APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR POSITIONING POULTRY, MEAT, AND FISH PRODUCT PIECES ON A CONVEYOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to apparatuses, systems, and methods for

positioning poultry, meat, and fish product pieces on a conveyor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A need presently exists for an effective and efficient automated system for

continuously placing and positioning individual boneless tenders and other poultry,

meat, and fish product pieces on conveyor belt for further processing. A need

particularly exists for an effective and efficient automated system for continuously

positioning, spacing, and orienting marinated and/or breaded tender or strip products

on a conveyor belt for cooking, freezing, or other downstream operations. The proper

positioning, spacing, and orientation of tender or strip products is necessary in order to prevent the product pieces from freezing or sticking together and is also important for

optimizing downstream treatments, increasing production rates, preventing product

damage, and increasing product consistency, uniformity, and quality.

Marinated or breaded chicken tenders and other similar poultry, meat, and fish

products are difficult to properly spread, space, and align across the width of a

conveyor system. Unfortunately, the systems proposed heretofore for automating this

process have not been adequate, particularly with regard to the need to provide

sufficient spacing and separation of the product pieces. Consequently, the process of

placing and properly positioning the product pieces on a conveyor is typically

performed manually and can require several workers, thus significantly increasing the

cost of production and also presenting an increased potential for possible product

contamination.

Previously, an attempt has been made to automate the process of positioning

tender or strip products on a conveyor by feeding the tender or strip products onto the

conveyor using a vibrating shaker tray. Shaker tray devices are commercially

available from Key Technologies and others. The use of a shaker tray for feeding the

product pieces directly to the conveyor has been somewhat effective for distributing

the mass of tender or strip products across the width of the conveyor and for flattening

the mass into a single layer, but has not provided consistent or adequate spacing or

alignment.

Attempts have also been made to use vacuum systems to place individual product pieces onto a conveyor. Unfortunately, however, the vacuum lifting

mechanism tends to pull marinade or breading from the product at the point of

contact. In addition, the delivery of the product to the vacuum system itself must be

precisely controlled in order to ensure continuous consistent operation. Further, a single vacuum system is only capable of placing one piece of the product on the

conveyor at a time. Multiple vacuum units are required to load a convey belt to its full

capacity. Vacuum systems are also typically very costly to purchase and maintain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an apparatus, a system, and a method for

positioning poultry, meat, or fish product pieces on a conveyor which satisfy the needs

and alleviate the problems discussed above. The inventive system is economical and

is highly effective for automatically and continuously placing tender, strip, or other

poultry, meat, or fish product pieces on a conveyor belt such that the product pieces

are distributed across the width of the conveyor and are properly spaced and

longitudinally aligned for freezing, cooking, or other downstream operations.

In one aspect, there is provided an apparatus for positioning poultry, meat, or

fish product pieces on a conveyor comprising an array of at least two upwardly arched

product channels having a receiving side and a delivery side. The upwardly arched product channels have slots therein which extend from the receiving side to the

delivery side. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of catch members mounted

for retractably projecting from the slots and for rotating through the upwardly arched

product channels in a manner effective for catching and lifting the product pieces on

the receiving side, pulling the product pieces through the upwardly arched product

channels to the delivery side, and retracting from the slots on the delivery side.

In another aspect, there is provided a system for positioning poultry, meat, or

fish product pieces on a conveyor comprising a singulation device and a shaker tray

on the receiving side of the singulation device. The singulation device has an array of at least two upwardly arched product channels having slots therein which extend from

the receiving side to the delivery side of the singulation device. The singulation

device also has a plurality of catch members mounted for retractably projecting from

the slots and for rotating through the upwardly arched product channels in a manner

effective for catching and lifting the product pieces on the receiving side and pulling

the product pieces through the upwardly arched product channels to the delivery side.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of positioning poultry, meat, or

fish product pieces on a conveyor comprising the steps of: (a) delivering the product

pieces to a receiving side of an array of at least two upwardly arched product channels

having catch members which rotate through the upwardly arched product channels; (b)

continuously catching the product pieces with the catch members; (c) lifting and

pulling the product pieces with the catch members over and through the upwardly

arched product channels from the receiving side to a delivery side of the array; and (d)

releasing the product pieces from the catch members on the delivery side such that the

product pieces are deposited from the upwardly arched product channels onto the conveyor.

Further aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be

apparent to those in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment 2 of the singulation apparatus

provided by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational side view of the inventive singulation apparatus 2.

FIG. 3 is an elevational receiving side view of a product channel array 6

employed in the inventive singulation apparatus 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the product channel array 6.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotating assembly 16 employed in the

inventive singulation apparatus 2 .

FIG. 6 is an elevational side view of the rotating assembly 16.

FIG. 7 is an elevational end view of the rotating assembly 16.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an end plate 30 employed in the rotating

assembly 16.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cam block element 48 employed in the

inventive singulation apparatus 2.

FIG. 10 is a perspective sectional view of a portion of the inventive singulation

apparatus 2.

FIG. 11 is a perspective outlet end view of an embodiment 60 of the

singulation system provided by the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment 2 of the inventive singulation apparatus is depicted in FIGS.

1-10. The inventive singulation apparatus 2 comprises: a support frame 4; an array 6

of side-by-side upwardly arched product channels 8, said array 6 having a receiving

side 10 and a delivery side 12; a guard 14 positioned above the array 6 of product

channels 8; and a rotating assembly 16 having a plurality of catch members 18

projecting therefrom. The rotating assembly 16 operates to retractably rotate the catch

member 18 through the product channels 8 for catching the tenders, strips, or other

poultry, meat, or fish product pieces 20 and then lifting and pulling the product pieces

over and through the product channels 8 from the receiving side 10 to the delivery

side 12. The channel array 6 includes at least two product channels 8 and will

preferably include a sufficient number of side-by-side channels 8 to extend across the

width of the conveyor onto which the product pieces 20 are to be deposited.

The catch members 18 can include hooked portions, barbs, or any other

features capable of catching and retaining the product pieces 20 in a manner effective

for lifting and pulling the product pieces 20 over and through the product channels 8.

The catch members 18 are preferably rigid or substantially rigid hooked or barbed

finger elements of the type depicted in FIGS. 5-7.

The array 6 of side-by-side product channels 8 is formed by a series of

adjacent, upwardly arched channel segment pieces 22. Each of the channel segment

pieces 22 includes a projecting upwardly curved ridge 23 which extends from the

receiving side 10 to the delivery side 12 of the device. The upper ridges 23 have a

rounded, upside-down V cross-sectional shape so that the resulting product channels 8

formed between the adjacent pairs of the channel segment pieces 22 each have a

lateral shape in the form of an open, outwardly diverging U. In addition, the adjacent

channel segment pieces 22 are configured such that a slot 24 extending from the

receiving side 10 to the delivery side 12 is provided through the bottom of each

product channel 8. As discussed more fully below, the product catch members 18 are

retractably receivable through the slots 24 such that the catch members 18 are allowed

to rotate through the product channels 8.

The rotating assembly 16 of the inventive apparatus 2 comprises: an elongate

center shaft 26 which is rotatably mounted in the frame 4 for rotation of the assembly

16 about the longitudinal axis 28 of the center shaft 26; a pair of opposing end plates

30 and 31 secured on the center shaft 26; at least one (preferably a plurality and most

preferably four) pivot shafts 32 which are rotatably mounted between the end plates

30 and 31 and which run parallel to and are spaced apart from the central axis of

rotation 28; and a motor and gear assembly 25 or other drive assembly for turning the

rotating assembly 16. Each pivot shaft 32 carries a set 35 of the catch members 18

corresponding to the number of product channels 8 in the array 6.

As the rotating assembly 16 rotates about the central axis 28, the respective

set(s) 35 of catch members 18 on the pivot shaft(s) 32 continuously (and sequentially)

rotate through the upwardly arched product channels 8 from the receiving side 10 to

the delivery side 12 of the device. As each set of catch members 18 approaches the

ends of the slots 24 on the delivery side 12 of the device, the pivot shaft 32 carrying

the catch members 18 is automatically rotated with respect to the end plates 30 and 31

of the rotating assembly 16 so that the catch members 18 are caused to retract from the

channel slots 24 and release the produce pieces 20. The catch members 18 are then

pivoted back to their projecting positions before beginning their next cycle through the

product channels 8.

The pivot direction 34 of the catch members 18 as they approach the ends of

the channel slots 24 will preferably be opposite the rotational direction 37 of the

rotating assembly 16. As a result, the retracting and releasing motion of the catch

members 18 as they approach the ends of the channel slots 24 is substantially

perpendicular to the product pieces 20 such that the catch members 18 will more

readily release the product pieces 20 without tearing or scarring the products.

In order to rotatably mount each pivot shaft 32 between the end plates 30 and

31 of the rotating assembly 16, each pivot shaft assembly preferably further comprises

a pair of split bushings 38 and 39 through which the ends of the pivot shaft 32 are

rotatably received. The split bushings 38 and 39 are preferably formed from Acetyl

(Delrin) or other suitable low friction material. Corresponding outer slots 40 are

formed in each of the rotating assembly end plates 30 and 31 for receiving each pair of

split bushings 38 and 39. The bushings 38 and 39 are retained in the slots 40 by caps

42 which are removably bolted to the outer rims of the end plates 30 and 31 over the

slots 40.

hi order to automatically pivot the catch members 18 as necessary so that they

will project from the slots 24 as they rotate through the product channels 8 and

automatically then retract from the slots 24 as they reach the delivery end of the

channel 8, a cam swing arm 44 is preferably provided on each pivot shaft 32. In each

case, the cam swing arm 44 is preferably positioned on a projecting end of the pivot

shaft 32 outside of end plate 31 and has a cam follower 46 provided thereon. The cam

follower 46 is configured for interacting with a cam element 48. The cam element 48

is preferably installed in fixed position in the inventive singulation apparatus 2 and is

configured for guiding the cam follower 46 in a manner effective for pivoting the

swing arm 44 and the catch members 18 in conjunction with the rotation of the

rotating assembly 16.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the cam element 48 is preferably a cam block made of

low friction material. The cam block 48 has a closed cam track 50 formed in the face

thereof which holds and guides the cam follower 46 of each pivot shaft swing arm 44

as the rotating assembly 16 turns within the inventive singulation apparatus 2. The

retraction and projection of the catch members 18 is thus precisely controlled as the

cam follower(s) 46 continuously rotate around the cam track 50.

An embodiment 60 of the system provided by the present invention for

delivering tenders, strips, or other poultry, meat, or fish product pieces 20 to the

inventive singulation apparatus 2 and properly positioning the product pieces 20 on a

conveyor belt 62 is illustrated in FIG. 11. The conveyor 62 is positioned on the

delivery side 12 of the inventive singulation apparatus 2 and can be a wire mesh

conveyor or any other type of conveyor employed in the art. The inventive system 60

preferably includes a shaker tray device 64 of a type known in the art positioned on

the receiving side 10 of the inventive singulation apparatus 2. As the product pieces

20 accumulate on the receiving side 10 of the singulation device 2, the shaker tray

desirably operates to spread the product pieces 20 across the entire width of the

product channel array 6. Consequently, the product pieces 20 are continuously and

consistently delivered to all of the product channels 8 and are distributed and

positioned across the entire width of the conveyor 62.

As the product pieces 20 arrive and/or accumulate on the receiving side 10 of

the inventive singulation apparatus 2, the product pieces 20 are caught by the rotating

catch members 18 and are individually lifted and pulled over and through the product

channels 8. As the products reach the delivery side 12 of the inventive singulation

apparatus 2, the catch members 18 automatically retract from the slots 24 of the

product channels 8 such that the product pieces 20 are released and are deposited from

the product channels 8 onto the conveyor 62. When deposited, the product pieces 20

are appropriately spaced and separated laterally on the conveyor 62 as a result of the

spacing between the side-by-side product channels 8. In addition, the number and

spacing of the catch member pivot shafts 32 employed in the rotating assembly 16 will

preferably be selected to ensure that the product pieces 20 are spaced apart and

separated longitudinally as they are placed on the conveyor 62. Moreover, the product

channels 8 of the inventive singulation apparatus 2 are also effective for properly

orienting elongate products such as tenders or strips so that they are consistently

placed in alignment with the direction of travel of the conveyor 62.

Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain

the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherent therein. While

presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such

changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as

defined by the appended claims.