Method and apparatus for arranging a plurality of food products in the base part of a packaging

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for arranging a plurality of foods, in particular different types of cut meat products and sausage products, in at least one base portion of a packaging. The method is characterized in that the base portion receiving the foods is moved on a guide track, wherein magnetic fields are generated for moving the base portion; in that the cart is fed successively to food feeds of the individual foods; and in that at least one food is placed on or in the base portion at each food feed. The apparatus has at least two food feeds whose respective food transfer ends are arranged above a guide track on which carts which have packaging receivers having at least one receiving frame are movable by means of magnetic field sources.

Claims

1. A method for arranging a plurality of foods in at least one base portion of a packaging, the method comprising: moving the base portion receiving the foods on a guide track, with magnetic fields being generated for moving the base portion; successively feeding a cart to food feeds of the individual foods, the cart having a packaging receiver having at least one receiving frame, the receiving frame having a shape adapted to the base portion to be received, the receiving frame rotatable with respect to a lower construction of the packaging receiver; and placing at least one food on or in the base portion at each food feed.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the food comprises different types of cut meat products and sausage products.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: placing at least one of the foods on or in the base portion in at least partly mutually overlapping slices.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: rotating the base portions of the packagings at or before the individual food feeds.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: stopping the base portions on the guide track at the food feeds while they are being filled.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: pushing away the base portions from a cart transporting them and movable on the guide track after the filling and feeding the filled base portions to a closing of the packaging.

7. An apparatus for the arranging of a plurality of foods in at least one base portion of a packaging having at least two food feeds, wherein a respective food transfer end of each of the food feeds is associated with a guide track on which carts can be moved by means of magnetic field sources; wherein at least the food transfer ends of the food feeds are arranged above the guide track; and wherein the carts have packaging receivers having at least one receiving frame, wherein the receiving frame has a shape adapted to the base portion to be received, the receiving frame rotatable with respect to a lower construction of the packaging receiver.

8. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the food includes different types of cut meat products or sausage products.

9. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the receiving frame is configured as a receiving depression.

10. The apparatus in accordance with claim 9, wherein the receiving depression has a shape which corresponds to a negative of the outer dimensions of the base portion to be received.

11. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein a cart holding point of the guide track is associated with at least one of the food feeds.

12. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the packaging receiver has a rotation device having a drive.

13. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the packaging receiver has a rotation device which can be actuated from the outside via at least one drive associated with the guide track.

14. The apparatus in accordance with claim 13, wherein the drives associated with the guide track are arranged at the guide track in a predefined conveying direction of the guide track before or directly at the respective food feeds.

15. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the packaging receivers have an ejection mechanism with which a received base portion can be pushed out of the receiving frame.

16. A packaging receiver for an apparatus for the arranging of a plurality of foods in at least one base portion of a packaging having at least two food feeds, in which apparatus a respective food transfer end of each of the food feeds is associated with a guide track on which carts can be moved by means of magnetic field sources; in which apparatus at least the food transfer ends of the food feeds are arranged above the guide track; and in which apparatus the carts have packaging receivers having at least one receiving frame, the packaging receiver comprising at least one receiving frame, the receiving frame having a shape adapted to the base portion to be received, the receiving frame rotatable with respect to a lower construction of the packaging receiver; and fastening means for at least one cart movable on the guide track by means of generated magnetic fields.

Description

(1) An embodiment of the invention from which further features material to the invention can be seen is shown in the drawing. There are shown:

(2) FIG. 1: a perspective view of a part of an apparatus in accordance with the invention with a guide track and a food feed;

(3) FIG. 2: a side view of a section of the apparatus in accordance with FIG. 1; and

(4) FIG. 3: a perspective view of a packaging receiver in accordance with the invention on a cart.

(5) The part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 shows a guide track 1 which has two guide rails 2 arranged in parallel with one another. They bound a lane formed at the guide track 1 at the margin side and have end sections curved with respect to one another at their free ends. A cart 3 having a packaging receiver 4 is held movable between them in the lane.

(6) The packaging receiver 4 comprises a lower construction 5, a rotation device 6 and a receiving frame 7 which is rotatably supported via the rotation device 6 with respect to the lower construction 5 and the cart 3. A base portion 8 of a packaging is additionally received in the receiving frame 7.

(7) The guide track 1 is further composed of three straight sections 1a, 1b, 1c, wherein adjacent sections are each arranged at right angles to one another in the conveying direction from 1a over 1b to 1c and are connected to one another via a respective cam part 1d, 1e. The sections 1a and 1c are accordingly aligned offset in parallel with one another. Furthermore, a food feed 9 configured as a conveyor belt can be seen above the section 1b in FIG. 1 which is arranged in parallel with the section 1b so that foods lying on the food feed 9 and carts 3 movable on the guide track 1 can be conveyed in the same direction in parallel with one another.

(8) A detailed view of the food feed 9 with its food transfer end 10 is shown in FIG. 2. The food transfer end 10 in this respect represents the region of the food feed 9 closest to the packaging receiver 4 so that a small drop height by means of gravity of foods to be placed in or on a base portion 8 of a packaging is ensured. The packaging receiver 4 is shown in detail in FIG. 3, with the packaging receiver 4 being connected by fastening means formed at the lower construction 5 to installation plates 11, 11 of the two-part cart 3. The rotation device 6 is fastened to the lower construction 5 and has a sprocket which is rotatably supported with respect to the lower construction 5, which is at the outer side and which is rotatable with respect to the cart 3 by means of static drives associated with the guide track 1. The rotation device 6 is arranged between the lower construction 5 and the receiving frame 7. The receiving frame 7 is configured in the embodiment shown as a receiving depression whose dimensions correspond to a negative of the base portion 8 to be received and which can completely receive it. The inserted base portion 8 and the receiving depression accordingly each have an opening in the same plane.

(9) In order now to arranged a plurality of foods in the base portion 8, a plurality of the parts of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 are to be arranged behind one another so that the cart with the packaging is fed successively over the guide track 1 to the individual food feeds 9 and is respectively loaded with a food. The guide track 1 is in this respect to be configured as a continuous belt, i.e. the respective first section 1a and the last section 1c are connected to one another via a further section of the guide track 1.

(10) All the features named in the above description and in the claims can be combined in any desired selection with the features of the independent claim. The disclosure of the invention is thus not restricted to the described or claimed feature combinations; all feature combinations sensible within the framework of the invention are rather to be considered as disclosed.