Shuttle System and Method for Moving Food Products into Packaging

• US 20100101191A1
• Filed: 10/26/2009
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Provisur Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Formax Incorporated
• Inventors: Lindee, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 8,931,240 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 53/471
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 17/0266 comprising more than two actuating or connecting rods
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0051 with kinematics chains of the type rotary-universal-universal or rotary-spherical-spherical, e.g. Delta type manipulators
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0093 co-operating with conveyor means
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 5/007 Control means comprising cameras, vision or image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 5/34 scanning being effected by a photosensitive device
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 7/32 for conveying or stacking cut product means for removing cut-out material or waste B26D7/18
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 25/065 of meat
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 35/04 with buffer storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 35/58 Turning articles by positively-acting means, e.g. to present labelled portions in uppermost position
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/068 in trays B65B5/061 - B65B5/065 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/14 and operating to control, or stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/244 by turning them about an axis substantially perpendicular to the conveying plane
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/256 removing incorrectly orientated articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/90 Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4182 manipulators and conveyor only
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/0448 With subsequent handling [i.e., of product]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/2022 Initiated by means responsive to product or work
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/2033 Including means to form or hold pile of product pieces
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/2037 In stacked or packed relation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/2192 : Endless conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/2194 : And means to remove product therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/748 : With work immobilizer

Abstract

A shuttle system including a main conveyor for transporting food products in a longitudinal direction, a supply of open top containers displaced along a longitudinal direction and movable in the longitudinal direction into a filling station. The shuttle system includes a shuttle robot for moving food products from the main conveyor to an open top container in the filling station. A sensor for receiving food product position data and a controller receiving data from the sensor and for instructing operation of the robot.

Claims

1. A shuttle system for filling packages with food products, comprising:

a main conveyor configured to move food products in a longitudinal direction;

a supply of open top containers displaced along a longitudinal direction and movable in the longitudinal direction into a filling station; and

an electronic sensor configured to capture location data about one or more food products on the main conveying surface within a sensor range of the sensor;

a controller signal-connected to the electronic sensor and the robot and configured to receive data captured by the sensor and configured to instruct a shuttle robot to move one or more food products from the main conveyor to a destination position off the main conveyor; and

the shuttle robot having a working area encompassing at least between a portion of the main conveyor and a portion of the filling station and configured to move food products from the main conveyor to an open top container in the filling station.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the robot comprises a gripper for holding the food product, the gripper comprises at least two oppositely facing gripping arms;

the gripper comprising an open position for releasing a food product, and a closed position for holding and transporting a food product;

the arms are further from one another when the gripper is in the open position than when in the closed position.

3. The system of claim 2, where the gripping arms comprise lower supports having a portion extending inwardly toward the a center of the gripper and configured to support the bottom of a food product when the gripper is in a closed position.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein a downstream portion of the main conveyor is a strip conveyor comprises a plurality of belts, each belt is separated from adjacent belts by a gap;

the gaps having a width at least as wide as an arm of the gripper so as to allow a portion of the gripper arms to pass between the belts of the conveyor and below a conveying surface of the conveyor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the open top container comprises a plurality of open top containers, and wherein the controller has shuttle robot position instructions comprising, during a fill cycle, at least one pickup position at an end portion of the continuously moving main conveyor corresponding to a location of a food product as reported by the sensor and a plurality of drop positions located above the plurality of respective open top containers in the filling station;

the robot movable to the positions represented by the position instructions of the controller.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the open top container comprises a plurality of open top containers, and wherein the controller has cycle instructions for directing the robot to fill all the open top containers in the filling station during a fill cycle.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a rotatable slicing blade, a conveying assembly, and a support for holding a loaf in a cutting path of said rotatable slicing blade, said slicing blade arranged to rotate in said cutting path to slice drafts from said loaf, said drafts being plural slices formed in a pile on said conveying assembly, said conveying assembly including a staging conveyor that forms the piles into rows and transports said rows onto the main conveyor.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a patty-forming, the patty-forming machine having a machine frame, a mold plate having at least one cavity and mounted to reciprocate in a longitudinal direction with respect to said frame to position the cavity between a fill position and patty knock out position, a food product delivery channel for delivering food product into the cavity, the food product delivery channel mounted stationary with respect to the frame and having a fill opening into the cavity when the mold plate is in the fill position, one or more knockout plungers for expelling the formed food product from the mold plate onto an output conveyor when the mold plate is in the knockout position, the output conveyor upstream of the main conveyor.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has motion instructions for instructing the robot to move in sync with a food product on the continuously moving main conveyor and for gripping the food product while the conveyor is in motion and for lifting the food product off of the conveyor while the conveyor is in motion;

the robot movable on a motion path represented by the motion instruction of the controller.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a sealing station downstream of the filling station, the sealing station configured to apply a cover to the open top containers.

11. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a container-forming station for forming the open top containers.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein

the controller has instructions for directing the shuttle robot to fill one or more open top containers from a group of incoming open top containers while the incoming group of open top containers are advanced into the filling station

the robot movable to the positions represented by the position instructions of the controller.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising an off-weight conveyor, the off-weight conveyor comprising a downstream end, an upstream end and a longitudinal portion;

the downstream end is adjacent to a downstream end of the main conveyor, the longitudinal portion runs upstream from the downstream end of the off-weight conveyor along the main conveyor, and the upstream end of the off-weight conveyor crosses the main conveyor and is adjacent a correction station on a side of the main conveyor opposite the longitudinal portion.

14. A method of filling open top containers with food products, comprising the steps of:

gripping a food product on a main conveyor with a gripper attached to a shuttle robot;

moving the food product to a open top container in a filling station with the robot; and

releasing the food product with a gripper into the open top container.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

before the moving step, providing a cycle period during which a group of open top containers are within the filling station; and

wherein the steps of gripping, moving, and releasing are repeated during the cycle period until a predefined number of open top containers are filled with food products.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of:

after a predefined number of open top containers are filled with a food product, moving a group of filled open top containers out of the filling station, and moving a new group of open top containers into the filling station.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of gripping comprises the steps of:

locating a food product on a continuously moving the conveyor with a sensor;

moving a robot in sync with the food product; and

gripping the food product on the conveyor with the gripper.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the steps of moving and releasing comprise the steps of:

moving a group of open top containers into the filling station;

during the moving of open top containers, moving the food product to an open top container in the filling station and releasing the food product into the open top container.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of gripping is further comprises the steps of:

surrounding a food product with a plurality of arms of the shuttle robot, and gripping the food product by closing the arms around the food product.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

after the step of moving, dwelling over the open top container for a predetermined amount of time, and releasing the food product into the open top container during the dwelling.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of gripping comprises the steps of:

providing a downstream portion of the main conveyor as a strip conveyor having a plurality of belts, each belt is separated from adjacent belts by a gap;

moving a portion of a plurality of arms of the gripper between the belts of the strip conveyor and below a conveying surface of the conveyor;

gripping at least one food product with the arms of the gripper; and

raising the food product off of the conveying surface.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

during one or more cycles of gripping, moving, and releasing;

forming a group of one or more open top containers upstream from a group of open top containers in the filling station.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

during one or more cycles of gripping, moving, and releasing;

sealing the top of a group of one or more open top containers downstream from a group of open top containers in the filling station.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein the steps of gripping, moving, and releasing are repeated while progressively filling each empty or incompletely filled container starting at the container farthest from the gripping location and ending at the container closest to the gripping location.