Soft Material Separator with Fill-Level-Dependent Adjustment of Speed, and Method for Operating Such a Soft Material Separator
20210037837 · 2021-02-11
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B30B9/241
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
A soft material separator (1) has a perforated drum (2) A pressing band (3) is guided along a circumferential section (19) of the perforated drum (2) and can be operated together with the perforated drum (2). A feed zone (7), from which a substance mixture (14) consisting of substance components (12, 13) of different consistencies is drawn in between the perforated drum (2) and the pressing band (3) to separate the substance components (12, 13). For optimization in terms of wear and energy consumption without any or without significant losses in effectiveness of the device, a detection system (9) is provided to quantitatively determine the fill level of the feed zone (7), and a control apparatus (10) which is connected to the detection system (9) is provided to adjust the speed of the perforated drum (2) and of the pressing band (3) depending on the fill level.
Claims
1. A soft material separator (1), comprising: a perforated drum (2) with holes on its circumference; a squeezing belt (3) that runs along a circumferential section (19) of the perforated drum (2) and adapted to be operated together with the perforated drum (2); a feed zone (7) from which a material mixture (14) made up of constituents (12, 13) having different consistencies is drawn in between the perforated drum (2) and the squeezing belt (3) in order to break up and separate the material constituents (12, 13) contained therein; a detection system (9) that quantitatively determines a filling level of the feed zone (7); and control unit (10) that is connected to the detection system (9) and that adjusts the speed of the perforated drum (2) and of the squeezing belt (3) as a function of the filling level.
2. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the filling level is determined contactlessly with optical or acoustical equipment selected from the group consisting essentially of: camera(s), laser scanner(s), ultrasound apparatus, and combinations of thereof.
3. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the detection system (9) has at least one sensor (25) whose detection area (22) extends in at least two spatial directions and which is directed at the feed zone (7) or at a section of the feed zone (7).
4. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the detection system (9) ascertains the filling level by determining a distance between at least one sensor (25) of the detection system (9) and the material mixture (14) present in a detection area (22) of the detection system (9).
5. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the detection system (9) is configured to generate a measured signal that is dependent on the filling level and then to calculate a filling level signal that is derived from the measured signal, wherein the filling level signal substantially corresponds to a filling level, filling degree or filling quantity, and the control unit (10) is configured to adjust the speed of the perforated drum (2) and of the squeezing belt (3) as a function of the filling level in response to the filling level signal.
6. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein fixed speed values associated with certain filling levels are stored in the control unit (10).
7. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (10) has a steady controlling element that regulates the speed as a function of the filling level, proportionally or integrally to the filling level of the feed zone (7).
8. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (10) is additionally configured with at least one integrating and/or differentiating controlling element.
9. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, further comprising a drive (11) to drive the perforated drum (2) and the squeezing belt (3), wherein the control unit (10) is integrated into the drive (11).
10. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (10) is configured to adjust the speed of the perforated drum (2) and of the squeezing belt (3) to below a maximum value and/or above a minimum value.
11. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 10, further comprising input means for adjusting the maximum and/or minimum values of the speed of the perforated drum (2) and of the squeezing belt (3).
12. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (10) is configured to bring the perforated drum (2) and the squeezing belt (3) to a standstill if the filling level falls below a prescribed minimum value.
13. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 12, wherein the detection system (9) has at least one sensor (25) to quantitatively determine the filling level of the feed zone (1) and at least one sensor (32) to detect whether the filling level has fallen below a minimum and/or whether the filling level has exceeded a maximum.
14. The soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (10) is configured to emit a control signal if overfilling of the feed zone (7) is detected, in response to which a feeding device situated upstream from the soft material separator (1) is slowed down or stopped.
15. A method for operating a soft material separator (1) according to claim 1, wherein speed of the perforated drum (2) and speed of the squeezing belt (3) are regulated as a function of the filling level of the feed zone (7).
16. A method for separating soft material food product constituents, comprising: placing soft material food product constituents into a feed zone and onto a squeezing belt; moving the squeezing belt adjacent to a circumferential surface of a rotatable perforated drum, causing a portion of the soft material food product constituents through perforations formed through the circumferential surface of the rotatable perforated drum; regulating the speed of the squeezing belt and the speed of rotation of the perforated drum as a function of a filling level of the feed zone with a detection system with contactless equipment selected from the group consisting essentially of: camera(s), laser scanner(s), ultrasound apparatus, and combinations thereof, and a control unit operatively connected to the detection system.
17. A soft material separator for processing food products, comprising: a perforated drum with a plurality of holes through its circumferential surface; a squeezing belt that contacts a circumferential section of the perforated drum and directs a material mixture made up of constituents having different consistencies from a feed zone toward the perforated drum, so that the material mixture drawn between the perforated drum and the squeezing belt breaks up and separates the material constituents; a detection system to determine a filling level of the feed zone with contactless equipment selected from the group consisting essentially of: camera(s), laser scanner(s), ultrasound apparatus, and combinations thereof; and a control unit operatively connected to the detection system that adjusts speed of rotation of the perforated drum and speed of the squeezing belt as a function of the filling level.
Description
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0037] Additional objectives, advantages, features and application possibilities of the present invention ensue from the description below of an embodiment making reference to the drawing. In this context, all of the described and/or depicted features, either on their own or in any meaningful combination, constitute the subject matter of the present invention, also irrespective of their compilation in the claims or the claims to which they refer back.
[0038] In this context, the following is shown:
[0039]
[0040]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0041] For the sake of clarity, identical components or those having the same effect are provided with the same reference numerals in the following figures, making reference to an embodiment.
[0042]
[0043] The device also has a continuous squeezing belt 3 that consists at least partially of an elastic material. The term elastic material refers to a material that is more resilient than the material of the perforated drum 2, which is made, for example, of steel. The elastic material can be, for instance, natural rubber, polyurethane or artificial rubber, in other words, synthetic rubber such as, for example, EPDM. As an alternative, a firm squeezing belt 3 made, for instance, of steel, can be provided with an elastic layer (not shown here) made of one of the above-mentioned elastic materials. The squeezing belt 3 can be manufactured without a seam as a continuous belt, or else it can be configured as a belt section whose ends have been joined together.
[0044] The squeezing belt 3 runs over a roller guide which, in this case, has a pressure roller 4 that is cooled in certain embodiment variants, and also a pair of rollers 5. The roller guide is configured in such a way that part of the squeezing belt 3 runs tangentially along a section of the circumferential wall 15 of the perforated drum 2. This area is referred to below as the processing zone or as the overlap 19. In the area of the overlap 19, the squeezing belt 3 can be configured so as to be in contact with the circumferential wall 15 or at a distance from it. In any case, the pressure roller 4 exerts a pressure or elastic pre-tension onto the squeezing belt 3 in such a way that the squeezing belt 3 rests directly against the perforated drum 2 under constant pre-tensioning, or else a pre-tension is exerted onto the material mixture and thus indirectly onto the perforated drum 2 only once a material mixture 14 is passing through the processing area. The pre-tension against the perforated drum 2 can be built up and adjusted by means of a hydraulic unit 30 that is connected to the mount of the pressure roller 4.
[0045] When it comes to driving the squeezing belt 3 by means of the coupling mechanism 26, for example, a chain drive, the rollers of the pair of rollers 5 and the pressure roller 4 are operatively connected to the drive 11 and, at the same time, synchronized with the perforated drum 2. The squeezing belt 3 is wound onto the roller guide under pre-tensioning, so that the drive movements 36 that are transferred to the pair of rollers 5 and to the pressure roller 4 by means of the coupling mechanism 26 can be transferred essentially slip-free to the squeezing belt 3. The perforated drum 2 and the squeezing belt 3 are synchronized in such a way that the area of the overlap 19 is traversed essentially without a different relative speed between the squeezing belt 3 and the perforated drum 2 in the circumferential direction. In the area of the overlap 19, the perforated drum 2 and the squeezing belt 3 execute a joint circumferential movement 20 around the axis of symmetry 17 of the perforated drum 2.
[0046] At the sides of the perforated drum 2 as well as of the squeezing belt 3, there are limiters 6 that guide the squeezing belt 3 along the side, in other words, they laterally delimit the area of the overlap 19 as well as a feed zone 7 located upstream from the processing zone. The feed zone 7 is formed by the squeezing belt 3 that converges tangentially with the perforated drum 2 in a feeding direction 18 as well as by the lateral limiters 6.
[0047] A hopper 8 that is physically arranged above the feed zone 7 feeds the material mixture 14 to be processed to the feed zone 7. A feeding device 24 is situated upstream from the hopper 8. The feeding device 24 can be part of the soft material separator 1. When the soft material separator 1 is employed in a processing line, the feeding device 24 is a separate machine which is located upstream from the soft material separator 1 and which is physically arranged next to or above the soft material separator 1 and from which the material mixture 14 that is to be fed in drops into the feed zone 7. The feeding device 24 can be configured here, for instance, as a silo dispenser, feed belt or manual feed.
[0048] As shown here, the feeding device 24 can also have a transport mechanism 27, for example, a transport auger by means of which material mixture 14 is fed from an upstream container into the hopper 8 and thus into the feed zone 7. The feeding device 24 has a drive 23 for operating the transport mechanism 27. The drive 23 and the transport mechanism 27 are operatively connected to each other by means of a coupling mechanism 37.
[0049] A sensor 25 of a detection system 9 is arranged in a housing 29 on the machine cladding 28 and, according to the invention, this sensor 25 detects the quantitative filling state or the filling volume, the filling level or the filling degree in the feed zone 7.
[0050] An optional additional sensor 32 of the detection system 9 can serve to provide a purely qualitative monitoring of the feed zone 7 as to whether a material mixture 14 is being fed in. The sensor 32 can be, for example, a reflective photoelectric sensor that can detect the presence of objects along its line of sight 34. The sensor 25 and the optionally present additional sensor 32 of the detection system 9 have a communication connection with a control unit 10. A constant presence of objects along the line of sight 34 of the sensor 32 indicates that the feed zone 7 is overfilled, in other words, that a maximum filling level has been exceeded. A constant absence of objects along the line of sight 34 of the sensor 32 indicates that the feed zone 7 is running empty, and therefore that the filling level has fallen below a minimum value.
[0051] The sensor 25 uses the detection system 9 to detect the actual value of the filling level of the material mixture 14 in the feed zone 7, preferably continuously, and the sensor 25 then transmits to the control unit 10 a corresponding measured value or a filling-level value derived from the measured value. For example, the measurement is made by means of an ultrasound measurement carried out by the sensor 25 in order to ascertain the shortest distance between the material mixture 14 and the sensor 25 within its detection area 22.
[0052] As can be seen from the fan-shaped lines 33 shown in
[0053] The control unit 10 can be connected to a programmable logic controller or else it can be formed by such. The control unit 10 compares the measured actual value of the filling level to a prescribed target value and then regulates the speed of the drive 11to which the control unit 10 is connected via a control line 39as a function of the filling level and/or as a function of the control deviation between the target value and the actual value.
[0054] If the sensor 25, and optionally the sensor 32, detect(s) that the maximum value of the filling level has been exceeded, in other words, that overfilling is imminent or already occurring, then the control unit 10 can emit a special signal by means of which the drive 23 of the feeding device 24 or the upstream feed can be stopped by way of an exception in order to prevent overfilling. For this purpose, the control unit 10 can be additionally connected to the drive 23 via a control line not shown here. If the sensor 25 and optionally the sensor 32 have detected that the filling level has fallen below a minimum value, then the control unit 10 can stop the drive 11 of the soft material separator 1 in order to prevent the perforated drum 2 and the squeezing belt 3 from running dry.
[0055] The processing method carried out with the soft material separator 1 provides for processing a material mixture 14 made up of material constituents 12, 13 having different consistencies in such a way that the material constituents 12 having a first consistency are separated from the material constituents 13 having a second consistency. For example, residual meat can be separated from bone, cartilage or sinew.
[0056] The consistency of the material mixture 14 can refer to the firmness of the tissue that is to be broken up, to its hardness, flowability or the like. For example, during the de-sinewing process, the firmness of the sinew contained in the meat is greater than the firmness of the meat that surrounds the sinew. The production of mechanically separated meat from poultry carcasses or the production of fish farce by separating the skin and bone constituents can involve different levels of hardness or softness of the individual material constituents 12, 13. In the production of fruit juice or vegetable pure, the consistency of the individual material constituents 12, 13 can be described in terms of different levels of flowability of the fruit constituents.
[0057] The material mixture 14 with both material constituents 12, 13 having different consistencies is shown in
[0058] As can be seen in
[0059] The material mixture 14 accumulates in the feed zone 7 and is drawn in by the feeding movement 18 that occurs on the perforated drum 2 and the squeezing belt 3 into the area of the overlap 19, that is to say, into the processing zone, where the squeezing belt 3 exerts a contact pressure onto the material mixture 14 in the direction of the circumferential wall 15 of the perforated drum 2.
[0060] Under the effect of the pressing force, the material constituents 12 of the material mixture 14 are separated from the material constituents 13 and then enter the interior 31 of the perforated drum 2 through openings 16 along its circumference. The material constituents 13 having the second consistency, in contrast, remain between the circumferential wall 15 and the squeezing belt 3, a process in which at least some of these constituents sink into the elastic areas of the squeezing belt 3 and are thus protected from an excessive load exerted by the pressing force. This especially serves to prevent undesired substances from these material constituents 13 from being released and prevents them from being transferred into the material constituents 12 in the interior 31 of the perforated drum 2. For example, when chicken carcasses are being processed, it can be important for the chicken bones that are present between the squeezing belt 3 and the perforated drum 2 not to be comminuted too strongly, so that the meat constituent that is entering the interior 31 of the perforated drum 2 only absorbs a limited amount of calcium stemming from the comminuted chicken bones.
[0061] After passing through the processing zone, the material constituents 13 of the material mixture 14 that have not been separated are collected in a discharge receptacle 21. The discharge receptacle 21 can also be a container that is regularly replaced. At the beginning of the process, the perforated drum 2 is run together with the squeezing belt 3 at a prescribed starting speed at which the material mixture 14 present in the feed zone 7 is drawn in and processed. The starting speed can be a minimum speed that can be adjusted using an input means 35, said minimum speed being one that is required to reliably draw the material mixture 14 from the feed zone 7 into the processing zone, in other words, into the overlap 19. Setting a minimum speed also ensures that, if the feed of material mixture 14 into the feed zone 7 stops, the feed zone 7 is emptied out before the perforated drum 2 and the squeezing belt 3 have been automatically stopped as protection again their running dry.
[0062] The sensor 25 of the detection system 9 that is physically situated above the feed zone 7 determines the filling level of the feed zone 7. As soon as the filling level rises or falls, the processing speed of the perforated drum 2 and of the squeezing belt 3 is raised or lowered, with the aim of maintaining a uniform filling level in the feed zone 7. This brings about an automatic adjustment of the processing speed to the quantity of material mixture 14 present in the feed zone 7. Maintaining a prescribed filling level can ensure, for instance, that the material mixture 14 that is to be drawn into the processing zone can be reliably drawn in if there is always sufficient material above it weighing down on the squeezing belt 3. Different filling heights or levels can be prescribed, for example, for different types of material mixtures 14.
[0063] With an eye towards maintaining a prescribed filling level, the feed zone 7 also automatically functions as a material buffer that can temporarily compensate for interruptions in the feed of the material mixture 14 into the feed zone 7 and can also prevent a standstill of the drive 11.
[0064] The algorithm in the control unit 10 from which the speed adjustment is derived can be based, for instance, on the fact that each filling level value is always associated with a certain speed value. This can also be achieved with very simple control units. The associated values can even compensate for non-linearities that are present in the device, for example, an irregular geometric shape of the feed zone 7, in order to obtain satisfactory regulation results.
[0065] As an alternative, the control unit 10 can also be configured in such a way that a steady control is carried out involving continuous determination of a control deviation stemming from the measured actual value of the filling level and the prescribed target value, and the speed of the drive is always readjusted in order to maintain the prescribed filling level. On the one hand, this can serve to allow a quick response to greatly fluctuating filling levels or else to set the drive regulation so slow that high-wear acceleration and braking procedures are prevented. Also in the case of a steady control of the speed of the perforated drum 2 and of the squeezing belt 3 as a function of the filling level, a minimum speed can be prescribed at which the perforated drum 2 and the squeezing belt 3 are operated in order to reliably empty out the feed zone 7 before initiating the switch-off procedure that serves to prevent dry running.
[0066] The steady control can be configured, for instance, as a simple proportional-action controller or else as a controller with an additional integrating controlling element and/or differentiating controlling element, in other words, as a so-called PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller.
[0067] The detection system 9 can be configured to carry out an ultrasound measurement which ascertains the highest point of the material mixture 14 that has accumulated in the feed zone 7. As an alternative, however, it is also possible to use an optical sensor, for example, a laser sensor or a camera, which is directed at the feed zone 7 so that, on the basis of the detection of individual sub-units of the material mixture, a conclusion can be reached about the actual filling level. Measurement employing radar is likewise conceivable.
[0068] The sensor 25 can also be configured in such a way that it allows a two-dimensional or three-dimensional imaging of the feed zone 7, on which basis the volume of material mixture contained in the feed zone 7 can then be calculated.
[0069] Therefore, the system can always be operated at the lowest possible speed, so that wear and tear of the squeezing belt 3 as well as of other components is minimized. By the same token, the consumption of energy by the system is reduced while the processing yield remains constant.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0070] 1 soft material separator [0071] 2 perforated drum [0072] 3 squeezing belt [0073] 4 pressure roller [0074] 5 pair of rollers [0075] 6 lateral limiters [0076] 7 feed zone [0077] 8 hopper [0078] 9 detection system [0079] 10 control unit [0080] 11 drive [0081] 12 material constituent having a first consistency [0082] 13 material constituent having a second consistency [0083] 14 material mixture [0084] 15 circumferential wall [0085] 16 openings [0086] 17 axis of symmetry [0087] 18 feeding direction [0088] 19 overlap [0089] 20 circumferential movement [0090] 21 discharge receptacle [0091] 22 detection area [0092] 23 drive [0093] 24 feeding device [0094] 25 sensor [0095] 26 coupling mechanism [0096] 27 conveying device [0097] 28 machine cladding [0098] 29 housing [0099] 30 hydraulic unit [0100] 31 interior [0101] 32 sensor [0102] 33 fan-shaped line [0103] 34 line of sight [0104] 35 input means [0105] 36 driving movement [0106] 37 coupling mechanism [0107] 38 sensor line [0108] 39 control line