Device for sealing tubular casings filled with a pasty mass and method for operating the device

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device for closing tubular casings filled with a pasty mass, in particular sausage meat-filled casings, into products by means of a filling machine, comprising a filling tube having an outlet opening, a brake, clipper shears movable toward one another transversely to a filling direction, and a measuring device that determines the caliber of the products without contact. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for operating a device for closing tubular casings filled with a pasty mass into products, comprising a filling tube having an outlet opening, a brake, clipper shears movable toward one another transversely to a filling direction, and a measuring device that determines the caliber of the products without contact.

[0002] Such a device is known, for example, from DE 10 2005 044 877 A1. A similar device is disclosed in EP 2 783 571 B1.

[0003] EP 2 801 258 A1 discloses a filling machine for sausage production, in which a sensor, a detector, and an external device are provided for determining at least one parameter relating to the sausage shape, wherein the external device can be arranged in the control system of the filling machine. Sausage packaging devices have as their main components a filling device, a closing device (clipper) for the filled casing, and a transport device for the produced products. The products can be sausages, for example. The closing device is provided with clipper scissors, with which the filled casing can be constricted and the pasty mass in the casing can be displaced to form a sausage end by placing one or two clips in the area of the casing displaced by the filling product, and if necessary, severing the casing strand.The casing is filled via the filling tube, through which the pasty mass flows under pressure into a tube of casing material closed at one end. The casing material is arranged in a gathered supply from the filling tube. The pressure in the filling tube causes the pasty mass to be evenly filled into the casing, with additional casing material being drawn from the supply against the force of the brake. Once the desired product size is reached, the casing is constricted and sealed.

[0004] The clipper shears are designed to tie the casing. They can be arranged vertically and then moved in the opposite direction. They can be moved from a fully open position to a closed position. While the clipper shears are closed and the clip(s) are being applied, the filling of the casing with pasty mass is interrupted. When the clipper shears are fully open again, the filling process resumes and the formed product strand can be fed between the two open clipper shears. To ensure the closing device is universally applicable, the clipper shears must be able to open wide enough to produce products with the maximum desired caliber (diameter).

[0005] In industrial sausage production, the highest possible portioning performance is required. To achieve this, the start and stop movements of the filling machine and the sealing machine must be coordinated as precisely as possible with the clipper scissors cycle and the conveyor movement. Especially when producing small-caliber sausages, the time until the clipper scissors are fully open is a dead time because the filling process has not yet begun, even though the smaller-caliber sausage strand could already pass through the clipper scissors in a not-fully-open position.

[0006] In EP 2 783 571 B1 it is provided for this purpose that the closure device and the filling machine exchange process data via a communication interface in such a way that the movement profile of the opposing clipper shears and the speed profile with which the pasty mass emerges from the filling tube are automatically adjusted to match one another by a control device, wherein the speed profile is repeated cyclically and the start time of a filling cycle is determined depending on the position of the clipper shears and the control device sends a corresponding start signal for filling at the earliest when the distance between the clipper shears is large enough for the product to fit through the opening of the clipper shears.

[0007] The product caliber must be manually entered into the filling device. This can lead to errors, especially when switching from large-caliber to small-caliber production, or vice versa. If the caliber is not entered or is not entered accurately, the filling process begins before the clipper shears have reached a sufficiently large open position. The casing is then filled against the clipper shears, which, in the worst case, can cause the casing to tear open and thus bring production to a standstill.

[0008] The product caliber can be determined with the device known from EP 2 783 571 B1 by pressing a probe against the filled sausage casing to determine its tautness, and by recording the distance traveled by the probe and the force required to move it. Although the caliber can be calculated from the distance traveled until the force increases, with sensitive sausage casings, there is a risk of damage and, for example, tearing during contact measurement.

[0009] From DE 10 2005 044 877 A1 a portioning and packaging device with a conveying device for filling material, a filling tube connected thereto and a closing device connected downstream therefrom is known, in which the portioning performance is to be increased by conveying the filling material in a continuous volume flow through an opening of the filling tube into a tubular packaging sleeve closed on one side, the packaging sleeve being constricted downstream of the filling tube during filling to form a tubular braid and closed with a closing element, wherein the constriction and closing take place at periodic intervals which were calculated on the basis of a selected portion size and the continuous volume flow.

[0010] Based on this problem, a device is to be created to prevent incorrect caliber inputs.

[0011] To solve the problem, a device of this type is characterized in that the measuring device is designed in such a way that it sends a signal to the control unit to adapt the coordinated operation to the caliber of the products.

[0012] The caliber automatically determined during production can then be used to control the filling machine. Since manual caliber entry is no longer necessary, incorrect entries are effectively avoided and it is ensured that filling of the casing does not begin until the clipper shears are open enough to allow the product string to pass through.

[0013] Preferably, the measuring device consists of a transmitter, a detector, and an evaluation unit. The transmitter can be a light source, and the detector a light / dark receiver. The dark area can then be recognized in the evaluation unit as the product caliber.

[0014] If the measuring device is positioned behind the outlet opening of the filling tube and upstream of the brake, the diameter of the shirred casing is determined, which depends on the thickness of the tubular casing and its diameter. In the evaluation device, the determined value must then be corrected according to the casing diameter and its material thickness to calculate the product caliber.

[0015] If the measuring device is located behind the brake and in front of the clipper shears or behind the clipper shears, the diameter of the filled casing and thus the caliber of the product is determined directly.

[0016] A filling machine for filling the pasty mass is arranged upstream of the closing device. A control unit can be provided for the time-coordinated operation of the closing device and the filling machine, with the measuring device then being configured to send a signal to the control unit for adapting the coordinated operation to the caliber of the products. The control unit can then be adapted to make the adjustment so that the filling machine begins filling the casing while the clipper scissors are moving from a closed position towards an open position. It is conceivable that the control unit can make the adjustment so that the filling machine begins filling earlier, the smaller the caliber of the product.

[0017] Because the filling of the casing with pasty mass is interrupted when the clipper shears are moved from a closed position, in which they are at a minimal distance from one another and have displaced the pasty mass filled into the casing, towards an open position, in which they are at a maximum distance from one another, the device according to the invention is further operated according to the invention in that the filling of the casing with pasty mass is restarted when the clipper shears have reached a position in which their distance is at least as large as the caliber determined by the measuring device and this position is reached before the open position. Thus, the filling of the casing does not begin when the clipper shears are fully open, but already when their distance from one another allows the produced caliber to be passed between them.

[0018] Embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail below with the aid of drawings. They show: Figure 1 - the schematic and perspective representation of a filling device and a downstream closing device; Figure 2 - an enlarged representation from Figure 1 ; Figure 4 - a side view of the arrangement according to Figure 1 ; Figure 5 - an enlarged detail from Figure 4 ; Figure 6 - a further enlarged partial view of Figure 4 ; Figure 7 - a perspective and schematic representation of a first embodiment; Figure 8 - the side view according to Figure 7 ; Figure 9 - a perspective and schematic representation of a second embodiment; Figure 10 - the side view according to Figure 9 ; Figure 11 - a perspective and schematic representation of a third embodiment; Figure 12 - the side view according to Figure 11 ; Figure 13 - the representation according to Figure 7with indicated operation of the measuring device; Figure 14 - the view according to arrow XIV to Figure 13 ; Figure 15 - a partial view of Figure 14 ; Figure 16 - the view according to arrow XVI to Figure 13 .

[0019] The Figure 1 The arrangement of a sausage production plant shown is well known. Sausage emulsion is fed into the filling machine 20 via a hopper 20.1. The sausage emulsion is fed via the filling tube 1 into the casing 10.1, which is arranged in front of a brake 2, in this case the casing brake, gathered into a casing bead on the filling tube 1. The casing or casing 10.1 is filled against the brake 2, and the produced sausage is drawn off in the filling direction F against the force of the brake 2 and removed via a transport device not shown in detail here.

[0020] The closing device 40 has two counter-rotating and coupled clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2. These clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 move vertically from a maximally open position P shown in the figures to a closed position P (not shown in detail), in which the casing 10.1 is squeezed together. The clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 are each constructed in two parts. The two parts 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and 3.2.1, 3.2.2 can be moved relative to one another in a horizontal direction (filling direction F), thereby displacing the sausage meat filled into the casing 10.1. One or two clips are then inserted into this thin casing strand to form closed sausage ends. If necessary, the intestinal strand can be separated between the two clips so that individual sausages 10, which are no longer connected to each other, can be produced and removed from the clipper 30.

[0021] Figure 5shows three possible arrangements of the measuring device 4. A first arrangement is detailed in Figures 7 and 8 shown. In the filling direction F, behind the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2, a light-emitting transmitter 4.1 is arranged above the sausage 10, and a receiver 4.2 is arranged below the sausage 10. The receiver detects the light rays incident on it. The evaluation unit 4.3 can determine the caliber K of the sausage 10 from the points where no light rays impinge on the receiver 2. The caliber K is the diameter D of the sausage 10.

[0022] In Figures 9 and 10 A second arrangement of the measuring device 4 is shown. The transmitter 4.1 and the receiver 4.2 are arranged in the filling direction F between the casing brake 2 and the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 and thus detect the caliber K of the sausage 10 emerging from the filling tube 1.

[0023] A third arrangement of the measuring device 4 is shown in Figures 11 and 12The transmitter 4.1 and the receiver 4.2 are arranged in front of the casing brake 2 and thus determine the diameter of the shirred casing strand, which is larger than the caliber K of the sausage 10 and depends on the diameter of the casing 10.1 and its thickness. Using this known data, the evaluation device 4.3 can calculate the diameter D of the sausage 10 and thus its caliber K depending on the desired length of the sausage 10.

[0024] The determination of the caliber K of the sausage 10 by emitting the light rays from the transmitter 4.1 or their reception by the receiver 4.2 is described in the Figures 13 to 15shown schematically. When the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 are moved from their fully open position P to the fully closed position P and from this back to the fully open position P, a working cycle of the closing device is carried out. Within this working cycle, it must be ensured that no sausage meat escapes from the filling tube 1 if the opening 3.3 of the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 is smaller than the caliber K of the sausage 10, because this could cause the casing 10.1 to tear open. The time elapsed until a working cycle of the closing device 40 is carried out is constant because it only depends on the speed at which the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 are driven. Because this time is constant, it can be calculated at what point in time the opening 3.3 of the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 during the closing movement, the size of caliber K is reached and the filling process must be stopped at the latest then, and at what time the opening 3.3 reaches the size of caliber K again during the return movement of the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2, and the filling process can be continued without there being a risk of the casing 10.1 being damaged because the sausage strand can pass through the opening 3.3. This means that filling can be restarted when the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 have reached a position P ist which is reached before the open position P auf . This position P ist depends on the determined caliber K.

[0025] The described determination of the caliber K takes place at the beginning of sausage production. The filling of the casing 10.1 is stopped when the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 are moved from their fully open position P to their closed position P and only starts again when the fully open position P is reached again. This ensures that a sausage 10 of any caliber K safely passes the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2. Once the caliber K has been determined, the filling of the casing / casing 10.1 can be controlled accordingly so that the filling process is only stopped when the clipper scissors 3.1, 3.2 are moved from their fully open position P to their closed position P and the filling process starts again before the fully open position P is reached again.

[0026] The determined caliber K can also be displayed on a display device of the capping device, allowing this value to be entered into the filling device by an operator. It does not need to be fed directly to the filling device's control system. List of reference symbols

[0027] 1 Filling tube 1.1 Outlet opening / Exit 2 Brake / Casing brake 3.1 Clipper scissors 3.1.1 Part 3.1.2 Part 3.2 Clipper scissors 3.2.1 Part 3.2.2 Part 3.3 Opening 4 Measuring device 4.1 Transmitter 4.2 Detector / Receiver 4.3 Evaluation device 10 Product / Sausage 10.1 Casing / Casing 20 Filling device 20.1 Funnel 30 Clipper 40 Closing device D Diameter F Filling direction K Caliber

Claims

1. Device for closing tubular casings (10.1) filled with a pasty material by means of a filling machine to form products (10), in particular intestine casings (10.1) filled with sausage meat, having a filling tube (1) with an outlet opening (1.1), a brake (2), clipper shears (3.1, 3.2) that can be moved towards one another transversely to a filling direction (F), a control unit and a measuring device (4) that determines the caliber K of the products (10) in a contactless manner, characterized in that the measuring device (4) is configured to transmit a signal for adapting the coordinated operation to the caliber K of the products (10) to the control unit.

2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the measuring device (4) comprises at least a transmitter (4.1), a detector (4.2) and an evaluation device (4.3).

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the measuring device (4) is arranged downstream of the outlet opening (1.1) and upstream of the brake (2) in relation to the filling direction (F).

4. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the measuring device (4) is arranged downstream of the brake (2) and upstream of the clipper shears (3.1, 3.2) with respect to the filling direction (F).

5. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the measuring device (4) is arranged downstream of the clipper shears (3.1, 3.2) in relation to the filling direction (F).

6. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the measuring device (4) determines the diameter (D) of the gathered casing (10.1) to determine the caliber (K).

7. Device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the measuring device (4) determines the caliber (K) of the casing (10.1) filled with pasty material.

8. Method for operating a device for closing tubular casings (10.1) filled with a pasty material to form products (10), comprising a filling tube (1) having an outlet opening (1.1), a brake (2), clipper shears (3.1, 3.2) that can be moved towards each other transversely to a filling direction (F), and a measuring device (4) that determines the caliber K of the products (10) in a contactless manner, in which the filling of the casing (10.1) with pasty material is interrupted when the clipper shears (3.1, 3.2) are moved from a closed position Pzu to an open position Pauf, in which they are at a maximum distance from one another, and having displaced the pasty material introduced into the casing (10.1), characterized in that the filling of the casing (10.1) with pasty material is restarted when the clipper shears (3.1, 3.2) have reached a position Pist in which their distance from one another is at least as great as the caliber (K) determined by the measuring device (4), and this position Pist is temporally reached before the opened position Pauf.