An on-line dusting and stacking mechanism for food trays

Abstract

This utility model discloses an online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food pallets, belonging to the technical field of product stacking mechanisms. It includes a conveyor belt, a baffle mechanism and a positioning sensor at its end, a lifting mechanism on the lower side of the conveyor belt end, a receiving snap mechanism on the upper side, a material feeding mechanism above the receiving snap mechanism, and a discharging mechanism on the front side. The receiving snap mechanism includes left and right fixed plates, front and rear crossbeams, and a gravity snap; the lifting mechanism lifts the pallet using screws, guide rods, etc.; the material feeding mechanism uses pneumatic components to drive the feeding plate; and the discharging mechanism is equipped with an inclined roller ramp. This mechanism enables online stacking of food pallets after dust removal, with high integration, high efficiency, and stable reliability, solving the problems of high cost and low efficiency caused by the separation of existing equipment, and is suitable for pallet handling in the food processing industry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to a product stacking mechanism, specifically an online dust removal stacking mechanism for food trays. Background Technology

[0002] In the food processing industry, the cleanliness of food pallets directly affects food hygiene and safety. Therefore, pallets must undergo a dust removal and cleaning process before being put into use. After cleaning, the pallets need to be quickly counted and stacked for subsequent packaging, storage, or transfer.

[0003] Currently, in the food pallet handling process on the market, the dust removal mechanism and the stacking mechanism are relatively independent devices. After the pallets are cleaned at the dust removal station, they need to be manually handled or transferred to a dedicated stacking and counting device with the help of auxiliary equipment such as robotic arms and transfer mechanisms. This "separate" handling mode has obvious drawbacks:

[0004] 1. High equipment costs: Multiple sets of dust removal, transfer, and stacking equipment need to be purchased, increasing the initial investment in the production line;

[0005] 2. Large space occupation: The layout of multiple equipment requires the reservation of equipment spacing and logistics channels, which significantly increases the difficulty of production line planning and operating costs, especially for food processing plants where space is at a premium.

[0006] 3. High dependence on manual labor: If manual transfer is adopted, dedicated operators are required, which increases labor costs and is prone to affecting production efficiency and product quality due to human error (such as pallet collisions, counting errors).

[0007] 4. Obvious efficiency bottlenecks: Transfer links between equipment (such as waiting for robotic arms to grab and time-consuming manual handling) can lead to interruptions in the production line rhythm, making it difficult to adapt to the "continuous and efficient" production needs of the food processing industry.

[0008] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an integrated mechanism that can combine "dust removal pallet conveying - automatic stacking - counting and unloading" to meet the cleanliness requirements of food pallets while simplifying production line layout, reducing costs, and improving production efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0009] To address the problems of multiple devices, high costs, and low efficiency caused by the separation of existing food pallet dust removal and stacking equipment, this utility model provides an online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food pallets, which integrates "dust removal + stacking counting", reducing the number of devices, space occupation, and manpower, and improving efficiency.

[0010] The above-mentioned objective of this utility model is achieved through the following technical solution: an online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays, including a conveyor belt, a baffle mechanism for blocking incoming trays and a positioning sensor at the end of the conveyor belt, a lifting mechanism at the lower side of the end of the conveyor belt, a receiving snap mechanism at the upper side of the end of the conveyor belt, a material feeding mechanism above the receiving snap mechanism, and a material unloading mechanism at the front side of the receiving snap mechanism.

[0011] Furthermore, the material receiving buckle mechanism includes a left fixed plate, a right fixed plate, a front crossbeam, and a rear crossbeam. The front and rear crossbeams are mounted on the left and right fixed plates. Both the front and rear crossbeams are equipped with several gravity buckles. The gravity buckle includes a fixed frame and a movable support block. The movable support block has a rhomboid cross-section, is hinged or pivotally connected to the fixed frame at its rear end, and is equipped with a stop. Its front end naturally droops down and protrudes from the inside of the fixed frame to form a support part, which is used to support the edge of the pallet.

[0012] Furthermore, the baffle mechanism is a flat plate fixed to the front crossbeam.

[0013] Furthermore, the lifting mechanism includes an upper fixed plate, a lifting plate, and a lower fixed plate. A guide rod and a lead screw are provided between the upper fixed plate and the lower fixed plate. A lead screw nut is installed on the lead screw, and the lifting plate is fixed to the lead screw nut. One end of the lead screw is connected to the lifting motor via a belt and a pulley. The lifting plate is mounted on the guide rod via a linear bearing. A lifting arm is provided on the lifting plate. The upper end of the lifting arm passes through the upper fixed plate and is connected to a lifting block.

[0014] Furthermore, the left and right fixed plates are mounted on a lifting adjustment mechanism, which is fixed to the upper fixed plate.

[0015] Furthermore, the feeding mechanism includes a pneumatic actuator and a feeding plate, the feeding plate being fixed to the pneumatic actuator, which is a slide cylinder or a leverless cylinder.

[0016] Furthermore, the feeding mechanism includes a support frame, on which an inclined roller slide assembly is provided.

[0017] Furthermore, a counting sensor is provided on one side of the end of the conveyor belt to detect the number of times the lifting mechanism lifts, thereby determining the number of trays.

[0018] Furthermore, the conveyor belt is divided into multiple product conveying channels by partitions.

[0019] The working principle of this invention is as follows: After passing through the dust removal station, the food tray reaches the baffle mechanism, where it is stopped from moving forward. At this time, the lifting mechanism lifts the tray, and the edge of the tray opens the gravity latch of the receiving latch mechanism. When the lifting mechanism descends, the tray descends with it and locks onto the gravity latch. Next, when the next tray reaches the baffle mechanism, the lifting mechanism lifts it again, stacking it at the bottom of the previous tray. After the lifting mechanism descends, it locks onto the gravity latch again. When the number of trays reaches a preset number, the lifting mechanism lifts the entire stack of trays to a height that allows them to be easily pushed to the unloading mechanism. At this time, the feeding mechanism is activated, and the feeding plate pushes the entire stack of trays to the unloading mechanism, where they slide down the inclined roller slide assembly to the designated position.

[0020] The advantages of this utility model compared with the prior art are:

[0021] 1. Integrated management, reducing costs and improving efficiency:

[0022] Our organization integrates the entire process of "dust removal followed by pallet conveying—blocking—lifting—receiving—stacking—placing—unloading" to replace the traditional separate solution of "dust removal equipment + transfer equipment + stacking equipment." This reduces equipment procurement costs (no additional transfer equipment required), lowers production line space requirements (more compact equipment layout), eliminates time losses from manual / mechanical transfers, and directly improves the overall efficiency of food pallet handling (tests show that overall production line efficiency can be increased by 30%-50%).

[0023] 2. Automatic stacking, stable and reliable:

[0024] Through the coordinated design of gravity-operated latches and a lifting mechanism, pallets can be "automatically received and automatically stacked".

[0025] When a single pallet is lifted, the pallet edge pushes open the movable support block of the gravity latch; when the pallet falls, the movable support block resets due to gravity, and the pallet edge is precisely locked in the support part;

[0026] When multiple pallets are stacked in a cycle, the upper pallet adheres to the lower pallet by gravity, without the need for additional positioning structures, resulting in high stacking accuracy and strong stability.

[0027] 3. Multi-channel parallel operation, flexible adaptation:

[0028] The conveyor belt features a multi-channel product transport design, supporting a production mode of "single-channel small batch and multi-channel large batch". The number of channels in use can be flexibly adjusted according to actual order needs (such as single-channel processing of small orders and multi-channel parallel processing of large orders), adapting to the production characteristics of "large order fluctuations" in the food processing industry. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the structure of this utility model.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of one side of the main body of this utility model.

[0031] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the other side of the main body of this utility model.

[0032] Figure 4 This is a side view of the main body of this utility model.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of one side of the lifting mechanism (including the conveyor belt) in this utility model.

[0034] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the other side of the lifting mechanism (including the conveyor belt) in this utility model.

[0035] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of the material receiving buckle mechanism in this utility model.

[0036] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the gravity-operated buckle in this utility model.

[0037] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the external structure of the gravity-operated buckle in this utility model.

[0038] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of one side of the material feeding mechanism in this utility model.

[0039] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the other side of the material feeding mechanism in this utility model.

[0040] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the overall connection structure of this utility model and the dust removal station. Detailed Implementation

[0041] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0042] like Figures 1 to 4 As shown, this utility model discloses an online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays, comprising a conveyor belt 1, a baffle mechanism 2, a lifting mechanism 3, a receiving buckle mechanism 4, a feeding mechanism 5, a discharging mechanism 6, a position sensor (not shown), and a counting sensor (not shown). In practical applications, its overall structure works in concert to achieve efficient online dust removal and stacking operations.

[0043] The conveyor belt 1 serves as the transport carrier for food trays. It has a smooth surface and is made of food-grade material, making it resistant to cleaning and disinfection processes. The conveyor belt 1 is divided into multiple independent product transport channels 8 along the transport direction by longitudinal partitions 7. The width of each channel is adapted to the size of the food trays, allowing multiple trays to be transported in parallel simultaneously, thus meeting the production needs of different batches.

[0044] The baffle mechanism 2 is a flat plate, fixedly installed on the front crossbeam 403 of the receiving buckle mechanism 4, and corresponding to the conveying end of the conveyor belt 1. Its function is to block the food tray when it is conveyed to the end of the conveyor belt 1, stopping the tray from moving forward and facilitating the subsequent operation of the lifting mechanism 3 on the tray.

[0045] The positioning sensor is located at the end of the conveyor belt 1, and the counting sensor is located on one side of the end of the conveyor belt 1.

[0046] like Figure 5 , Figure 6 As shown, the lifting mechanism 3 is located on the lower side of the end of the conveyor belt 1, and is mainly composed of an upper fixed plate 301, a lifting plate 302, a lower fixed plate 303, a guide rod 304, a lead screw 305, a lead screw nut 306, a lifting motor 307, a lifting arm 308, and a lifting block 309.

[0047] The upper fixed plate 301 and the lower fixed plate 303 are arranged in parallel, and a guide rod 304 and a lead screw 305 are fixed between them. The guide rod 304 plays a guiding role, and the lead screw 305 provides power for lifting.

[0048] A screw nut 306 is installed on the screw 305, and the lifting plate 302 is fixed on the screw nut 306. The lifting motor 307 is connected to one end of the screw 305 through a belt and a pulley. When the lifting motor 307 is working, it can drive the screw 305 to rotate, thereby causing the screw nut 306 to drive the lifting plate 302 to move up and down along the guide rod 304.

[0049] A lifting arm 308 is fixed on the lifting plate 302. The upper end of the lifting arm 308 passes through the upper fixed plate 301 and is connected to a lifting block 309. The lifting block 309 directly contacts the food tray to lift the tray.

[0050] like Figure 7 As shown, the material receiving buckle mechanism 4 is installed on the upper side of the end of the conveyor belt 1. It consists of a frame structure composed of a left fixed plate 401, a right fixed plate 402, a front crossbeam 403, and a rear crossbeam 404. The front crossbeam 403 and the rear crossbeam 404 are mounted between the left and right fixed plates 402 to form a stable support.

[0051] Both the front crossbeam 403 and the rear crossbeam 404 are equipped with several gravity-operated latches 405, such as Figure 8 , Figure 9 As shown, each gravity latch 405 includes a fixed frame 4051 and a movable support block 4052; the movable support block 4052 has a rhomboid cross-section, and its end is connected to the fixed frame 4051 by hinge or pivot, and is provided with a stop part 4053 (to prevent the movable support block 4052 from rotating excessively), and its front end hangs down naturally under the action of gravity and protrudes from the inside of the fixed frame 4051 to form a support part 4054, which is used to receive and support the edge of the food tray.

[0052] The left fixed plate 401 and the right fixed plate 402 are installed on the lifting adjustment mechanism 9, which is fixed on the upper fixed plate 301. The overall height of the receiving buckle mechanism 4 can be adjusted according to the thickness of the pallet.

[0053] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the material feeding mechanism 5 is located above the material receiving snap fastener mechanism 4, as... Figure 10 , Figure 11 As shown, the material feeding mechanism 5 consists of a pneumatic actuator 501 (such as a slide cylinder or a leverless cylinder) and a feeding plate 502, with the feeding plate 502 fixed to the movable end of the pneumatic actuator 501. When the stacked pallets reach a preset number, the pneumatic actuator 501 can drive the feeding plate 502 to move back and forth, pushing the entire stack of pallets from the receiving latch mechanism 4 to the unloading mechanism 6.

[0054] like Figure 2 As shown, the feeding mechanism 6 is located in front of the receiving snap fastener mechanism 4, and includes a bracket 601 and a roller slide assembly 602 mounted on the bracket 601. The roller slide assembly 602 is inclined. After the entire stack of pallets is pushed to the roller slide assembly 602, it can slide down along the inclined direction by its own gravity and be transported to the designated collection or packaging position.

[0055] The working process of this utility model:

[0056] 1. Pallet conveying and blocking:

[0057] After being cleaned at the dust removal station 10, the food trays 11 are transported to the end by the various conveyor channels 8 of the conveyor belt 1. When the trays reach the end of the conveyor belt 1, they are blocked by the baffle mechanism 2 fixed on the front crossbeam 403, stopping their movement and awaiting further processing.

[0058] 2. Pallet lifting and receiving:

[0059] When the positioning sensor detects that the pallet has been positioned, the lifting mechanism 3 is activated. The lifting motor 307 drives the lead screw 305 to rotate via the belt and pulley. The lead screw nut 306 drives the lifting plate 302 to move upward along the guide rod 304. The lifting arm 308 rises accordingly, and the lifting block 309 passes through the gap of the conveyor belt 1 to lift the pallet upward.

[0060] During the pallet's ascent, its edge pushes open the movable support block 4052 of the gravity latch 405 in the receiving latch mechanism 4 (the movable support block 4052 rotates around the hinge point); when the lifting mechanism 3 lowers the pallet, the movable support block 4052 naturally sags and resets due to its own weight, and the edge of the pallet falls precisely on the supporting part 4054 of the movable support block 4052, and is steadily supported by the receiving latch mechanism 4. During the operation of the lifting mechanism 3, a counting sensor detects the number of lifting operations.

[0061] 3. Pallet stacking:

[0062] The next dust-removed pallet is conveyed to the baffle mechanism 2 and stopped. The lifting mechanism 3 then restarts, lifting the pallet upwards. During the ascent, the pallet will fit against the bottom of the previous pallet. As the lifting mechanism 3 descends, the edges of the new pallet are also supported by the support part 4054 of the gravity latch 405, achieving stacking with the previous pallet. This process can be repeated to complete the continuous stacking of multiple pallets.

[0063] 4. Cutting the entire stack:

[0064] When the number of stacked pallets reaches a preset value, the lifting mechanism 3 lifts the entire stack of pallets upwards again, so that the bottom of the pallets is higher than the support part 4054 of the gravity latch 405. At this time, the pneumatic actuator 501 of the feeding mechanism 5 drives the feeding plate 502 to move forward, pushing the entire stack of pallets from the receiving latch mechanism 4 onto the roller slide assembly 602 of the unloading mechanism 6. Under the action of gravity, the pallets slide down the inclined roller slide assembly 602 and are finally transported to the designated position, completing the entire online dust removal stacking process.

[0065] Through the above structure and working process, this device realizes the integrated processing of food trays from dust removal and transportation to automatic stacking, counting and unloading, which effectively improves production efficiency and reduces equipment space occupation and labor costs.

[0066] The above description is merely an embodiment of this utility model and does not limit the patent scope of this utility model. Any equivalent structural or procedural transformations made based on the description and drawings of this utility model, or direct or indirect applications in other related technical fields, are similarly included within the patent protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A food tray online dust removal and stacking mechanism, comprising a conveyor belt, characterized in that: The end of the conveyor belt is equipped with a baffle mechanism for blocking the incoming material pallet and a positioning sensor. A lifting mechanism is provided on the lower side of the end of the conveyor belt, and a receiving snap mechanism is provided on the upper side of the end of the conveyor belt. A material feeding mechanism is provided above the receiving snap mechanism, and a material unloading mechanism is provided in front of the receiving snap mechanism.

2. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The baffle mechanism is a flat plate.

3. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material receiving snap fastener mechanism includes a left fixed plate, a right fixed plate, a front crossbeam, and a rear crossbeam. The front and rear crossbeams are mounted on the left and right fixed plates. Each of the front and rear crossbeams is equipped with several gravity snap fasteners. Each gravity snap fastener includes a fixed frame and a movable support block. The movable support block has a rhomboid cross-section, is hinged or pivotally connected to the fixed frame at its rear end, and is equipped with a stop. Its front end naturally droops down under gravity and protrudes from the inside of the fixed frame to form a support part, which is used to support the edge of the pallet.

4. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 3, characterized in that: The left and right fixed plates are mounted on a lifting and adjusting mechanism.

5. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism includes an upper fixed plate, a lifting plate, and a lower fixed plate. A guide rod and a lead screw are provided between the upper fixed plate and the lower fixed plate. A lead screw nut is installed on the lead screw, and the lifting plate is fixed to the lead screw nut. One end of the lead screw is connected to the lifting motor via a belt and a pulley. The lifting plate is mounted on the guide rod via a linear bearing. A lifting arm is provided on the lifting plate. The upper end of the lifting arm passes through the upper fixed plate and is connected to a lifting block.

6. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material feeding mechanism includes a pneumatic actuator and a feeding plate. The feeding plate is fixed on the pneumatic actuator, which is a slide cylinder or a leverless cylinder.

7. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The feeding mechanism includes a support frame, on which an inclined roller slide assembly is mounted.

8. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: A counting sensor is installed on one side of the end of the conveyor belt.

9. The online dust removal and stacking mechanism for food trays according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conveyor belt is divided into multiple product transport channels by partitions.

Images