Installation for the distribution of food products, particularly confectionery products
AssigneeAlisyncro S.a.s. di Bruno & C.
InventorCarlo L. Bruno
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an installation for distributing food products such as sweets from a primary conveyor line to respective transverse conveyors leading to packaging machines. A secondary conveyor line having two successive bunching conveyors is arranged to receive intermittently rows of products from the primary conveyor line, through the operation of a deflecting device, and to bunch and align the products prior to transferring them in rows to the transverse conveyor, at a conveying speed which can be matched to the demand of the packaging machines, even though this may differ from the speed of the primary conveyor line.
Claims11
Installation for the distribution of food products, particularly confectionery products, of the type comprising:
- a number of conveyors aligned longitudinally to carry along a primary conveyor line rows of said products extending transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor;
- a first alignment device for aligning the products in transverse longitudinally spaced apart rows along said such primary conveyor line;
- a number of transverse conveyors, arranged transversely with respect to the primary conveyor line, to receive rows of products from said primary conveyor line and feed them in single longitudinal files to respective packaging machines, and
- a number of transfer means, disposed upstream of each transverse conveyor, to transfer transverse rows of products from said primary conveyor line to the respective transverse conveyors, wherein the transfer means each comprise:
- a secondary conveyor line (22), for conveying transverse rows of products (P) in a direction generally parallel to the direction of the primary conveyor line (14), said secondary conveyor line (22) comprising a first bunching conveyor (20), capable of assuming selectively a first speed matched to that of the primary conveyor line (14) and a second speed, higher than said first speed, and a second bunching conveyor (24) capable of assuming selectively a first speed matched to that of the respective transverse conveyor (44) and a second speed equal to the second speed of the first bunching conveyor (20);
- a deflecting device (18) movable between an inactive position and an active position in which it deflects transverse rows of products (P) from the primary conveyor line (14) to the first bunching conveyor (20) of the secondary conveyor line (22);
- a second alignment device (36) to align the products (P) supplied by the second bunching conveyor (24) of the secondary conveyor line (22) in transverse longitudinally spaced apart rows;
- a transfer device (38) for transferring transverse rows of products (P) to said respective transverse conveyor (44);
- drive means (26, 28, 126) for driving intermittently the two bunching conveyors (20, 24) and control means (30,32,34) for activating said drive means (26, 28, 126) in a repeated cycle of operations comprising:
- (i) moving the first bunching conveyor (20) at its first speed and stopping it when it is saturated with products (P), simultaneously displacing the deflecting device (18) to its inactive position;
- (ii) moving both bunching conveyors (20,24) at their second speed in order to transfer all the products (P) from the first (20) to the second bunching conveyor (24);
- (iii) moving the second bunching conveyor (24) at its first speed, while the deflecting device (18) is displaced into its active position and the first bunching conveyor (20) resumes its first speed to be re-loaded with products (P);
- (iv) aligning the products (P) fed by the second bunching conveyor (24) in transverse longitudinally spaced apart rows, and
- (v) transferring the transverse rows of products (P) to the transverse conveyor (44) by means of the transfer device (38).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.