THORWESTEN RALF (DE)
| FR2691878A1 | 1993-12-10 | |||
| GB2076629A | 1981-12-09 | |||
| EP0007927A1 | 1980-02-20 | |||
| DE3314762A1 | 1984-10-25 | |||
| DE3535960C1 | 1987-02-19 | |||
| DE1809692A1 | 1969-07-24 |
| 1. | A method for separating links from strands of encased and spaced apart linked products, comprising: placing one end of the strand on a variable speed transporting means; advancing said transporting means and said strand thereon toward a cutting means having a blade; optically measuring the position and length of the individual links of encased products in said strand during their advance toward said cutting means; measuring the speed of said transporting means; measuring the current angle of said blade of said cutting means relative to the direction of said advancing transport means; continually feeding and storing said speed, position and length, and angle measurements in a means for processing said measurements; predetermining the transport speed and blade angle values required to accurately cut said strand at said space between said links and thereby separate said individual links based on the most recently processed measurements; adjusting said transporting means speed and steering and guiding said cutting means to set said blade angle based on said predetermined values; and cutting said strand at said spaces between said links in said predetermined and controlled manner, wherein high transport speed and thereby high rates of production are achieved. |
| 2. | The method of separating links according to claim 1, further comprising: retaining said length measurements corresponding to each of said links until after the cutting step; and thereafter controlling a sorting means with said storing and processing means whereby cut links are sorted according to said stored length measurement. |
| 3. | An apparatus for separating interconnected links from strands of encased and spaced apart linked products, comprising: a cutting means driven by a motor and having an angularly adjustable cutting blade; a variable speed transporting means for conveying a strand of linked product toward said cutting means; a microprocessor control for receiving, storing, and processing data, said control being operably connected to said cutting means and transporting means for monitoring and controlling the angle of said cutting blade, the timing of the cuts, and the speed of said transporting means; optical measuring means operably positioned along the path of the strand on said transporting means prior to the cutting blade; said optical measuring means is connected to said microprocessor control and provides measurements thereto of the position and length of individual links within the strand as they pass; means for measuring the angle of said cutting blade with respect to the path of said transport means and thereby said strand of interconnected individual links conveyed thereon, said means being operably connected to said microprocessor; whereby the position and length of individual links within said strand are measured, then stored by said microprocessor, said measurements being utilized to control the speed of said transporting means, the angle of the cutting blade, and the timing of the cuts to achieve high rates of production. |
| 4. | The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said cutting means has a rotatable cutting blade whose speed is directly controlled by said microprocessor control, said blade being coupled with said motor via a slip free coupling, whereby said cutting blade responds almost instantaneously to speed change commands from said microprocessor. |
| 5. | The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a sorting device associated with said transporting means beyond the cutting means, said sorting device being operably connected to said microprocessor so as to utilize the length measurement stored thereby for each individual link to sort the cut links according to their length. |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a process for the separation of sausage strands or similar items with several links arranged one after another in a common casing, by which the sausage strands are held continually on a transporting apparatus in a position to be cut, so that the links are separated one at a time by cutting the casing area between two links; as well as an apparatus to guide or steer this process with its transporting apparatus and cutting apparatus, that is connected to an activating device.
In the packing of sausages, it is customary to put the finished sausage contents — that is to say, portions of the same weight — one after another at a set distance into one continuous casing, which is either natural intestine or a fabricated equivalent. Thus, a sausage strand is formed, in which the individual links are positioned at a set distance behind one another in a single casing. This allows for the unfilled casing area between two links to be closed or sealed in some manner, for example, by crimping with metal clamps at the ends of the links, or by repeated twisting of the entire sausage strand along its lengthwise axis.
If fabricated intestine is used as casing, then filling each link with contents of a similar weight produces sausages of consistently identical length and thickness. For this type of sausage strand, a suitable process is already known for cutting the sausage strand into individual links.
With this process, the cutting apparatus is regulated in such a manner that the activating element which, for example, is located in an area in front of the cutting apparatus on the light fixture attached to the transporting apparatus (conveyor bel ) , is automatically triggered by a delay mechanism which is adjusted to the speed of the transporting apparatus; that is to say, the activating element for the cutting apparatus is synchronized with a delay regulator. This process works relatively faultlessly, as long as the links to be cut are of a constant and similar length and thickness.
However, when using natural intestine as a casing material, the filling of links with identically weighted contents produces links of varying thicknesses, and therefore, of varying lengths, since natural intestine — unlike the fabricated material — does not have a uniform, unchanging diameter along its entire length. The result of this is sausage strands with single links of different lengths and thicknesses, which as a result must be separated accordingly. The known separation process, however, is not suited for links of varying lengths, so that it is typical in such cases to separate the links by hand, which is correspondingly more expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The task of this invention is, therefore, to achieve a solution whereby sausage strands with links of varying lengths can be automatically separated in the most reliable manner and with the highest possible production rate.
This task is solved by a process which predetermines at the point of entrance — that is, in the area in front of the cutting apparatus at the point before the cutting procedure — the position and length of the individual link to be cut, along with the speed of transport and the blade setting, all of which is signaled to the cutting apparatus; and then finally the cutting apparatus, using these measurements for each individual cut, is automatically activated.
With this invention, it is possible to separate sausage strands with varying lengths of links so that very high production prates (for example 10 links per second) are achievable. This is made possible by the exact guidance or steering of the cutting apparatus in which both the data specific to the link to be cut (position, length, speed of transport) and the current blade position of the cutting apparatus are taken into account so that each cut can be reliably made at exactly the right point, that is, between two links.
An especially advantageous combination of details is foreseen with this invention, in that the measurements of each link will be continuously taken up to the actual cutting procedure, and thereby the cutting apparatus will be steered accordingly. This has an additional great advantage in that even with a sudden change in transport speed or blade setting, an exact and reliable cut will be achieved for each link.
Another special advantage comes about when the measurement data for each individual link is passed along beyond the cutting procedure, to be finally used in sorting the separated links by length.
Until now, it has been usual after the separation of the links to sort them by hand and to put links of approximately the same length together; which is correspondingly expensive, and can easily lead to errors in sorting. According to our findings, however, the measurements which have been stored anyway (especially the length, position, and speed of transport) can be used to advantage in the sorting process. Here the invention foresees that the measurements recorded for the individual link will automatically be used by a compatible sorting apparatus to sort links according to length.
As a solution to the task presented by the entry of links into the machine, the invention foresees a mechanism for steering the above- described process through with a transporting apparatus which is connected to an activating device; and whereby the mechanism uses a data storage and recording apparatus, which is supplied with data on the position and length of the individual links, as well as the speed of transport and the blade position of the cutting apparatus, so that the steering apparatus is connected and cooperates with the cutting apparatus.
An especially advantageous combination of details is thereby foreseen, in that the cutting apparatus is coupled in a slip-free manner with a motor drive which is directly connected to the steering apparatus. Through this direct connection of the cutting apparatus (for example, envisioned as having a rotating blade) with a motor drive (preferably envisioned as a linear motor, in this example), it is possible to achieve very high cutting speeds — that is to say, revolutions of the
cutting blade. The cutting speed is therefore adaptable in a very short time to meet the current requirements and measurements. This is, therefore, unlike other known devices which have a coupling between the motor and the cutting apparatus. The possibility, for example, of speeding up or slowing down the cutting blade immediately before the actual cutting procedure exists, if this would be desirable, due to the position of the link.
It is especially advantageous if the transporting apparatus behind the cutting apparatus is set up and coordinated with the steering and storage apparatus, which is connected to the sorting apparatus. The steering and storage apparatus, which has the current measurement data of the link currently on hand, then gives relevant steering signals to the sorting apparatus; which can then automatically sort out the on-coming links and place them in appropriate holding bins. Thereby, the sorting apparatus and the transporting apparatus, for example, can operate side by side and be equipped with a number of compressed air valves, whereby when at any time a link of the appropriate length comes to the appropriate valve, the valve will open and the link will be slid through it by the transporting apparatus and will be moved to the appropriate storage bin.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1, is a side elevational view of the device of this invention; and
Fig. 2 is a sorting apparatus for the device of this invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A device such as this invention for separating sausage strands with many links in a single casing is pointed out in general with (1) in Fig. 1. The device ( 1) points next to a transporting apparatus (2), which in the example is shown as a continuously rolling conveyor belt, as a part of which drive rollers are shown (3) .
At the forward end, as an example, above the transporting apparatus (2) is a sausage strand feed- in device (4). Into this feed-in (4) a sausage strand can be fed either manually or automatically; which our example shows as coming directly from a presumed sausage-filling apparatus, which would be connected to it.
Next to the sausage strand (5) are the individual links (6) which are attached to one another by the casing area (7). This casing area (7) can be closed at the ends of each link by, for example, clamping with metal clips. Or it is also possible that the sausage strand (5) could be twisted several times along its lengthwise axis so that the casing areas (7) on the sausage strand (5) are closed.
The device ( 1) serves to separate the individual links by cutting the casing areas (7) of the sausage strand (5). To this end, the device (1) shows in the approximate center of the transporting apparatus (2) a cutting apparatus (8) which preferably is equipped with a rotating blade (9) which is connected by an axle (10) directly to a motor drive, shown in the example as a linear motor.
Seen in the transporting apparatus (arrow 12) before the cutting apparatus (8) are measuring
devices to measure the position and length of the individual links. In the example, these measuring devices are shown as light boxes ( 13 and 14 ) , and these measuring devices (13 and 14) are universally connected to the illustrated steering and storage apparatus (15). The device (15) is set up so as to be connected to a measuring apparatus ( 16 ) for measuring the speed of the transporting apparatus (2). Above is the cutting apparatus (8) with a measuring element ( 17 ) for measuring the actual position of angle of the rotating blade (9) of the cutting apparatus (8). This measuring element (17) is also connected to the steering and storage apparatus ( 15) .
In the transporting apparatus (12) seen behind the cutting apparatus (8) is shown a universal sorting apparatus (18), which appears most clearly in Fig. 2. This sorting apparatus (18) shows examples of three sorting elements (19) , seen behind one another in the transporting apparatus (12) , near the transporting apparatus as shown in (2) which, for example, could be seen as pneumatic valves. The sorting elements (19) are on the side over and across from the transporting apparatus (2), arranged in relation to the holding bin (20) so that by activating a sorting element (19) at an appropriate point on the transporting apparatus (2) , a particular link (6) would be moved to the side with compressed air and pushed into the proper holding bin (20).
Carrying out the procedure according to this invention, success would be as follows:
Through the feed-in device (4), a sausage strand (5) would be continually fed and carried
along the transporting apparatus. In the area before the cutting apparatus, by means of the measuring elements (13 and 14), the position and length of each individual link would be recorded, and at the same time the speed of transport of the transporting apparatus (2) and the position of the blade (9 ) in the cutting apparatus would be determined. This measured data would be stored in the steering and storage apparatus (15) and from this data the appropriate driver (11) in the cutting apparatus would be steered and directed, so that the cutting blade will separate the individual link exactly from the sausage strand. Additionally, it can be foreseen that taking the measured data for each link (6) will not be done only once, but rather continuously. It is then possible to take into account sudden changes in the speed of transport or the position of the blade, so that even in cases of sudden change an exact separation is achieved.
Meanwhile, the data regarding each link remains stored in the steering and storage apparatus (15) , while the separated link (6) moves further along the transporting apparatus (2). The link then arrives in the area of the sorting apparatus (18), which is activated by the data sent from the steering and storage apparatus (15) relative to that specific link; meaning that according to the position and length of each individual link, the appropriate sorting element (19) will be activated, and the link will be placed in the appropriate holding bin (20).
It has been shown that very high piece counts can be achieved with the procedure depicted by this invention so that, for example, up to 10 links per second, exactly and reliably separated, could be
achieved; which would require a transport speed for the transporting apparatus (2) of 1 meter per second.
Naturally, the results are not limited to the sample data and performance given in the example. Further developments with the results are possible, without departing from the basic idea. In this way, for example, the sorting apparatus could be left out, or perhaps configured in another way, etc.