Conveyor Gap Filling for Cheese Slices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food product cutting systems with parallel conveyor tracks face issues of product gaps due to varying lengths and slice thicknesses of food products, leading to incomplete product formats that cannot be processed efficiently by downstream packaging systems.
Innovation Solution
A method to fill product gaps in conveyor tracks by redistributing food products from one track to another, using a buffer and transfer mechanisms, ensuring both tracks are always occupied with products, and utilizing sensors and conveyors to manage the distribution and filling of gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If separate conveyor speeds are used for each track to handle varying product lengths, then productivity is improved, but product gaps occur due to timing mismatches between tracks
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by detecting product positions upstream and proactively transferring products between conveyor tracks before gaps are formed. The transfer mechanism is activated in advance based on predicted timing mismatches, ensuring continuous occupancy of both conveyor tracks without waiting for gaps to actually form.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses sensors to continuously monitor product positions on both conveyor tracks and provides feedback to the control unit. This feedback loop enables real-time detection of potential gaps and triggers automated transfer operations to maintain consistent product format, resolving the contradiction between variable speeds and format consistency.
2Ease of operation
If product gaps are allowed to occur, then ease of operation is improved by simple conveyor design, but downstream packaging systems cannot process the incomplete formats
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces an intermediary transfer mechanism between the parallel conveyor tracks that acts as a mediator to redistribute products. This intermediary system maintains the simplicity of individual conveyor operation while ensuring that product gaps are automatically filled, allowing downstream packaging systems to receive consistent product formats without disrupting the simple conveyor operation.
3Reliability
If a secondary conveyor line is added to reassemble complete product formats, then product format consistency is improved, but device complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the gap-filling function directly into the existing parallel conveyor system by using transfer mechanisms between tracks, rather than adding a separate secondary conveyor line. This integration approach maintains product format completeness while avoiding the significant complexity increase that would result from a completely separate reassembly system.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer mechanism serves multiple functions: it transfers products between tracks, fills gaps proactively, and maintains continuous occupancy of both conveyors. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated secondary conveyor lines, achieving product format reliability without excessive device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a conveying device (10) for conveying food products in several parallel conveying lanes and for formatting the food products into a specific product format, in particular for conveying and formatting stacks or shingles of several slices of cheese or meat products. It is proposed that the conveying device (10) fills a product gap in one of the incoming conveying lanes with a food product, so that all parallel conveying lanes are occupied with the food products on the outgoing side. The invention further comprises a corresponding method.