PRIORITY

This application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2012900132, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated in this specification.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a meat packaging apparatus, Additionally, this invention relates to a method of packaging meat. More particularly, this invention relates to a meat packaging process for packaging meat balls and a process therefor.

BACKGROUND ART

The following references to and descriptions of prior proposals or products are not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the ait. In particular, the following prior art discussion does not relate to what is commonly or well known by the person skilled in the art, but assists in the understanding of the inventive step of the present invention of which the

identification of pertinent prior art proposals is but one part.

The meat packaging industry has generally had a non-automated approach to the packaging of meat products, particularly meat balls. Typically, meat for this product is minced in bulk and delivered to a vat. The highly viscose but flowable minced meat is extruded through columns and separated by separation means, such as a variable diameter orifice, similar to a camera shutter mechanism. However, the separation of the extruded product to form ideally shaped minced meat products, such as meat balls, is problematic. Clumping, imperfect separation, smeared product, etc., may result in commercially unacceptable product from an aesthetic and consumer-acceptance viewpoint. As far as the applicants are aware, most commercial packaging operators prefer to transfer the formed meatballs by hand to the ultimate retail package tray ready for automated plastic rapping and sealing.

An object of the present invention is to ameliorate the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative thereto.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

The invention according to one or more aspects is as defined in the independent claims, Some optional and/or preferred features of the invention are defined in the dependent claims. The claims form part of this disclosure.

Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention there is provided a process for the formation of discretely separated meatballs including:

commencing separation of a discrete portion of a flowable or extrudable meat product stream by passing at least one blade through the stream at a separation point; engaging a supplementary separator with the discrete portion to apply a downward force on the discrete portion to complete the separation of the discrete portion from the meat product stream at the separation point to form the meatball, The meatball may be any suitable shape such as roughly ball-shaped, substantially spherical or flatted to form a thick disc or patty. Preferably, the meat ball formed by the invention is roughly ball- shaped and, still more preferably, substantially spherical, subject to natural flattening that occurs in settled minced meat product due to product consistency, gravity, packaging and stacking.

The blade may form part of a combination of blades including opposing transverse moveable blades. The movable blades may be deployed to perform a scissor action, Preferably the blades are radially inwardly and outwardly displaced in the mode of an iris diaphragm.

The process of the invention may form part of a meat packaging process for the formation of substantially or ideally spherical meatballs, including commencing separation of a discreet meatball by means of opposing transverse moveable blades and subsequently applying a supplementary separation means, the separation means applying a downward force to complete the separation of the formed meatball from the extruded column of product.

In another aspect, the invention provides:

A meat processing method for the delivery of discrete meat product portions from a conveyor through a shoot to a support, the method including:

a. conveying the meatballs by a substantially horizontal conveyor, the conveyor comprising one or more compartments, each compartment having a floor, the or each floor being a displaceable platform and b. displacing the or each platform to deliver the meatball through the shoot to the support below.

The support may be a transfer tray. The support may be a packaging tray that, once the discrete meat product portion is delivered thereto, may be covered, wrapped or- otherwise sealed for ready for consumer use or otherwise for storage, transport and/or display.

The one or more compartments may be in the form of pockets. The displaceable platform or floor of each pocket may be laterally slideable or pivotal downward to deliver the discrete meat product portion to the shoot. , The platform or floor may be in the form of a trapdoor. The pocket may be generally physically or mechanically supported by an elongate support in the form of arail, rod or beam. The elongate support may extend along the entire length, or a partial or substantial section of the length, of the conveyor line. The rail preferably terminates immediately before a location at which the conveyor is positioned above the shoot.

A box may be adjacent to the conveyor and the shoot and may comprise an actuator for displacing one of the platforms or a plurality of platforms. The actuator may comprise one or more mechanical, removable and/oror displaceable detents. Preferably, however, the actuator may include a magnetic or electromagnetic support for the conveyor pocket urging or supporting against pivoting of the compartment platform or pocket floor. The box may further include a static or moveable striker to displace the conveyor pocket floor. The striker may shift the pocket floor to a position out of reach of, ox from the effect of the magnet or the electromagnetic support. The actuator may activate or take effect as the conveyor pocket passes over the shoot.

The shoot may deliver the one or more meatballs to a retail packaging tray via the shoot. The retail packaging tray may be weighed and assessed by a computer processor as to Whether the combined product and tray fall within a preferred range. If the weighed product falls outside the preferred range, the computer processor may be adapted to control the timing of the meatball separation means or process to either increase or decrease, as required, the weight of each formed meatball by lengthening the timing between interruptions to the flow or stream of meat product. Alternatively, the speed of flow of the meat product may be varied to regulate discrete meat portion sizes or weights.

The computer processor may be adapted to work in cooperation with a counting means to control the timing of the meat separation means relative to the conveyor speed and the striker timing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be better understood from the following non-limiting description of preferred embodiments, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a meat processing machine according to one aspect of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a meat separation means and conveyor according to the first embodiment;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a rotating rod attached to a wheel controlling the opening and closing of the opposing knives or blades;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the meat separation means above the conveyor;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a meat separation means, including shutter orifice blades and a flipper blade;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the meat separation means shown in Figure 5 with the flipper blade shown in a retracted position;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the meat separation means showing the flipper blade in the process of being retracted;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the meat separation means showing the flipper blade fully extended and in the downward flip position;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the meat separation means with the flipper blade shown in an upward position prior to the downward flip;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the meat separation means shown inverted with the flipper blade i a completely retracted position;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a second lower conveyor for conveying the retail trays;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of the second conveyor and a meat delivery shoot;

Figure 13 is a downward view of the shoot showing multiple shoot columns;

Figure 14 is a side perspective view of the shoot shown in Figure 13;

Figure 15 is a perspective view of the first conveyor showing three rows of conveyor pockets;

Figure 16 is a perspective view of the first conveyor; Figure 17 is a schematic side view of the first conveyor; and Figure 18 is a schematic end view of the first conveyor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings, in Figs. 1. 17 and 18, there is shown a minced meat processing apparatus 10 including a first conveyor 20 for physically supporting a plurality of conveyed conveyor pocket rows 22a-c, Each row 22a-c of pockets 22 comprises three pockets in a row 22a-c and the conveyor 20 carries a continuous loop of pockets 22, The size of a delivery tray 80 determines how many rows of pockets 22 are used per tray 80 to receive the meat portions 5 from the apparatus 10. The conveyor pocket rows 22a-c travel past an adjacent box 24 comprising a magnetic rod 25. The first conveyor 20 is driven by a drive means 26 and immediately adjacent the adjacent box 24 is provided a chute 40 into which meatball products 5 are adapted to be dropped upon the pivoting of the conveyor pockets 22 in direction D, the pivoting of the conveyor pockets 22 being actuated by three synchronised striker pins 30 that extend in direction E to strike the conveyor pockets 22a-c away from the magnet 25 and retract immediately in direction R to permit the next group of 3 conveyor pocket rows to progress into a position adjacent the adjacent box 24.

Accordingly, the apparatus feeds a single row 22a of meat portions 5 to one portion of the tray 80 at one time, the tray shifting incrementally to register with each fresh row 22b of pockets 22 to receive delivery of a further triplet of portions 5,

Figure 2 shows the meat separation means 1 land conveyor 20 according to the first embodiment. The apparatus 10 includes an overhead gantry 11 on which is mounted a boom 12 supporting three minced meat extrusion pipes 13 that feeds flowable extruded meat downward to a separation device 50. The separation device 50 includes a transversely moveable blade or pair of opposed blades 14. The blades may abut at a meeting point, travelling in the same horizontal plane, or the blades 14 may cross in scissor like fashion. Preferably, the opposed blades 14 meet in abutting fashion during a separation stroke.

Figure 3 shows a rotating rod 1 attached to a wheel 16 controlling the opening and closing of the opposing knives or blades 14. The opening and closing of the opposed blades 14 is controlled by a governing computer 60 which determines the sequence and timing of the movable parts of the apparatus 10.

Figure 4 shows the meat separator 0 means above the conveyor 20.

Figures 5 - 10 show the meat separator blade unit 51 for a single extrusion pipe 13, including the blades 14 in the form of shutter orifice blades 52 and a flipper blade 53, with the flipper blade 53 shown having executed a downward thrust or "flip", the meat separation mechanism 51 being shown in the drawing in an upside down or inverted orientation. In operation, the shutter blades substantially uniformly radially inwardly converge towards a separation point 54 to separate a discrete meat portion 5 from the following stream of meat material in the pipe 13 However, the discrete portion 5 remains partially attached by a tail to the following stream of meat material. The flipper blade 53 is adapted to flick the portion 5 to sever the tail and achieve a substantially spherical meatball 5.

Figure 6 shows the meat separation device 51 shown in Figure 5 with the flipper blade 53 shown in a retracted position. The retracted position of the flipper blade 53 is maintained against spring 55 bias.

Figure 7 shows the flipper blade 52 in the process of being retracted having executed a downwards thrust (upward in the representation shown). The flipper blade 52 is a substantially flat and elongate blade made of a spring-type or rigid food-grade steel steel and advantageously has a flat end or paddle 57. The paddle 57 may have small V- shaped cut out notch 58centrally disposed along the end edge of the blade 52 to better engage with the tail which may neatly be straddled by the small notch 58 prior to complete separation.

Figure 8 shows the meat separation unit 51 in which the flipper blade 52 is fully extended and in the downward flip position (upward shown in the representation).

In figures 9 and 10 there is shown the meat separation unit with the flipper blade 53 shown in an upward position in Fig. 9 prior to the downward flip stroke (the orientation being the inverse of that shown in the representation). Figure 10 shows the meat separation unit 51 in an inverted (upside down orientation) with the flipper blade 53 in a completely retracted position in which the flipper blade control rod 15 retracts the flipper blade 53, the blade 53 position urged to the retracted position by the bias one or more springs 55, the pathway of the flipper blade 53 through its cycle of movement being controlled by a track in the form of a groove 59a in a side wall adjacent the flipper blade 53 and following the path 59, a lateral pin cooperating with the track 59a, so that the flipper blade 53 through its cycle of movement follows the pathway along the track by the cooperation of the pin in the track or groove 59a. The pin and track 59a are house in a small channel or open box 62.

The flipper blade 53 may be substituted with a downwardly directed air jet mechanism, including an air jet device comprising one or more air jets providing supplementary separation means for the meat separation means. Accordingly, the radial blade 14 achieves a substantially spherical meatball product 5 and the flipper blade or jet 53 achieves clean and discrete separation of the products 5 from the meat stream in the pipe 13.

With reference to Figures 23 and 24, figure 11 shows a second lower conveyor 120 for conveying the retail trays 80 to which completed meat product 5 is delivered via a chute 40, the secondary conveyor 120 having a pivotal rod 121 thereabove comprising one or more downwardly depending detents 122 (in the representation in Figure 11 shown as a pair of forks) that are adapted to pivot to a horizontal position to allow a retail tray 80 to progress along the continuously moving conveyor 120, once meat product has been delivered to the retail tray 80, the timing of the pivoting of the detent 122 being controlled by the computer processor 60, the downwardly depending detents 122 adapted to hold a tray 80 in position whilst meat product 5 is delivered to the retail tray 80.

Figure 12 shows the second conveyor 120 and the meat delivery chute 40 immediately underneath the first conveyor 20 at the position of the adjacent box 24.

Figure 13 is a downward view of the chute 40 showing multiple chute columns 41 that have a wide upper mouth converging to a narrower delivery orifice at a lower point 42, the chute 40 having nine columns but the chute 40 being able to be substituted by another chute having a different number of columns, such as 12 or 16.

In Figure 14 the chute 40 shown in Figure 13 is shown to be positioned above a retail tray 80 that is in the process of shifting away from immediately below the chute 40 dispensing point below lower point 42.

Figure 15 is a perspective view of the first conveyor 20 showing 3 rows of conveyor pockets 22a-c in a pivoted position about pivot points following the conveyor pockets 22 being struck by strikers 30 in the form of one or more striker bolts or ins 32 that punch outwardly from the adjacent bo 24 to hit a side wall 33 of the conveyor pocket row 22a to force the conveyor pocket row 22a to pivot and allow the meat product 5 to fall into the chute 40 below. Figure 1 shows the first conveyor 20 in which the conveyor pocket rows are upright prior to being struck by one of the corresponding strikers 30.

It is noted that the conveyor pockets 22 or conveyor pocket rows 22a-c are supported either side of the adjacent box 24 containing an elongate magnet or electro magnetic device 34 (hidden) whereby the conveyor pocket 22 is maintained in an upright position in which the pocket floor 35 is not pivoted, but remains in parallel or planar relationship with the conveyor 20 at that position. The apparatus may include a display monitor 60 showing various configurations for controlling various aspects of the meat processing apparatus 10, The screen 60 may show a section on "tray gate timing", including catch time and release time. It preferably includes a section called "meatball dropping", including pins, extend position and pins 32 retract position, including the capacity to vary the timing and positioning thereof. A manual mode for controlling the velocity of the conveyor 20 may be set at a default of 3,000, and a sinker mode, allowing variation of the conveyor offset to ensure that the positioning of the conveyor pockets con ectly correspond to the meat separation device 50 overhead and the strikers 32 at the adjacent box 24. The screen 60 may allow an operator to follow the detected settings of the meatball machine 10, including sections on "dropping on", a check for detecting whether or not a chute 40 or a tray 80 is present, and includes the options of a manual mode, stop machine automatic mode, drop meatballs 5 and a mixed tray control. The device 10 may include a control cable connected to the computer processor 60 and may include the counting mechanism.

Figure 17 and 18 are a schematic side and end views of the first conveyor 20 showing a side rail 21 for physically supporting a plurality of conveyed conveyor pocket rows 22a- c. The conveyor pocket rows 22a-c travel past an adjacent box 24 comprising a magnetic rod 25. The first conveyor 20 is driven by a drive means 26 and immediately adjacent the adjacent box 24 is provided a shoot 40 into which meatball products 5 are adapted to be dropped upon the pivoting of the conveyor pockets 22a-c in direction D, the pivoting of the conveyor pockets being actuated by 3 synchronised striker pins 30 that extend in direction E to strike the conveyor pockets 22a-c away from the magnet 25 and retract immediately in direction R to permit the next group of 3 conveyor pocket rows to progress into a position adjacent the adjacent box 24.

Throughout the specification and claims the word "comprise" and its derivatives are intended to have an inclusive rather than exclusive meaning unless the contrary is expressly stated or the context requires otherwise. That is, the word "comprise" and its derivatives will be taken to indicate the inclusion of not only the listed components, steps or features that it directly references, but also other components, steps or features not specifically listed, unless the contrary is expressly stated or the context requires otherwise.

Onentational terms used in the specification and claims such as vertical, horizontal, top, bottom, upper and lower are to be interpreted as relational and are based on the premise that the component, item, article, apparatus, device or instrument will usually be considered in a particular orientation, typically with the meat separation means uppermost. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be made to the methods of the invention described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.