WO2007086740A1

WO2007086740A1 - Apparatus for filling trays or similar packaging units

Info

Publication number: WO2007086740A1
Application number: PCT/NL2007/050027
Authority: WO
Inventors: Erik Van Wijngaarden; Wouter Van Den Berg
Original assignee: Fps Food Processing Systems B.V.
Priority date: 2006-01-24
Filing date: 2007-01-24
Publication date: 2007-08-02

Abstract

Therein, with substantially round products, more particularly fruit, the apparatus being provided with: first holders which are connected to a first conveyor (1); second holders (2) which are connected to the first conveyor (1) or to a second conveyor; a buffer rack (6) with at least one product take-up position (61);a number of transfer guides (4) while each second holder is connected to the conveyor via such a transfer guide; wherein the transfer guide is designed for moving the respective second holder from a take-up position to a releasing position such that the second holder in the take-up position has a speed and direction of movement that corresponds to the speed and direction of movement of the first holder at that location, and wherein the second holder in the releasing position has a horizontal speed component which is substantially zero, while the buffer rack transfers products located thereon to a packaging unit arranged underneath.

Description

Title: Apparatus for filling trays or similar packaging units.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for filling trays or similar packaging units.

Such an apparatus is known from EP993877. Here, two conveyors are shown which are provided holder-wise, side by side over a part of each of their individual paths, and which move equally fast. On each of the conveyors the products are conveyed resting on hand-shaped forks, while on the joint path, the products are taken up from the first conveyor and are transferred and laid down on the other, second conveyor, with the holders cupping the products as hands. On one side, a camera system inspects the products just before transferring and on the other side after setting down. From this second conveyor the fruits are released onto discharge belts as described in, for instance, EP540126.

This manner of sorting products such as, for instance, fruits, such as apples, citrus fruits and kiwis is already used successfully for years. From these discharge belts, the respective selections are collected in bulk in boxes, cases or crates. However, it has appeared that on the market for these products, there is an ever increasing demand for group-wise packaged products, and even individually packaged products. Here, in particular, trays are involved of all sorts of dimensions calculated in fruits of 1x2, 2x3, 3x4. In order to accurately deliver, upon ejection, products conveyed by forks or grippers at rates of between, for instance, 4 — 10 products a second, or even more, in nests or pockets of such trays, it is not only necessary that the moment of ejection and the rate of conveyance be accurately geared to each other, there is also a great risk of damage. This problem has indeed been recognized in, for instance, the field of technology of sorting eggs. In US4569444 for instance, an egg sorting machine with associated control is described, where these parameters can be accurately geared to each other, but it should be noted that the eggs are released in large rotating collector brushes. What is more, the release of the eggs is controlled in a manner such that in the sequence of release, possible collisions of the eggs during their so-called trajectory is avoided.

From the above, it will be clear that for filling trays or similar packaging units, no suitable solution has been presented yet.

To present such a solution, the invention provides an apparatus for filling trays or similar packaging units, in particular packaging units with clearly distinct nests therein, with substantially round products, more particularly fruit, the apparatus being provided with: • first holders which are connected at regular mutual distances to a first conveyor which is designed for conveying the holders at least in a transfer path in a conveying direction;

• second holders which are connected at regular mutual distances corresponding to the earlier mentioned mutual distances, to the first conveyor or to a second conveyor which extends parallel to the first conveyor, at least at the location of the transfer path, and which, in use, at that location, have the same conveying direction and conveying speed as the first conveyor;

• a buffer rack with at least one product take-up position; • a number of transfer guides, while each second holder is connected to the conveyor via such a transfer guide; wherein the transfer guide of a second holder is designed for moving the respective second holder from a take-up position to a releasing position, while, in use, in the take-up position, a product is transferred from a first holder in the second holder and wherein, in use, in the releasing position, a product is released from the respective second holder to the buffer rack, the transfer guide being designed such that the second holder in the take-up position has a speed and direction of movement that correspond to the speed and direction of movement of the first holder at that location, and wherein the second holder in the releasing position has a horizontal speed component that is substantially zero, such that there is no or hardly any horizontal relative movement of the second holder relative to the buffer rack at the moment of transfer of the product from the second holder to the buffer rack, the buffer rack being designed for transferring products resting thereon onto a tray or similar packaging unit disposed underneath.

With such an apparatus, the products are no longer released at speeds of such conveyors as described hereinabove, but the second holders themselves and, hence, the products are guided in a suitable manner so that with great advantage further parameters with respect to release can be created and set.

In an advantageous exemplary embodiment, the transfer guide comprises a rotating arm which is rotatably connected to the associated second holder, the rotating arm being designed for, in use, rotating downward from a take-up orientation that corresponds to the take-up position, about a central axis extending perpendicularly to the conveying direction, to a release orientation that corresponds to the releasing position, while the horizontal component of the speed of the second holder in the releasing orientation through superposition of the forward speed of the conveyor and rotation of the rotating arm relative to the buffer rack is substantially zero. Thus, in a suitable manner, the sustenance of damage such as bruises and, hence, premature decay can be prevented.

From NL8103133 it is known in what manner, in a sorting machine of the carrousel type, the eggs are each conveyed with a fork connected, inter alia, in a horizontal plane, via a rotating arm, to an endless carrousel. During conveying, all these rotating arms are rotated such that they are in line with the conveying direction. By contrast, when taking up and releasing the eggs, the arms rotate in a substantially horizontal plane outwards, to an orientation perpendicular to the conveying direction, while particular speed components become 0 m/s, while movement towards these orientations for taking up anid releasing is also in a vertical plane. Although products are accurately treated with this apparatus, this apparatus and the associated movement are highly complex and only relatively low speeds can be reached for conveying. For the above-mentioned use of filling trays or packaging units with products such as fruits at high conveying speeds, the apparatus according to NL8103133 is completely unsuitable.

In a further embodiment, the rotating arm can be provided with a cam follower, while at the location of the transfer path a stationary cam is provided, designed for cooperation with the cam follower in a manner such that, in use, the rotation of the rotating arm is effected. Such a form of driving the rotation of the rotating arm is relatively simple. However, it is clear that other forms of driving the rotating arms are possible too.

According to a still further elaboration of the invention, each rotating arm comprises a parallelogram construction, provided with two vertical arms, one of which is connected to the conveyor and one to the second holder, and with two parallel swivelling arms connected to the vertical arms.

The second holders can be hand-shaped, with spaced apart parallel fingers extending from a cross bar projecting substantially horizontally and perpendicular relative to the conveying direction.

Further, the two holders can be rotatably connected to the rotating arm in a manner such that in use, at the location of the releasing position, they are rotatable for releasing a product.

With great advantage, such holders enable a very gradual transfer to the trays or packaging unit.

In a further advantageous exemplary embodiment, the buffer rack comprises hand-shaped cups with finger-shaped recesses that correspond to parallel fingers of the second holders, while the buffer rack is arranged at a distance from the conveyor such that a second holder can pass a cup in vertical direction while leaving a product behind in the cup.

The transfer of the product from the second holder on a cup can thus be carried out without an uncontrolled falling motion. According to a further elaboration, the buffer rack can be tiltable for transferring products resting thereon to a tray or similar packaging unit arranged underneath.

Thus, the products, in particular fruits susceptible to damage, can be suitably and gradually released, in particular in a situation in which all speed components are approximately 0 m/s, into the nests or pockets of, for instance, a tray.

In a highly suitable further elaboration of the invention, the regular mutual distance is smaller than the length of the rotating arms, while the rotating arms have a profile such that neighbouring rotating arms extend in an overlapping manner like roof tiles, with the neighbouring rotating arms still being rotatable relative to each other.

To that end, in the variant embodiment with the rotating arm with parallelogram construction, the swivelling arms can have a stepped profile. For instance, each swivelling arm can comprise three stepped sections, while the length of the swivelling arm is greater than the sum of two of the mutual distances and smaller than the sum of three of the mutual distances.

Such a construction has the great advantage that nests or pockets of a tray or packaging unit located directly side by side can be filled simultaneously or virtually simultaneously so that a high packaging capacity is achieved.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, the second holders together with the second conveyor, the transfer guides and the buffer rack, and optionally the cam track, can form a unit next to the first conveyor mentioned. Here, the first and second conveyor can be connected to the same drive. Such a design enables utilization of the invention in a highly suitable and advantageous manner in well-defined parts of a sorting system.

In this way, not only are the possibilities of such a sorting and packaging system increased, also, in a highly cost-conscious and economically directed manner, a packaging station can be arranged. Further details of the present invention will be elucidated in the following description while reference is made to a few Figures in which:

Fig. 1 shows a view, obliquely from above, of a schematically represented part of such an apparatus; Fig. 1 shows a detail of the view according to Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3A-E show a schematic representation of a few situations during conveyance and transfer of products.

In the different Figures, the same parts have the same reference numerals. In Fig. 1, an endless conveyor 1 is schematically represented. To this conveyor 1, second holders 2 are connected which are preferably of hand- shaped design. Such a conveyor 1 is typically an endless chain. To this conveyor, also, at fixed mutual distances, first holders such as carriers can be connected, described in, for instance, EP540126. These first holders, not shown in the Figures, may be designed as cups. On the other hand, it is also possible that the first holders be designed as grippers as described in, for instance, EP678508.

In this exemplary embodiment, the second holders 2 shown are also connected to the endless conveyor, for instance a chain. However, in an alternative embodiment, it is also possible to utilize two separate endless conveyors running parallel at the location of a transfer path. Here, two chain conveyors can be considered, with the first holder connected to one conveyor and the shown second holders 2 connected to the other conveyor, positioned side by side or one above the other and moving equally rapidly in the same direction.

In general, the first holders will be located somewhat higher as the products, for instance fruit such as apples, are to be transferred from there onto the second holders. As described in, for instance, EP540126, this is typically a tipping movement in lateral direction. In Figs. 1 and 3A-E, for convenience's sake, only two second holders 2 are shown from a continuous row of only second holders, parallel to the first holders (not shown). The continuous movement is indicated with a speed v and a conveying direction T. These holders 2 are connected to the conveyor 1 via a transfer guide 3. In this exemplary embodiment of the invention, this transfer guide 3 comprises, inter alia, a rotating arm 4. The rotating arm comprises a parallelogram construction provided with arms 41, two of which remaining substantially vertical, while the other two are swivelling arms that remain parallel to each other, and are capable of rotation. The vertical arm remote from the second holder 2 and positioned upstream is fixedly connected to the conveyor 1 by means of a coupling piece 5. Owing to this positioning of the arms 41, the second holder 2 can move upward and downward relative to the conveyor 1 and, with relatively long arms and small height differences, the second holders 2 themselves will perform a minimal rotating movement as a result of the parallelogram construction.

The hand-shaped second holders 2 comprise fingers 21 that are substantially perpendicular to a cross bar 22 which, in turn, is horizontal and perpendicular to the conveying direction. So as to enable all these swivelling arms to move one over the other, they are positioned overlapping like roof tiles. To that end, the swivelling arms 41 of the rotating arm 4 have a stepped profile, while these stepped- profiled arms have step sections 410, 411, 412. Depending on the required dimensioning, there are two or more steps, and in this exemplary embodiment, three. It will however be clear that other profiles too, for instance arch profiles, are possible. It will further be clear that numbers of sections and the shape of such sections can be selected such that release and packaging can take place in a suitable manner at several speeds and with several types of packaging units. In the present invention, the second holders 2 carry out a movement with which the products, such as fruits, arranged thereon are released very gradually to a buffer rack 6 arranged under the second holders 2 and beneath which are provided trays or such packaging units.

The trays or such packaging units can be arranged on so-called discharge tracks, or discharge belts, or packaging belts (not represented in the Figures). As a rule, these tracks or belts proceed horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction T underneath the conveyor 1. As these trays, and also many other types of packaging units, have columns and rows of pockets or nests that are to be filled, these are filled for instance row by row, and the movement of these tracks or belts will be carried out in steps, row by row.

In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown, the buffer rack 6 is provided with at least one cup 61 for receiving a product that is released by a second holder 2. This buffer rack 6 is designed such that upon release of products, the hand-shaped second holders 1 provided with fingers can move in the horizontal orientation through openings, i.e. finger-shaped recesses 62 in the cups 61, while the products remain behind in these cups 61.

Such a buffer rack 6 will generally comprise several cups 61 provided side by side in the conveying direction. Accordingly, they form a row for a matching tray. When the cups 61 in the buffer rack 6 are all filled, the buffer rack 6, positioned generally just above the tracks or belts with trays, can be tilted while the products can end up, in a somewhat rolling movement, in the nests or pockets of the tray or similar packaging unit.

In the Figs. 3A-E, the above-mentioned situations are represented in more detail. Here, Fig. 3A is a view obliquely from above, while the Figs. 3B-E show side views. In all these Figures, two of the four arms 41 of the parallelogram construction of the rotating arm 4 remain vertical while the other two swivelling arms move upwards and downwards while carrying out a rotating movement.

Fig. 3A represents the situation in which still a certain distance has to be travelled before the second holders 2 arrive above the buffer rack 6. In this elaboration, the swivelling arms 41 are somewhat obliquely upward. Depending on the dimensioning and design, this is understood to mean the above-mentioned substantially horizontal orientation. It is not represented whether the second holders 2 already bear products, but it will be clear to all skilled in the art that an advantageous elaboration will be designed such that once the product can be transferred from the first holders to the second holders 2, this will be carried out, for instance just after the products have ended up on the first holders. It will further be clear that with the aid of a control, products, carriers and holders are labelled and, with a computer program, release at the right moment at the appropriate packaging will take place. Several variations thereon are conceivable.

In Fig. 3B, the situation is represented in which a transfer path is arrived at and one of the rotating arms 4 has started to rotate downwards, under one following arm or upstream arm. This is possible because of the above-described profiles. In order to start rotation, a control is to be actuated that has a cam follower on, for instance, the lowest swivelling arm 41 follow a cam 10. It will be clear to all skilled in the art that to that end, many solutions can be carried out. It can also be done without cam with cam follower, for instance with a motor mechanism. It is shown that the downward moving second holder 2 moves in the direction of the buffer rack 6.

In Fig. 3C it is represented how the above-mentioned second holder 2 is moved through the buffer rack 6 and is moved further underneath. When moving through, the product 6 will remain behind on the rack. It will be clear to all skilled in the art that only those products are released which are to be packaged in this assortment in this buffer rack 6 at this tray or at this track or belt. This sorting is controlled in a manner known per se with a computer and the associated, earlier-mentioned control.

Fig. 3D shows that once the second holder 2 has passed the buffer rack 6, the cam follower engages a following cam, so that the second holder 4 with its rotating arm 4 is led back to the conveying position. In Fig. 3E, a similar situation as in Fig. 3A is achieved. However, in the mean time, one of the holders has delivered a product.

It will be clear to all skilled in the art that an accurate control is required for carrying out the matching rotational movements at different speeds v. Therefore, the dimensionings, such as the lengths of the arms, drives and the cams used will have to be geared to each other in a highly accurate manner.

With a separate conveyor 1 with two holders 2, and, with that, a buffer rack 6, a separate unit can be assembled. Such a unit can be added as unit to existing sorting machines, whose first holders can be designed as cups, forks or grippers. This provides the opportunity to expand existing as well as new sorting systems with packaging modules for packages that are more and more sought after.

It will be clear to all skilled in the art that several design variants for such a transfer guide can be chosen departing from the scope of protection of the appended claims. In particular, variants for a control, selection of materials, in particular plastics, and forms and attachments for the holders should be considered.

Also, an exemplary embodiment without buffer rack 6 is conceivable. With such an exemplary embodiment, releasing products from the second holders 2 can take place through, for instance, an individual rotating mechanism between such a holder 2 and the associated rotating arm 4 while for instance a tipping movement is carried out by the second holders 2 when the rotating arm 4 is in a position substantially vertically downwards, so that the second holder 2 is just above the tray and the speed difference in the conveying direction T is virtually 0 m/s. Such a method of release can also be utilized with a variant with buffer rack. In that case, the buffer rack needs not be provided with recesses and the second holders need not be provided with fingers that are movable through these recesses. As indicated hereinabove, with such a design too, possible damage can be largely prevented.

Claims

1. An apparatus for filling trays, or similar packaging units, in particular packaging units with clearly distinct nests therein, with substantially round products, more particularly fruit, the apparatus being provided with: • first holders which are connected at regular mutual distances to a first conveyor (1) which is designed for conveying the holders at least in a transfer path in a conveying direction (T);

• second holders (2) which are connected at regular mutual distances, corresponding to the earlier mentioned mutual distances, to the first conveyor (1) or to a second conveyor which extends parallel to the first conveyor, at least at the location of the transfer path, and which have, in use, at that location, the same conveying direction and conveying speed as the first conveyor (1);

• a buffer rack (6) with at least one product take-up position (61); • a number of transfer guides (4), while each second holder is connected to the conveyor (1) via such a transfer guide (4); wherein the transfer guide (4) of a second holder (2) is designed for moving the respective second holder (2) from a take-up position to a releasing position, while in use, in the take-up position, a product is transferred from a first holder to the second holder and wherein, in use, in the releasing position a product is released from the respective second holder to the buffer rack, the transfer guide being designed such that the second holder in the take-up position has a speed and direction of movement that corresponds to the speed and direction of movement of the first holder at that location, and wherein the second holder in the releasing position has a horizontal speed component which is substantially zero such that there is no or hardly any horizontal relative movement of the second holder relative to the buffer rack at the moment of transfer of the product from the second holder to the buffer rack, the buffer rack being designed for transferring products resting thereon to a tray or similar packaging unit arranged underneath.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer guide comprises a rotating arm that is rotatably connected to the associated second holder, the rotating arm being designed for, in use, rotating downwards from a take-up orientation that corresponds to the take-up position, about a central axis extending perpendicular to the conveying direction to a releasing orientation that corresponds to the releasing position, while the horizontal component of the speed of the second holder in the releasing orientation through superposition of the forward speed of the conveyor and rotation of the rotating arm relative to the buffer rack is substantially zero.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotating arm is provided with a cam follower, while at the location of the transfer path, a stationary cam is provided, designed for cooperation with the cam follower in a manner such that in use, the rotation of the rotating arm is effected.

4. An apparatus according to any one of claim 1- 3, wherein each rotating arm comprises a parallelogram construction provided with two vertical arms, one of which is connected to the conveyor and one to the second holder and with two parallel swivelling arms connected to the vertical arms.

5. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second holders are hand-shaped, with spaced apart parallel fingers extending from a cross bar projecting substantially horizontally and perpendicularly relative to the conveying direction.

6. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second holders are rotatably connected to the rotating arm, in a manner such that, in use, at the location of the releasing position, they are rotatable for releasing a product.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the buffer rack comprises hand-shaped cups with finger-shaped recesses which correspond to parallel fingers of the second holders, while the buffer rack is arranged at a distance from the conveyor such that a second holder can pass a cup in vertical direction while leaving a product behind in the cup.

8. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the buffer rack is tiltable for transferring products resting thereon to a tray or similar packaging unit arranged underneath.

9. An apparatus according to at least claim 2, wherein the said regular mutual distance is smaller than the length of the rotating arms, while the rotating arms have a profile such that neighbouring rotating arms extend side by side, in a manner overlapping like roof tiles, while the neighbouring rotating arms are still rotatable relative to each other.

10. An apparatus according to claim 4 and 9, wherein the swivelling arms have a stepped profile.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each swivelling arm comprises three step sections, while the length of the swivelling arm is greater than the sum of two said mutual distances, and smaller than the sum of three said mutual distances.

12. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second holders together with the second conveyor, the transfer guides and the buffer rack and the optional cam path form a unit next to said first conveyor.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the first and the second conveyor are connected to the same drive.

14. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, without a said buffer rack, wherein each second holder is movable relative to the associated rotating arm in a manner such that in use, at the location of the releasing position, it can directly release a product on a tray instead of on the buffer rack.