BELT CONVEYORS AND METHODS FOR CONVEYED PRODUCTS UNDERGOING A THERMAL TREATMENT
First Claim
1. A conveyor belt for conveying products being subjected to a thermal treatment, the conveyor belt comprising:
- a temperature sensor embedded in the conveyor belt in a material having a thermal response related by a predetermined functional relationship to the thermal response of conveyed products being subjected to a thermal treatment, wherein the temperature sensor makes temperature measurements;
a transmitter co-located in the conveyor belt with the temperature sensor and transmitting the temperature measurements from the conveyor belt.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An environmentally controlled conveyor system including a sensor-instrumented conveyor belt conveying products continuously through a thermal-treatment process and a method for determining the instantaneous position of the sensors. Temperature or other sensors are embedded in the conveyor belt across its width and along its length to advance with the product through the thermal-treatment process, such as through a pasteurizer tunnel. The sensor measurements are transmitted wirelessly from the belt to a remote system controller for monitoring or controlling the system. Data from sensors measuring environmental or belt conditions are used to determine the instantaneous positions of the sensors to coordinate the sensor data with sensor position.
14 Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A conveyor belt for conveying products being subjected to a thermal treatment, the conveyor belt comprising:
-
a temperature sensor embedded in the conveyor belt in a material having a thermal response related by a predetermined functional relationship to the thermal response of conveyed products being subjected to a thermal treatment, wherein the temperature sensor makes temperature measurements; a transmitter co-located in the conveyor belt with the temperature sensor and transmitting the temperature measurements from the conveyor belt. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. An environmentally controlled conveyor system for subjecting continuously conveyed products to a thermal treatment, the conveyor system comprising:
-
a conveyor belt conveying products continuously through the conveyor system; a temperature sensor advancing through the conveyor system at the same speed as the products and having a thermal response related by a predetermined functional relationship to the thermal response of conveyed products being subjected to a thermal treatment, wherein the temperature sensor makes temperature measurements; a transmitter co-located with the temperature sensor and transmitting the temperature measurements; a receiver remote from the conveyor belt for receiving the temperature measurements from the transmitter; a controller coupled to the receiver for processing the temperature measurements and controlling the temperature of the conveyor system or the speed of the conveyor belt as a function of the temperature measurements. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A conveyor system conveying products continuously through a thermal treatment, the conveyor system comprising:
-
a conveyor belt conveying products continuously through the conveyor system; a plurality of temperature sensors advancing through the conveyor system at the same speed as the products and having a thermal response related by a predetermined functional relationship to the thermal response of conveyed products being subjected to a thermal treatment, wherein the temperature sensors make temperature measurements; means for determining a condition of the products in the vicinity of each temperature sensor from the temperature measurements and the predetermined functional relationship; a transmitter co-located with each of the temperature sensors and transmitting the temperature measurements or the conditions of the products; a receiver remote from the conveyor belt for receiving the temperature measurements or the conditions of the products from the transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
Specification