A METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR GENERATING BATCHES OF FOOD PIECES

Abstract

A method and system is provided for generating batches of food pieces, and includes: conveying incoming food objects through at least one cutting device, where the at least one cutting device is configured to cut the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces according to at least one first cutting rule, conveying the resulting plurality of cut food pieces to at least one batching system where at least one batch is generated fulfilling at least one first criterion including at least one first weight target. The at least one first cutting rule is selected in accordance to the at least one first weight target such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of food pieces entering the batching system fulfils at least one first pre-defined weight target distribution adapted to the at least one first weight target.

Claims

1.-24. (canceled)

25. A method of generating batches of food pieces, comprising: conveying incoming food objects through a cutting device, where the cutting device is configured to cut the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces according to a first cutting rule, and conveying the resulting plurality of cut food pieces to a batching system where batches are generated fulfilling at least one first weight target, wherein the first cutting rule is selected in accordance to the at least one first weight target such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of food pieces entering the batching system is adapted to the at least one first weight target, wherein in case the batches fulfilling the at least one first weight target is changed to batches fulfilling at least one second weight target, a control signal is generated instructing the cutting device to adjust to a second cutting rule such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces entering the batching system is adapted to the at least one second weight target.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the resulting food pieces have two or more different type characteristics, and where the batches further include type characteristic targets.

27. The method according to claim 25, wherein at least one of the at least one first weight target and/or the at least one second weight target contain two or more different target weights, and where the number of weight distributions of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces corresponds to the number of the first weight targets and/or the number of the second weight targets.

28. The method according to claim 25, wherein the weight distributions of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces entering the batching system are within a pre-defined weight range.

29. The method according to claim 25, wherein the food objects include: fish fillets and where the cut food pieces are fish fillet pieces such as loin piece(s), tail piece(s), belly piece(s), head end piece(s); and/or poultry meat such as breast fillets where the cut food pieces are poultry pieces such as end piece(s) and/or poultry meat slices and/or remaining cut breast fillet; and/or red meat such as pork, beef, lamb where the cut food pieces are red meat pieces such as end pieces(s), and/or red meat slices.

30. The method according to claim 25, wherein geometrical and/or density profiles is determined for the incoming food objects and utilized as input data in cutting the food objects into the smaller pieces having weight estimate targets.

31. The method according to claim 25, wherein after cutting the food objects into plurality of food pieces the smaller food pieces are weighed a weight determining device.

32. The method according to claim 30, further comprising comparing a determined weight of a given food piece to a weight estimate target of the same food piece, where in case a deviation between the determined weight and the weight estimate target exceeds a pre-defined threshold value, a control correction signal is generated to adjust the geometrical and/or the density profile such that the deviation for subsequent food pieces becomes within the pre-defined threshold value.

33. The method according to claim 25, wherein the weight of individual food pieces in the batches have associated weight targets, and/or the number of food pieces in the batches have associated number targets.

34. The method according to claim 25, wherein the step of cutting the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces according to the first cutting rule comprises cutting at least one end and/or at least one side of the food objects into one or more slices.

35. The method according to claim 25, further comprising, subsequent to cutting the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces, creating a spacing between adjacent cut food pieces.

36. The method according to claim 25, where the step of adapting the weight distributions of the plurality of food pieces entering the batching system includes ensuring that the prospects of the weight distributions best fit to the batches.

37. The method according to claim 25, wherein the step of instructing the cutting device to adjust to a second cutting rule is performed in two or more steps, each step being triggered after a completion of single first weight target batch.

38. The method according to claim 25, where the batching system comprises two or more different batching areas.

39. The method according to claim 25, further comprising at least one additional cutting device where the two or more cutting devices receive food objects having at least one characteristic property parameter.

40. The method according to claim 39, where the method further comprises measuring the least one characteristic property parameter of the incoming food objects including one or more of weight, size, shape, color of the food objects and utilizing one or more of the least one characteristic property parameter as an input parameter in allocating the food objects to the two or more cutting devices.

41. A system for generating batches of food pieces, comprising: a control unit, and a conveyor device for conveying incoming food objects through a cutting device, where the cutting device is controlled by the control unit, where the controlling includes instructing the cutting device to cut the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces according a first cutting rule, and a conveyor device for conveying the resulting plurality of cut food pieces to a batching system where at least one batch is generated fulfilling at least one first weight target, wherein the first cutting rule is selected in accordance to the at least one first weight target such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of food pieces entering the batching system is adapted to the at least one first weight target, wherein the control unit is further configured, in case the at least one batch fulfilling at least one weight target is changed to at least one batch fulfilling at least one second weight target, to instruct the at least one cutting device according to received control signal to adjust the first rule to a second cutting rule such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces entering the batching system is adapted to the at least one second weight target.

42. The system according to claim 41, where the batching system comprises two or more different batching areas.

43. The system according to claim 41, further comprising at least one additional cutting device where the two or more cutting devices are configured to receive food objects having at least one characteristic property parameter.

44. The system according to claim 43, where the system further comprises a measuring device for measuring the least one characteristic property parameter of the incoming food objects including one or more of weight, size, shape, color of the food objects, and where the control unit is further configured to utilize one or more of the least one characteristic property parameter as an input parameter in allocating the food objects to the two or more cutting devices.

45. The system according to claim 41, wherein the resulting food pieces have two or more different type characteristics, and where the batches further include type characteristic targets.

46. The system according to claim 41, wherein at least one of the at least one first weight target and/or the at least one second weight target contain two or more different target weights, and where the number of weight distributions of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces corresponds to the number of the first weight targets and/or the number of the second weight targets.

47. The system according to claim 41, wherein the weight distributions of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces entering the batching system are within a pre-defined weight range.

48. The system according to claim 41, wherein the food objects include: fish fillets and where the cut food pieces are fish fillet pieces such as loin piece(s), tail piece(s), belly piece(s), head end piece(s); and/or poultry meat such as breast fillets where the cut food pieces are poultry pieces such as end piece(s) and/or poultry meat slices and/or remaining cut breast fillet; and/or red meat such as pork, beef, lamb where the cut food pieces are red meat pieces such as end pieces(s), and/or red meat slices.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] Embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0051] FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of one embodiment of a method according to the present invention, and

[0052] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a system according to the present invention for carrying out the method steps in FIG. 1,

[0053] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a system for generating batches of food pieces according to the present invention, and

[0054] FIG. 4a-d show an example of different cutting patterns where the food object is a poultry fillet.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0055] FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of one embodiment of a method according to the present invention for generating batches of food pieces, where the food pieces originate from food objects after undergoing a cutting process.

[0056] In a first step (S1) 101, food objects are conveyed through a cutting device. The cutting device may be any type of slicer, portioning device, high pressure water cutter, where any type of image data of the incoming food objects may be utilized as an input data by a control unit in controlling the cutting device when cutting the food objects into plurality of food pieces according to a first cutting rule, preferably having preferred target weight. The resulting food pieces may have two or more different type characteristics, and where at least one first criterion of the batches may further include the type of the food pieces in the batches. The food pieces may as an example be any types of meat, such as primal parts of red meat where the food pieces may include meat slices, or a particular part of a primal such as tail part or loin. The food pieces may also as an example be fish fillets where the resulting food pieces are e.g. loin, or loin portions originating from the fish fillet, or belly or belly parts, or tail or tail parts, or the food pieces may include poultry slices/pieces, meat slices/pieces.

[0057] In a second step (S2) 102, the resulting plurality of cut food pieces are conveyed to a batching system where at least one batch is generated fulfilling at least one first weight target.

[0058] The at least one first cutting rule is selected in accordance to the at least one first weight target such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of food pieces entering the batching system fulfils at least one first pre-defined weight target distribution adapted to the at least one first weight target.

[0059] In a third step (S3) 103, the at least one first weight target is changed to at least one second weight target. This may as an example be because orders in the system coming from outside customers changes, where a new order is received with one or more new orders having one or more new second pre-defined target weights.

[0060] In a fourth step (S4) 104, a control signal is then generated for the cutting device to adjust the first cutting rule a second cutting rule such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of resulting cut food pieces entering the batching system is adapted to the at least one second weight target. This change may occur over some time period meaning that not all of a sudden all the new incoming distribution is in line with the second pre-defined weight target. This may as an example happen gradually within e.g. few seconds or minutes, until all the distribution of the food pieces follow the at least one second pre-defined weight target.

[0061] The at least one first weight target and/or the at least one second weight target may contain two or more different weight targets, e.g. 3 kg and 5 kg target, and where the number of at least one first and/or the second pre-defined weight target distribution correspond to the number of the at least one first weight target and/or the number of the at least one second weight target.

[0062] The at least one first/second criterion includes, but is not limited to, a desired weight, e.g. average weight of the food pieces, or other characteristics such as average thickness, number of pieces in a batch.

[0063] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a system 200 according to the present invention for generating batches of food pieces according to the method discussed in relation to FIG. 1. The system comprises a conveyor device 206 for conveying incoming food objects 201 through at least one cutting device 202, where the at least one cutting device is controlled by a control unit 204, where the controlling includes instructing the at least one cutting device to cut the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces 207, 208 according to the at least one first cutting rule. The conveyor device 206 also conveys the resulting plurality of cut food pieces to a batching system 203 where the at least one batch is generated in e.g. plurality of boxes or trays 209 fulfilling the at least one first weight target.

[0064] The embodiment shown here comprises three parallel arranged systems 200 (this should of course not be construed as being limited to three, could just as well be two or more than three), where the system further comprises an infeed conveyor 205 for conveying the incoming food objects 201 where at least one characteristic property, such as weight, size, shape, color, of incoming food objects is acquired by a measuring device 210, which could e.g. be selected from one or more of: a scale, camera, laser line scanner, etc. The acquired at least one characteristic property is utilized as an input parameter by the control unit 204 in allocating the incoming food objects to one of the three systems 200 via opening and closing of sweep arms 211. This could be based on the size and/or shape and/or weight etc., which one fits best into which of the three systems.

[0065] Also, the batching process taking place in the three systems may originate from two or more different orders from different customers that may have different preferences, which could e.g. be larger average weight for individual food pieces, meaning that e.g. a large food object might be better suited for a specific customer.

[0066] As discussed in relation to FIG. 1, the step of cutting the food objects into smaller pieces is done such that the smaller pieces fulfil a certain weight requirement, e.g. are within a specific weight range, e.g. 190 g-210 g, but in order to be able to do so, it is preferred that further information about the incoming food objects into the at least one cutting device (or in the at least one cutting device) is known, and utilized as an operation parameter in operating the at least one cutting device. This might be geometrical data acquired by measuring device 210, or this may be geometrical information acquired at the at least one cutting device where e.g. a camera or a e.g. a 3D line scanner (or similar device) is placed upstream to each of the at least one cutting device.

[0067] In one embodiment, the at least one cutting device comprises an inspection device such as an X-ray device and a high pressure water cutter, where the control unit controls the high pressure water cutter based on image data from the X-ray device, i.e. the image data from the X-ray sensors placed (typically) below a conveyor belt on which the food objects are resting are not only used to identify undesired objects that are to be cut and removed, such as bone structure in fish fillets, but also to generate a 2 or 3D profile when cutting it into food pieces that are with a certain weight range, and the result in said pre-defined weight target distributions.

[0068] To further enhance the reliability and/or accuracy, a weighing device may be placed downstream relative to the at least one cutting device to accurately measure the cut food pieces.

[0069] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a system for generating batches of food pieces 319, comprising a control unit 304, a conveyor device 306 for conveying incoming food objects 301 conveyed in a conveyor direction indicated by arrow 331 through a cutting device 302, where the cutting device is controlled by the control unit 304. A measuring device 310 which may be an X-ray device, a line scanner, a camera, and the like, acquires image data 312 e.g. about the size and/or shape and/or weight, where this data 312 is used as a control parameter in controlling the cutting device 302 to cut the incoming food objects into plurality of food pieces according a first cutting rule. The measuring device 310 and the cutting device 302 may be incorporated into one and the same device.

[0070] The first cutting rule is selected in accordance to the at least one first weight target order from a customer 315, where an order from a customer is received by a computer system 314 and processed where the resulting order data 313 from the customer 315 may e.g. be 500*2 kg batches and 700*4.5 kg batches of poultry pieces and a bulk for cut off parts (not contributing to the batching process), such that the resulting weight distribution of the plurality of food pieces 308 entering the batching system is adapted to the at least one first weight target. As shown in this embodiment, the conveyor device 306 (may be multiple conveyors) dividing the food pieces to a first batching area 319 via conveyor 306b and conveyor 306c, e.g. because of different distributions 316, 317, where e.g. in the first batching area the 500 2 kg batches whereas in the second batching area the 700*4.5 kg batches are being produced.

[0071] All remaining cut off pieces 307 may be conveyed via conveyor 306d to another process, e.g. to said bulk.

[0072] The number of batching areas should of course not be construed as being limited to two batching areas, the batching system 303 may just as well include just a single batching area or more the one batching area, where as shown here, each batching area comprises at least one handling device, e.g. three robotic devices 322a,b,c each having a robotic arm 326. This should not be construed to three robotic devices, but a single robotic device or more than two robotic devices may just as well be implemented. The robotic device may of course also be replaced with sweep arms or the like.

[0073] The incoming distributions 316, 317 of the cut food pieces into the batching areas 319, 318 is thus the most optimal distribution at all times for the batches currently being produced in each batching area. It should be noted that in this example, multiple of different batches may be produced with the same batching area, and thus multiple of different weight distributions may be present within each batching area.

[0074] Each batching area may be provided with a tray feeding device 320 that automatically releases an empty tray 309 onto a tray feeding conveyor 321 that advances the trays in a direction indicated by arrow 330 in e.g. discrete steps, while the trays are being filled with food pieces until the weight targets are achieved. The order data 313 may further include a weight range of the individual food piece in the batches, and even the type of food piece in the batches.

[0075] When a new order is received from e.g. another customer 315 having different order data 313 including different target weights, the control unit 304 will receive this data 313 to instruct the cutting device 302 to cut according to a second cutting rule so that the resulting distributions of the cut food pieces fit to the new batches currently being produced in the batching system 303. This transfer of the first cutting rule to the second cutting rule may occur over some time range until all the 500*2 kg batches and 700*4.5 kg batches (first order) have been completed. In another scenario, the first order is fully completed before the second order starts.

[0076] FIG. 4a-d show an example where the food object is a poultry fillet, where FIG. 4a shows where the cutting pattern 403 (first or a second cutting rule) results in a single front piece 403 (medallion) leaving a remaining part 402 as a fillet, which preferably has as natural appearance as possible.

[0077] FIG. 4b shows multiple of cut medallions 402 leaving a remaining part 402 as a fillet, where the cut medallions may fulfil a weight and/or thickness target, and/or where the remaining fillet 403 is within a pre-defined weight target such that the resulting distribution of such fillets 403 are adapted to weight targets that are being produced.

[0078] FIG. 4c shows another cutting patterns where more or less the whole poultry fillet is cut into medallions.

[0079] FIG. 4d shows where the front part of the poultry fillet is cut into several medallions, and the remaining part is schnitzel 405 and fillet 406.

[0080] What may be decisive for different cuts is the total weight of the incoming poultry fillets, e.g. a very large fillet may be suited for the cutting pattern in FIG. 4b, whereas a smaller fillet may be more suitable for cutting pattern 4a.

[0081] Also, depending on the orders from the customer, all these different cutting patterns may be done at the same time, i.e. some fillets with suitable characteristics are cut as shown in FIG. 4a, another characteristics is suitable to be cut according to FIG. 4b etc.

[0082] The cut patterns (first/second cutting rule) shown here may of course also apply to food objects such as, but not limited to, red meat loins, e.g. pork loin, beef loin, fish fillet, lamb meat etc.

[0083] The term first cutting rule may be understood as one or all the cutting rules shown in FIG. 4a-d and the second cutting rule may be understood as multiple of different cuts, or similar cuts but e.g. with different weight targets.

[0084] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word comprising does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article a or an does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.