cups and the selected sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups to transmit their contents to the portion collection module as a bulk material portion.

[0003] Optionally, the control module is configured to validate that the portion total weight matches the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, and in case of a match control the collection module to transmit its contents to further processing, and in case the portion total weight doesn't match the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, control the collection module to discard its contents. [0004] Optionally, discarding the content includes transmitting the bulk material back to a main bulk material conveyer.

[0005] Optionally, the control module is configured to control more than one of the fine conveyer lanes in parallel to process more than one bulk material portions in parallel.

[0006] Optionally, the control module is configured to selecting another sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups, while also continuing in parallel with processing of the combination already selected and processing of the bulk material portion in the collection module.

[0007] Another aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure provides a weighing apparatus for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material including:

a fine material dispensing section configured to disperse only fine particles of the non- homogeneous bulk material;

a plurality of general bulk material conveyer lanes configured to concurrently receive non-homogeneous bulk material, and convey the bulk material onwards during determined periods of time, determined based on a target portion weight;

a plurality of general bulk material weighing cups, each configured to receive bulk material from a corresponding one of the bulk material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to a portion collection module;

a plurality of fine material conveyer lanes configured to receive fine material and convey the fine material onwards based on a generated signal, the fine material consists of only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material; and

a plurality of fine material weighing cups, each configured to receive fine material from a corresponding one of the fine material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to the portion collection module,

wherein the generated signal is generated according to a difference between a combination of a sub-group of the sensed content weights and the target weight.

[0008] Optionally, the conveyer lanes are arranged radially in a circular configuration.

[0009] Optionally, the fine material conveyer lanes include flow regulators controllable separately by the control module to convey an accurate amount of fine material.

[0010] Optionally, the flow regulators include a horizontal screw conveyor having an external diameter of up to about 10 millimeters.

[0011] Optionally, at least one of the conveyer lanes ends with an intermediate cup to receive the material conveyed by the conveyer lane before transmitting the material onwards to a weighing cup, and configured to receive material again once material is transmitted onwards.

[0012] Optionally, once an intermediate cup contains in average or approximately a desired amount of the bulk material, the contents of the intermediate cup are transmitted to the respective weighing cups.

[0013] Optionally, the intermediate cup includes a sensor to sense when the intermediate cup is full and/or when contents of the intermediate cup reach a certain height.

[0014] Optionally, the contents of the intermediate cup are transferred to the corresponding weighing cup every determined period of time according to a desired average or approximate amount of bulk material to be conveyed to the intermediate cup within this period of time.

[0015] Optionally, the apparatus includes, corresponding to at least one of the bulk material conveying lane, an intermediate weighing cup between the intermediate cup and the weighing cup or another intermediate cup configured to receive a weighed batch material from the weighing cup.

[0016] Optionally, once one of the weighing cups or intermediate cups transmits its contents onwards, the respective conveyer lane is reactivated to transmit an amount of bulk material to the intermediate cup or weighing cup.

[0017] Another aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure provides a method for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material including:

receiving from a plurality of general bulk material weighing cups their respective sensed content weight, each of the plurality of general bulk material weighing cups is configured to receive bulk material from a corresponding bulk material conveyer lane, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to a portion collection module;

calculating a combination of a sub-group of the sensed content weights that is the closest to a target portion weight but not exceeding the target weight, and selecting the respective sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups;

controlling at least one fine material conveyer lane to convey a calculated weight of fine material to a corresponding fine material weighing cup, the calculated weight corresponds to a difference between the calculated combination and the target weight; and

controlling the fine material weighing cup and the selected sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups to transmit their contents to the portion collection module as a bulk material portion,

wherein the general bulk material conveyer lanes are configured to concurrently receive non- homogeneous bulk material, and convey the bulk material onwards during determined periods of time, determined based on the target portion weight, and wherein the fine material consists of only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material.

[0018] Optionally, the method includes validating that the portion total weight matches the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, and in case of a match controlling the collection module to transmit its contents to further processing, and in case the portion total weight doesn't match the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, controlling the collection module to discard its contents.

[0019] Optionally, discarding the content includes transmitting the bulk material back to a main bulk material conveyer.

[0020] Optionally, the method includes controlling more than one of the fine conveyer lanes in parallel to process more than one bulk material portions in parallel.

[0021] Optionally, the method includes selecting another sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups, while also continuing in parallel with processing of the combination already selected and processing of the bulk material portion in the collection module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Some non-limiting exemplary embodiments or features of the disclosed subject matter are illustrated in the following drawings.

[0023] In the drawings:

[0024] Figs. 1A and IB are schematic illustrations of a system and schematic top-view illustration of an apparatus for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Fig. 2 a schematic flowchart illustrating a method for portioning of non- homogeneous bulk material, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and [0026] Fig. 3 is a partial side-view schematic illustration of the apparatus and of a collection module, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [0027] With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the disclosure. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced.

[0028] Identical or duplicate or equivalent or similar structures, elements, or parts that appear in one or more drawings are generally labeled with the same reference numeral, optionally with an additional letter or letters to distinguish between similar entities or variants of entities, and may not be repeatedly labeled and/or described. References to previously presented elements are implied without necessarily further citing the drawing or description in which they appear.

[0029] Dimensions of components and features shown in the figures are chosen for convenience or clarity of presentation and are not necessarily shown to scale or true perspective. For convenience or clarity, some elements or structures are not shown or shown only partially and/or with different perspective or from different point of views.

DET AILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Before explaining at least one embodiment of the disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not necessarily limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components and/or methods set forth in the following description and/or illustrated in the drawings and/or the Examples. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways.

[0031] Some embodiments of the present disclosure include method and system for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, that provide highly accurate portioning and portion weighing, while also maintaining very high productivity of portioning and packaging, enabling production of at least tens of packaged portions in a minute. Therefore, thanks to the method and system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure manufacturers will no longer need to choose between portioning accuracy and productivity.

[0032] It will be appreciated that throughout the present disclosure, non-homogeneous bulk material means bulk material with various types, sizes and/or weights of particles, parts, clusters or pieces. For example, non-homogeneous bulk material may include pieces, particles, chips, powder, grains, seeds, leaves and/or flowers of a certain kind of plant. For example, non-homogeneous bulk material may include clusters of particles and separate particles of the same material.

[0033] The system, apparatus and method according to some embodiments of the present invention enable accurate portioning according to a target weight of a portion, for example with accuracy of 0.1 - 0.01 grams. The system, apparatus and method according to some embodiments of the present invention enable production of at least about 40 packaged portions in a minute.

[0034] Reference is now made to Figs. 1 A and IB, which are schematic illustrations of a system 100 and apparatus 20 (included in system 100) for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. System 100 may include weighing apparatus 20, control module 10 and a portion collection module 30. Portion collection module may include a weight sensor 31. Generally, control module 10 may control and/or communicate with weighing apparatus 20 to provide a weighed portion of bulk material to collection module 30, receive feedback from collection module 30/weight sensor 31 about weight of the weighed portion, and control weighing apparatus 20 and/or collection module 30, according to the feedback, for example in case the weight of the weighed portion doesn't match a predetermined target weight.

[0035] Control module 10 may include at least one hardware processor/controller 11 and at least one hardware storage medium 12. Processor/controller 11 may control and/or communicate with weighing apparatus 20 and portion collection module 30, for example to execute methods for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, described in more detail herein. For example, storage medium 12 includes a non-transitory memory storing code instructions executable by processor/controller 11. When executed, the code instructions cause processor/controller 11 to carry out the steps of the methods as described in detail herein. Processor controller may communicate with weighing apparatus 20, portion collection module 30, and/or with their components, by wired and/or wireless communication interface 14.

[0036] Weighing apparatus 20, shown in more detail in Fig. 1 A, may include a main bulk material conveyer 21, a fine bulk material conveyer 22, a main bulk material dispersing section 23 and fine bulk material dispersing section 24. Main bulk material dispersing section 23 may include a plurality of conveyer lanes 25, each leading to and/or ending with a corresponding intermediate cup 25a, and a plurality of corresponding weighing cups 27. Fine bulk material dispersing section 24 may include a plurality of conveyer lanes 26, each leading to and/or ending with a corresponding intermediate cup 26a, and a plurality of corresponding weighing cups 28.

[0037] Main bulk material conveyer 21 may transmit to main bulk material dispensing section 23 a flow of general non-homogeneous bulk material 50 including, for example, clusters of the bulk material and/or particles of large and/or regular size and/or weight, such as, for example, a plant's flowers, leaves, grains and/or seeds. Fine bulk material conveyer 22 may transmit to fine bulk material dispersing section 24 a flow of fine particles 52 (also called herein "fine bulk material 52") of the bulk material, for example particles of very small size and/or weight, such as, for example, small particles, chips, powder, small grains and/or seeds. For example, the fine bulk material 52 may include at least thousands of particles per gram, wherein the general non-homogeneous bulk material may include a few tens or a few hundreds of bulk material particles per gram. For example, the general bulk material particles may be in average at least 100-1000 times heavier and/or larger than the fine bulk material particles.

[0038] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, apparatus 20 may include any convenient number of conveyer lanes 25 and any convenient number of conveyer lanes 26, and the disclosure is not limited to the number of conveyer lanes 25 or conveyer lanes 26 shown in Fig. 1 A. For example, apparatus 20 may include between 10 and 100 conveyer lanes 25 and may include between 1 to 20 conveyer lanes 26. According to some embodiments, apparatus 20 may include between 14 and 24 conveyer lanes 25 and may include between 4 and 8 conveyer lanes 26. Apparatus 20 may include a corresponding weighing cup 27 for each conveyer lane 25, another cup 27 for each lane 25, and may include a corresponding weighing cup 28 for each conveyer lane 26, e.g. another cup 28 for each lane 26. Each of weighing cups 27 and 28 may include a weight sensor that may sense weight of its contents and communicate the sensed weight value to control module 10. [0039] Fig. 1A shows a top view of apparatus 20. Although Fig. 1A shows a circular configuration and/or arrangement of apparatus 20, in which conveyer lanes 25 and 26 are arranged radially, other configurations may be possible according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, conveyer lanes 25 and/or conveyer lanes 26 may be arranged radially or in a row, in tiers, or in any other suitable configuration and/or form of arrangement.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a conveyer lane 26 of fine bulk material dispersing section 24 may include a valve/flow regulator 29. Valve/flow regulator 29 may enable accurate conveying of very small amounts of fine bulk material 52, for example according to instructions received from control module 10. For example, according to instructions received from control module 10, valve/flow regulator 29 may convey an amount of 0.01 to 0.1 grams of the fine bulk material 52 to intermediate cup 26a, for example according to an amount required and/or specified by the instructions from control module 10. In some embodiments, regulator 29 may include a screw conveyor, for example a horizontal screw conveyor, along the longitudinal axis of conveyer lane 26. For example, regulator 29 may include a very thin horizontal screw conveyor. For example, the screw conveyor may have external diameter of up to about 10 millimeters. In some embodiments, the external diameter of the screw conveyor may be of between 3 to 4 millimeters. In some embodiments, the screw pitch of the screw conveyor may be up to about 10 millimeters, for example 2-5 millimeters.

[0041] It will be appreciated that according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, intermediate cups 26a are incorporated with and/or the same as and/or include weighing cups 28 and/or include weighing sensors. For example, in such embodiments, bulk material 50 is transmitted by conveyer lanes 26 directly to weighing cups 28/intermediate cups 26a. [0042] During operation, as mentioned above, main bulk material conveyer 21 (also called herein "main conveyer 21 ") may transmit, to main bulk material dispensing section 23 (also called herein "main dispensing section 23), a flow of general non-homogeneous bulk material 50. In some embodiments, main conveyer 21 transmits bulk material 50 periodically, for example with predetermined and/or controlled pauses, and/or may transmit bulk material 50 continuously, for example with predetermined and/or controlled pauses, and/or until a predetermined condition is fulfilled, for example according to instructions received from control module 10 and/or according to pre-coded and/or hard-coded digital and/or analogous instructions. From main dispensing section 23, bulk material 50 may be conveyed concurrently and/or separately to the plurality of intermediate cups 25a by the corresponding plurality of conveyer lanes 25. For example, conveyer lanes 25 transmit bulk material 50 to intermediate cups 25a by vibration, sliding, conveyor belt, and/or by any other suitable manner. For example, conveyer lanes 25 may be inclined downwards towards intermediate cups 25a.

[0043] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a certain time period and/or size of intermediate cups 25a is determined according to a desired average/approximate amount of bulk material 50 to be contained in intermediate cup 25a. Once an intermediate cup 25a contain, in average and/or approximately, a desired amount of bulk material 50, and/or after the predetermined period of time, the contents of intermediate cup 25a may be weighed by a weight sensor, and/or the sensed weight value of the contents of an intermediate cup 25a may be communicated to control module 10. For example, once an intermediate cup 25a contain, in average and/or approximately, the desired amount of bulk material 50, and/or after the predetermined period of time, the contents of intermediate cup 25a may be poured/transferred to weighing cup 27, which may weigh the contents, generate a corresponding sensed weight value and communicate the sensed weight value to control module 10.

[0044] For example, in some embodiments, intermediate cup 25a may include a sensor to sense when intermediate cup 25a is full and/or when contents of intermediate cup 25a reaches a certain height. Once intermediate cup 25a is full and/or contents of intermediate cup 25a reaches a certain height, the contents may be weighed, for example by transferring the contents to a corresponding weighing cup 27. In other embodiments, the contents of intermediate cup 25a is weighed and/or transferred every predetermined period of time, for example predetermined according to the desired average and/or approximate amount of bulk material 50.

[0045] According to some embodiments, the transmission of bulk material 50 by conveyer lane 25 is halted during transfer and/or weighing of the contents of intermediate cup 25a and/or once intermediate cup 25a is full and/or contents of intermediate cup 25a reach a certain height, for example halted until the contents of intermediate cup 25a is transferred, for example, to the corresponding weighing cup 27 and/or until the contents of intermediate cup 25a or weighing cup 27 is transferred to collection module 30. It will be appreciated that according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, intermediate cups 25a are incorporated with and/or the same as and/or include weighing cups 27 and/or include weighing sensors. For example, in such embodiments, bulk material 50 is transmitted by conveyer lanes 25 directly to weighing cups 27/intermediate cups 25a. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, apparatus 20 may include more than one layer of intermediate cups 25a/weighting cups 27. For example, a conveyer lane 25 may transmit material to a corresponding intermediate cup 25a, which may transmit the material to another corresponding intermediate cup 25a/weighting cup 27, which senses its contents weight and communicates it to control module. The corresponding intermediate cup 25a/weighting cup 27 may transmit the contents to yet another corresponding weighing cup 27 and receive another amount of bulk material 50. This way, controller module 10 may have more combination possibilities for approaching the target weight. For example, instead of having eighteen weighing cups 27 for a corresponding eighteen conveyer lanes 25, apparatus 20 may have thirty-six weighing cups 27, two for each conveyer lane 25. Similarly, apparatus 20 may include any suitable number of layers of intermediate cup 25a/weighting cup 27.

[0046] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, conveyer lanes 25 are controllable separately by control module 10, for example to halt/continue the transmission of bulk material 50. Conveyer lane 25 may include a valve or switch (not shown) to control the halting and/or continuing of the transmission, for example by control module 10 and/or automatically based on built-in instructions, for example, according to the predetermined time periods and/or the content height/fullness of intermediate cup 25a.

[0047] Accordingly, at a certain time a plurality of weighing cups 27 may contain general bulk material 50, for example an average/approximate desired amount of bulk material 50. Weighing cup 27 may sense weight of its contents and communicate the sensed weight to controller module 10. Each weighing cup 27 may have a unique identifier, enabling controller module 10 to identify the specific cup 27, to relate the specific cup 27 with its content sensed weight, and/or to control it separately from the other weighing cups 27. For example, at a certain time, controller module 10 may store a plurality of weight values of contents of a plurality of corresponding cups 27, each weight value is related to a specific cap 27, for example by its unique identifier.

[0048] Controller module 10 may store a value of a portion target weight, for example a predefined portion target weight and/or portion target weight entered by a user interface (not shown). For example, the desired average and/or approximate amount of bulk material delivered to each weighing cup 27 may be about 0.1-0.2 of the portion target weight. For example, the sensed weight values may be in a range of about 0.07 to 0.13 of the portion target weight. Control module 10 may calculate and/or select a sub-group of weighing cups 27 that the combination of their corresponding sensed content weights is the closest to the portion target weight, for example, closest but not higher than the portion target weight. The combination of the corresponding sensed content weights of the selected sub-group of cups 27 is also called herein the intermediate total weight.

[0049] Control module 10 may calculate the weight difference between the intermediate total weight and the target portion weight and/or send instructions to at least one of fine material conveyer lanes 26 to provide the weight difference in fine bulk material 52, for example by controlling regulator 29 to transmit the required amount of fine bulk material 52 to corresponding weighing cup 28, the required amount is the amount of fine material 52 required to cover the weight difference. Control module 10 may transfer the bulk material from all the selected cups 27 and the weight difference amount in fine material from cup 28 to portion collection module 30, which may gather the bulk material from all the selected cups 27 and the fine material from cup 28, and/or sense the total weight of the bulk material from all selected cups 27 and from cup 28, also called herein the bulk material portion weight.

[0050] During operation, fine material conveyer 22 may transmit to fine material dispensing section 24 a flow of fine material 52. In some embodiments, fine material conveyer 22 transmits the fine material 52 periodically, for example with predetermined and/or controlled pauses, and/or may transmit fine material 52 continuously, for example with predetermined and/or controlled pauses, and/or until a predetermined condition is fulfilled, for example according to instructions received from control module 10 and/or according to pre-coded and/or hard-coded digital and/or analogous instructions. From fine material dispensing section 24, fine material 52 may be conveyed to weighting cup 28 via a corresponding conveyer lane 26, by activation of valve/regulator 29, for example, by control module 10. Control module 10 may receive from weighing cup 28 the sensed weight of its contents. Control module 10 may control valve/regulator 29 to provide fine material 52 to control module 10 until the sensed weight of the contents of cup 28 reaches the calculated weight difference between the intermediate total weight and the target portion weight. Once the sensed weight of the contents of cup 28 reaches the calculated weight difference, control module 10 may control valve/regulator 29 to halt the transmission of fine material 52 to cup 28. Then, control module 10 may control weighing cup 28 to transmit its contents to portion collection module 30, where the amount fine material 52 from weighing cup 28 is added to the amount of bulk material 50 transmitted to collection module 30 from the selected sub group of cups 27.

[0051] Each weighing cup 28 may have a unique identifier, enabling controller module 10 to identify the specific cup 28, to relate the specific cup 28 with its sensed content weight, and/or to control it separately from the other weighing cups 28. For example, at a certain time, controller module 10 may store a plurality of weight values of contents of a plurality of corresponding cups 28, each weight value is related to a specific cap 28, for example by its unique identifier.

[0052] In some embodiments, control module 10 may control a plurality of conveyer lanes 26/regulators 29 to concurrently and/or separately transmit small amounts of fine bulk material 52 to corresponding weighing cups 28, and calculate and/or select a sub-group of cups 28 that the combination of their corresponding sensed content weights is the closest to the calculated difference. For example, in some embodiments apparatus 20 includes about ten or more fine material conveyer lanes 26, and/or control module 10 may control the corresponding regulators 29 to transmit fine material 52 to weighing cups 28 for a short amount of time, for example of a few tenths of a second to a few seconds or any other suitable determined amount of time. Control module 10 may than calculate a combination of a selected sub-group of cups 28 that the combination of their corresponding sensed content weights is the closest to the calculated difference. Then, control module 10 may control the selected sub-group of weighing cups 28 to transmit their contents to portion collection module 30, where the amount of fine material 52 is added to the general bulk material 50 collected in module 30.

[0053] Control module 10 may receive from collection module 30/weight sensor 31 the portion total weight, which is the weight of the contents of collection module 30 after receiving the bulk material from the selected sub-group of cups 27 and the amount of fine material 52 from weighing cup 28. Control module 10 may validate that the portion total weight matches the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, for example if the portion total weight is within 0.01 grams from the target weight and/or any other predefined accuracy condition, and in case of a match may control collection module 30 to transmit its contents, i.e. the portion, to packaging and/or to any other further processing. In some embodiments, in case the portion total weight doesn't match the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy condition, control module 10 may control collection module 30 to discard its contents, for example to transmit the bulk material back to main bulk material conveyer 21.

[0054] Reference is now made to Fig. 2, which is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method 200 for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As indicated in block 210, control module 10 may receive from a plurality of weighing cups 27 their respective sensed content weight values. As indicated in block 220, control module 10 may select a combination of a sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups 27, by calculating and/or identifying a combination of sub group of the plurality of weighing cups 27, which the sum of their sensed content weight values is the closest to a predefined target portion weight, but not exceeding the predefined target portion weight, an selecting this sub-group of cups 27. For example, in case the target portion weight is 10 grams, and the sensed content weight values of cups 27 are between 0.8 to 1.3 grams, control module 10 may select, for example, ten of the weighing cups 27 with respective sensed content weight values of, for example, 0.80, 1.14, 0.89, 0.86, 0.99, 1.01, 1.22, 1.02, 1.10, and 0.93 grams, their sum is 9.96 grams. Control module 10 may select these ten cups 27 by calculating and finding that the sum of their respective sensed content weight values, e.g. 9.96 grams is the closest to the predefined target portion weight, e.g. 10 grams, but not exceeding the target portion weight. For example, control module 10 may not select other subsets of cups 27 that yielded a sum of 10.03 grams or 9.89 grams. Control module 10 may control the selected sub-group of weighing cups 27 to transmit their contents to portion collection module 30. The collection of the contents from all the selected sub group of weighing cups 27 is also called herein the intermediate bulk material collection.

[0055] As indicated in block 230, once a weighing cup 27 transmits its contents onwards, for example to collection module 30, the respective lane 25 may be reactivated to re-transmit to this weighing cup 27 and/or to the respective intermediate cup 25a an amount of bulk material 25, according to a predefined time period of another sensed condition, as described in detail herein. This way, weighing cups 27 are constantly ready with contained amounts of weighed bulk material 50, for control module 10 to select and combine for generation of a next portion. Then, control module 10 may return to selecting a sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups 27 as indicated in block 220, while also continuing in parallel with processing of the intermediate bulk material collection already collected in module 30, for example as indicated in block 240.

[0056] As indicated in block 240, control module 10 may receive from the selected sub group of cups 27 the respective content weights and calculate the intermediate total weight value, i.e. the total weight value of the intermediate bulk material collection, which is the collected bulk material 50 received from all the selected sub-group of weighing cups 27. Then, control module 10 may calculate the difference between the intermediate total weight value to the target portion weight value. As indicated in block 250 control module 10 may control valve/regulator 29 of conveyer lane 26 to provide the difference weight in fine material 52 to the corresponding weighing cup 28, e.g. to provide fine material 52 to the corresponding weighing cup 28 until the sensed content weight of the corresponding cup 28 reaches the difference weight value. Control module 10 may control weighing cup 28 to transmit its contents of weighed fine material 52 to collection module 30, where the transmitted weighed fine material 52 is added to the intermediate bulk material collection, to form the bulk material portion to be further processed and/or packaged.

[0057] As indicated in block 260, control module 10 may receive from collection module 30/weight sensor 31 the portion total weight, i.e. the weight of the bulk material portion, which is the weight of the contents of collection module 30 after receiving the amount of fine material 52 from weighing cup 28 and adding it to the intermediate bulk material collection. Control module 10 may validate that the portion total weight matches a predetermined target portion weight with a predefined accuracy. For example, control module 10 may check if the portion total weight is within 0.01 grams from the target weight and/or if any other predefined accuracy condition is fulfilled. In case the condition is fulfilled, control module 10 may determine that the portion total weight matches the predetermined target portion weight. In case of a determined match, control module 10 may control collection module 30 to transmit its contents, i.e. the bulk material portion, to packaging and/or to any other further processing. In some embodiments, in case the portion total weight doesn't match the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy condition, control module 10 may control collection module 30 to discard its contents, for example to transmit the bulk material portion back to main bulk material conveyer 21.

[0058] It will be appreciated that control module 10 may control more than one conveyer lanes 26 and/or corresponding regulators 29 in parallel, in order to process and/or complete more than one bulk material portions in parallel. In some embodiments, system 100 may include more than one collection module 30 and/or controller 10 may process more than one portion collection processes in parallel, thus increasing the productivity of system 100.

[0059] Reference is now made to Fig. 3, which is a partial side-view schematic illustration of apparatus 20 and collection module 30, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, apparatus 20 may include, for example in main dispensing section 23, intermediate cups 25a, weighing cups 27, and/or, possibly, intermediate weighing cups 25b. Each of intermediate cups 25a is corresponding to another conveyer lane 25, for example as shown in Fig. 1 A. Each of intermediate weighing cups 25b is corresponding to another of intermediate cups 25a. Each of weighing cups 27 is corresponding to another intermediate cups 25a and/or weighing intermediate cup 25b. Accordingly, an intermediate cup 25a may transmit its contents to the corresponding intermediate weighing cup 25b, and/or intermediate weighing cup 25b may transmit its contents to weighing cup 27. Control module 10 may receive the respective sensed content weight value from each of cups 25b/27, with relation to the corresponding cup identification. Control module 10 may control cups 25b/27 separately and/or concurrently, for example to transmit material to module 30. Each of cups 25b/27 may be controlled separately to transfer its contents to module 30. Apparatus 20 may include, in fine material dispensing section 24, a plurality of weighing cups 28, each corresponding to another conveyer lane 26 and/or intermediate cup 26a, for example as shown in Fig. 1 A. [0060] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, additionally or alternatively to weighing intermediate cup 25b, apparatus 20 may include, for example in main dispensing section 23, intermediate cups 25c, each corresponding to another weighing cup 27. For example, weighing cup 27 may receive a batch of material, sense the weight of the batch, and transmit the batch weight value to control module 10. In case the corresponding intermediate cup 25c is empty, weighing cup 27 may transmit the batch of material to the corresponding intermediate cup 25c. For example, once cup 27 transmits the batch to cup 25b, control module 10 may relate the respective batch weight value to the contents of the corresponding intermediate cup 25c. After transferring the material batch to cup 25b, cup 27 may receive another batch of material, sense the weight of the batch, and transmit the batch weight value to control module 10. Control module 10 may control cups 25c/27 separately and/or concurrently, for example to transmit material to module 30. Each of cups 25c/27 may be controlled separately to transfer its contents to module 30.

[0061] Control module 10 may select a sub-group of cups 25b/27/25c by calculating and finding that the sum of their respective sensed content weight values is the closest to the predefined target portion weight, but not exceeding the target portion weight. Control module 10 may control the selected sub-group of weighing cups 25b/27/25c to transmit their contents to portion collection module 30. Once a weighing cup 27/25b/25c transmits its contents onwards, for example to collection module 30, the respective lane 25 may be reactivated to transmit to this weighing cup 27/25b/25c and/or to the respective intermediate cup 25a an amount of bulk material 25, according to a predefined time period of another sensed condition, as described in detail herein. For example, once material is transmitted from cup 27, for example to cup 25c or to module 30, it receives another batch of material, for example from the corresponding cup 25b, which in turn receives material from the respective lane 25/cup 25a. This way, weighing cups 27/25c/25b may be constantly ready with contained amounts of weighed bulk material 50, for control module 10 to select and combine for processing and/or generation of a next bulk material portion. Then, control module 10 may return to selecting another sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups 27/25b/25c, while also continuing in parallel with processing of the intermediate bulk material collection/bulk material portion already collected in module 30.

[0062] As described herein, control module 10 may control at least one valve/regulator 29 of a corresponding conveyer lane 26 to provide the difference weight in fine material 52 to the corresponding weighing cup 28, and/or to transmit the weighed fine material 52 from cup 28 to collection module 30, where the transmitted weighed fine material 52 is added to the intermediate bulk material collection, to form the bulk material portion to be further processed and/or packaged. Control module 10 may control the plurality of valve/regulators 29 of corresponding conveyer lanes 26 concurrently, to provide difference weights in fine material 52 whenever needed in order to complete a bulk material portion.

[0063] Some embodiments of the present disclosure may include a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a tangible non-transitory computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present disclosure. Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including any object oriented programming language and/or conventional procedural programming languages. [0064] In the context of some embodiments of the present disclosure, by way of example and without limiting, terms such as 'operating' or 'executing' imply also capabilities, such as 'operable' or 'executable', respectively.

[0065] Conjugated terms such as, by way of example, 'a thing property' implies a property of the thing, unless otherwise clearly evident from the context thereof.

[0066] The terms 'processor' or 'computer', or system thereof, are used herein as ordinary context of the art, such as a general purpose processor, or a portable device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, or a micro-processor, or a RISC processor, or a DSP, possibly including additional elements such as memory or communication ports. Optionally or additionally, the terms 'processor' or 'computer' or derivatives thereof denote an apparatus that is capable of carrying out a provided or an incorporated program and/or is capable of controlling and/or accessing data storage apparatus and/or other apparatus such as input and output ports. The terms 'processor' or 'computer' denote also a plurality of processors or computers connected, and/or linked and/or otherwise communicating, possibly sharing one or more other resources such as a memory.

[0067] The terms 'software', 'program', 'software procedure' or 'procedure' or 'software code' or‘code’ or 'application' may be used interchangeably according to the context thereof, and denote one or more instructions or directives or electronic circuitry for performing a sequence of operations that generally represent an algorithm and/or other process or method. The program is stored in or on a medium such as RAM, ROM, or disk, or embedded in a circuitry accessible and executable by an apparatus such as a processor or other circuitry. The processor and program may constitute the same apparatus, at least partially, such as an array of electronic gates, such as FPGA or ASIC, designed to perform a programmed sequence of operations, optionally including or linked with a processor or other circuitry. [0068] The term 'configuring' and/or 'adapting' for an objective, or a variation thereof, implies using at least a software and/or electronic circuit and/or auxiliary apparatus designed and/or implemented and/or operable or operative to achieve the objective.

[0069] A device storing and/or including a program and/or data constitutes an article of manufacture. Unless otherwise specified, the program and/or data are stored in or on a non- transitory medium.

[0070] In case electrical or electronic equipment is disclosed it is assumed that an appropriate power supply is used for the operation thereof.

[0071] The flowchart and block diagrams illustrate architecture, functionality or an operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosed subject matter. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of program code, which includes one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, illustrated or described operations may occur in a different order or in combination or as concurrent operations instead of sequential operations to achieve the same or equivalent effect.

[0072] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprising",“including” and/or "having" and other conjugations of these terms, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0073] The terminology used herein should not be understood as limiting, unless otherwise specified, and is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosed subject matter. While certain embodiments of the disclosed subject matter have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents are not precluded.

Claims

1. A system for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material, the system comprising: at least one portion collection module;

a weighing apparatus comprising:

a fine material dispensing section configured to disperse only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material;

a plurality of general bulk material weighing cups, each configured to receive bulk material from a corresponding one of the bulk material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to the portion collection module; a plurality of fine material conveyer lanes configured to receive fine material and convey the fine material onwards based on a received signal, the fine material consists of only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material; and

a plurality of fine material weighing cups, each configured to receive fine material from a corresponding one of the fine material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to the portion collection module; and a control module configured to:

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control module is configured to validate that the portion total weight matches the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, and in case of a match control the collection module to transmit its contents to further processing, and in case the portion total weight doesn't match the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, control the collection module to discard its contents.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein discarding the content comprises transmitting the bulk material back to a main bulk material conveyer.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the control module is configured to control more than one of the fine conveyer lanes in parallel to process more than one bulk material portions in parallel.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the control module is configured to selecting another sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups, while also continuing in parallel with processing of the combination already selected and processing of the bulk material portion in the collection module.

6. A weighing apparatus for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material comprising: a fine material dispensing section configured to disperse only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material;

a plurality of general bulk material weighing cups, each configured to receive bulk material from a corresponding one of the bulk material conveyer lanes, to sense weight of its contents, to communicate the sensed content weight value and to transmit its contents to a portion collection module; a plurality of fine material conveyer lanes configured to receive fine material and convey the fine material onwards based on a generated signal, the fine material consists of only fine particles of the non-homogeneous bulk material; and

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the conveyer lanes are arranged radially in a circular configuration.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the fine material conveyer lanes comprise flow regulators controllable separately by the control module to convey an accurate amount of fine material.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the flow regulators comprise a horizontal screw conveyor having an external diameter of up to about 10 millimeters.

10. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a conveyer lane ends with an intermediate cup to receive the material conveyed by the conveyer lane before transmitting the material onwards to a weighing cup, and configured to receive material again once material is transmitted onwards.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein once an intermediate cup contains in average or approximately a desired amount of the bulk material, the contents of the intermediate cup are transmitted to the respective weighing cups.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the intermediate cup comprises a sensor to sense when the intermediate cup is full and/or when contents of the intermediate cup reach a certain height.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the contents of the intermediate cup are transferred to the corresponding weighing cup every determined period of time according to a desired average or approximate amount of bulk material to be conveyed to the intermediate cup within this period of time.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising, corresponding to at least one of the bulk material conveying lane, an intermediate weighing cup between the intermediate cup and the weighing cup or another intermediate cup configured to receive a weighed batch material from the weighing cup.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein once one of the weighing cups or intermediate cups transmits its contents onwards, the respective conveyer lane is reactivated to transmit an amount of bulk material to the intermediate cup or weighing cup.

16. A method for portioning of non-homogeneous bulk material comprising:

calculating a combination of a sub-group of the sensed content weights that is the closest to a target portion weight but not exceeding the target weight, and selecting the respective sub-group of general bulk material weighing cups; controlling at least one fine material conveyer lane to convey a calculated weight of fine material to a corresponding fine material weighing cup, the calculated weight corresponds to a difference between the calculated combination and the target weight; and

wherein the general bulk material conveyer lanes are configured to concurrently receive non-homogeneous bulk material, and convey the bulk material onwards during determined periods of time, determined based on the target portion weight,

and wherein the fine material consists of only fine particles of the non- homogeneous bulk material.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising validating that the portion total weight matches the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, and in case of a match controlling the collection module to transmit its contents to further processing, and in case the portion total weight doesn't match the target portion weight with a predefined accuracy, controlling the collection module to discard its contents.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein discarding the content comprises transmitting the bulk material back to a main bulk material conveyer.

19. The method of claim 16, comprising controlling more than one of the fine conveyer lanes in parallel to process more than one bulk material portions in parallel.

20. The method of claim 16, comprising selecting another sub-group of the plurality of weighing cups, while also continuing in parallel with processing of the combination already selected and processing of the bulk material portion in the collection module.