Conveying device and application

Abstract

The invention provides a conveying device and application, the conveying device comprises a first flexible belt which is driven to keep circulating motion, a needle roller is arranged above the conveying surface of the first flexible belt, and a soft object conveyed between the needle roller and the first flexible belt is punctured by the needle roller to form a hole penetrating into the soft object. The conveying device is applied to meat product pickling, processing and conveying, the needle rollers conduct needling treatment on conveyed meat to form needle holes penetrating into the meat, and pickling material permeation is promoted.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of conveying equipment, and in particular relates to a conveying device and its application. Background Art

[0002] Meat curing is a relatively simple process, but requires high production volumes. Therefore, conveyor equipment is often used in industrial production to transport meat through various stages of processing to improve flow efficiency. Curing meat requires the marinade to coat the surface of the meat, allowing time to allow the marinade to cure. Punching the meat allows the marinade to penetrate deeper, enhancing the curing effect.

[0003] However, at present, in the process of industrialization of meat pickling, more attention is paid to transportation efficiency and intelligence, while the quality improvement of meat pickling is ignored. Therefore, the functions of the transportation devices are very simple, and the efficiency of manual piercing is extremely low, and the effect is not ideal. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to solve the above technical problems, this application proposes a conveying device and its application. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0005] The conveying device includes a flexible belt that is driven to maintain a circular motion. A needle roller is arranged above the conveying surface of the flexible belt so that soft objects conveyed between the needle roller and the flexible belt are punctured by the needle roller to form holes deep inside.

[0006] In some preferred technical solutions, the needle roller includes a roller body and a needle body installed on the roller body. The needle body can slide along the axial direction of the needle body. A limiting part is also provided on the outside of the needle roller so that when the needle roller rotates, the needle body contacts the limiting part and is pressed to slide out toward the flexible belt.

[0007] In some preferred technical solutions, the roller body is provided with a through hole, the needle body is accommodated in the hole and the middle part of the needle body has a radially arranged protrusion, a plug for accommodating the needle body to pass through is fixed at the opening of the hole, and a spring is arranged between the plug and the protrusion.

[0008] In some preferred technical solutions, a surface passing through the axis of the needle roller and perpendicular to the flexible belt is defined as a reference plane, and the limiting portion is located on one side of the reference plane. When the needle body contacts the limiting portion and is pressed to slide out toward the flexible belt, the needle body slides out of the limiting portion when it rotates from an inclined state to a vertical state.

[0009] In some preferred technical solutions, the effective insertion length of the needle body gradually increases in diameter from the needle tip to the middle.

[0010] In some preferred technical solutions, the limiting portion is a second flexible belt in an annular loop, and after the needle body contacts the second flexible belt, the two move synchronously.

[0011] In some preferred technical solutions, a support plate is provided below the conveying surface of the flexible belt 1;

[0012] And / or a support plate is provided above the flexible belt 2.

[0013] In some preferred technical solutions, the flexible belt 2 is a composite knot with a metal braided belt as an inner lining and rubber or plastic as a wrapping material.

[0014] In some preferred technical solutions, the relative positions of the limiting portion and the needle roller are fixed;

[0015] Or the relative position of the limiting portion and the needle roller is adjustable.

[0016] On the other hand, the conveying device described in the present application is used for conveying meat during pickling processing, so that the needle roller punctures the conveyed meat to form needle holes deep inside, thereby promoting the penetration of the marinade.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0018] The conveying device of the present invention works in conjunction with the conveying device, so that the meat is subjected to a needle-piercing treatment by the needle roller during the conveying process, thereby forming needle holes deep inside the meat. These needle holes can promote the marinade to penetrate deep into the meat, thereby improving the marinating effect;

[0019] On the other hand, compared with the method of using a lifting and controlling needle plate to pierce meat on a flat surface, the device of the present application is realized synchronously during the conveying process, without the need for additional steps, and the processing process is continuous, which is more conducive to improving efficiency;

[0020] Furthermore, by providing a needle body that can slide axially and cooperate with the limiting part, not only can the insertion depth be increased when puncturing a hole, but also most of the needle body can be actively and instantaneously withdrawn when the deepest insertion is reached, which is more conducive to the complete withdrawal of the needle body from the meat, and avoids the problem that the meat is tilted up as the needle body rotates and the delivery is stuck due to the needle body being inserted too deeply and unable to be completely withdrawn from the meat afterwards. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 Shown is a schematic structural diagram of a conveying device;

[0022] Figure 2 Shown is a schematic diagram of the installation structure of the flexible belt 1;

[0023] Figure 3 Shown is a schematic diagram of the first structure of the needle roller;

[0024] Figure 4 Shown is a schematic diagram of a second installation structure of the needle roller;

[0025] Figure 5 Shown is a state diagram of the second structure of the needle roller;

[0026] Figure 6 Shown is Figure 1 A partial enlarged view of point A in the middle;

[0027] Figure 7 Shown is a schematic diagram of the relative positions of the restriction portion, the needle roller and the flexible belt;

[0028] Figure 8 FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a restriction portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without these details. In other cases, well-known structures are not shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments. Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and the appended claims, the word "comprising" should be interpreted in an open, inclusive sense, that is, as in "including but not limited to."

[0030] The conveying device proposed in the present application includes a flexible belt 10 that is driven to maintain a circular motion. The flexible belt 10 should be in a ring-shaped closed state to ensure that it can maintain a ring-shaped circular motion under the action of the drive. The flexible belt 10 provides a conveying surface for placing the items to be conveyed; on the other hand, the present application is aimed at special application scenarios, and one or more needle rollers 20 are set above the conveying surface. The needle rollers 20 do not need to be provided with an external drive device. In actual working scenarios, the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10 is mostly used to convey some soft items, such as meat. Therefore, while the flexible belt 10 is working, the needle rollers 20 will contact the items to be conveyed and penetrate into them, thereby forming deep holes inside the items.

[0031] In one embodiment, the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10 is set to be a plane, and the items to be conveyed are transported point to point on the plane.

[0032] In one embodiment, the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10 is set to a curved surface, which can be a surface with a fixed curvature radius or a surface with a non-fixed curvature radius. The items to be conveyed are transported point-to-point on the curved surface, and are generally set between two workstations with a height difference.

[0033] In one embodiment, the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10 is configured as a combination of a flat surface and a curved surface.

[0034] For example, Figure 1What is shown in the figure is a schematic diagram of the state in which the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10 is set to be a plane. Correspondingly, a needle roller 20 is also set above the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10. During the rotation process, the end of the needle tip of the needle roller 20 always maintains a distance from the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10.

[0035] The specific connection structure of the flexible belt 10 has no substantial improvement over the prior art. Figure 2 For a general description, the flexible belt 10 is mounted via a mounting frame 11 and drive rollers 12. Rotatable drive rollers 12 are mounted at both ends of the mounting frame 11. The flexible belt 10 is tensioned by these drive rollers 12, and the rotation of these drive rollers 12 enables the flexible belt 10 to circulate. As a drive for the flexible belt 10's circulation, one of the drive rollers 12 is directly or indirectly connected to the output shaft of the motor, while the other drive roller 12 serves as a driven roller.

[0036] Combine Figure 2 In the present application, a support plate 13 is also fixed on the mounting frame 11. The support plate 13 and the mounting frame 11 can be fixedly connected by conventional welding or bolt fastening. The support plate 13 is located on the inner side (i.e., below) of the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10, and is set with a gap from the flexible belt 10 (generally, the gap is a few millimeters) or in direct contact with the flexible belt 10, and is used to provide stable support for the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10, so as to cooperate with the needle roller 20 to enable the needle tip on the needle roller 20 to penetrate the object to be conveyed.

[0037] In one embodiment, the needle roller 20 is fixed to the mounting frame 11 via a bracket 30 ; in another embodiment, the needle roller 20 is fixed separately via an external bracket.

[0038] For example, Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the needle roller 20 being fixed on the mounting frame 11 via the bracket 30 is shown in FIG.

[0039] In some embodiments, the needle roller 20 includes a roller body 21 and a needle body 22 fixed on the surface of the roller body 21; wherein, in an optional embodiment, the needle body 22 is distributed in a regular array on the surface of the roller body 21, such as an equally spaced annular distribution, or an equally spaced spiral distribution; in an optional embodiment, the needle body 22 is irregularly distributed on the surface of the roller body 21; in an optional embodiment, the extension direction of the needle body 22 is along the normal to the surface of the roller body 21 (i.e., radially, the extension line of the needle body 22 coincides with the center of the roller body 21); in an optional embodiment, the extension direction of the needle body 22 has an angle with the normal to the surface of the roller body 21, and the angle is less than 30°; in an optional embodiment, the length of the needle body 22 is not fixed, i.e., some needle bodies 22 are longer and some needle bodies 22 are shorter, but during the rotation of the needle roller 20, the needle tip end of the longest needle body 22 always maintains a distance from the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10; in an optional embodiment, the length of the needle body 22 is fixed.

[0040] For example, Figure 3 : shown is a schematic structural diagram of the needle roller 20, in which the needle bodies 22 are distributed in an equidistant spiral on the surface of the roller body 21, and the extension direction of the needle bodies 22 is along the normal direction of the roller body 21 surface, and the lengths of the needle bodies 22 on the surface of the roller body 21 are all the same.

[0041] In some embodiments, the needle body 22 is fixed to the surface of the roller body 21, for example, by welding; in other embodiments, the needle body 22 is installed on the roller body 21 through some auxiliary structures, and can move relative to the roller body 21, especially can slide along the axial direction of the needle body 22, so that the distance between the needle tip of the needle body 22 and the surface of the roller body 21 changes, and then the distance between the needle tip of the needle body 22 and the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10 changes.

[0042] For example, Figure 4 Shown in the figure is a schematic diagram of the installation structure in which the needle body 22 slides along the axial direction. A through hole 21a is provided on the roller body 21, and a radially arranged protrusion 22a is provided in the middle of the needle body 22. The needle body 22 is placed in the hole 21a, and a spring 23 is put on the needle body 22. The spring 23 and the needle body 22 are sealed in the hole 21a at the same time with a plug 24. The plug 24 is fixed at the two openings of the hole 21a, and the two ends of the spring 23 respectively abut on the plug 24 and the protrusion 22a. The middle of the plug 24 has a through hole for accommodating the needle body 22 to pass through.

[0043] Figure 5 : is a schematic diagram of the state in which the needle body 22 is installed. Since the needle body 22 is installed inside the roller body 21 through the spring 23 and the plug 24, when one end of the needle body 22 is compressed, the spring 23 at the opposite end will be compressed, and the needle body 22 will extend a longer distance toward the opposite end.

[0044] Combine Figure 1 When the needle body 22 is configured to be movable relative to the roller body 21, a limiting portion 40 is also required to be provided on the outside of the needle roller 20. When the limiting portion 40 exists, the needle roller 20 is located between the limiting portion 40 and the conveying surface of the flexible belt 10, and at the same time, the minimum distance between the limiting portion 40 and the roller body 21 is set to L1, and the distance that the needle body 22 extends out of the roller body 21 when not subject to external force is set to L2, then L1 is smaller than L2.

[0045] When the object to be conveyed is about to pass under the needle roller 20, the object will first contact the tip of the needle body 22. At this time, the needle body is in an inclined state. As the object gradually enters under the needle roller 20, the needle body 22 will slowly become vertical and penetrate deeper into the object. At the same time, since a limiting portion 40 is provided above the needle roller 20, the other end of the needle body 22 will gradually contact the limiting portion 40 as it rotates. The limiting portion 40, combined with the rotation of the needle roller 20, squeezes the other end of the needle body 22, thereby pressurizing the needle body 22 to extend a longer distance toward the side of the flexible belt 10, and the needle body will penetrate deeper into the object.

[0046] On the other hand, when the needle body 22 is in contact with the limiting portion 40 and is compressed and stretched, as the needle roller 20 rotates, the needle tip of the needle body 22 should not contact the flexible belt 10 to prevent the needle body 22 from getting stuck.

[0047] In some embodiments, the relative position of the limiting portion 40 and the needle roller 20 is fixed; in other embodiments, the relative position of the limiting portion 40 and the needle roller 20 is adjustable, so that the size relationship between L1 and L2 can be adjusted according to different needs, and the depth of the needle body 22 penetrating the object can be controlled.

[0048] Also combined Figure 1 The limiting portion 40 is also fixed by the bracket 30. Figure 6 Shown Figure 1 The partial enlarged view of point A in the middle is the installation structure of the limiting part 40. At least two parallel slide grooves 31a are provided on the bracket 30, and the limiting part 40 is correspondingly provided with a slider 41 accommodated in the slide groove 31a and capable of sliding along the slide groove 31a. One of the sliders 41 protrudes from the outside of the slide groove 31a and is connected to the locking ring 42. The slide groove 31a and the slider 41 cooperate to realize the position adjustment of the limiting part 40. The locking ring 42 locks the slider 41 to a certain place on the bracket 30 and maintains the position state. For example, the locking ring 42 and the slider 41 are tightened by threaded cooperation to achieve fixation.

[0049] In this application, the relative positions of the limiting portion 40, the needle roller 20 and the flexible belt 10 are particularly important, see Figure 7The needle roller 20 is arranged above the flexible belt 10, and a surface K is provided which can pass through the axis of the needle roller 20 and is perpendicular to the flexible belt 10. The limiting portion 40 is arranged on one side of the surface K. More specifically, Figure 7 As shown in FIG, the conveying direction of the article is from left to right, the rotation direction of the needle roller 20 after contacting the article is counterclockwise X, and the limiting portion 40 is located on the right side of the surface K.

[0050] When the object is transported from left to right to the contact needle body 22, the needle body 22 rotates with the movement of the object until the opposite end of the needle body 22 contacts the limiting portion 40, and further rotates with the needle roller 20, so that the needle body 22 is pressed into the interior of the object and extends out. As the needle body 22 gradually rotates from an inclined state to a vertical state, the penetration depth of the needle body 22 reaches a maximum. At this time, if the needle roller 20 rotates a little more, it will slide out of the limiting portion 40. When the needle body 22 is compressed, the elastic potential energy stored in the spring 23 causes the needle body 22 to reset and withdraw from the interior of the object. Then, as the needle roller 20 further rotates, the needle body 22 can completely withdraw from the object.

[0051] The effective insertion length of the needle body 22 gradually increases in diameter from the needle tip to the middle, forming a cone or a cone-like shape, thereby reducing the resistance when the needle body 22 is withdrawn.

[0052] In addition, in order to protect the needle body 22, the limiting portion 40 is set to a ring-shaped loop structure, similar to the flexible band 10. For example, Figure 8 : A schematic structural diagram of the limiting portion 40 is shown, which includes a flexible belt 2 40a, a roller 40b and a side plate 40c. Both ends of the roller 40b are rotatably connected to the side plate 40c. At the same time, a slider 41 is fixed to the other side of the side plate 40c, and the flexible belt 2 40a is tensioned by the two rollers 40b. Similar to the installation structure of the flexible belt 10, a support plate can also be fixed on the inner side of the flexible belt 2 40a to maintain the proper pressure state applied by the flexible belt 2 40a to the needle body 22.

[0053] Furthermore, the flexible belt 2 40a can also adopt a composite structure, with a metal braided belt inside to provide strength, and a flexible material such as rubber or plastic outside to directly contact the needle body 22 to avoid wear or deformation of the needle tip. At the same time, the needle body 22 can also be made of metal or alloy material with higher hardness.

[0054] In combination with the above-mentioned records of the conveying device, the present application also records the application of the device in meat pickling processing. The items to be conveyed are meat that has been pickled or is ready to be pickled. While being transported between the workstations of the production process through the conveying device, the meat in transit is needle-pierced by a needle roller 20 to form needle holes deep inside the meat, which can improve the efficiency of marinade penetration and the quality of pickling.

[0055] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit the same.

Claims

1. A conveying device, characterized in that The utility model comprises a flexible belt which is driven to keep circulating motion, and a needle roller is arranged above the conveying surface of the flexible belt so that soft articles conveyed between the needle roller and the flexible belt are punctured by the needle roller to form holes penetrating into the interior.

2. The conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that The needle roller includes a roller body and a needle body installed on the roller body. The needle body can slide along the axial direction of the needle body. A limiting part is also provided on the outer side of the needle roller so that when the needle roller rotates, the needle body contacts the limiting part and is pressed to slide out toward the flexible belt.

3. The conveying device according to claim 2, characterized in that The roller body is provided with a through hole, the needle body is accommodated in the hole and the middle of the needle body has a radially arranged protrusion, the opening of the hole is fixed with a plug for accommodating the needle body to pass through, and a spring is arranged between the plug and the protrusion.

4. The conveying device according to claim 3, characterized in that The surface passing through the axis of the needle roller and perpendicular to the flexible belt is defined as the reference plane. The limiting portion is located on one side of the reference plane. When the needle body contacts the limiting portion and is pressed to slide out toward the flexible belt, the needle body rotates from an inclined state to a vertical state and then slides out of the limiting portion.

5. The conveying device according to claim 4, characterized in that The effective insertion length of the needle body gradually increases in diameter from the needle tip to the middle part.

6. The conveying device according to claim 4, characterized in that The limiting portion is a second flexible belt in an annular loop, and the two move synchronously after the needle body contacts the second flexible belt.

7. The conveying device according to claim 6, characterized in that A support plate is provided below the conveying surface of the flexible belt 1; And / or a support plate is provided above the flexible belt 2.

8. The conveying device according to claim 4, characterized in that The second flexible belt is a composite knot with a metal braided belt as an inner lining and rubber or plastic as a wrapping material.

9. The conveying device according to claim 2, characterized in that The relative positions of the limiting portion and the needle roller are fixed; Or the relative position of the limiting portion and the needle roller is adjustable.

10. The conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that The conveying device is used for conveying meat during pickling processing, so that the needle roller performs a needle-piercing treatment on the conveyed meat to form needle holes deep inside, thereby promoting the penetration of pickling.

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