A method and a plant for the storage of sausages, according to which two rows of sausages are simultaneously transferred from a loading station to a support cross member of a vertical store by means of a pick-and-place device provided with two support arms, which are parallel to one another, have an elongated shape, are provided with respective pluralities of holding members and are movable relative to one another between a closed position and an open position; the sum of the holding members of the two support arms being equal to the number of hooking members of the support cross member of the store. Main drawing: FIG. 1

The present invention relates to a system and a method for producing sausage-shaped products, like sausages, containing a flowable filling material in a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing and a suspension element, like a suspension loop. The system includes a clipping machine for producing the sausage-shaped products, a discharge device for discharging the sausage-shaped products out of the clipping machine and a feeding device for feeding a rod-like element into a loading position in which the sausage-shaped products are stored on the rod-like element by the discharge device.

An interchangeable hook-and-bracket system for a manufacturing process is disclosed. The interchangeable hook-and-bracket system may be configured to cooperate with a vertical conveying system of a food-processing system. Interchangeable hooks of the conveyor system may comprise hook portions and bracket portions that may be configured to releasably attach to one another. The bracket portions may be made substantially of a structurally robust material such as a metal and may be non-releasably attached to the conveyor system, and the hook portions may be made substantially of a flexible material such as a polymer-based material. More than one hook portion may correspond to a bracket portion, each hook portion having a configuration corresponding to a particular product, casing, throughput, and/or process condition.

The present disclosure relates to a suspension unit and a method for taking up and transporting sausage loops with a guide rail and hooks circulating around the guide rail, where the guide rail has an elongate front side and an oppositely disposed rear side. The guide rail is inclined relative to a horizontal plane such that the front side is at a higher level than the rear side.

A method for handling longitudinal smoking rods for storing sausage-shaped products, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of the rod-like elements having a length; providing a clipping machine configured to produce the sausage-shaped products; providing a hanging line configured to load the produced sausage-shaped products on the rod-like elements and comprising a measuring position for measuring the length of the rod-like elements, and a loading position for loading the sausage-shaped products on the rod-like elements; feeding one of the rod-like elements to the measuring position of the hanging line; measuring the length of the rod-like element; determining whether the length is within a tolerance range of a desired length; loading a predetermined number of the produced sausage-shaped products on the rod-like element, if the length is within the tolerance range; and discarding the rod-like element from the hanging line, if the length is not within the tolerance range.

The invention relates to a discharge section for a discharge of products with at least one suspension element, in particular, for sausage-shaped products, along the discharge section. The discharge section comprises a catcher unit and a guide unit. The catcher unit comprises a catching end and is configured for threading at least one suspension element of the product with the catching end. The guide unit is configured for receiving the at least one suspension element of the product from the catcher unit and for transporting the product at its at least one suspension element along the discharge section. The discharge section is characterized in that the catcher unit and the guide unit are releasably attached to each other by means of an attachment mechanism. The attachment mechanism is configured to enable an adjustment of a position of the catcher unit's catching end relative to the guide unit.

The present disclosure relates to a suspension unit and a method for taking up and transporting sausage loops with a guide rail and hooks circulating around the guide rail, where the guide rail has an elongate front side and an oppositely disposed rear side. The guide rail is inclined relative to a horizontal plane such that the front side is at a higher level than the rear side.

A sausage cutting apparatus 10 comprises a plastics base plate 36 defining a flat support base for a sausage rope to be cut, first and second cutting assemblies 38,42 including a number of cutting devices 40, a drive system for displacing the cutting devices and a guide rails 72 for guiding the displacement. The cutting assemblies 38, 42 are located at opposite sides of a feed path for the sausage rope and each includes a continuous flexible toothed belt 46 to which the cutting devices 40 are connected. The carrier belts 46 are mounted on the guide rails. The guide rails project upwardly from the support base and include arcuate guide surfaces along which the carrier belts are slidingly displaced, defining sequentially convergent and divergent cutter paths along which associated cutting devices are displaced inwardly for severing the sausage rope and thereafter away from one another for releasing severed sausage portions.

The present disclosure relates to a suspension unit and a method for taking up and transporting sausage loops with a guide rail and hooks circulating around the guide rail, where the guide rail has an elongate front side and an oppositely disposed rear side. The guide rail is inclined relative to a horizontal plane such that the front side is at a higher level than the rear side.

The present invention relates to a method for removing a rod-like element from a loading position of a hanging line in which the rod-like element can successively be loaded with sausage-shaped products, each of which contain a flowable filling material in a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing provided with a suspension element through which the sausage-shaped products can be suspended on the rod-like element in the loading position. The method comprises the steps of feeding successively sausage-shaped products to a take-up position of the hanging line at a basic feeding speed, taking up one sausage-shaped product being positioned in the take-up position, by one of several transportation elements of a transport device of the hanging line, the transportation elements circulating along a circulation path at a basic transportation speed, loading by the transportation elements a predefined number of sausage-shaped products on the rod-like element being positioned in the loading position by the transportation elements, and replacing the loaded rod-like element by an empty rod-like element after the final sausage-shaped product has been suspended on said rod-like element. The method further comprises the steps of varying the basic transportation speed of the transport device or the basic feeding speed, or both, after the final sausage-shaped product to be stored on the rod-like element, has been picked up by a transportation element, such that the subsequent transportation element remains empty, and setting back the varied transportation speed and/or the varied feeding speed to the basic transportation speed and/or the basic feeding speed during loading of the subsequent rod-like element.