Insert feed unit as well as a method for its operation
AssigneeMultivac Sepp Haggenmueller SE & Co. KG
InventorAlbert Hartmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to keep the overall length of an insertion feed unit small despite high variability, a vertical paternoster buffer is used as a buffer therein.
Claims19
An insertion feed unit comprising:
- a load unit;
- a buffer;
- and
- an unload unit;
- wherein the insertion feed unit is configured to automatically buffer articles delivered by the load unit in the buffer and/or convey the articles by the unload unit in a passage direction,
- wherein the buffer comprises a paternoster buffer including
- a plurality of buffer elements which are connected to one another via a first drive formed as an annularly closed, curve-capable, drivable tie and are each configured for placing an article thereon, wherein the buffer elements are circulatable in a controlled manner in a vertical circulation plane, and
- wherein the insertion feed unit is embodied in such a way that an article can be transferred from the load unit to the unload unit without being temporarily stored in the buffer.
An insertion supply unit comprising:
- a single-track or multi-track slicing machine for cutting slices from a product caliber, comprising:
- a cutting unit for cutting slices,
- a product support for feeding the caliber to the cutting unit, and
- a discharge unit for the slices, which is also capable of placing several slices at least partially on top of each other to form a portion, and
- an insertion feed unit arranged downstream of the cutting unit in a passage direction, the insertion feed unit comprising:
- a load unit;
- a buffer;
- and
- an unload unit;
- wherein the insertion feed unit is configured to automatically buffer articles delivered by the load unit in the buffer and/or convey the articles by the unload unit in the passage direction,
- wherein the buffer comprises a paternoster buffer including a plurality of buffer elements which are connected to one another via a first drive formed as an annularly closed, curve-capable, drivable tie and are each configured for placing an article thereon, and wherein the buffer elements are circulatable in a controlled manner in a vertical circulation plane.
A method of operating an insertion feed unit including a load unit, a buffer, and an unload unit, wherein the insertion feed unit is operable to automatically buffer articles delivered by the load unit in the buffer and/or convey the articles by the unload unit in a passage direction, wherein the buffer is embodied as a paternoster buffer having a plurality of buffer elements which are connected to one another via a first drive formed as an annularly closed, curve-capable, driven tie and are each configured to receive an article thereon, wherein the buffer elements are circulatable in a controlled manner in a vertical circulation plane, and wherein the method comprises:
- feeding an article by the load unit and either transferring the article without buffering to the unload unit and discharging the article, or transferring the article to the buffer and, when required, transferring the article from the buffer to the unload unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.