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EP-4739118-A1 - APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FOOD PRODUCTS TO PACKAGING MACHINE

EP4739118A1EP 4739118 A1EP4739118 A1EP 4739118A1EP-4739118-A1

Abstract

A feeder for feeding a food product to a packaging machine, including a forming station for forming a food product into a pat of a desired configuration. An upper conveyor overlapping a lower conveyor for receiving a food product there between to conform the food product into a desired thickness and move the food product into the forming station. An elongated knife is disposed transversely to the discharge ends of the upper and lower conveyor belts for cutting the food product into a pat of a desired width and forming a first longitudinal side wall of the forming station. A movable wall located opposite to the knife to form a second longitudinal side wall of the forming station. A support conveyor forms the base of the forming station to support the food product while being formed into a pat and then advancing the formed pat to a takeaway apparatus.

Inventors

  • GHIRETTI, Davide
  • GIULIESE, Gregorio

Assignees

  • John Bean Technologies S.p.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240702

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A feeder for feeding a food product to a food packaging machine, comprising: a forming station for forming a food product into a pat of a desired configuration to be fed to a food packaging machine; an upper conveyor overlapping a lower conveyor for receiving a food product therebetween, the food product conforming into a desired thickness by the upper and lower conveyor belts while the upper and lower conveyor belts move the food product towards and into the forming station, the upper and lower conveyor belts having discharge ends adjacent the forming station; an elongated knife disposed transversely to the discharge ends of the upper and lower conveyor belts, the elongated knife configured for cutting the food product into a pat of a desired width and forming a first longitudinal side wall of the forming station; a movable wall disposed opposite to the knife from the upper and lower conveyor belts to form a second longitudinal side wall of the forming station, the moveable wall moveable toward and away from the knife; and a support conveyor forming the base of the forming station and disposed transversely to the lengths of the upper and lower conveyor belts to support the food product while being formed into a pat and then advancing the formed pat to a takeaway apparatus receiving the formed pat from the support conveyor and advancing the formed pat toward the food packaging machine.
  2. 2. The feeder of Claim 1, wherein the support conveyor comprising an endless belt forming the base of the forming station.
  3. 3. The feeder of Claim 2, wherein the endless belt comprising an upper run forming the base of the forming station.
  4. 4. The feeder of any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the takeaway apparatus comprising a takeaway conveyor disposed end to end to the support conveyor, the takeaway conveyor receiving the formed pat from the support conveyor and advancing the formed pat along the length of the takeaway conveyor toward the food packaging machine.
  5. 5. The feeder of any one of Claims 1-4, further comprising a moveable end wall nominally disposed at an end of the forming station distal from the takeaway conveyor, the movable wall advancing with the support conveyor as the support conveyor advances the formed pat onto the takeaway conveyor.
  6. 6. The feeder of Claim 5, further comprising a carriage on which the end wall is mounted for advancing with the support conveyor as the support conveyor advances the formed pat onto the takeaway conveyor.
  7. 7. The feeder of Claim 6, further comprising a guideway for supporting and guiding the carriage as the movable wall advances with the support conveyor as the support conveyor advances the formed pat onto the takeaway conveyor.
  8. 8. The feeder of Claim 6 or 7, further comprising a first actuator for moving the carriage along the guideway.
  9. 9. The feeder of any one of Claims 1-8, further comprising a top plate positioned over the forming station and movable in the vertical direction toward and away from the pat in the forming station.
  10. 10. The feeder of Claim 7, further comprising a second actuator for moving the top plate towards and away from the pat in the forming station.
  11. 11. The feeder of Claims 1-10, wherein the takeaway apparatus comprising side walls to confine the sides of the formed pat as the formed pat is advanced toward the food packaging machine.
  12. 12. The feeder of any one of Claims 1-11, further comprising: an upper frame section for supporting the feeder station, the upper and lower conveyor belts, the elongated knife, the movable wall, the support conveyor, and the takeaway conveyor; and a lower frame section supporting the upper frame section.
  13. 13. The feeder of Claim 12, wherein the upper frame action is movable relative to the lower frame section.
  14. 14. The feeder of Claim 13, wherein the upper frame section is movable in the direction along the length of the takeaway conveyor.
  15. 15. The feeder of Claim 13 or 14, wherein the lower frame section defines slideways along which the upper frame section moves.
  16. 16. A feeder for feeding a fish product to a fish canning machine, comprising: a forming station for forming a fish product into a pat of a desired configuration to be fed to a fish canning machine; an upper conveyor overlapping a lower conveyor for receiving a fish product there between, the fish product formed into a desired thickness by the upper and lower conveyor belts while the upper and lower conveyor belts move the fish product towards and into the forming station, the upper and lower conveyor belts having discharge ends adjacent the forming station; an elongated knife disposed transversely to the discharge ends of the upper and lower conveyor belts, the elongated knife powered for cutting the fish product into a pat of a desired width and for forming a first longitudinal side wall of the forming station; a movable wall disposed opposite to the knife from the upper and lower conveyor belts to form a second longitudinal side wall of the forming station, the moveable wall moveable toward and away from the knife; and a support conveyor forming the base of the forming station and disposed transversely to the lengths of the upper and lower conveyor belts to support the fish product while being formed into a pat and then advancing the formed pat toward the fish product canning machine.
  17. 17. The feeder of Claim 16, wherein the support conveyor comprising an endless belt forming the base of the forming station.
  18. 18. The feeder of Claim 17, wherein the endless belt comprising an upper run forming the base of the forming station.
  19. 19. The feeder of any one of Claims 16-18, further comprising a takeaway conveyor disposed end to end to the support conveyor, the takeaway conveyor receiving the formed pat from the support conveyor and advancing the formed pat along the length of the takeaway conveyor toward the fish product canning machine.
  20. 20. The feeder of any one of Claims 16-19, further comprising a moveable end wall nominally disposed at an end of the forming station distal, the movable wall advancing with the support conveyor as the support conveyor advances the formed pat toward the fish product canning machine.

Description

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FOOD PRODUCTS TO PACKAGING MACHINE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 63/512,001, filed July 5, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND [0002] The present application pertains to a feeder apparatus for feeding food products, such as fish, to a canning or other type of packaging machine. It is difficult to achieve cans/packages of fish, such as tuna, of constant weight, while also avoiding production waste and at the same time presenting the consumer with an appealing looking product when the can/package is opened, which determines the product value to a great extent. These difficulties are not easy to overcome due to the intrinsic nature of fish, such as tuna, which variations greatly in composition, texture, compactness, density, and shape from batch to batch, and from loin to loin. [0003] In addition, fish processors strive to obtain the maximum quantity of the finished packaged product from the raw material. In this regard, the fish must be handled in a manner to minimize crumbling of, or other damage to, the fish meat and minimize any significant loss of liquid which causes a decrease in the weight of the raw material to eventually be packaged/canned. The feeder apparatus of the present application seeks to handle the fish to minimize damage to the fish or significant loss of weight. [0004] The raw material can be in the form of fish that after cleaning and trimming are placed in plastic bags and then vacuum compressed in the bags in dense blocks of fish. The bags of fish are then frozen for shipment to canning locations. At the canning location the feeder of the present application can be used to segment or cut the blocks of fish into pats of the correct size for feeding a filler/canning machine, while requiring minimum manual handling by factory workers. [0005] In another form, the raw material can be in the form of loins and/or rounds that have been harvested from fresh fish. The fresh fish can be loaded onto the feeder of the present application for forming the fish into pats of the correct size and of a desired density for feeding a filler/canning machine. [0006] Currently, the most common way to can fish, including tuna, is to manually place the raw material onto the intake belt of the packaging/canning machine. In this situation, it was often difficult to achieve the required constant density of the raw material reaching the canning machine. Also, the manual loading of the raw material could lead to damage of the raw material, and thus a reduction in its quality. [0007] In addition, typically at least two or even three operators were needed to feed the canning machine in order to achieve a continuous stream of the raw material. Further, this requires strenuous physical labor that not many personnel are able to perform for any significant period of time. [0008] The present application discloses a feeder apparatus that seeks to address foregoing issues. SUMMARY [0009] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. [0010] In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a feeder is provided for feeding a food product to a food packaging machine. The feeder includes a forming station for forming a food product into a pat of a desired configuration to be fed to a food packaging machine, an upper conveyor overlapping a lower conveyor for receiving a food product there between, the food product conforming into a desired thickness by the upper and lower conveyor belts while the upper and lower conveyor belts move the food product towards and into the forming station, the upper and lower conveyor belts having discharge ends adjacent the forming station, an elongated knife disposed transversely to the discharge ends of the upper and lower conveyor belts, the elongated knife configured for cutting the food product into a pat of a desired width and forming a first longitudinal side wall of the forming station, a movable wall disposed opposite to the knife from the upper and lower conveyor belts to form a second longitudinal side wall of the forming station, the moveable wall moveable toward and away from the knife, and a support conveyor forming the base of the forming station and disposed transversely to the lengths of the upper and lower conveyor belts to support the food product while being formed into a pat and then advancing the formed pat to a takeaway apparatus receiving the formed pat from the support conveyor and advancing the formed pat toward the food packaging machine. [0011] In any of the embodiments described herein, wherein the support conveyor comprises a