Apparatus and method for grading articles based on weight, and adapted computer program product and computer readable media

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for grading food articles based on at least one characteristic of the food articles. The grading comprises building up portions of the food articles in containers or grading the food articles onto one or more receiving areas, wherein the arrangement of the food articles during the grading is preserved. According to the invention, determining means determines one or more characteristic parameters indicating the characteristics of the food articles. A first conveyor conveys the food articles along a closed-loop conveying path, where the conveyor comprising a number of article holders is attached to the conveyor for holding the food articles during the conveying along the closed-loop conveying path. An arranging means arranges the food articles onto the article holders, where the article holders preserve the arrangement of the food articles in the article holders during the conveying. A processor uses the one or more characteristic parameters for selecting article holders that are suitable for the grading. Removing means then finally removes the food articles from the article holders in the containers or to the one or more receiving areas without altering the arrangement of the food articles in the article holders.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.