APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING AND SEGREGATING SLICED BACON FROM A SLICING MACHINE

• US 3,846,957 A
• Filed: 10/10/1973
• Issued: 11/12/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: William J. Divan
• Original Assignee: William J. Divan
• Inventors: Divan, William J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Abercrombie, Willie G.
• Application Number:
  US05/405,087
• Time in Patent Office: 398 Days
• Field of Search: 53/59,153 83/77,89,367,364,209 177/120
• US Class Current: 53/502
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 2210/02 for cutting food products, e.g. food slicers
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 5/00 Arrangements for operating and controlling machines or devices for cutting, cutting-out, stamping-out, punching, perforating, or severing by means other than cutting
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 5/34 scanning being effected by a photosensitive device
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 7/30 for weighing cut product
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/182 With means to weigh product
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/2044 And means to separate product portions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/536 Movement of work controlled

Abstract

A slicing machine includes a feeder for feeding a bacon belly into a continuously rotating slicing blade thereby forming slices of bacon which are deposited in shingled fashion on a continuously moving conveyor supported on a scale. When a prescribed weight of the shingled bacon is registered by the bacon weigh scale a signal is fed back to the feeder to momentarily stop the advance of the bacon belly and consequently the formation of bacon slices. This interruption segregates one shingled bacon group or draft from the next for subsequent processing and packaging. In order to achieve a more uniform slice count per 1 pound package, regardless of cross-sectional size of belly, sliced thickness is altered by sensing the crosssectional size of the bacon bellies at the time and during slicing. An interposed check weigher scale supports a conveyor which receives each draft of shingled bacon slices initially weighed by the bacon weigher scale. Should the weight of this draft be above or below the prescribed weight, a signal is fed back to a servo motor which automatically changes the set point for the bacon weigher scale. The check weigher scale also generates a signal for a reject conveyor which receives the draft of sliced bacon transferred by the check weigher conveyor. Drafts within the prescribed weight tolerance are accepted and transferred to the packaging station by a take away conveyor. An automatic cardboard dispenser is interposed between the reject conveyor and the check weigher conveyor for placing each weighted draft on a card.

Claims

1. The combination of:

a. a slicing machine having;

a slicing blade;

feed mechanism for feeding products to be sliced into the blade;

first control means for determining the rate of advance of said feeding mechanism towards said slicing blade and, consequently, the sliced thickness, said first control means including sensing levers for sensing the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced whereupon as the cross-sectional size decreases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism increases to increase slice thickness and as the crosssectional size of the product to be sliced increases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism is decreased to thereby decrease slice thickness whereupon a more uniform number of slices of the product to be sliced in each segregated measured quantity is obtained; and

b. apparatus for weighing the sliced products coming from the machine and separating them into segregated weighed quantities comprising;

receiving and conveying means for receiving the sliced products from the slicing machine;

second control means operatively connected to said feeding mechanism for interrupting the operation of the feeding mechanism for a sufficient period of time for the receiving and conveying means to operate to convey the sliced products away;

weighing means operatively connected to the receiving and conveying means for causing the operation of the second control means when a predetermined weight of sliced product has been discharged onto the receiving and conveying means to interrupt the operation of the feeding mechanism;

said second control means including means automatically initiating the operation of the feeding mechanism after it has been interrupted for a sufficient period of time for the predetermined weight of the sliced products to be conveyed away;

a second receiving and conveying means for receiving the segregated, predetermined quantity of sliced products from the first receiving and conveying means;

third control means for adjusting the setting of the first weighing means; and

second weighing means operatively connected to the second receiving and conveying means for causing the operation of the third control means when a predetermined quantity of the sliced products has been weighed by the second receiving and conveying means, said second weighing means feeding back signals to the first weighing means corresponding to the weight of the predetermined quantity of the sliced products on the second receiving and conveying means over and below the prescribed weight to thereby automatically correct the weight of the predetermined quantity of the sliced products weighed on the first receiving and conveying means proportionately to the departure from the prescribed weight as registered by the second weighing means.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, wherein the apparatus for arranging products coming from the slicing machine into segregated weighed quantities includes a reject means for rejecting the predetermined quantities of sliced product that are outside prescribed weight tolerances;

and a means coupling the reject means with the second weighing means to cause the reject means to be actuated to reject a group of products following registration of this group as outside the prescribed weight tolerance by said weighing means.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 2, wherein an automatic cardboard dispenser means is interposed between the trailing end of the second receiving and conveying means and reject means for cooperating in placing the group of slices on a card for subsequent packaging.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 3, wherein means are provided for actuating the cardboard dispenser means upon detection of the group of slices by the second weighing means.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first receiving and conveying means operates at low speeds when receiving the slices from the blade and at a higher speed in transferring.

6. The combination of:

a. a slicing machine having;

a slicing blade;

feed mechanism for feeding products to be sliced into the blade;

first control means for determining the rate of advance of said feeding mechanism towards said slicing blade and, consequently, the sliced thickness, said first control means including sensing levers for sensing the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced whereupon as the cross-sectional size decreases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism increases to increase slice thickness and as the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced increases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism is decreased to thereby decrease slice thickness whereupon a more uniform number of slices of the product to be sliced in each segregated measured quantity is obtained; and

b. apparatus for weighing the sliced products coming from the machine and separating them into segregated weighed quantities comprising;

receiving and conveying means for receiving the sliced products from the slicing machine;

second control means operatively connected to said feeding means for interrupting the operation of the feeding mechanism for a predetermined period of time;

weighing means operatively connected to the receiving and conveying means and causing the operation of the second control means when the predetermined quantity of the sliced products has been discharged onto the slicing and conveying means to interrupt the operation of the feeding mechanism;

said second control means including means for automatically stopping the operation of the receiving and the conveying means during the interruption of the operation of the feeding mechanism;

the second control means being operatively connected to the weighing means for automatically actuating the weighing means to weigh the predetermined quantity of sliced products again during the stoppage of the receiving and conveying means, said second control means feeding back signals in response to the second weight registered by the weighing means corresponding to the weight of the predetermined group of slices over or below the prescribed weight for the group to thereby automatically adjust the setting of the weighing means to stop the feeding mechanism when the weight of the next group is above or below the prescribed weight by an amount proportional to the departure of this previous group from the prescribed weight.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 6, wherein the apparatus for arranging products coming from the slicing machine into segregated weighed quantities includes a reject means for rejecting the predetermined quantities of sliced product that are underweight;

and a means coupling the reject means with the weighing means to cause the reject means to be actuated to reject a group of products following registration of this group as underweight by said weighing means.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 7 wherein an automatic cardboard dispenser is interposed between the receiving and conveying means and reject means for cooperating in placing the group of slices on a card for subsequent packaging.

9. The invention in accordance with claim 8, wherein means are provided for actuating the cardboard dispenser means upon detection of the group of slices by the second weighing means.

10. The invention in accordance with claim 6, wherein the first receiving and conveying means operates at low speeds when receiving the slices from the blade and at a higher speed in transferring.

11. The combination of:

a. a slicing machine;

having a slicing blade;

feed meahanism for feeding products to be sliced into the blade;

first control means for determining the rate of advance of said feeding mechanism towards said slicing blade and, consequently, the sliced thickness, said first control means including sensing levers for sensing the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced whereupon as the cross-sectional size decreases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism increases to increase slice thickness and as the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced increases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism is decreased to thereby decrease slice thickness whereupon a more uniform number of slices of the product to be sliced in each segregated measured quantity is obtained; and

b. apparatus for weighing the sliced products coming from the machine and separating them into segregated weighed quantities comprising;

receiving and conveying means for receiving the sliced products;

second control means for interrupting the operation of the feeding mechanism and to increase and decrease the advance of the feeding mechanism and consequently increase and decrease the slice thickness;

means for initially weighing and registering the weight of the group of sliced products and actuating the second control means to interrupt the operation of the feeding mechanism, and means for registering the weight of this group a second time to actuate the second control means in response to the weight of the group over and below the prescribed weight for the group to thereby automatically adjust the setting of the weighing means to stop the feeding mechanism when the weight of the next group is above or below the prescribed weight by an amount proportional to the departure of this previous group from the prescribed weight.

12. The invention in accordance with claim 11, wherein the apparatus for arranging products coming from the slicing machine into segregated weighed quantities includes a reject means for rejecting the predetermined quantities of sliced product that are underweight;

and a means coupling the reject means with the second weighing means to cause the reject means to be actuated to reject a predetermined group of products following registration of an underweight of this stack by said second weighing means.

13. The invention in accordance with claim 12, wherein a cardboard dispenser is at the trailing end of the receiving and conveying means for cooperating in placing the group of slices on a card for subsequent packaging.

14. The invention in Accordance with claim 13, wherein means are provided for actuating the cardboard dispenser means upon detection of the group of slices by the second weighing means.

15. The invention in accordance with claim 11, wherein the first receiving and conveying means operates at low speeds when receiving the slices from the blade and at a higher speed in transferring.

16. The combination of:

a. a slicing machine;

having a slicing blade;

feed mechanism for feeding products to be sliced into the blade;

first control means for determining the rate of advance of said feeding mechanism towards said slicing blade and, consequently, the sliced thickness, said first control means including sensing levers for sensing the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced whereupon as the cross-sectional size decreases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism increases to increase slice thickness and as the cross-sectional size of the product to be sliced increases, the rate of advance of the feeding mechanism is decreased to thereby decrease slice thickness whereupon a more uniform number of slices of the product to be sliced in each segregated measured quantity is obtained; and

b. apparatus for weighing the sliced products coming from the machine and separating them into segregated weighed quantities comprising;

receiving and conveying means for receiving the sliced products;

second control means for interrupting the operation of the feeding mechanism;

means for weighing and registering the weight of the group of sliced product and actuating the second control means to interrupt the operation of the feeding mechanism.

17. The invention in accordance with claim 16, wherein the apparatus for arranging products coming from the slicing machine into segregated weighed quantities includes a reject means for rejecting the predetermined quantities of sliced products that are underweight;

and a means coupling the reject means with the weighing means to cause the reject means to be actuated to reject a predetermined group of products following registration of an underweight of this stack by said weighing means.

18. The invention in accordance with claim 17, wherein a cardboard dispenser is at the trailing end of the receiving and conveying means for cooperating in placing the group of slices on a card for subsequent packaging.

19. The invention in accordance with claim 18, wherein means are provided for actuating the cardboard dispenser means upon detection of the group of slices by the second weighing means.

20. The invention in accordance with claim 16, wherein the first receiving and conveying means operates at low speeds when receiving the slices from the blade and at a higher speed in transferring.