A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUSPENDING POULTRY FROM A CARRIER ON A CONVEYOR BELT
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- MX · MX
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- MEYN FOOD PROCESSING TECH BV
- Filing Date
- 2023-03-31
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-19
AI Technical Summary
Existing systems for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier are expensive, complex, and prone to failure due to the need for extensive equipment and complicated missed pass guidance.
A system and method that uses a decision-making tool to detect the head of the poultry and control a vision-guided robot to pick and suspend poultry head-up from the conveyor belt carrier, reducing the need for complex guidance systems by hooking the birds at or below the head, and utilizing a supply station to release poultry in an unorganized order for easier imaging and handling.
The solution simplifies the operation, reduces costs, and improves reliability by enabling efficient and reliable suspension of poultry with reduced equipment complexity and improved handling capabilities.
Smart Images
Figure MX434033B0
Abstract
Description
A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUSPENDING POULTRY FROM A CARRIER ON A CONVEYOR BELT DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a system and method for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier, comprising a feed line for the birds to be suspended. W02014 / 040604 describes an apparatus for suspending birds having a body, neck, legs and possibly head and feet from an overhead conveyor, comprising - a plurality of supports, each of which has a neck end adapted to receive the neck of a bird and a first opening from which the legs and / or feet of the bird can protrude, a monitoring station for determining the orientation of the legs and / or feet of each bird, and - a rotation station for rotating the bird around a rotation axis that extends between a plane defined by the first opening of the stand and a plane defined by the end of the stand's neck. Using apparatus W02014 / 040604, a method can be applied for suspending birds having a body, neck, legs and possibly head and feet from an overhead conveyor, comprising the following sequence of steps: A) Each bird is placed on a stand with its QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi legs and / or feet protruding from a first opening in the same and its neck at one end of the neck of the support, B) the orientation of the legs and / or feet is determined, C) the bird rotates around an axis of rotation that extends between a plane defined by the first opening of the support and a plane defined by the neck end of the support until a predetermined orientation of the legs and / or feet is reached, and D) The bird's legs and / or feet are arranged in a shackle over the carrier. Document WO2020 / 126893 states that it is common practice in pig slaughterhouses to suspend pieces of meat on a specific transport device, generally called a Christmas tree, for internal or external transport and / or storage. This Christmas tree essentially consists of a series of hooks mounted on a vertical bar, which is configured to be suspended from a cantilever rail or mounted on a rack, and serves as a means of collecting and transporting the meat products. In pig slaughterhouses, and when it comes to processing, for example, pig forequarters and bellies, it is customary to classify these meat products into different weight classes, which requires dividing the initial products into different product lines (holding areas) for awaiting storage. QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi post-processing. Document WO2020 / 126893 proposes a system and process to avoid the arduous manual labor associated with suspending large and heavy pieces of pork, for example, on shelves for product storage and / or transport. Accordingly, document WO2020 / 126893 discloses a pork handling system configured to move and suspend one or more pork items from an infeed conveyor to a means for storing and / or transporting said pork items, the system comprising: one or more processing methods; an inbound conveyor belt to transport and deliver meat items to an arrival area; a sensor, installed in the arrival area or within its operating distance, to detect the arrival of pork items to the arrival area; with the processing means in operation with the incoming conveyor belt, the sensor, and with one or more industrial robots, and / or the storage / transport means, means for rotating a rod, to determine the exact location of the incoming pork item, to determine the location of a suitable gripping point on the pork item; QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi an industrial robot-mounted gripping tool, capable of picking up, grabbing, holding or supporting the incoming pork product while in motion, and lifting it off the conveyor, so that it can finally be hung on the storage / transport means; whose storage / transport means comprise a series of hooks, with the tip facing upwards, for receiving the pork items to be stored / transported, and which hooks are mounted on a vertical rod, the rod being operatively connected to a means for rotating the rod, to bring the hook to a determined position to receive the pork item, delivered by the gripping tool mounted on the industrial robot. US patent 10,881,115 B1 describes a system and method for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier, comprising a feed line for suspending the poultry, wherein the system comprises an imaging device connected to a decision-making tool for processing images of the poultry on the feed line, such images being received from the imaging device, and a vision-guided robot for collecting the poultry from the feed line and suspending the poultry from the conveyor belt carrier, wherein the The QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi system is provided with a poultry orientation determination system, a failed step orientation system, and a poultry shackle system whereby poultry are robotically inserted into a poultry shackle, using a plurality of serial vision-guided robots and a tool having a three-axis rotation capability and a contour to match the contour of a poultry breast. A major disadvantage of this known system and method for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier is that it requires a lot of equipment for implementation, making it expensive, complicated, and prone to failure. The object of the invention is to reduce costs, improve reliability, and make the system and its method of operation simpler and less complicated. According to the invention, a system and method is proposed in accordance with the appended claims, which also cover a computer, a computer program, and a computer-readable medium provided with such a computer program in support of the method and system of the invention. According to a first aspect of the invention, in a system for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier according to the preamble According to claim 1, the decision-making tool is arranged to detect the head of the poultry and control the vision-guided robot to collect the poultry from the feeding line by hooking the poultry at or below the head, such as by the neck, and subsequently suspending the poultry head-up from the carrier on the conveyor belt, wherein it is preferred that the poultry be suspended by the head from the carrier. The invention avoids the complicated failed-pass guidance system required in the system and method of the prior art, without compromising, but rather improving, the reliability achieved in the process of collecting the poultry from the feeding line and subsequently suspending the poultry by the head on a conveyor belt. According to the invention, therefore, the following is required: - Take pictures of the poultry on the feeding line, - process these images to detect the head of the poultry, - control the vision-guided robot to collect poultry from the feeding line by hooking the poultry on or under their heads, and - control the vision-guided robot to suspend The poultry with its head up from the conveyor belt carrier. The expression "with its head up" reflects that there are a couple of options in which the poultry can be suspended from the conveyor, in particular by hooking the poultry by the neck below the head, or by hooking the poultry so that it is suspended by the head. Although this is not necessarily the only form of implementation, preferably at least the image processing step for the bird and / or the step of controlling the vision-guided robot are implemented using a computer. Accordingly, the invention is also incorporated into a computer program which, when loaded onto the computer, enables the computer to support the system of the invention and its method of operation. Exclusive rights are also required for a computer-readable medium provided with the computer program of the invention. To enable the processing of poultry in large quantities and at a high rate, it is preferable that the feeding line be equipped with a supply station to release a plurality of poultry onto the line in a random order. Of course, it is also possible for the feeding line to receive the poultry in a predetermined order, which can reduce the workload of properly guiding the birds after the robot... QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi vision-controlled pick them up from the feeding line and before the vision-controlled robot has been suspended, the poultry from the appropriate carrier on the conveyor belt. The supply station is equipped to receive poultry one by one, or in containers, such as crates. Ideally, the feeding station is equipped to release the poultry from the containers so they can move to and through a transfer section onto the feeding line. This transfer section is equipped with guide channels to deliver the poultry to the feeding line in separate lines or moving rows. This prevents poultry in separate, adjacent lines from touching each other, facilitating the imaging of individual birds and also aiding the vision-guided robot in collecting the birds from the feeding line. It is preferable that adjacent poultry on the feeding line do not touch each other. It is a beneficial feature of the invention that the decision-making tool controls the vision-guided robot to engage and collect poultry from the feeding line in an arbitrary orientation, which is particularly beneficial due to the disorganized order in the QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi that the supply station can release the poultry onto the feeding line. Subsequently, the decision-making tool can control the vision-guided robot to place the collected poultry in a predetermined orientation, whereupon the vision-guided robot suspends the poultry head-up from the conveyor belt carrier. Therefore, it is desirable to collect images of the poultry while the vision-guided robot has collected them from the feeding line, such as when the poultry are hanging from the vision-guided robot, and to further control the vision-guided robot to position the collected poultry in the predetermined orientation, based on the images of the poultry hanging from the vision-guided robot. Consequently, the system features a decision-making tool that controls the vision-guided robot to place the collected poultry in the predetermined orientation based on images of the poultry, which are provided by the imaging device. The reliability of vision-guided robot control can be improved by mounting the imaging device on the vision-guided robot. However, this is not essential; the imaging device can also be a separate, external device. QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi of the vision-guided robot. The system of the invention makes it possible to maneuver the poultry into any desired orientation; however, it is preferred that the default orientation of the poultry be one in which the breast of the poultry is facing the carrier or one in which the breast of the poultry is facing away from the carrier. For all practical purposes, these options can be adapted to most situations in poultry processing plants. Both are preferably achieved by having the decision-making tool select the default orientation of the poultry depending on the type of conveyor belt on which the poultry will be suspended. In many configurations, it is preferred that the decision-making tool be configured to control the vision-guided robot so that the poultry is picked up and suspended from the carrier with its breast facing the carrier. This applies particularly to intermediate stations. Hereafter, the invention will be further clarified with reference to the drawing of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to the invention, which is not limiting with respect to the appended claims. QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS - Figure 1 shows a supply station and a feed line that are part of a system according to the invention; - Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the system of the invention with a feeding line, a vision-guided robot and a conveyor belt, in which the birds are supplied in a first orientation on the feeding line; - Figure 4 and Figure 5 show the system of the invention with a feeding line, a vision-guided robot and a conveyor belt, in which the poultry are supplied in a second orientation on the feeding line. Whenever the same reference numbers are used in the figures, these numbers refer to the same parts. The invention relates to a system and method for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier. The system comprises several parts; a central part is a feeding line 1 for the poultry 8, shown in Figure 1, along with a supply station 3 for the poultry. In addition, the system includes a vision-guided robot 4 and the conveyor belt 5, both shown in Figures 2-5. QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi conveyor belt 5 comprises a series of carriers 6, of which only a pair are shown, which can be moved in the transport direction of conveyor belt 5 in a manner that is fully known to the experienced person and therefore requires no further clarification. Feeding line 1 receives poultry from supply station 3, which receives the poultry 8 one by one, or in containers 7, such as boxes, and releases the poultry 8 from the containers 7 onto feeding line 1. Supply station 3 is equipped with a transfer portion 9 leading to feeding line 1. When the poultry 8 is released from the containers 7, it passes through the transfer portion 9 and moves onto feeding line 1. The transfer portion 9 is equipped with guide channels 10 to deliver the poultry 8 to feeding line 1 in separate lines or by moving the rows of poultry. Furthermore, adjacent poultry 8 received on feeding line 1 do not touch each other. For clarity, Figures 2 to 5 show only feed line 1, while Figures 2 and 4 show poultry 8 being fed via feed line 1 to a vision-guided robot 4. The difference between Figure 2 and Figure 4 is that Figure 2 shows a single poultry lying on its back. QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi feed line 1, while Figure 4 shows that the single poultry is lying on its side supported on feed line 1. Providing Figures 2 and 4, it is shown that the vision-guided robot 4 picks up the poultry from feed line 1, without differentiating between the position of the poultry 8 lying on feed line 1. This is achieved by arranging the system to comprise an imaging device 11 connected to a decision-making tool 12 for processing images of the poultry 8 received from the imaging device 11, wherein the decision-making tool 12 is arranged to detect a head of the poultry 8. This is only shown in Figure 2, but also applies correspondingly to Figures 3-5.The imaging device 11 is shown as a standalone device next to the vision-guided robot 4, but this is not the only option. The imaging device can also be mounted on the vision-guided robot 4, as will be discussed below. Figures 2 and 4 show the initial movements of a subsequent step of the method that follows the detection of the head of poultry 8. In such a subsequent step of the method, the decision-making tool 12 controls the vision-guided robot 4 to collect poultry 8 from the feeding line 1 by hooking the bird. The poultry 8 will then be hanging from the vision-guided robot 4 in an arbitrary orientation. From then on, the decision-making tool 12 controls the vision-guided robot 4 to execute the following movements of the subsequent method step in which the poultry 8 is finally suspended head-up from the carrier 6 of the conveyor belt 5. Before the final step, in which the poultry 8 is suspended head-up on carrier 6 of conveyor belt 5, the poultry 8 is maneuvered by the vision-guided robot 4 into a predetermined orientation. To move the poultry to this predetermined orientation, decision-making tool 12 controls the vision-guided robot 4 to move the collected poultry 8 based on images of the poultry 8 while hanging from the vision-guided robot 4. These images are derived from imaging device 11.In fact, it is possible to use the same imaging device 11 that is used to obtain images of the poultry 8 when it lies down on the feeding line 1, but in many modalities the imaging device 11 is required to be provided with a tracking function to follow the poultry 8 after it has been picked up by the vision-guided robot 4. QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi Another option is to use an additional imaging device 13, which is then preferably mounted on the vision-guided robot 4, which is best shown in Figure 4. Although many orientations are possible for moving the poultry 8 with the vision-guided robot 4, the preferred default orientation is one in which the poultry's breast 8' faces the carrier 6 and the other breast 8' faces away from the carrier 6. Both Figure 3 and Figure 5 illustrate the option of having the poultry's breast 8' facing the carrier 6, which is the most commonly desired orientation, particularly when the conveyor belt 5 is part of an intermediate station. Decision tool 12 is arranged to select the default orientation of the poultry 8 depending on the type of conveyor belt 5 on which the poultry 8 will be suspended. The embodiments of the present invention may include all combinations of features described herein, independently of one another. Although the invention has been described above with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the method of the invention, the invention is not limited to this particular embodiment, which may vary in many ways without departing from the invention. Therefore, the exemplary embodiment described shall not be used for QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi construct the attached claims strictly in accordance with them. Conversely, the modality is intended merely to explain the text of the attached claims without intending to limit the claims to this exemplary modality. Therefore, the scope of protection of the invention shall be interpreted in accordance with the attached claims only, in which any possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be resolved by using this exemplary modality. The variations and modifications of the present invention will be evident to those skilled in the art, and it is intended that the appended claims encompass all such modifications and equivalents. Unless specifically stated as essential in the foregoing, none of the various components or their interrelationships are essential to the functioning of the invention. Rather, desirable results can be achieved by substituting various components and / or reconfiguring their relationships with each other. Optionally, the embodiments of the present invention may include a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or a distributed system programmed with computer software that implements the steps described above, said computer software being in any appropriate computer language, including, but not limited to, C++, FORTRAN, ALGOL, BASIC, Java, Python, Linux, language QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi assembler, microcode, distributed programming languages, etc. The apparatus may also include a plurality of such distributed computers / systems (e.g., connected via the Internet and / or one or more intranets) in a variety of hardware implementations. For example, data processing may be performed by a suitably programmed microprocessor, cloud computing, an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or similar, along with appropriate memory, network, and bus elements. One or more processors and / or microcontrollers may operate by means of computer code instructions, and the software is preferably stored on one or more tangible, non-transitive memory storage devices.
Claims
1. A system for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier, comprising a feed line for suspending the poultry, wherein the system comprises an imaging device connected to a decision-making tool for processing images of the poultry on the feed line, said images being received from the imaging device, and a vision-guided robot for picking up the poultry from the feed line and suspending the poultry from the conveyor belt carrier, characterized in that the decision-making tool is arranged to detect a poultry head and to control the vision-guided robot to pick up the poultry from the feed line by hooking the poultry at or below the head, and subsequently suspend the poultry head-up from the conveyor belt carrier.
2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the feeding line is equipped with a supply station to release most of the birds in an unorganized order to the feeding line.
3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that the supply station is equipped to receive the poultry one by one, or in containers such as boxes.
4. The system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the supply station is equipped to release the poultry from the containers into and through a transfer portion to the feeding line, wherein the transfer portion is equipped with guide channels to supply the poultry to the feeding line in separate lines or moving rows of poultry, preferably without adjacent poultry received on the feeding line touching each other.
5. The system according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the decision-making tool controls the vision-guided robot to hook and collect the poultry from the feeding line in an arbitrary orientation.
6. The system according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the decision-making tool controls the vision-guided robot to position the collected bird in a predetermined orientation, in which predetermined orientation the vision-guided robot suspends the poultry with its head upwards from the carrier on the conveyor belt.
7. The system according to any of claims 1-6, characterized in that the QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi 20 decision-making tool controls the vision-guided robot to place the collected bird in a predetermined orientation based on images of the bird after it has been collected by the vision-guided robot, the images of which are derived from the image-forming device.
8. The system according to any of claims 1-7, characterized in that the image formation device is mounted on the vision-guided robot.
9. The system in accordance with any of claims 6-8, characterized in that the predetermined orientation of the poultry is a poultry breast facing the carrier and the poultry breast facing away from the carrier.
10. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that the orientation of the breast is determined by detecting a characteristic feature of the poultry, such as the beak.
11. The system according to any of claims 5-10, characterized in that the decision-making tool is arranged to select the predetermined orientation of the poultry depending on the type of conveyor belt on which the poultry will be suspended or are to be suspended.
12. A method for automatically suspending poultry from a conveyor belt carrier, characterized in that it comprises: feeding poultry on a feed line to a vision-guided robot; picking up the poultry from the feed line with the vision-guided robot; and suspending the poultry from the conveyor belt carrier with the vision-guided robot, wherein: taking images of the poultry on the feed line; processing said images to detect a poultry head; controlling the vision-guided robot to pick up the poultry from the feed line by hooking the poultry at or below the head; and controlling the vision-guided robot to suspend the poultry head-up from the conveyor belt carrier.
13. The method according to claim 12, characterized by supplying most of the poultry to the feeding line in an unorganized order, preferably without adjacent poultry received on the feeding line touching each other.
14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized by controlling the vision-guided robot QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi to hook and collect poultry from the feeding line in an arbitrary orientation.
15. The method according to claim 14, characterized by controlling the vision-guided robot to place the collected bird in a predetermined orientation, and controlling the vision-guided robot to suspend the bird head-up from the conveyor belt carrier in said predetermined orientation.
16. The method according to claim 15, characterized by collecting images of the poultry while the vision-guided robot has collected the poultry from the feeding line, and further controlling the vision-guided robot to place the collected poultry in the predetermined orientation, based on said orientation of images of the poultry collected by the vision-guided robot.
17. The method according to any of claims 12-16, characterized by controlling the vision-guided robot to move the poultry in a predetermined orientation, which is selected from the group comprising a first orientation of the poultry with its breast facing the carrier and a second orientation with the poultry's breast facing away from the carrier.
18. The method according to any of claims 12-17, characterized in that it provides the QQornn / eznz / e / YiAi with at least one of the poultry image processing steps and the vision-guided robot control being implemented on a computer.
19. The computer program that, when loaded onto a computer that is part of a system according to any one of claims 1-11, causes the computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 12-17.
20. The computer-readable medium provided with the computer program according to claim 19.