METHOD FOR PROCESSING FOOD PRODUCTS AND FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEM WITH POSITION TRACKING

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for processing food products, comprising the following steps: multi-track slicing of food products into individual food portions on a plurality of production tracks; detecting at least one feature of a food portion during and/or after slicing; multi-track conveying of the food portions on separate production tracks; moving the food portions 34 from a plurality of production tracks onto a reduced number of output tracks and/or moving them between different tracks and/or grouping them. According to the present disclosure, the position of the individual food portions is tracked by means of a controller, so that, for each food portion 16 which has been moved onto the output track, it will be known on which production track said food portion 16 has been produced. The disclosure further relates to a food processing system.

Claims

1. A method for processing food products, the method comprising: a) multi-track slicing of food products into individual food portions on a plurality of production tracks; b) detecting at least one feature of a food portion during and/or after slicing; c) multi-track conveying of the food portions on separate production tracks; d) moving the food portions from a plurality of production tracks onto at least one output track and/or moving them between different tracks and/or grouping them; and e) tracking position of the individual food portions by means of a controller, so that, for each food portion which has been moved onto the at least one output track, it is known on which production track the food portion has been produced.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising monitoring of the individual food portions by means of monitoring units, so that, for each food portion which has been moved onto the at least one output track, it will be known which features the food portion has and/or which changes the food portion has undergone.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising measuring weight of the individual food portions on the at least one output track with an end-of-line scale, and assigning the weight measured on the end-of-line scale to the respective production track on which the food portion in question has been sliced.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein slicing on the production tracks is separately feedback controlled based on the measured weight of the food portions of the respective production tracks or based on values derived therefrom, so that slice thickness or number of slices is adapted during the slicing.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein a track-related average value of weight is formed over a specific number of food portions from a production track.

6. The method according to claim 3 wherein the food portions are weighed during step c) with respective track-related scales, wherein weight value of a food portion detected by the track-related scale is compared with the weight value of the same food portion on the end-of-line scale.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein, during step c), the food portions are arranged relative to one another in a format set, and wherein, in so doing, food portions are transversely moved between the production tracks, the transverse moving being tracked by the controller.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein weight of an erroneous-weight food portion is corrected during step c) by adding or removing food slices, wherein, when a weight correction for a food portion is executed, this weight correction is stored in a data memory in a portion-related manner.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein change of the erroneous-weight food portion during weight correction is detected by a comparison between weight determined with a track-related scale and weight determined with an end-of-line scale before and after the weight correction.

10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising monitoring and storing moving of the food portions from a single-track or multi-track feed belt with transfer belts or robots onto or into open packaging trays.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein in step d) positions of the food portions are detected by means of a camera or by means of light barriers, so as to track the individual food portions.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein a light signal projected onto a food portion is moved along with the latter, and the food portion is identifiable with the aid of the light signal.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the food portions are monitored, at least in subareas of their route from the production tracks up to and including the at least one output track, by means of a sensor, so that changes at the food portions can be detected and/or recorded.

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein, in the case of detected deviations from target values concerning arrangement, external shape, temperature and/or slicing pattern of the food portions, an adapted feedback control of the slicing, arranging and/or precooling of the subsequent food portions will take place.

15. A food processing system comprising: a food slicing system configured to slice on a plurality of production tracks food products so as to form individual food portions; a transfer apparatus configured to transfer the food portions produced on multiple tracks of the plurality of production tracks to an output track; and a controller, which is configured to assign, via a respective identification value, each food portion arranged on the output track to the respective production track on which the food portion has been produced and/or treated, handled or processed.

16. The food processing system according to claim 15 further comprising an end-of-line scale, which is configured to determine weight of the individual food portions on the output track, and wherein the controller is configured to assign the determined weight via the identification value to the respective production track.

17. The food processing system according to claim 16 wherein the controller is configured to control the slicing process on the plurality of production tracks separately, depending on the weight of the food portions assigned to the respective production track by the controller.

18. The food processing system according to claim 15 further comprising a multi-track magnetic type linear conveyor, which comprises individually controllable transport movers for multi-track conveying of the food portions.

19. The food processing system according to claim 15 further comprising a portion carrier for the food portions, which comprises an identification means.

20. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the controller is configured to monitor control of the transfer apparatus so as to track the assigning of the individual food portions to the production tracks.

21. The food processing system according to claim 15 further comprising track-related scales provided upstream of the transfer apparatus.

22. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the food slicing system is a multi-track food slicing machine.

23. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the food slicing system comprises a plurality of parallel single-track or multi-track food slicing machines.

24. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the food processing system includes two or more of the output tracks, and an end-of-line scale provided for each of the output tracks.

25. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the transfer apparatus comprises a transition conveyor with a guide unit, the transition conveyor being configured to arrange the food portions of a plurality of production tracks sequentially one after the other in the conveying direction on the output track.

26. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the transfer apparatus comprises one or a plurality of transition conveyors, which are adapted to be displaced in a direction transversely to the conveying direction, or to be pivoted, so as to take up food portions from a plurality of tracks and advance them sequentially onto the output track.

27. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the transfer apparatus comprises a robot for gripping food portions from a plurality of tracks and depositing them sequentially onto the output track.

28. The food processing system according to claim 15 further comprising an auxiliary track onto which food portions are dischargeable from a certain erroneous weight onwards, the auxiliary track being configured such that weight of food portions can be corrected thereon by adding or removing food slices.

29. The food processing system according to claim 15 wherein the controller comprises a data memory having stored therein, in addition to the identification value for each food portion, characteristics of each food portion including weight, position and/or optical features, which may be evaluated statistically.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0100] FIG. 1 shows a top view of an embodiment of a food processing system according to the present disclosure;

[0101] FIG. 2 shows a top view of a first alternative embodiment of a transfer apparatus in a food processing system according to the present disclosure;

[0102] FIG. 3 shows a top view of a second alternative embodiment of a transfer apparatus in a food processing system according to the present disclosure;

[0103] FIG. 4 shows a top view of a third alternative embodiment of a transfer apparatus in a food processing system according to the present disclosure; and

[0104] FIG. 5 shows a top view of a fourth alternative embodiment of a transfer apparatus in a food processing system according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0105] The embodiment of the food processing system according to FIG. 1 comprises a food slicing system 1 in the form of a multi-track slicer, in which a plurality of food products 2, 3, 4, 5 are sliced on parallel production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9. To this end, the food products 2, 3, 4, 5 are fed, by means of individually controllable feeding tracks 10, 11, 12, 13, to a slicing plane 14 in which one or a plurality of knives rotate.

[0106] The food slices cut off from the food products are deposited on a portioner 15 until they form a desired food portion 16. By moving the portioner 15, the arrangement of the food slices relative to one another in the portion can be produced, e.g., a shingled mode of arrangement.

[0107] The food portions 16 are advanced on the respective production track 6, 7, 8 or 9 to a track-related scale 17, in particular a throughput checkweigher. For each individual production track 6, 7, 8, 9, a track-related scale 17 is provided, which is capable of determining the weight of the respective food portions 16 on this track. The track-related scales 17 may be arranged together in an integral scales system, in particular a multi-track checkweigher.

[0108] The weight of the food portions 16 determined by track-related scales 17 may, within the frame-work of a feedback control, be fed back to the food slicing system, where it can be taken into account in the feedback control of the slicing process. In particular, if the weights of the food portions 16 should be too low, the slice thickness can be increased. This is normally done by increasing the feed rate of the feeding tracks 10, 11, 12, 13. In the case of excessively high portion weights, the slice thickness can be reduced.

[0109] If, in spite of this track-related feedback control, food portions should be produced, which fail to reach or which exceed a certain minimum value or maximum value, these food portions will be discharged onto an auxiliary track 18. To this end, a discharge device 19 is provided, in which food portions 16 can be discharged from the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 onto the auxiliary track 18, e.g., by a rocker, a conveyor belt operating in a transverse direction or a picker robot. It is also possible to discharge food portions, which do not satisfy optical criteria, a circumstance that can be detected e.g., by means of an optical sensor, in particular a camera, in the area of the production tracks.

[0110] The discharge device 19 is operated by a controller, in which also the results of the track-related scales 17 are stored. On the auxiliary track 18, a correction of the discharged food portions 20 may take place, in particular by adding or removing slices.

[0111] According to the present embodiment, the auxiliary track 18 comprises a scale 21, which allows an operator 22 to correct the weight of the food portions. In particular, it is displayed to the operator 22 how many slices or which weight he will have to add or remove.

[0112] The weight-corrected food portions 23 can then be returned onto the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 by means of an infeed device 24, in particular a rocker, a conveyor belt operating in a transverse direction or a picker robot.

[0113] The production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 additionally comprise a format completing device 25, in which respective food portions 16 are collected so as to complete a format set.

[0114] Subsequently, they are transferred to a portion aligner 26, in which the portions are aligned at predetermined distances.

[0115] Alternatively or additionally to the auxiliary track 18, a portion indicator 27 may be provided, which provides an area where it is indicated to the operator how erroneous-weight portions are to be corrected. To this end, e.g., an indicator may be provided, which indicates, in a form identifiable by the operator, which food portions have to be supplemented or reduced in which way. This may take place by a separate display, by illuminated-sign arrays or by projecting a light signal directly onto the food portions 16 or onto a point next to the latter.

[0116] The food portions 16 and the weight-corrected food portions 23 are jointly conveyed on a transfer conveyor 28 to a packaging machine 29, in particular a thermoform packaging machine. There, the food portions 16, 23 are first fed into bottom packaging trays 31, which are then sealed in a sealing apparatus 32.

[0117] As can be seen in the present embodiment, the respective non-weight-corrected food portions 16 remain on their production track. A change of production tracks can only take place by a discharge of food portions 20, which are then re-introduced as weight-corrected food portions 23, possibly onto a different production track.

[0118] The controller of the food processing apparatus communicates with the respective controllers of the discharge device 19 and of the infeed device 24, and will thus be able to monitor where a food portion is discharged and fed in. According to the present disclosure, the controller has provided therein a data memory, in which a respective identification value is stored for the food portion, so that the latter can be identified. This allows tracking of the position of the individual food portions. Furthermore, it can be detected in the controller which food portions have been supplemented, reduced or corrected in some other way, and this can be stored in the controller as an attribute value to a data set for each food portion.

[0119] Downstream of the packaging machine 29, the food processing apparatus comprises a transfer apparatus 33 by means of which the packed food portions 34 are guided onto an output track 35 and combined thereon. To this end, a guide slope 36 may especially be provided. On the output track 35, an end-of-line scale 37 is provided, by means of which the individual weights of the respective packed food portions 34 can be weighed separately.

[0120] In order to allow the food portions 16, 23, 34 to be tracked, an optical sensor, in particular in the form of a camera 38, is provided, which monitors the movement of the individual packed food portions 34 in the area of the transfer apparatus 33 and determines which packed food portion 34 originates from which production track 6, 7, 8, 9.

[0121] The weight value measured by the end-of-line scale 37 can thus be assigned to a respective one of the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9, or it can be determined that the packed food portion 34 on the end-of-line scale 37 is a weight-corrected food portion 23.

[0122] According to the present embodiment, the weight values of all the uncorrected food portions 16 or values derived therefrom are fed back for feedback controlling the food slicing system in the respective production track. This can be done especially by forming an average value over a certain batch size of packed food portions 34 from a production track 6, 7, 8 or 9. If this average value lies above the desired average weight value, the slice thickness on the respective production track of the food slicing system 1 may be reduced. If the average weight value lies below the desired average weight value, the slice thickness may be increased.

[0123] The transfer apparatus 33 is operated in particular as follows: the food portions 16, 23 are fed to a funnel from the individual production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 in a controlled and feedback controlled manner, the funnel being defined by the guide slopes 36 above a transition conveyor. In so doing, the number of food portions of the respective production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 fed to the transfer apparatus 33 is precisely feedback controlled. For example, a predetermined number of food portions from the first production track 6 may first be fed to the transfer apparatus 33. The number of transferred food portions corresponds to the preferred number of food portions of a format set of the packaging machine 29.

[0124] Subsequently, the food portions of the further production tracks 7, 8, 9 of the format set are successively transferred to the transfer apparatus 33. The transfer apparatus 33 comprises a transition conveyor in the form of a conveyor belt, whose width corresponds at least to the width of a side-by-side arrangement of all the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9. Above the transition conveyor, guide slopes 36 are arranged on both sides, so that the conveying area tapers towards the output track 35. In this way, all the food portions 34 are guided onto a single output track 35.

[0125] The output track 35 is defined by a single-track conveyor belt, which feeds the packed food portions to the end-of-line scale 37. The latter determines the individual weights of the food portions including the package and possible interleaver films or supports, in particular L-boards.

[0126] In the embodiment according to FIG. 2, the transfer apparatus 33 is configured as a single-track, parallel-displaceable transition conveyor 39, which is adapted to be displaced transversely to the conveying direction of the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the transition conveyor 39 is first aligned with the first production track 6. Subsequently, the packed food portions 34 of a format set are arranged thereon. Following this, the transition conveyor 39 is moved in a transverse direction until it has been brought into alignment with the output track 35, as shown by broken lines. Then, the packed food portions 34 are transferred from the transition conveyor 39 to the output track 35, where their weight is checked individually by the end-of-line scale 37. This process is then also executed starting from the other production tracks 7, 8, 9, so that all the packed food portions 34 are combined on the output track 35. The transition conveyor 39 is in particular a conveyor belt.

[0127] The controller of the transfer apparatus 33 communicates with the controller of the food processing system, so that it can be determined which food portions 34 from which production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 are transferred to the output track 35.

[0128] Alternatively, however, also a parallel-displaceable transition conveyor comprising a plurality of tracks can be used. In this way, it will especially be possible that on one track of the transition conveyor food portions are taken up from one of the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9, while, simultaneously, food portions are transferred to the output track 35 from some other track of the transition conveyor. Alternatively, food portions from a plurality of production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 may simultaneously be taken up on a plurality of tracks of the transition conveyor, and may then be transferred to the output track 35.

[0129] In this context, it is also possible that each of a plurality of output tracks is provided with an end-of-line scale.

[0130] FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of a transfer apparatus 33. The transfer apparatus 33 comprises a transition conveyor 40, which is displaceable only on the upstream input side, whereas the downstream side continuously adjoins the output track 35. By displacing the input side 41, i.e., by pivoting the transition conveyor 40, the packed food portions 34 can be taken up from all the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 and combined on the output track 35. By evaluating the controller and/or monitoring the transfer apparatus 33, it is again possible to determine from which production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 the respective food portions 34 originate. During operation, whole format sets of food portions are again transferred sequentially from the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 to the output track 35.

[0131] In particular, the transition conveyor 40 is configured as a single-track conveyor belt, which is displaceable transversely on the input side. To this end, especially an elasticity of the conveyor belt or a length compensation device may be provided, which allows the conveyor belt to directly adjoin the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 also in the case of the outer production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9. Alternatively, the production tracks may be configured such that they are slightly longer in the outer area, so that they directly adjoin the transition conveyor 40. In other embodiments, the transition conveyors are arranged below the production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 in certain areas thereof.

[0132] FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment of the transfer apparatus 33, in which a transition conveyor 42, 43, 44, 45 is provided downstream of each production track 6, 7, 8, 9. Each of the transition conveyors 42, 43, 44, 45 is, at least on its downstream side, displaceable in a transverse direction or pivotable, so that a respective one of the transition conveyors 42, 43, 44, 45 can be brought into alignment with the output track 35. Subsequently, the packed food portions 34 arranged on the transition conveyor in question are advanced onto the output track 35.

[0133] In particular, a transverse displaceability may be provided instead of the pivotability. In this way it is possible that a plurality of parallel transition conveyors in the form of transition conveyor belts are transversely displaceable, so that each of the conveying tracks can be positioned in directly opposed relationship with the output track 35 and the packed food portions can be conveyed to the end-of-line scale 37.

[0134] In all the embodiments, the respective control of the transfer apparatus 33 can be monitored, so that it can be determined which food portions from which production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 have been moved onto the output track 35, so that, when the weight is being checked by the end-of-line scale 37, the weight value can be assigned to a respective production track 6, 7, 8, 9, provided that the portion has not been weight-corrected.

[0135] FIG. 5 shows a further development of the packaging machine 29 and of the transfer apparatus 33 in an embodiment of a food processing apparatus according to the present disclosure. The respective food portions 16 and weight-corrected food portions 23 are conveyed on a transition conveyor 28 to a first picker robot 46, which grips the food portions 16, 23, displaces them transversely towards the packaging machine 29 and feeds them there into the bottom packaging tray. The number of tracks in the food packaging apparatus may differ from the number of production tracks 6, 7, 8, 9.

[0136] The movements of the individual food portions 16, 23 may here be retraced either on the basis of the control of the picker robot 46 and/or by means of a camera 47. The image captured by the camera 47 allows tracking of the food portions 16, 23 by means of an image processing software.

[0137] The packaging machine 29 is, in particular, a thermoform packaging machine, in which the bottom packaging trays 31 are closed by sealing with a film.

[0138] The packed food portions 34 are then advanced on a plurality of tracks of the packaging machine 29 and gripped by means of a second picker robot 48, whereupon they are moved onto the output track 35, where they are weighed individually by means of an end-of-line scale 37. In the course of this process, the control of the second picker robot 48 is monitored. By uniting the information on the moving process of the first picker robot 46 and on the moving process of the second picker robot 48 it can then be retraced from which production track 6, 7, 8, 9 a respective packed food portion 34 originates. On the basis of the weight value detected by the end-of-line scale 37, the feedback control of this production track can be adapted precisely. Also for the moving process of the second picker robot 48 a camera 49 may be provided alternatively or additionally, the position of the individual packed food portions 34 being then retraced by means of image processing and tracking.

[0139] As one skilled in the art would understand, the above-described controller and any other system, subsystem, apparatus, device or module described herein may individually, collectively, or in any combination comprise appropriate circuitry, such as one or more appropriately programmed processors (e.g., one or more microprocessors including central processing units (CPU)) and associated memory, which may include stored operating system software and/or application software executable by the processor(s) for controlling operation thereof and for performing the particular algorithms represented by the various functions and/or operations described herein, including interaction between and/or cooperation with each other. One or more of such processors, as well as other circuitry and/or hardware, may be included in a single ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry), or several processors and various circuitry and/or hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a SoC (System-on-a-Chip).