A packaging and adjustment device and method for soft canned block bones

Abstract

The present invention provides a packaging adjustment device and method for soft canned foods such as block bones. The packaging adjustment device includes a soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device, a lifting and oscillating device, and a pre-forming device; the lifting and oscillating device includes a base and a lifting component, the lifting component is connected to the base, the lifting component includes a telescopic rod, and the head of the telescopic rod is provided with a small sheet-shaped support plate; the small support plate adjusts the position of the food filled in the packaging bag by reciprocatingly squeezing around the sharp points on the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag. The technical solution of the present invention locates the sharp points on the outer surface of the soft can after being filled with bone food, and uses a special structural design to mechanically squeeze the area near the sharp points to promote a slight rotation or movement of the bone food, thereby eliminating the sharp points on the outer surface of the packaging bag and avoiding puncture of the packaging bag during subsequent vacuuming, sealing, packaging, or transportation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of soft can packaging equipment, and in particular relates to a packaging and adjusting device and method for block-shaped bone soft cans. Background Art

[0002] Traditional canned meats are typically packaged in metal containers, but the variety of food available is limited, and most meats are boneless. With the increasing innovation of canned foods, the production and processing of authentic, large-bone foods has become a trend sought by manufacturers and consumers, but many challenges remain. For canned bone products, directly packaging them with large bones, such as spare ribs, is popular with consumers, aiming to maintain both the visual and flavor of the original. However, some canned bone products, including spare ribs, pose significant challenges in maintaining the integrity of the packaging bags during production and transportation due to the high hardness of the filling, the irregularities of the bone edges, and even the presence of bone spurs at the tips of some bones. The vacuum and heat sterilization processes employed to maintain long-term freshness and quality often create high stress points on the packaging bag surface during packaging and transportation, resulting in multiple sharp, outward-pointing protrusions and the risk of puncture or abrasion.

[0003] In the prior art, in order to prevent the soft can packaging bags from being damaged by bone tips or spikes, some soft cans try to select smaller bones in the early stage or crush large bones to a certain extent, while others use long-term high-temperature stewing to make the bones soft, but this will destroy the original appearance of bone foods, destroy consumers' taste and visual sensory experience, and reduce product attractiveness and competitiveness; some soft can packaging bags are thickened or new squeeze-resistant packaging bags are used, which often incurs very high costs. At the same time, since the soft can packaging bags themselves are mainly made of polymer materials, the limited thickening effect is not very ideal when facing bone spikes; some can only give up the pursuit of long-term freshness and quality preservation and reduce vacuum processing, but there are still risks during transportation, and such treatment is not conducive to the long-term freshness and market competitiveness of the product.

[0004] Therefore, developing a packaging adjustment device and method for block bone soft cans allows the position of block bone meat fillings to be adjusted as needed before vacuuming and sealing, avoiding the problem of puncture on the surface of the packaging bag, and providing consumers with real block bone soft cans, which has important social significance and economic value. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In response to the above-mentioned deficiencies in the existing technology, the present invention provides a packaging and adjustment device and method for soft canned foods in the form of block bones. By positioning the sharp points on the outer surface of the soft can filled with bone food, a special structural design is used to mechanically squeeze the area near the sharp points to promote a slight rotation or movement of the bone food, thereby eliminating the sharp points on the outer surface of the packaging bag and avoiding puncture of the packaging bag during subsequent vacuuming, sealing packaging or transportation.

[0006] The packaging and adjusting device for canned bone block food of the present invention adopts the following main technical solutions:

[0007] The packaging adjustment device includes a soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device, a lifting and oscillation device and a pre-forming device, and the soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device and the pre-forming device are respectively located on both sides of the lifting and oscillation device; the outer surface contour sensing device includes a pre-pressing device and a contour scanning device, which are used to determine the position of the sharp point generated by the bones on the outer surface of the packaging bag; the lifting and oscillation device includes a base and a lifting component, and the lifting component is connected to the base, and the lifting component includes a telescopic rod, and the head of the telescopic rod is provided with a small sheet-like support plate; when all the small support plates are in contact with the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, the area of ​​the small support plate can cover the outer surface corresponding to the entire food filling area, and the small support plate adjusts the position of the food filled in the packaging bag by reciprocating squeezing around the sharp point of the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag; the pre-forming device is a mesh binding bag, which is used to pre-shape the packaging bag with adjusted position.

[0008] Furthermore, the base of the lifting and oscillating device is provided with a reciprocating mechanical structure, which can control the reciprocating extension and retraction of the telescopic rod.

[0009] Furthermore, the small supporting plate can rotate around an axis, and the angle between the axis of the telescopic rod and the vertical direction is between 15° and 60°.

[0010] Furthermore, in the contact state, the position of the small support plate does not coincide with the position of the sharp point on the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, and the edge of the small support plate is no more than 1 cm away from the sharp point.

[0011] Furthermore, a pressure sensor is provided at the tail of the telescopic rod. When the pressure of the telescopic rod exceeds a set value, the telescopic rod retracts and unloads.

[0012] Furthermore, the pre-pressing device includes a deformable film, and the contour scanning device determines the distribution position of the cusp points by scanning the deformable film after being squeezed into contact with the outer surface of the packaging bag.

[0013] Furthermore, the surface of the small supporting plate is also provided with a high-temperature resistant elastic film layer or a flexible roller.

[0014] The present invention provides a packaging and adjustment method for soft canned food of block-shaped bones, comprising the following steps: (1) sensing the outer surface contour of the soft can packaging bag, placing the soft can packaging bag in a natural hoisting state, and using a pre-pressing device and a contour scanning device to determine the position distribution of the sharp points generated by the tips of the bones filled in the soft can on the surface of the packaging bag; (2) lifting and oscillating the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, selecting a small support plate according to the position distribution of the sharp points obtained in the previous step, and using the small support plate to lift and squeeze the packaging bag surface near the sharp points back and forth to achieve the transfer of the sharp point position to the inside of the packaging bag, until all the sharp points on the packaging bag surface disappear; (3) pre-forming the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, and pre-fixing the packaging bag surface adjusted in the previous step with a mesh binding bag to prepare for the next vacuuming and sealing operations.

[0015] Furthermore, after the small supporting plate at the end of the telescopic rod contacts the outer surface of the packaging bag, the squeezed surface of the outer packaging of the packaging bag does not move inward by more than 10 mm.

[0016] Furthermore, small supporting plates are provided in at least two directions around the pointed point.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the packaging and adjustment device and method for canned bone block products of the present invention have the following advantages:

[0018] First, the technical solution of the present invention, as an auxiliary adjustment device for the packaging of soft canned foods such as large bone blocks, achieves on-demand position adjustment of the local area of ​​large bones through the design of a mechanical structure, effectively solving problems such as protrusions or sharp points on the outer surface of soft canned bags for large bone foods. The present invention specifically designs a small support plate structure, and through the reciprocating motion control of a telescopic rod, achieves local oscillatory mechanical support of the small support plate, allowing for small adaptive adjustments of the position of the large bone food block, avoiding excessive rigid compression between the bone food and the small support plate. The full coverage design of the outer surface of the packaging bag allows every position of the entire outer surface of the soft can to be adjusted and improved.

[0019] Second, the present invention's technical solution utilizes a device that senses the outer surface contour of the soft canned food packaging bag, a lifting and oscillating device, and a pre-forming device to effectively and efficiently achieve targeted and effective positioning adjustments. This allows for accurate identification of any protrusions or sharp points on the soft canned food packaging bag's outer surface. Furthermore, after the positioning is adjusted, a simple pre-forming design provides safeguards for subsequent vacuum sealing, packaging, and sterilization, ensuring that the adjusted bone-like food block remains in place, resulting in a soft canned food package free of protrusions or spikes.

[0020] Third, the technical solution of this invention fully incorporates safety protection designs during the packaging process, ensuring packaging efficiency and quality. On the one hand, the small pallet is lifted using an oscillating method, and the packaging bag is effectively protected by force sensors and bag extrusion deformation limits. Furthermore, the surface of the small pallet is equipped with a high-temperature resistant elastic film layer or flexible rollers, making all surface extrusion of the packaging bag more gentle. At the same time, the design of the pre-forming device ensures that the optimized position of the packaging bag after adjustment is protected from damage during the subsequent vacuuming and sealing processes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of the packaging adjustment device of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the packaging adjustment device and the soft can packaging bag of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the lifting and shaking device of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the positions of the sharp points on the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag and the small supporting plate of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] See also Figures 1-4 The present invention provides a packaging and adjusting device 1 for soft canned food of block-like bones, comprising a soft canned food bag outer surface contour sensing device 3, a lifting and oscillating device 2, and a pre-forming device 4. The soft canned food bag outer surface contour sensing device 3 and the pre-forming device 4 are respectively located on both sides of the lifting and oscillating device 2. With respect to the filling process of the equipment 10 for filling soft canned food of block-like bones, the present invention performs auxiliary adjustment of the position of the block-like bone food filled in the packaging bag. Since the packaging and adjusting device of the present invention is only an auxiliary device added to the food filling process of the existing mature soft canned food production and packaging line, it will not disrupt the production of the original line. Therefore, the existing production line will not be described in the following description.

[0026] See also Figure 2 The packaging adjustment device 1 is located on both sides of the soft can packaging bag 11 in a naturally vertical state. The outer surface contour sensing device 3 includes a pre-pressing device and a contour scanning device, which is used to determine the position of the bone sharp point 110 on the outer surface of the packaging bag 11 after the packaging bag 11 is filled with block bone food through the filling food equipment 10; see Figure 3The lifting and oscillating device 2 includes a base 21 and a lifting component, the lifting component is connected to the base 21, and the lifting component includes a telescopic rod 22. The head of the telescopic rod 22 is provided with a small sheet-like support plate 23, and a pressure sensor 24 is also provided between the telescopic rod 22 and the base 21; when all the small support plates 23 are in contact with the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, the area of ​​the small support plates 23 can cover the outer surface corresponding to the entire food filling area, and the small support plates 23 adjust the position of the bone food filled by reciprocatingly squeezing around the sharp point 110 of the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag; the pre-forming device 4 is a mesh binding bag, which is used to pre-shape the soft can packaging bag 11 with the adjusted position.

[0027] For further information, see Figure 1 In order to better realize the efficient operation of the packaging adjustment device 1, the packaging adjustment device 1 also includes a rotating frame 5. The soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device 3, the lifting and shaking device 2 and the pre-forming device 4 are all installed around the rotating frame 5. The structure is compact, which reduces the significant impact on the structure of the soft can packaging production line for block bone soft cans. During operation, by rotating the rotating frame 5, switching between the soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device 3, the lifting and shaking device 2 and the pre-forming device 4 can be realized.

[0028] For further information, see Figure 3 The base 21 of the lifting and oscillating device 2 is equipped with a reciprocating mechanical structure (not shown) that controls the reciprocating extension and retraction of the telescopic rod 22. This reciprocating mechanical structure uses hydraulic power to achieve stepless, continuous, and controllable movement of the telescopic rod 22. The telescopic rod is made of metal to ensure good rigidity.

[0029] Furthermore, the small support plate 23 is connected to the telescopic rod 22 by a rotating shaft, and the small support plate 23 can rotate around the shaft, so that the plane of the small support plate 23 is always well fitted with the surface of the packaging bag during the contact process, see Figure 2 When rotating in a clockwise direction, the angle θ between the axis of the telescopic rod and the vertical direction is between 15° and 60°. The oblique upward position design of the telescopic rod allows the bone food to move inward or rotate due to the oblique upward thrust, thereby combining the extrusion force transmitted by the telescopic rod with the gravity of the block bone and meat filling food to achieve effective adjustment of the position of the meat food.

[0030] Furthermore, a pressure sensor 24 at the rear of the telescopic rod 22 detects the extrusion force transmitted by the small support plate. When the telescopic rod pressure exceeds a set value, the telescopic rod retracts and unloads. For large bone-in meat products, the bones of different meat products may become stuck together during the telescopic rod extrusion process. In this case, further increasing the extrusion load to push the telescopic rod and the small support plate could cause the sharp points of the packaging bag to puncture. Therefore, the presence of the pressure sensor 24 can prevent this from happening. By unloading the product in time, allowing the food in the squeezed area to undergo a certain buffering adjustment due to the initial squeezing and gravity, and then reloading and squeezing, this effectively prevents the packaging bag from being punctured by the sharp points in this situation.

[0031] For further information, see Figure 4 In the contact state, the sharp point position on the packaging bag surface is caused by the bone spurs or the raised edge of the bone fracture of the meat food, which is often the location of stress concentration. In terms of adjusting the position of the sharp point, the technical solution of the present invention adopts a solution of surrounding and extruding from the periphery of the sharp point. The position of the small support plate 23 does not coincide with the position of the sharp point 110 on the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, and the edge of the small support plate is no more than 1 cm away from the sharp point, thereby taking into account both the protection of the packaging bag and the effectiveness of position adjustment. During the specific extrusion process, the small support plate at the corresponding position can be determined according to the specific situation around the sharp point. For smaller bones, a small support plate can be used to squeeze next to the sharp point position to achieve this. For larger bones or when multiple sharp points are close, it is necessary to arrange the small support plates at multiple angles, thereby achieving a small-scale overall position adjustment of the meat food during the extrusion process.

[0032] Furthermore, the pre-pressing device includes a deformable film. The contour scanning device determines the distribution of cusps 110 by scanning the deformable film after it is in compressive contact with the outer surface of the bag. The compressive contact load between the deformable film and the outer surface of the bag causes the bag to move inward no more than 0.5 mm, thereby avoiding damage to the bag in the cusp area. Under the action of constant pressure, the deformable film closely adheres to the surface of the bag, thereby obtaining the actual contour of the bag surface. The contour scanning device determines the distribution of cusps on the bag surface by scanning the contour of the deformable film in real time.

[0033] Furthermore, the surface of the small support plate 23 is also provided with a high-temperature resistant elastic film layer or a flexible roller, so that the packaging bag in the present invention is relatively gently squeezed, and is also suitable for filling food in an environment with a higher temperature, thereby expanding the application scenarios of the technical solution of the present invention.

[0034] The present invention provides a packaging and adjustment method for soft canned food of block-shaped bones, comprising the following steps: (1) sensing the outer surface contour of the soft canned food packaging bag, placing the soft canned food packaging bag 11 in a natural plumb state, and using a pre-pressing device and a contour scanning device to determine the position distribution of the sharp points generated by the bones; (2) adjusting the outer surface of the soft canned food packaging bag by lifting and shaking, selecting small pallets at different positions according to the position distribution of the sharp points obtained in the previous step by using a lifting and shaking device, and using the small pallets to tilt and lift the surface of the packaging bag near the sharp points to achieve the transfer of the sharp point position to the inside of the packaging bag, until all the sharp points on the packaging bag surface disappear. During this process, the rotation of the small pallet can achieve good fit with the packaging bag surface and avoid rigid extrusion of the packaging bag surface; (3) pre-forming the outer surface of the soft canned food packaging bag, and pre-fixing the packaging bag surface adjusted in the previous step with a mesh binding bag to prepare for the next vacuuming and sealing operations.

[0035] Furthermore, after the small support plate at the end of the telescopic rod contacts the outer surface of the packaging bag, the squeezed surface of the packaging bag does not move inwards more than 10 mm. This technical solution, focusing on flexible and gentle position adjustment and deformation, effectively limits the inward displacement of the packaging bag surface, effectively ensuring that the position of the filled food in the packaging bag varies within a relatively small range.

[0036] Furthermore, as a preferred embodiment, small pallets 23 are provided in at least two directions around the tip position, and the telescopic displacements of the telescopic rods of different small pallets are different, so that the tip position can be controlled in two directions at the same time, thereby further improving the adjustment efficiency.

[0037] Adjusting the packaging position of block bone fillings is crucial for soft canned foods containing block bones. For example, pork ribs are often chopped at both ends with a knife, leaving sharp edges or spikes. This can be dangerous if they face the packaging bag, potentially causing the bag to break during transport. However, if the ribs are positioned so that the length of the ribs is roughly parallel to the outer surface of the bag, they pose no threat to the bag, which is ideal. The same is true for lamb rib foods. Individual lamb rib bones typically have shapes that are not significantly different in three directions, and the sharpness of their ends varies. Therefore, their distribution is highly random. The squeezing or stacking of different lamb rib bones also creates a random overall external shape, resulting in randomly appearing sharp points at different locations in contact with the bag. This means there's no effective control method for filling the bag, and adjustments can only be made based on the actual situation after filling. This is a difficult problem to solve with existing technology. The technical solution of the present invention positions the sharp points on the outer surface of the soft can after being filled with bone food, and adopts a special structural design to mechanically squeeze the area near the sharp points to promote slight deformation and position adjustment of the bone food. This can eliminate the sharp points on the outer surface of the packaging bag, provide guarantees for subsequent vacuuming, sealing packaging or transportation processes, and effectively avoid the problem of soft can packaging bags being punctured, which is conducive to the promotion of this type of food market and the improvement of consumer experience satisfaction.

Claims

1. A packaging and adjustment device for canned bone products, characterized in that: The packaging adjustment device includes a soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device, a lifting and oscillating device, and a pre-forming device. The soft can packaging bag outer surface contour sensing device and the pre-forming device are respectively located on both sides of the lifting and oscillating device. The outer surface contour sensing device includes a pre-pressing device and a contour scanning device for determining the location of the cusp points generated by the bones on the outer surface of the packaging bag. The lifting and oscillating device includes a base and a lifting component, the lifting component is connected to the base, and the lifting component includes a telescopic rod, and the head of the telescopic rod is provided with a small sheet-like support plate. When all the small support plates are in contact with the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, the area of ​​the small support plates can cover the outer surface of the packaging bag corresponding to the entire food filling area. The small support plates adjust the position of the food filled in the packaging bag by reciprocatingly squeezing around the cusp points on the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag. The pre-forming device is a mesh binding bag for pre-forming the packaging bag after the position is adjusted. The small support plate can rotate around an axis. The pre-pressing device includes a deformable film, and the contour scanning device determines the distribution location of the cusp points by scanning the deformable film after it is in contact with the outer surface of the packaging bag.

2. The packaging and adjusting device for canned bone products according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base of the lifting and shaking device is provided with a reciprocating mechanical structure, which can control the reciprocating extension and retraction of the telescopic rod.

3. The packaging and adjusting device for canned bone products according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the contact state, the position of the small support plate does not coincide with the position of the sharp point on the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, and the edge of the small support plate is no more than 1 cm away from the sharp point.

4. The packaging and adjusting device for canned bone products according to claim 1, wherein: A pressure sensor is provided at the tail of the telescopic rod. When the pressure of the telescopic rod exceeds the set value, the telescopic rod retracts and unloads.

5. The packaging and adjusting device for canned bone products according to claim 1, characterized in that: The surface of the small supporting plate is further provided with a high temperature resistant elastic film layer or a flexible roller.

6. The method for adjusting the packaging adjustment device of the canned bone block according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: (1) sensing the outer surface contour of the soft can packaging bag, placing the soft can packaging bag in a natural plumb state, and using a pre-pressing device and a contour scanning device to determine the position distribution of the sharp points generated by the bone tips filled in the soft can on the packaging bag surface; (2) lifting and oscillating the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, selecting a small pallet according to the sharp point position distribution obtained in the previous step, and using the small pallet to tilt and lift and squeeze the packaging bag surface near the sharp point to achieve the transfer of the sharp point position to the inside of the packaging bag until all the sharp points on the packaging bag surface disappear; (3) pre-forming the outer surface of the soft can packaging bag, and pre-fixing the packaging bag surface adjusted in the previous step with a mesh binding bag to prepare for the next vacuuming and sealing operations.

7. The method for adjusting the packaging adjustment device of the canned bone block according to claim 6, characterized in that: After the small supporting plate at the end of the telescopic rod contacts the outer surface of the packaging bag, the squeezed surface of the packaging bag is displaced inward by no more than 10 mm.

8. The method for adjusting the packaging adjustment device of the canned bone block according to claim 6, characterized in that: Small supporting plates are provided in at least two directions around the pointed point.

Images