The invention relates to a conveyor device (10) for conveying food products on a plurality of parallel conveyor tracks and for formatting the food products in a specific product format, especially for conveying and formatting stacks or interleaved units made of a plurality of slices of cheese or meat products. It is proposed that the conveyor device (10) fills a product gap on one of the conveyor tracks incoming on the input side with a food product so that on the output side all parallel conveyor tracks are supplied with the food products. The invention also includes a corresponding method.

A folding arrangement including a flap lifting assembly located at a drop conveyor discharge end and including a pivoting arm with a flap engaging surface that is movable between a first, flap-lifting position and a second, pass-through position is provided. A folding assembly includes a receiving conveyor with a receiving conveyor feed end positioned below the drop conveyor discharge end, and a folding finger above the receiving conveyor feed end. The product-substrate combination is driven by the drop conveyor into contact with the flap engaging surface in the first position to lift the flap as the product-substrate combination is discharged from the drop conveyor discharge end towards the receiving conveyor feed end, and the folding finger contacts the flap of the product-substrate combination to complete folding of the flap to a second angled position onto the product as the product-substrate combination pivots the flap engaging surface to the second position.

Processor tray for displaying tubular meat products in an arcuate configuration, and designed to help guide the packer to mold and place curved meat products in the tray. The filled tray is wrapped in film, and the configuration of the filled tray maintains the film taut to avoid leakage. The tray includes a rectangular upper shaped cavity, and a plurality of curved recessed pockets extend below the upper cavity to define a lower cavity. The tray is designed to provide structural rigidity that resists warping and breakage, thus enabling the overwrapped tray to be handled, shipped, and displayed with minimal leakage or breakage. In some embodiments the tray includes features that facilitate de-nesting of a stack of empty trays, and is adapted to facilitate movement of the wrapped package on a moving conveyor line. The tray is easy to manufacture and provides a lightweight and cost effective packaging product. Preferably the tray has a rectangular shape that provides for consistent wrapping strength and can be handled on standard processing equipment.

An apparatus is provided for transferring at least one sausage link into a packaging item. The apparatus includes at least one drivable, rotatable conveyor device having at least one protruding vane, with the conveyor device being adapted and configured in such a way that the at least one sausage link can be placed on the vane in a receiving position, and that by rotating the conveyor device, the at least one sausage link can be placed onto or into the packaging item by the vane in a delivery position. The conveyor device may further include an impeller that forms, in part, a horizontal support surface for a group of sausage links.

A card feeding system that feeds cards from a stack to a conveyor system beneath product being carried. A card feed path arranged between a feed conveyor and the outfeed conveyor includes a fixed feed pinch roll and a pivot arm with a pivoting pinch roll and a pair of delivery rolls. A card stack receiving platform is located beneath a picker arm. An elevator is provided for raising the platform with the card stack. The picker arm has suction cups, and is pivotable from a card pick-up position to a feed position in which the card is positioned between the pivoting and fixed pinch rolls. A controller actuates the elevator, the picker arm, the pivot arm, the fixed and delivery pinch rolls to deliver single ones of the cards as product to be placed on the card transitions from the feed conveyor to the outfeed conveyor.

A food packaging system including a film dispensing device and a perforation device configured to create perforations in a film dispensed by the film dispensing device. The system also includes a wrapping device configured to wrap a food product in the film, and a controller configured to control the perforation device to produce a predetermined perforation pattern in the film. The film extends continuously while moving from the dispensing device to the wrapping device. The perforation device is positioned so that the film is perforated after leaving the dispenser and prior to the food product being wrapped in film.

The machine (1) for laying sliced food products (2) in containers (3), comprises: a first conveyor (4) able to convey slices (2) or groups of slices (2) along at least one advancement direction and provided with an end portion (40) from which the slices (2) are released; a second conveyor (5) able to convey containers (3) suitable for receiving one or more slices (2) from the end portion (40) of the first conveyor (4), the second conveyor (5) being placed below the first conveyor (4); and a positioning apparatus (45, 46, 47, 81, 82) for regulating the arrangement of the first and the second conveyor (4, 5) with respect to each other.

The machine (1) further comprises a detection apparatus (6) able to determine the arrangement of the slices (2) or of the groups of slices (2) on the first conveyor (4), and a processing unit (7) connected to the positioning and detection apparatuses and configured to control the activation of the positioning apparatus according to detections carried out by the detection apparatus (6).

A wrapping machine for wrapping trayed food products includes a wrap station at which trayed food products are wrapped and a film dispensing system for drawing out film at the wrap station. A conveying system moves trayed food products through the wrapping machine. The machine may include a printer and label apply arrangement positioned for applying labels to trayed food products after wrapping, where the printer and label apply arrangement includes a support that is pivotable between an operating position and an access position. The film dispensing system may include a knife movable for cutting the film, and opposite ends of the knife are mechanically linked via spaced apart first and second belts to maintain alignment of the opposite ends.

A wrapping machine for wrapping trayed food products includes a wrap station at which trayed food products are wrapped, a film dispensing station for drawing out film over trayed food products at the wrap station and a conveying system for moving trayed food products along a defined path from an input station to the wrap station. A controller is operatively connected to operate the conveying system, components of the film dispensing station and components of the wrap station. The controller is configured as a state machine with sequential wrap stages, where each wrap stage must successfully complete before the controller initiates a next wrap stage.

A wrapping machine for wrapping trayed items includes a wrap station and a conveying system for moving trayed items from an input station to the wrap station. The conveying system includes a conveyor for moving trayed items from the input station to a trayed item detection arrangement, and a prime mover operatively connected for moving the conveyor. A controller connected to the trayed item detection arrangement and the prime mover is configured for selectively carrying out a self-calibration operation in which: the prime mover is operated to cause movement of a portion of the conveyor from a start position to the trayed item detection arrangement; and an amount of prime mover movement required for the portion to travel from the start position to the trayed item detection arrangement is monitored and used to store a calibration value in memory of the controller.