Food processing

Abstract

Method for generating several flows of portions (11), each of which comprises one or more slices obtained by slicing food products (13) by means of a slicing device (15), in particular a high-speed slicer, wherein - products (13) that are located side by side on several tracks are fed to a cutting blade of the slicing device (15) that moves on a cutting plane (19), - slices of the products are cut using the cutting blade (13), - portions are formed from the cut slices (11), and - the portions (11) are transported in several streams to a downstream unit (21), in particular to a packaging machine, characterized by Occupancy levels of the flows are detected and slicing is carried out based on the detected occupancy levels.

Description

Food processing The invention relates to a method for generating multiple flows of portions, each comprising one or more slices obtained by slicing food products using a slicing device, in particular a high-speed slicer. The invention also relates to a device that, among other things, comprises a control unit configured to control the device according to a method described in the invention. Such procedures and devices are known in principle. For example, EP 2468466 A1 describes a procedure in which food products are fed on several tracks to a slicing device and sliced ​​by the latter. EP 3 120 981 A2 and EP 2439 029 A1 also describe procedures for slicing food products. When slicing food products, i.e., during the operation of installations, also known as production lines, comprising one or more slicing devices, particularly high-performance slicers, the slicing device has thus far formed the "heart" of the installation in the sense that its operation determines the processes of all other components. In practice, this leads to problems that are either accepted or resolved with a high level of design and control effort. For example, a continuous flow of portions to a downstream unit of the slicing device (hereinafter also simply: slicer), particularly a packaging machine, cannot be achieved if there are pauses or interruptions in the flow. Such interruptions inevitably occur, for example, when the slicer is loaded with new products. This is countered, in particular, by so-called intermediate storage equipment between the slicer and the packaging machine, which has the disadvantage, among other things, of increasing the overall size of the installation. Maintaining a relatively continuous flow of portions in a multi-lane facility, where the slicer simultaneously cuts adjacent products on several lanes, is particularly complex. Differences on the feed side to individual lanes can be seen in the individual portion flows downstream of the slicer, specifically as gaps. In particular, rows of incomplete portions may appear, which can only be further processed with difficulty, or not at all, by the equipment following the slicer. Countermeasures currently include relatively long intermediate storage runs and / or multiple cross-distributors in the conveying and sorting areas. The more lanes a facility has, the greater the effort required, particularly in terms of complexity and installation costs.Even what is technically feasible fails in practice, either because of high costs or because the portion flow is too low, since above all closing gaps in the portion flow takes a long time, particularly for so-called cross-distribution and for associated portion stops. The improvements in the slicer that have taken place in the past, particularly with regard to cutting speed and weight accuracy, can therefore also lead to disadvantages if the operation of an installation is geared towards optimizing the performance of the slicer. The object of the invention is to remedy this and offer possibilities, particularly when using multi-track slicing devices without unacceptable losses in cutting speed and weight accuracy, to provide the simplest and most continuous possible handling of the portions generated by the slicing device on their way to a downstream unit, in particular a packaging machine. Specifically, it must be ensured that gaps in a flow of portions or incomplete rows of portions, as well as incomplete format sets, are not created, or at least that their number is minimized. The general idea of ​​the invention by which this objective is achieved consists of an intelligent operation of the slicing device or of an installation containing one or more slicing devices, taking into account circumstances such as, in particular, special operating situations or special operating states which, previously, at least for the operation of the slicing device, were not important or only of secondary importance. According to the invention, which is defined in claims 1 and 6, in the process for generating several flows, in which products located side by side in several tracks are fed to a cutting blade of the slicing device that moves in a cutting plane, by means of the cutting blade slices are cut from the products, from the cut slices portions are formed and the portions are transported in several flows to a downstream unit, in particular to a packaging machine, it is provided according to the invention that the occupancy levels of the flows are detected and that slicing is carried out according to the detected occupancy levels. The "occupancy level" of a portion flow refers to the number of portions in the flow relative to a unit length of the conveying path along which the portions flow, and / or relative to a unit of time within which the portions arrive at the flow. Consequently, the occupancy level of a flow may also be referred to as the fill level of the equipment in question in each case, or of the equipment in question in each case, downstream of the slicing device. This concept of the invention represents a way to control the slicing process, i.e., the operation of the slicing device, based on a situation in one or more pieces of equipment in the overall installation located downstream of the slicing device. In short, in this aspect of the invention, the slicer is controlled by the downstream transport path or a portion thereof. For example, a so-called depositor, which is part of the transport path, can control the product feeder, which is part of the slicer. A depositor is configured to transfer format sets, each comprising a plurality of portions, successively to a downstream unit, in particular a packaging machine. For example, based on the detected occupancy level of individual flows in the depositor, the slicer can be adjusted to increase the output of portions on a product feed lane corresponding to a relatively under-occupied flow or decrease the output of portions on a product feed lane corresponding to a relatively over-occupied flow. With this type of slicer adjustment, the occupancy level of the flows, or a stored variable derived from it, represents the adjusted variable. With this general concept of the invention—slicing based on detected occupancy levels—continuous portion flows can be implemented, at least on average over time, towards the downstream unit. In particular, the equipment along the transport path between the slicer and the packaging machine, which serves to intermediately store portions and form format sets from them, can operate optimally with continuous portion flows, particularly in terms of flow rate and accuracy, while simultaneously requiring minimal space. The same applies to the operation of depositing the portions or format sets into packages or to transferring the portions or format sets to a packaging machine using a so-called depositor. According to one embodiment of the invention, slicing is carried out individually on each track based on the differences in occupancy levels of the individual flows. Therefore, these differences in occupancy levels can be taken into account during the operation of the slicing device. Preferably, slicing is planned to be carried out in such a way as to minimize differences in occupancy levels of individual flows. In particular, therefore, regulation may be implemented such that the detected individual occupancy levels, or a variable derived from them, constitute the actual value and thus serve as the regulated variable, whereas the planned minimization of differences in occupancy levels represents the theoretical value and thus serves as the reference variable for regulation. The invention is not limited to any particular method of detecting flow occupancy levels. For example, flow occupancy levels can be detected in each case by identifying gaps between portions of a respective flow. Alternatively or additionally, flow occupancy levels can be detected in each case by determining the flow rate of portions within a respective flow. One advantage of the invention is that it can be integrated into the control systems of existing installations, simply in terms of software. Any data obtained during the conventional operation of an installation can be used to determine, in each case, a measure of the occupancy level of the flows containing portions. The identification of gaps and the determination of portions arriving at a flow per unit of time are known in themselves, but until now they have been used for other purposes. Therefore, detection devices are known in principle, arranged at one or more points along the conveying path between the slicer and the packaging machine, and capable of distinguishing between the presence and absence of a portion in the respective equipment along the conveying path.Consequently, it is not only possible to establish the presence of gaps per se, but also, if necessary, how many gaps per unit of time are detected at a given point or in a given flow. The portion flow rate can be determined, for example, by counting the portions passing through one or more measuring points per unit of time. The procedure according to the invention can use this data, which is available in any case, to carry out the slicing or the operation of the slicing device in the manner of the invention. According to one embodiment, the occupancy level in a given flow is varied by modifying the portion output on an associated track of the slicing device. Portion output is the number of portions generated per unit of time. As a result, increasing the portion output increases the occupancy level of the flow in question, and vice versa. Alternatively or additionally, the occupancy level in a respective flow can be varied by modifying at least one property of at least one portion in an associated track of the slicing device. According to another example of embodiment of the invention, the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying the throughput of portions per product on an associated track of the slicing device. Portion throughput is the number of portions generated per product, meaning the number of portions produced without a loading interruption that reduces the occupancy level. An increase in portion throughput increases the occupancy level of the flow in question, and vice versa. Furthermore, it may be anticipated that the occupancy level in a respective flow will be varied by modifying the number of loading interruptions on an associated track of the slicing device. Once a product has been completely sliced, a certain amount of time elapses, also called a "loading pause," during which the slicing operation, and consequently the generation of portions, is interrupted until the next product is sliced. Therefore, a reduction in the number of loading interruptions increases the occupancy level in the workflow, and vice versa. According to another embodiment of the invention, the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying a theoretical value for the portion weight on an associated track of the cutting device. In this case, at least one predetermined tolerance can be used, in particular a tolerance for the portion weight and / or a tolerance for the total weight of a batch comprising a plurality of portions. In this case, therefore, overweight or underweight portions are selectively generated within a range permitted in each case by one or more tolerances, which may be specified by regulations (e.g., a PVF, as explained in more detail elsewhere). In the case of an overweight cut, the next loading interruption occurs earlier, and the occupancy level in the flow in question is reduced accordingly. Conversely, in the case of an underweight cut, there is a longer delay until the next loading interruption, and the occupancy level in the flow in question increases accordingly. In the case of an overweight cut, fewer portions can be generated, relative to a given product length, than in the case of an underweight cut, so the next loading interruption occurs earlier or later, as appropriate. Furthermore, it may be provided according to the invention that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying a product sequence on an associated track of the slicing device, taking into account one or more product criteria. A product criterion may be, for example, product weight, product density, product shape, product structure, and / or product length. In this case, therefore, the products to be sliced ​​are selectively placed in a specific sequence on the loading and / or feeding side, which, based on the detected occupancy levels, leads to either more or less frequent loading interruptions. This can be achieved, for example, by combining, sorting, and rearranging the products. If, for instance, relatively heavy and / or relatively long products are sliced ​​sequentially, this reduces the number of loading interruptions, thus increasing the occupancy level in the flow in question, and vice versa. According to another embodiment of the invention, the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying the product length on an associated track of the slicing device, in particular by combining, sorting, rearranging, dividing, and / or grouping products. The product length can also be adjusted by interrupting the cutting process followed by reslicing, while the product residue present at the time of the cutting interruption remains on the product support. In this case, the product length, and consequently the number of sliced ​​products per unit of time, is artificially varied. If a product is divided, this requires an additional loading interruption that would not have occurred if the product had not been divided. Alternatively, it is possible, for example, to combine two previously separated products so that they can be sliced ​​as a single product without a loading interruption. Two separate products can be grouped, for example, by joining them together by force, by shape, or by bonding materials using suitable means. A device according to the invention for generating several flows of portions, each comprising one or more slices, comprises, according to claim 6, a slicing device, in particular a high-speed slicer, for generating the slices by slicing food products, at least one conveying device for transporting the portions in several flows to a downstream unit, in particular to a packaging machine, a detection device for detecting the occupancy levels of the flows, and a control device configured to control the device according to a procedure as explained above. A key advantage of the invention is that incomplete format sets and gaps in the portion flow, particularly in the intermediate depositor or storage, can be avoided or at least minimized in terms of their frequency of occurrence, which is particularly advantageous in the case of multi-track slicing devices with product feeding for each individual track. The creation of format sets and the closing of gaps can take place quickly and easily by invention with minimal effort in terms of the apparatus, even if slicing is done on two or more tracks and there is a two or more track transport path for the generated portions downstream of the slicing device, i.e., even if the portions are fed in two or more streams to the downstream unit, which is in particular a packaging machine. Particularly for units used for forming and intermediate storage downstream of a slicer, as well as for depositing portions into containers or transferring portions to a packaging machine, the invention allows for savings in technical effort. Furthermore, it reduces downtime that would otherwise occur, for example, due to manual adjustments of portion flows or format sets. In addition, a high degree of flexibility in the overall installation can generally be implemented. In particular, the invention can eliminate a large number of cross-distributions of portions. Without the invention, at least in the case of relatively large differences in the occupancy level between the individual flows in an intermediate storage unit—that is, due to insufficient or excessive occupancy (in at least one of the flows)—there would likely be gaps in one of the flows, which could even result in empty containers. Without the invention, corresponding automation could possibly prevent such negative phenomena. However, this would be associated with a very high level of technical effort or would negatively impact the speed at which the format sets can be formed. Therefore, the advantages according to the invention come into play, in particular, when slicing on several tracks, particularly on three or four tracks, or when a formation of particularly variable format games is desired. The invention can relieve downstream equipment of a slicing device when processing portion flows and also ensure a reasonable technical effort for this downstream equipment. In general, multi-lane slicing and multi-lane format set formation can be designed particularly efficiently using the invention. However, depending on the specific design and control of a facility, as well as the respective operating conditions, the occasional gap in the flow of portions cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, the applicant's investigations have shown that, in practice, this only occurs in extremely rare cases, for example, when several factors combine. A problem can arise, for instance, when there is no pre-sorting of products before loading a slicer, and one track randomly receives light and short products while the other receives heavy and long products. However, it has also been shown that the probability of gaps forming in the portion flow can be reduced so drastically by the invention that, from an economic point of view, manual correction is significantly more favorable than the manual or apparatus effort that would have to be made, without the invention, in order to eliminate or prevent the occurrence of negative phenomena such as, in particular, gaps in a portion flow. In the claims, description and drawing, other examples of embodiments of the invention are specified. The invention is described below by way of example with reference to the single figure, which schematically shows an installation for processing food products. The installation comprises a slicer 15, in this example a two-lane slicer, comprising a loading unit 39 as well as a product feeder 37. The loading unit 39 is used to introduce 15 food products to the slicer to be sliced, such as sausage bars, cheese bars, ham or pieces of meat. Product feeder 37 is schematically shown with a product holder 38, also called a product gripper, for each of the two tracks. This gripper is configured to engage with a rear product end in order to feed product 13 towards a cutting plane 19 on which a slicer cutting blade 15 moves. The structure and operation of a high-speed slicer will not be discussed in further detail at this point. This is generally known to those skilled in the field. The slicer 15 and the downstream equipment of slicer 15, which will be discussed in more detail below, are each configured with multiple tracks, in this case with two tracks. This is indicated in the figure by the dotted and dashed line. The installation may additionally include equipment upstream of the slicer 15, not shown in the figure. Such upstream equipment may be, in particular, a so-called product scanner, which can determine the external contour and / or internal structure of the product. This product data can be used by a central control unit 35 to control the product feeder 37 so that the portions 11 generated by slicing the products 13 have a specific portion weight, ideally within a predetermined tolerance. Since the products 13 fed to the two tracks may be different, the product supports 38 can move independently of each other in the feeding direction, at least within certain limits. In this context, the person skilled in the art refers to an individual product feeder 37 for each track. Portions 11 are created from product slices cut by a portioning machine 27 immediately following the cutting plane 19. To properly transport a generated portion 11, one or more blank cuts are performed after the last slice cut from a portion by stopping the product feeder 37 on the relevant track while the cutting blade continues moving at the specified cutting rate. Therefore, such blank cuts are standard practice in portion slicing. The other components of the installation shown in the figure are a grouping unit 29, two intermediate storage units 31 and a depositor 33. These components do not need to be discussed in more detail at this point, as the expert in the field knows the structure, purpose and mode of operation of such equipment. The purpose of the overall installation is, ultimately, to generate from several portions 11 format sets that have a predetermined arrangement and orientation of the portions 11 with respect to each other (a 2 x 3 matrix in the figure) and that are fed to a packaging machine 21 by means of the depositor 33. This can be done, for example, by depositing the depositor 33 successively into containers, for example, in the form of plastic trays (known as trays) and which, in practice, are usually produced on-site in the packaging machine 21, for example, from a sheet in a thermoforming process. The points between the portioning unit 27 and the grouping unit 29, and between the two buffer storage units 31, indicate in each case that other installation components may be provided here. For example, the portioning unit 27 may be followed by a portion scale that informs the control unit 35 of the actual portion weight of each portion 11 generated. One or more additional buffer storage units 31 may be located between the two buffer storage units 31 shown. In the case of product feeder 37, the figure indicates, in a merely schematic way, a possible state in practice in which a product 13 is being sliced ​​on one track, in this case the right one, while a product has finished being sliced ​​on the left track and the slicing of the next product 13 has not yet begun. Such a state of operation is one of the many potential causes that, in practice, there is not a continuous flow of portions following the slicer 15, i.e., in at least one track, i.e., in one of the two flows of portions in the figure, gaps 23 arise, as shown in the figure merely as an example once in the portioning equipment 27 and once in the grouping equipment 29. In this respect, the figure shows a situation that was previously unavoidable in the prior art. However, the invention makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of such gaps.23 As explained in the introduction, one aspect of the invention consists of detecting the occupancy level of the individual portion flows and slicing the products 13 by means of the slicer 15 according to the detected occupancy levels. The details of the invention set forth in the introduction will not be discussed again here. In this regard, reference is made to the explanations given in the introduction. The figure and the preceding explanations illustrate the potential differences in the occupancy levels of the individual flows, which are effectively avoided by the invention. At the hypothetical moment depicted in the figure, fewer portions 11 have reached the left track than have reached the right track since the earliest portions 11 were generated in depositor 33. In other words, the degree of filling of the left flow is less than the degree of filling of the right flow. A detection device 25, schematically represented in the figure, can be used to detect the occupancy levels of individual flows or differences in the occupancy levels of individual flows. The detection device 25 can be configured either to determine the number of portions 11 passing through the measurement point in question per unit of time or to distinguish the presence of a portion 11 in the grouping device 29, shown here as a detection example, from the absence of a portion 11, i.e., a gap 23. The detection equipment 25, as well as the other components of the installation downstream of the slicer 15, as well as the packaging machine 21, are connected to the aforementioned central control equipment 35 of the installation. Conventional food processing plants 13 are often already equipped with the necessary hardware to carry out the procedure according to the invention; that is, the invention can be integrated into existing plants without additional equipment. For such a conversion or retrofit, it is necessary to program the plant's control system to implement the procedure according to the invention in order to utilize data already determined during the plant's operation. As mentioned in the introduction, selective cutting can be performed with either an overweight or underweight cut for a flow of portions using one or more predetermined weight tolerances. The actual weight of the portion can be determined, for example, by a scale called FPV (FPV = Fertigpackungsverordnung, prepackaging regulation), not shown in the figure, which serves as a control scale at the end of the entire slicing and packaging line. Within the margin defined as permissible by the prepackaging regulation for overweight or underweight portions or packages in a batch, the slicer 15 can be used to cut the portions 11 either slightly heavier or slightly lighter to complete the individual flows.In particular, one can make use of the fact that within a batch a proportion is allowed (depending on the relevant provisions), for example, 2% of portions 11 that deviate from a predetermined portion weight. For the operation of the slicer 15, this means that the portions 11 for relatively empty flows, which therefore have a "deficit" of portions 11, tend to be cut lighter, i.e., more portions 11 are obtained from a product 13 and a respective underweight of the portions 11 in question is assumed. If, on the other hand, a portion flow has a relatively high fill level, the portions 11 tend to be cut heavier. As a result, a product 13 yields fewer portions 11. The "overweight" portions 11 deliberately produced during this overweight cutting correspond to the situation previously identified in the flow in question. Such overweight or underweight slicing is preferably carried out in combination with adjustment options and parameters already known for forming the portions 11 on the slicer 15. This includes, for example, so-called portion completion, in which missing slices of one product in the last portion are replaced with slices taken from the next product, or slice thickness adjustment, especially when a specified theoretical number and thickness of slices cannot be met for certain reasons and, therefore, one or more slices are added to the portion or the portion is formed with one or more fewer slices. This can occur, for example, when slicing cheese, if, due to a relatively high number of holes in the cheese product, a specific number of slices or slice thickness cannot be maintained. Consequently, the invention allows for "balancing" individual flows over time, particularly in the area of ​​intermediate storage devices 31, and yet complying with the framework conditions of the prepackaging regulation (FPV) during the production of a batch of portions. As explained in the introduction, differences in occupancy levels of individual flows can be compensated for by intelligent pre-sorting of products to be sliced ​​before loading and cutting and / or intelligent pre-splitting of products or splitting of products in a cutting program that is run in the control before cutting. If a "deficit" is identified in a flow, particularly in an intermediate storage device, and consequently a greater output of portions is required on the feed side of the corresponding lane—that is, "more product mass" is requested—the next step is to allocate, as far as possible, the heaviest available product from the loading equipment or product feeder to the lane in question. Conversely, if there is "overcrowding" in a flow—that is, an "excess product mass"—the output of portions on the lane in question at the product feeder 37 should be allocated, as far as possible, to the lane in question by allocating the lightest available product as the next product to be sliced. With this concept, various additional equipment can be used as an aid, such as an intermediate loading storage unit, a loading hopper, or a display to assist an operator, for example, in the form of a traffic light system that recommends manual loading, removal, addition, or reorganization, particularly after a product scanner. A product scale may also be provided as an additional aid. In principle, it is also possible to configure the product feeder or the areas upstream of the product feeder, which are generally called feeding, at least by zones, in such a way that the products can change tracks. In principle, a fully automatic selection of products for individual tracks is also conceivable, depending on the respective operating situation, so that the installation itself can establish the slicing sequence on the tracks from an existing "reserve" of products with known properties for this purpose. If products are specifically divided before slicing to vary the occupancy level in the respective flow downstream of the slicer, then it is preferable to carry out product measurement beforehand so that the products can be intelligently divided based on the product data in question. In particular, for cheese slicing, commonly used X-ray scanners can be employed to detect holes. At the same time, this product data obtained through measurement can be used for routine and individual product feeding for each lane on the slicer. An additional product scanner is therefore not required. In general, all relevant properties of the respective products can serve as a basis for this use of product data, particularly product weight, product density, product contour (external shape), product length, and internal product structure. Product structure is generally determined by the distribution of the individual product components. The holes contained in a cheese product can also be referred to as a product component in this sense, since the number, size, and distribution of the holes determine how the product can be sliced ​​and portioned to meet predetermined conditions such as slice thickness, slice weight, number of slices per portion, and portion weight.Other relevant product components are fat and other additives, whose proportion and distribution in the product can be determined and incorporated into the product feeder control. In a preferred design, the depositor 33 controls both the slicer and the product dividing device. This means that product dividing in the feeding area can already take into account the requirements of individual lanes or flows regarding the tendency towards thicker or thinner slices. Product division prior to slicing is itself part of the prior art. However, until now, the devices used for division were not flexible; that is, they operated with fixed settings. Consequently, product measurement using a product scanner was only performed after the product had been divided, meaning it was not possible to influence the product division operation with the data obtained through product measurement. By taking the operational status into account, it is possible to differentiate based on individual flows of the downstream equipment considered in each case; it is possible to differentiate based on the differences between individual flows, or it is possible to differentiate based on individual downstream equipment. Alternatively, the total occupancy level with portions can be taken into account downstream of the slicing device without differentiating based on individual flows, differences between individual flows, or individual downstream equipment. According to another example of realization, the output of portions and / or the output of format games and / or the occupancy level of a depositor can be considered as an operational state. In addition, it may be anticipated that the results of a product measurement, which is carried out on the product feed path before the slicing device or at least before the cutting plane, will be taken into account. According to another example of implementation, it may be foreseen that the operating conditions will be varied if portioning is interrupted. Therefore, to avoid interfering with the uninterrupted slicing of whole products, changes to operating conditions can be postponed until after a whole product has been completely sliced. Specifically, foreseeable or planned variations in operating conditions—that is, variations not required due to random events—can be implemented only in the event of an unavoidable interruption in portioning (between two whole products) or a planned interruption (between two sub-areas of a product). It may also be stipulated that when slicing two immediately successive sub-areas of a product, at least one compensating slice, which does not belong to any portion, is cut from the product before portioning begins from the second sub-area. This ultimately results in slicing, such as that conventionally carried out at the beginning of slicing at one front end of the product. Alternatively, or additionally, this compensating slice can also be sectioned after an unforeseen interruption. Due to the aforementioned effects of product compression and relaxation, there is a high probability that the first slice produced after an interruption will not meet the desired quality. Therefore, consistent cut quality can be achieved using these compensating slices, which are subsequently discarded from the process. According to another embodiment, the operation of the slicing device is designed to be based on the occupancy levels of the portion flows. In this respect, the procedure according to the invention, explained at the beginning, can be used to generate several portion flows. This procedure, initially explained for generating multiple portion flows, in which the occupancy levels of the flows are detected and slicing is carried out based on these levels, can therefore be considered an improvement or complement, particularly in the sense of a "refinement," of the general idea of ​​the inventive concept described herein: making uninterrupted slicing, apart from the usual empty cuts, generally dependent on an operating state. This operating state could refer to differences in the occupancy level between individual portion flows or to a total occupancy level of the downstream parts of the installation that is independent of the differences in occupancy levels. A general advantage of this inventive concept is that it minimizes the time between the generation and processing, particularly packaging, of the portions. A whole product, or a portion specified as whole, is sliced ​​continuously, thus ensuring that the resulting sequence of portions, formed one after the other, can be immediately processed by downstream components of the system. In other words, the generated portions are no longer left exposed for as long as might be the case in the prior art. In the case of relatively long products, the uninterrupted generation of portions may have certain limitations depending on the design and control of the respective installation. In such cases, the products can be divided into several areas from a control technology perspective. Regarding the cutting process, these product portions are then treated as if they were independent, whole products. Potentially uneven slices can be classified as compensation slices, as previously described. The invention also relates to a food processing installation, comprising a device for slicing the products, in particular a high-speed slicer, one or more pieces of equipment downstream of the slicing device for handling portions, each comprising one or more slices obtained by slicing, and a control device configured to operate the installation according to one of the procedures according to the invention explained above for operating a food processing installation. A key advantage of the invention is that incomplete format sets and gaps in the portion flow, particularly in the intermediate depositor or storage, can be avoided or at least minimized in terms of their frequency of occurrence, which is particularly advantageous in the case of multi-track slicing devices with product feeding for each individual track. The creation of format sets and the closing of gaps can take place quickly and easily by invention with minimal effort in terms of the apparatus, even if slicing is done on two or more tracks and there is a two or more track transport path for the generated portions downstream of the slicing device, i.e., even if the portions are fed in two or more streams to the downstream unit, which is in particular a packaging machine. Particularly for units used for forming and intermediate storage downstream of a slicer, as well as for depositing portions into containers or transferring portions to a packaging machine, the invention allows for savings in technical effort. Furthermore, it reduces downtime that would otherwise occur, for example, due to manual adjustments of portion flows or format sets. In addition, a high degree of flexibility in the overall installation can generally be implemented. In particular, the invention can eliminate a large number of cross-distributions of portions. Without the invention, at least in the case of relatively large differences in the occupancy level between the individual flows in an intermediate storage unit—that is, due to insufficient or excessive occupancy (in at least one of the flows)—there would likely be gaps in one of the flows, which could even result in empty containers. Without the invention, corresponding automation could possibly prevent such negative phenomena. However, this would be associated with a very high level of technical effort or would negatively impact the speed at which the format sets can be formed. Therefore, the advantages according to the invention come into play, in particular, when slicing on several tracks, particularly on three or four tracks, or when a formation of particularly variable format games is desired. The invention can relieve downstream equipment of a slicing device when processing portion flows and also ensure a reasonable technical effort for this downstream equipment. In general, multi-lane slicing and multi-lane format set formation can be designed particularly efficiently using the invention. However, depending on the specific design and control of a facility, as well as the respective operating conditions, the occasional gap in the flow of portions cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, the applicant's investigations have shown that, in practice, this only occurs in extremely rare cases, for example, when several factors combine. A problem can arise, for instance, when there is no pre-sorting of products before loading a slicer, and one track randomly receives light and short products while the other receives heavy and long products. However, it has also been shown that the probability of gaps forming in the portion flow can be reduced so drastically by the invention that, from an economic point of view, manual correction is significantly more favorable than the manual or apparatus effort that would have to be made, without the invention, in order to eliminate or prevent the occurrence of negative phenomena such as, in particular, gaps in a portion flow. In the claims, description and drawing, other examples of embodiments of the invention are specified. The invention is described below by way of example with reference to the single figure, which schematically shows an installation according to the invention for processing food products that can be operated according to a procedure according to the invention. The installation according to the invention comprises a slicer 15, in this example a two-track slicer, comprising a loading unit 39 as well as a product feeder 37. The loading unit 39 is used to introduce 15 food products to the slicer to be sliced, such as sausage bars, cheese bars, ham or pieces of meat. Product feeder 37 is schematically shown with a product holder 38, also called a product gripper, for each of the two tracks. This gripper is configured to engage with a rear product end in order to feed product 13 towards a cutting plane 19 on which a slicer cutting blade 15 moves. The structure and operation of a high-speed slicer will not be discussed in further detail at this point. This is generally known to those skilled in the field. The slicer 15 and the downstream equipment of slicer 15, which will be discussed in more detail below, are each configured with multiple tracks, in this case with two tracks. This is indicated in the figure by the dotted and dashed line. The installation according to the invention may further comprise equipment upstream of the slicer 15, not shown in the figure. Such upstream equipment may be, in particular, a so-called product scanner with which the external contour of the product and / or its internal structure can be determined. This product data can be used by a central control unit 35 to control the product feeder 37 so that the portions 11 generated by slicing the products 13 have a predetermined portion weight, ideally within a predetermined tolerance. Since the products 13 fed to the two tracks may be different, the product supports 38 can move independently of each other in the feeding direction, at least within certain limits. In this context, the practitioner refers to an individual product feeder 37 for each track. Portions 11 are created from product slices cut by a portioning machine 27 immediately following the cutting plane 19. To ensure the correct transport of a generated portion 11, one or more blank cuts are performed after the last slice cut from a portion. This is done by stopping the product feeder 37 on the relevant track while the cutting blade continues to move at the specified cutting rate. Therefore, such blank cuts are standard practice in portion slicing. The other components of the installation shown in the figure are a grouping unit 29, two intermediate storage units 31 and a depositor 33. These components do not need to be discussed in more detail at this point, as the expert in the field knows the structure, purpose and mode of operation of such equipment. The purpose of the overall installation is, ultimately, to generate from several portions 11 format sets that have a predetermined arrangement and orientation of the portions 11 with respect to each other (a 2 x 3 matrix in the figure) and that are fed into a packaging machine 21 by means of the depositor 33. This can be done, for example, by depositing by means of the depositor 33 individual format sets successively into containers, for example, in the form of plastic trays (known as "trays") and which, in practice, are usually produced on site in the packaging machine 21, for example, from a sheet in a thermoforming process. The points between the portioning unit 27 and the grouping unit 29, and between the two buffer storage units 31, indicate in each case that other installation components may be provided here. For example, the portioning unit 27 may be followed by a portion scale that informs the control unit 35 of the actual portion weight of each portion 11 generated. One or more additional buffer storage units 31 may be located between the two buffer storage units 31 shown. In the case of product feeder 37, the figure indicates, in a merely schematic way, a possible state in practice in which a product 13 is being sliced ​​on one track, in this case the right one, while a product has finished being sliced ​​on the left track and the slicing of the next product 13 has not yet begun. Such a state of operation is one of the many potential causes that, in practice, there is not a continuous flow of portions following the slicer 15, i.e., in at least one track, i.e., in one of the two flows of portions in the figure, gaps 23 arise, as shown in the figure merely as an example once in the portioning equipment 27 and once in the grouping equipment 29. In this respect, the figure shows a situation that was previously unavoidable in the prior art. However, the invention makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of such gaps.23 As explained in the introduction, one aspect of the invention consists of detecting the occupancy level of the individual portion flows and slicing the products 13 by means of the slicer 15 according to the detected occupancy levels. The details of the invention set forth in the introduction will not be discussed again here. In this respect, and also with regard to the other aspects of the invention, reference is hereby made to the explanations given in the introduction. The figure and the preceding explanations illustrate the potential differences in the occupancy levels of the individual flows, which are effectively avoided by the invention. At the hypothetical moment depicted in the figure, fewer portions 11 have reached the left track than have reached the right track since the earliest portions 11 were generated in depositor 33. In other words, the degree of filling of the left flow is less than the degree of filling of the right flow. A detection device 25, schematically represented in the figure, can be used to detect the occupancy levels of individual flows or differences in the occupancy levels of individual flows. The detection device 25 can be configured either to determine the number of portions 11 passing through the measurement point in question per unit of time or to distinguish the presence of a portion 11 in the grouping device 29, shown here as a detection example, from the absence of a portion 11, i.e., a gap 23. The detection equipment 25, as well as the other components of the installation downstream of the slicer 15, as well as the packaging machine 21, are connected to the aforementioned central control equipment 35 of the installation. Conventional food processing plants 13 are often already equipped with the necessary hardware to carry out the procedure according to the invention; that is, the invention can be integrated into existing plants without additional equipment. For such a conversion or retrofit, it is necessary to program the plant's control system to implement the procedure according to the invention in order to utilize data already determined during the plant's operation. As mentioned in the introduction, selective cutting can be performed with either an overweight or underweight cut for a flow of portions using one or more predetermined weight tolerances. The actual weight of the portion can be determined, for example, by a scale called FPV (FPV = Fertigpackungsverordnung, prepackaging regulation), not shown in the figure, which serves as a control scale at the end of the entire slicing and packaging line. Within the margin defined as permissible by the prepackaging regulation for overweight or underweight portions or packages in a batch, the slicer 15 can be used to cut the portions 11 either slightly heavier or slightly lighter to complete the individual flows.In particular, one can make use of the fact that within a batch a proportion is allowed (depending on the relevant provisions), for example, 2% of portions 11 that deviate from a predetermined portion weight. For the operation of the slicer 15, this means that the portions 11 for relatively empty flows, which therefore have a "deficit" of portions 11, tend to be cut lighter, i.e., more portions 11 are obtained from a product 13 and a respective underweight of the portions 11 in question is assumed. If, on the other hand, a portion flow has a relatively high fill level, the portions 11 tend to be cut heavier. As a result, a product 13 yields fewer portions 11. The "overweight" portions 11 deliberately produced during this overweight cutting correspond to the situation previously identified in the flow in question. Such overweight or underweight slicing is preferably carried out in combination with adjustment options and parameters already known for forming the portions 11 on the slicer 15. This includes, for example, so-called portion completion, in which missing slices of one product in the last portion are replaced with slices taken from the next product, or slice thickness adjustment, especially when a specified theoretical number and thickness of slices cannot be met for certain reasons and, therefore, one or more slices are added to the portion or the portion is formed with one or more fewer slices. This can occur, for example, when slicing cheese, if, due to a relatively high number of holes in the cheese product, a specific number of slices or slice thickness cannot be maintained. Consequently, the invention allows for "balancing" individual flows over time, particularly in the area of ​​intermediate storage devices 31, and yet complying with the framework conditions of the prepackaging regulation (FPV) during the production of a batch of portions. As explained in the introduction, differences in occupancy levels of individual flows can be compensated for by intelligent pre-sorting of products to be sliced ​​before loading and cutting and / or intelligent pre-splitting of products or splitting of products in a cutting program that is run in the control before cutting. If a "deficit" is identified in a flow, particularly in an intermediate storage device, and consequently a greater output of portions is required on the feed side of the corresponding lane—that is, "more product mass" is requested—the next step is to allocate, as far as possible, the heaviest available product from the loading equipment or product feeder to the lane in question. Conversely, if there is "overcrowding" in a flow—that is, an "excess product mass"—the output of portions on the lane in question at the product feeder 37 should be allocated, as far as possible, to the lane in question by allocating the lightest available product as the next product to be sliced. With this concept, various additional equipment can be used as an aid, such as an intermediate loading storage unit, a loading hopper, or a display to assist an operator, for example, in the form of a traffic light system that recommends manual loading, removal, addition, or reorganization, particularly after a product scanner. A product scale may also be provided as an additional aid. In principle, it is also possible to configure the product feeder or the areas upstream of the product feeder, which are generally called feeding, at least by zones, in such a way that the products can change tracks. In principle, a fully automatic selection of products for individual tracks is also conceivable, depending on the respective operating situation, so that the installation itself can establish the slicing sequence on the tracks from an existing "reserve" of products with known properties for this purpose. If products are specifically divided before slicing to vary the occupancy level in the respective flow downstream of the slicer, then it is preferable to carry out product measurement beforehand so that the products can be intelligently divided based on the product data in question. In particular, for cheese slicing, commonly used X-ray scanners can be employed to detect holes. At the same time, this product data obtained through measurement can be used for routine and individual product feeding for each lane on the slicer. An additional product scanner is therefore not required. In general, all relevant properties of the respective products can serve as a basis for this use of product data, particularly product weight, product density, product contour (external shape), product length, and internal product structure. Product structure is generally determined by the distribution of the individual product components. The holes contained in a cheese product can also be referred to as a product component in this sense, since the number, size, and distribution of the holes determine how the product can be sliced ​​and portioned to meet predetermined conditions such as slice thickness, slice weight, number of slices per portion, and portion weight.Other relevant product components are fat and other additives, whose proportion and distribution in the product can be determined and incorporated into the product feeder control. In a preferred design, the depositor 33 controls both the slicer and the product dividing device. This means that product dividing in the feeding area can already take into account the requirements of individual lanes or flows regarding the tendency towards thicker or thinner slices. Product division prior to slicing is itself part of the prior art. However, until now, the devices used for division were not flexible; that is, they operated with fixed settings. Consequently, product measurement using a product scanner was only performed after the product had been divided, meaning it was not possible to influence the product division operation with the data obtained through product measurement. Therefore, this method of proceeding, known to the state of the art, is precisely reversed with this improvement of the invention. List of references 11 portions 13 product 15 slicing device, slicer 19 cutting plane 21 downstream unit, packaging machine 23 hole 25 detection equipment 27 portioning equipment 29 grouping team 31 Intermediate storage equipment 33 depositor 35 control team 37 product feeder 38 product support 39 loading equipment 41 format game

Claims

1. A method for generating several streams of portions (11), each comprising one or more slices obtained by slicing food products (13) using a slicing device (15), in particular a high-speed slicer, wherein: - products (13) located side-by-side on several tracks are fed to a cutting blade of the slicing device (15) moving on a cutting plane (19), - slices are cut from the products (13) by means of the cutting blade, - portions (11) are formed from the cut slices, and - the portions (11) are conveyed in several streams to a downstream unit (21), in particular a packaging machine, characterized in that the occupancy levels of the streams are detected and slicing is performed according to the detected occupancy levels. 2.A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the slicing is carried out individually on each track based on the differences in the occupancy levels of the individual flows, and / or in that the slicing is carried out in such a way as to minimize the differences in the occupancy levels of the individual flows. 3.A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the occupancy levels of the flows are detected in each case by identifying gaps (23) between the portions (11) of a respective flow and / or by determining the flow rate of portions in a respective flow, and / or in that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying the output of portions and / or at least one property of at least one portion (11) on an associated track of the slicing device (15), and / or in that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying the throughput of portions per product (13) on an associated track of the slicing device (15), and / or in that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying the number of loading interruptions on an associated track of the slicing device (15). 4.A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying a theoretical value for the portion weight in an associated track of the slicing device (15), preferably using at least one predetermined tolerance, in particular a tolerance for the portion weight and / or a tolerance for the total weight of a batch comprising a plurality of portions (11). 5.A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying a sequence of products in an associated track of the slicing device (15) before the cutting plane, taking into account product criteria, in particular product weight, product density, product contour, product structure and / or product length, and / or in that the occupancy level in a respective flow is varied by modifying the product length in an associated track of the slicing device (15), in particular by combining, classifying, rearranging, dividing and / or grouping products (13). 6.Device for generating several flows of portions (11), each comprising one or more slices, with - a slicing device (15), in particular a high-speed slicer, for generating the slices by slicing food products (13), - at least one transport unit (27, 29, 31, 33) for transporting the portions (11) in several flows to a downstream unit (21), in particular to a packaging machine, characterized in that it has the following additional equipment: - a detection unit (25) for detecting the occupancy levels of the flows, and - a control unit (35) that is configured to control the device according to a procedure according to one of claims 1 to 5.

Images