Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080230351 | Food Supply System for a Food Patty Molding Machine - A patty-forming machine includes a food supply system where the drive mechanism for feed screws use integrated and compact motor and gearbox assemblies. The feed screws have heavy wall thickness flights and the feed screw shafts are journaled through modular bearing assemblies. A conveyor that forms the bottom of the hopper uses a sealed drum motor housed in the drive roller to drive the conveyor. A food supply system includes independent sensing means for indicating whenever the moldable food material accumulated at one end of the hopper exceeds a given level. | 09-25-2008 |
20080230353 | Method of Loading Food Stacks - A method is provided for loading stacked food product into packages. Open top containers are arranged in rows and movable into a loading station. A shuttle conveyor has a retractable and extendable conveying surface, the conveying surface having an end region extendable to a position arranged above the containers of a row of the containers. A guiding and pushing apparatus is arranged above the row and includes guides that are lowered to capture a row of stacked food products on the conveying surface, and plungers within the guides that lower and press a top of the stacks. When the conveying surface is retracted from beneath the guides and the row of containers, the guides are lowered further, adjacent to the containers, and the plungers are lowered with respect to the guides to push the stacks into the containers. | 09-25-2008 |
20080233228 | Food Molding Mechanism for a Food Patty Molding Machine - A food molding mechanism for a patty-forming machine that uses a servomotor to drive a crank arrangement. The crank arrangement drives a mold plate. The mechanism uses a reducer with a replaceable output shaft. The reducer engages a servomotor utilizing a double enveloping worm gear providing gear enmeshment across an arc portion of the servomotor main gear. A servomotor driven knockout apparatus comprises a cam and lever arrangement. Oil reservoirs for the knock-out cams are substantially sealed in the mold cover. | 09-25-2008 |
20080250944 | Sheet Interleaver For Slicing Apparatus - A sheet interleaver is provided for a slicing machine that includes a slicing plane for slicing an elongated food product and a sheet from web material beneath the elongated product. The interleaver includes a supply of web material, a drawing station, a feed station, and a controller. The drawing station has a first driver for drawing web material from the supply. The feed station has a second driver for receiving web material from the drawing station and driving the web material through a cutting nip into the slicing plane. The controller is in signal-communication with at least one of the first and second drivers to drive web material at select differential speeds by the first and second drivers such that tension between the drawing station and the feed station is controlled to allow a slackened length of web material between the drawing station and the feed station. | 10-16-2008 |
20090064833 | Automated Product Profiling Apparatus and Product Slicing System Using Same - A system, suitable for high-speed operation, by which raw product ( | 03-12-2009 |
20090173196 | Maintenance and Safety System for a Food Article Slicing Machine - A slicing apparatus and a weighing and classifying conveyor combination with cleanup position wherein, the elevated food article feed mechanism can be collapsed to a maintenance position, the weighing and classifying conveyor is oriented at a distance from the slicing apparatus and the slicing head cover is automatically lifted to an open cleanup position. The machine has laser intrusion detectors that are used to shut down systems when an unwanted intrusion by a person or object is detected. | 07-09-2009 |
20090188355 | Stack Completion and Scrap Discharge System for a Food Article Slicing Machine - A scrap food slice disposal mechanism for a food article slicing machine. The disposal mechanism has a jump conveyor with a disposal position for discharging scrap slices. The disposal mechanism has a disposal path where the jump conveyor operates in the reverse direction and slices are directed to a scrap conveyor for disposal or recycling. | 07-30-2009 |
20090188357 | Information Carrier System for a Food Article Slicing Machine - An information carrier system for a food article slicing machine. The system is for reading data from removable parts of the slicing machine. The system has a data carrier located on one or more removable parts for storing data and a head for reading data from the data carrier or for writing data to the data carrier guides. A shear support is one of the removable parts. | 07-30-2009 |
20090188362 | Food Article Transfer Mechanism for a Food Article Slicing Machine - An automated sequenced food article tray loading method and apparatus for a slicing machine where food articles can be loaded sequentially into designated and separated lanes of a lift tray and automatically sequentially assume a preload condition. Food article separation is maintained on the lift tray after the food articles are loaded. A food article sweep mechanism receives the food articles on the lift tray in their separated positions and transfers the food articles into the food article feed mechanism while maintaining the separated positions. The food article sweep mechanism is a substantially open structure without enclosing walls. | 07-30-2009 |
20090188363 | Food Article Feed Apparatus for a Food Article Slicing Machine - A loaf feed apparatus for a food article slicing machine. The apparatus has at least a first conveyor driven by a hollow shaft and a second conveyor driven by a second shaft. The second shaft independently operates within said hollow shaft. The hollow shaft and the second shaft are driven by independent drive sources. The apparatus also includes at least one lower conveyor driven by a drive roller having a outer diameter and a recessed diameter where the drive belt is connected around the recessed diameter and the conveyor belt is connected around the outer diameter. The drive belt operates within an area defined by the first conveyor belt. The apparatus also has a loaf gate for separating a slicing station from the loaf feed apparatus. | 07-30-2009 |
20090241472 | Food Patty Combining and Loading System - An automated system combines the output from multiple food product producing machines, and formatting the combined output into a format for packaging. A combining conveyor has a first lane and a second lane adjacent to the first lane. Plural food product producing machines output food products onto the combining conveyor. At least one, and preferably more than one, of the food product producing machines outputs food product into an onload position in the second lane. One or more shifting mechanisms shift the food product from the second lane into the first lane. The first and second lanes move together along a conveyor moving direction and each shifting mechanism is located downstream in a conveyor moving direction from the onload position. | 10-01-2009 |
20120045534 | Patty-Forming Apparatus with Top Feed and Rotary Pump - The food product machine with a food supply, a rotary food pump connected to the food supply, a molding mechanism having a mold plate and a knockout drive, and a mold plate reciprocating between a fill and a discharge position. The knockout drive reciprocates a knockout plunger to discharge molded food products from the mold plate the mold plate being reciprocated between a cavity fill position and a cavity discharge position. The machine includes a manifold connected an outlet of the food pump and having an outlet passageway connected to an inlet of the molding mechanism for filling the cavity of the mold plate. The machine can further include a fill plunger system for increasing the till pressure of the food mass prior to filling the mold cavities. Plungers extend into the manifold to displace food mass volume and increase the pressure in the manifold. | 02-23-2012 |
20120045535 | Patty-Forming Apparatus with Bottom Feed and Rotary Pump - The food product machine with a food supply, a rotary food pump connected to the food supply, a molding mechanism having a mold plate and a knockout drive, and a the mold plate configured to be driven to reciprocated between a fill and a discharge position. The knockout drive is reciprocating a knockout plunger to discharge molded food products from a cavity in the mold plate, the mold plate being reciprocated by a mold plate drive between a cavity fill position and a cavity discharge position. The machine further includes a manifold connected an outlet of the food pump and having an outlet passageway connected to an inlet of the molding mechanism for filling the cavity of the mold plate. | 02-23-2012 |
20120058213 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ROTARY MOLDING - A rotary molding system for molding food products, mold cavities formed when a mold shell rotates mold shapes disposed along the mold shell into a fill position between a fill plate and a wear plate. Molded food products are removed from mold cavities using knock-out cups, the use of air pressure, or the use of a vacuum source disposed below the mold cavity, without the need to slow the rotation of the mold shell. Knock-out cups may be used with a heating system to reduce accumulation of unwanted materials on the knock-out cups. The rotary molding system can also be used to form products with contoured surfaces. A smart tagging system can be used to ensure that compatible sets of mold shells and knock out cups are being used. A vacuum region may be disposed upstream of the fill position to remove air within the mold cavity prior to filling. | 03-08-2012 |
20120198975 | Laser Indicator System - A weight correction system for a slicing apparatus includes a weigh scale that weighs a draft of slices output from a slicer, a laser device arranged above the drafts of slices from the slicer, and a control that assigns a weight to each draft of slices, compares the weight to a pre-selected acceptable weight and determines a correction indicator representative of the number of slices to be added to or subtracted from each draft. The control commands the laser device to project the correction indicator onto a top slice of the draft. The laser device can project the correction indicator onto the draft as the draft is moving on a conveyor, or the laser device projects the correction indicator onto the drafts when the drafts are stationary, such as when the drafts are stationary in a packaging station. | 08-09-2012 |
20120205164 | Method and Apparatus for Weighing Sliced Food Products - A method for weighing sliced products to generate product batches of a pre-determined weight. A slicer slices products which are disposed onto a slice scale located beneath the output end of the slicer. An intermediate weight is measured at a pre-determined point in the slicing process. The intermediate weight information is used to calculate the minimum number of completion slices, based on thicknesses of the slices, needed to meet the target weight. The competed draft is transferred to a check sale where a final draft weight is measured and compared to a sum of the intermediate weight and the weight of the completion slices. Comparison of the weight is used to adjust slicing parameters for more precise targeting of the desired weight of the next draft. Completion slices may be adjusted in thickness to minimize the giveaway weight. | 08-16-2012 |
20120207578 | Method and Apparatus for a Card Dispenser - A card dispensing system for dispensing cards along a conveying surface which conveys sliced products downstream of a slicer for packaging the sliced products. A hopper contains a stack of cards which are withdrawn from the hopper by a suction force provided via at least one suction cup. The suction cup is moveable vertically to retrieve and remove the card from the hopper. The suction cup is moveable laterally to move the card into a receiving position where a card clamp on a damp carriage arrives to receive the card. Suction force on the card is released when the card damp damps down on the card. The clamp carriage moves the card from the receiving position to the staging position where a nip engages with the card to feed the card through a junction in the conveyor line just as a food product passes over the junction. | 08-16-2012 |
20120212603 | Automated Product Profiling Apparatus and Product Slicing System Using the Same - An apparatus for acquiring a profile of a food product for use in subsequent processing of the food product includes a scanning area and one or more product drives for driving a product through the scanning area in a longitudinal direction. First line lasers project one first transverse laser line transversely to the longitudinal direction on the first surface and two first cameras arranged to capture different, overlapping first transverse image portions of the first transverse laser line. A reference laser projects a beam on the first surface that indicates a transverse reference position, and the two first cameras also capture the reference position. A control system uses the transverse reference position to combine the different first transverse image portions captured by the two first cameras to calculate a first profile of the first surface at multiple positions along a length of the first surface as the product is driven through the scanning area. | 08-23-2012 |
20130259991 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ROTARY MOLDING - A rotary molding system for molding food products, mold cavities formed when a mold shell rotates mold shapes disposed along the mold shell into a fill position between a fill plate and a wear plate. Molded food products are removed from mold cavities using knock-out cups, the use of air pressure, or the use of a vacuum source disposed below the mold cavity, without the need to slow the rotation of the mold shell. Knock-out cups may be used with a heating system to reduce accumulation of unwanted materials on the knock-out cups. The rotary molding system can also be used to form products with contoured surfaces. A smart tagging system can be used to ensure that compatible sets of mold shells and knock out cups are being used. A vacuum region may be disposed upstream of the fill position to remove air within the mold cavity prior to filling. | 10-03-2013 |
20140079842 | PATTY-FORMING APPARATUS WITH BOTTOM FEED AND ROTARY PUMP - The food product machine with a food supply, a rotary food pump connected to the food supply, a molding mechanism having a mold plate and a knockout drive, and a the mold plate configured to be driven to reciprocated between a fill and a discharge position. The knockout drive is reciprocating a knockout plunger to discharge molded food products from a cavity in the mold plate, the mold plate being reciprocated by a mold plate drive between a cavity fill position and a cavity discharge position. The machine further includes a manifold connected an outlet of the food pump and having an outlet passageway connected to an inlet of the molding mechanism for filling the cavity of the mold plate. | 03-20-2014 |
20140212255 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A CARD DISPENSER - A card dispensing system for dispensing cards along a conveying surface which conveys sliced products downstream of a slicer for packaging the sliced products. A hopper contains a stack of cards which are withdrawn from the hopper by a suction force provided via at least one suction cup. The suction cup is moveable vertically to retrieve and remove the card from the hopper. The suction cup is moveable laterally to move the card into a receiving position where a card clamp on a clamp carriage arrives to receive the card. Suction force on the card is released when the card clamp clamps down on the card. The clamp carriage moves the card from the receiving position to the staging position where a nip engages with the card to feed the card through a junction in the conveyor line just as a food product passes over the junction. | 07-31-2014 |
20140242231 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ROTARY MOLDING - A rotary molding system for molding food products, mold cavities formed when a mold shell rotates mold shapes disposed along the mold shell into a fill position between a fill plate and a wear plate. Molded food products are removed from mold cavities using knock-out cups, the use of air pressure, or the use of a vacuum source disposed below the mold cavity, without the need to slow the rotation of the mold shell. Knock-out cups may be used with a heating system to reduce accumulation of unwanted materials on the knock-out cups. The rotary molding system can also be used to form products with contoured surfaces. A smart tagging system can be used to ensure that compatible sets of mold shells and knock out cups are being used. A vacuum region may be disposed upstream of the fill position to remove air within the mold cavity prior to filling. | 08-28-2014 |
20140308387 | Patty-Forming Apparatus with Top Feed and Rotary Pump - The food product machine with a food supply, a rotary food pump connected to the food supply, a molding mechanism having a mold plate and a knockout drive, and a mold plate reciprocating between a fill and a discharge position. The knockout drive reciprocates a knockout plunger to discharge molded food products from the mold plate, the mold plate being reciprocated between a cavity fill position and a cavity discharge position. The machine includes a manifold connected an outlet of the food pump and having an outlet passageway connected to an inlet of the molding mechanism for filling the cavity of the mold plate. The machine can further include a fill plunger system for increasing the fill pressure of the food mass prior to filling the mold cavities. Plungers extend into the manifold to displace food mass volume and increase the pressure in the manifold. | 10-16-2014 |
20140338509 | Maintenance and Safety System for a Food Article Slicing Machine - A slicing apparatus and a weighing and classifying conveyor combination with cleanup position wherein, the elevated food article feed mechanism can be collapsed to a maintenance position, the weighing and classifying conveyor is oriented at a distance from the slicing apparatus and the slicing head cover is automatically lifted to an open cleanup position. The machine has laser intrusion detectors that are used to shut down systems when an unwanted intrusion by a person or object is detected. | 11-20-2014 |