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US 4,590,743 AGranted
Tray loading method and apparatus
AssigneeFood Machinery Sales, Inc.
InventorTimothy W. Hardage
Life of this patent
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AssigneeFood Machinery Sales, Inc.
InventorTimothy W. Hardage
Estimating the term…
Cookies (18) and the like are moved in a horizontal, as-baked attitude from an oven and are automatically loaded in edge standing attitude in the semicylindrical cavities of a tray (146). The cookies are received in series from the cooling belt (19) that leads away from the oven onto a slick top belt, then moved in sequence to a backlog belt conveyor (22), to a timing belt conveyor (24), to a pin conveyor (12), to a loading wheel (13) and into a loading cell (106) of a turret. The slick top belt operates at approximately the same speed as the cooling belt leading away from the oven, and the backlog belt operates at a slower speed as necessary than the slick top belt so as to accumulate the cookies in edge-to-edge relationship. When the supply of cookies on the backlog belt has accumulated to the point where they are backing up on the slick top belt, the operational speed of the system is increased so that the speed of operation matches the operation of the oven. The timing belt accelerates the cookies received from the backlog belt and delivers each cookie in spaced relationship to the pin conveyor, and the pin conveyor delivers each cookie to a loading wheel that tilts each cookie from a horizontal attitude to an edge standing attitude and delivers each cookie to the cell of the turret. After a predetermined number of cookies has been moved by the timing belt to the pin conveyor, the movement of cookies to the pin conveyor is temporarily interrupted to form a gap in the series of cookies, and when the gap reaches the turret the turret rotates to dump the accumulated cookies to a tray positioned below the turret and to position an empty cell in alignment with the next series of cookies.
A method of loading cookies and the like each having substantially flat bottom surface and an opposed irregularly shaped upper surface in a receptacle comprising the steps of moving a plurality of cookies each resting on its bottom surface in an aligned random spaced series with a first surface conveyor means at a first velocity toward a second surface conveyor means, transferring the cookies from the first surface conveyor means to the second surface conveyor means with the cookies each resting on its bottom surface on the second surface conveyor means, moving the cookies with the second surface conveyor means at a second velocity which is less than the first velocity to receive the cookies on the second surface conveyor means in edge abutment with respect to one another, transferring the cookies from the second surface conveyor means to a third surface conveyor means with the cookies each resting on its bottom surface on the third surface conveyor means, moving the cookies with the third surface conveyor means at a third velocity which is greater than the second velocity to a reorienting means, retrieving the cookies with the reorienting means from the third surface conveyor means and placing a predetermined number of cookies with the reorienting means in an edge stacked relationship in a cell of a transfer member and engaging with the reorienting means the flat bottom surface of each cookie to urge each cookie into the cell of the transfer member, transferring the stack of cookies from the transfer member to a cell of a receptacle.
A method of loading cookies and the like in a receptacle comprising the steps of moving a plurality of cookies in a horizontal attitude in an aligned random spaced series with a first conveyor means at a first velocity toward a second conveyor means, transferring the cookies from the first conveyor means to the second conveyor means, moving the cookies with the second conveyor means at a second velocity which is less than the first velocity to receive the cookies on the second conveyor means in edge abutment with respect to one another, transferring the cookies from the second conveyor means to a third conveyor means, moving the cookies with the third conveyor means at a third velocity which is greater than the second velocity to a reorienting means, detecting the presence of at least two cookies with one stacked on top of the other as the cookies move toward the reorienting means and removing the cookies in the upper part of the stack in response to the detection, placing a predetermined number of cookies with the reorienting means in an edge stacked relationship in a cell of the transfer member, and transferring the stack of cookies from the transfer member to a cell of a receptacle.
A method of loading cookies and the like each having a substantially flat bottom surface and an opposed irregularly shaped upper surface in edge standing horizontal stacks into a cell of a container comprising moving cookies while resting on their flat bottom surfaces in substantially equally spaced series toward an upwardly facing elongated semi-cylindrical cell of a rotatable turret, as each cookie approaches the cell reorienting the cookie from a horizontal attitude to an edge standing attitude with its irregularly shaped surface leading its flat surface and depositing the cookie in one end of the cell of the turret and urging flat surface of the previously deposited cookie away from the one end of the cell substantially without making contact between the cookie being deposited in the cell and the previously deposited cookie until the cookie being deposited in the cell has been reoriented to an edge standing attitude and is positioned in the cell, and after a predetermined number of cookies have been deposited, rotating the turret until the cell approaches a downwardly facing attitude, and dumping the cookies from the cell of the turret to the cell of a container positioned below the turret.
A method of loading cookies and the like in edge standing horizontal stacks into a cell of a container comprising moving cookies in equally spaced series and in a horizontal attitude toward an upwardly facing elongated semi-cylindrical cell of a rotatable turret, as each cookie approaches the cell reorienting the cookie from a horizontal attitude to an edge standing attitude and depositing the cookie in one end of the cell of the turret and urging the previously deposited cookie away from the one end of the cell substantially without making contact between the cookie being deposited in the cell and the previously deposited cookie until the cookie being deposited in the cell has been reoriented to an edge standing attitude and is positioned in the cell, supporting the first cookie deposited in the cell in an edge standing attitude with a lead finger and progressively moving the lead finger out of the cell when a predetermined number of cookies have been deposited in the cell, and after a predetermined number of cookies have been deposited, rotating the turret until the cell approaches a downwardly facing attitude, and dumping the cookies from the cell of the turret to the cell of a container positioned below the turret.
Apparatus for loading cookies and the like in a receptacle comprising a loading turret rotatable about an approximately horizontal axis, said turret including at least one loading cell extending longitudinally of said turret, surface conveyor means for moving cookies in a horizontal as-baked attitude along a path in series toward said turret, a loading wheel rotatable about a horizontal axis extending across the path and having at least one slot for receiving a cookie from said conveyor means in an approximately horizontal attitude and for reorienting the cookie to an edge standing attitude, means for urging the cookie from said loading wheel into the loading cell of said turret as the cookie moves into an edge standing attitude, drive means for operating said surface conveyor means, said loading wheel and said turret in timed relationship, said surface conveyor means comprising a first belt conveyor means and a second belt conveyor means aligned with said first belt conveyor means for receiving cookies from said first belt conveyor means, roller means positioned above said second belt conveyor means with its axis of rotation extending across the path of the cookies carried by said second belt conveyor means, said roller being supported at a height which permits the roller to engage the top surface of the cookies carried by said second belt conveyor means, said roller being rotated in timed relationship with said second belt conveyor means whereby said roller helps to control the movement of a cookie that is to be received by said loading wheel.
The method of loading cookies and the like in a receptacle comprising moving a plurality of cookies with a substantially flat bottom surface and an irregular top surface in a horizontal as-baked attitude in series along a predetermined path toward a loading station, slowing the movement of the cookies at a first station along the path to position the cookies in edge-to-edge abutment, accelerating the cookies at a second station along the path and establishing the cookies in substantially equally spaced relationship as they approach the loading station, reorienting each of the cookies to an edge standing attitude with the irregular top surface leading the substantially flat bottom surface and depositing the cookies into the receiving area of a loading cavity at the loading station while maintaining the cookies spaced apart until they are deposited in the loading cavity, moving a lead finger through the loading cavity away from the receiving area as the cookies are deposited into the loading cavity to maintain the first cookie in an edge standing attitude, and after a predetermined number of cookies have been deposited in the loading cavity, inverting the loading cavity to deposit the cookies into a receptacle.
Apparatus for loading cookies and the like each having a substantially flat bottom surface and an irregularly shaped upper surface in a receptacle comprising a loading turret rotatable about an approximately horizontal axis, said turret including at least one loading cell extending longitudinally of said turret, surface conveyor means for moving cookies in a horizontal as-baked attitude resting on their bottom surfaces along a path in series toward said turret, a loading wheel between said surface conveyor means and said turret and rotatable about a horizontal axis extending across the path and having at least one slot for receiving a cookie from said conveyor means in an approximately horizontal attitude and for reorienting the cookie to an edge standing attitude with the irregularly shaped surface leading the flat bottom surface, means for urging the cookie from said loading wheel into the loading cell of said turret as the cookie moves into an edge standing attitude, said loading wheel including an outer rounded surface for engaging the flat bottom surface of the cookie and pushing the cookie into the loading cell of said turret, and drive means for operating said surface conveyor means, said loading wheel and said turret in timed relationship.
Apparatus for loading cookies and the like in a receptacle comprising a loading turret rotatable about an approximately horizontal axis, said turret including at least one loading cell extending longitudinally of said turret, surface conveyor means for moving cookies in a horizontal as-baked attitude along a path in series toward said turret, a loading wheel rotatable about a horizontal axis extending across the path and having at least one slot for receiving a cookie from said conveyor means in an approximately horizontal attitude and for reorienting the cookie to an edge standing attitude, means for urging the cookie from said loading wheel into the loading cell of said turret as the cookie moves into an edge standing attitude, said surface conveyor means comprising a first belt conveyor means, belt drive means for driving said first belt conveyor means at a predetermined velocity to move cookies in a horizontal as-baked attitude in random spaced positions, a second belt conveyor means aligned with said first belt conveyor means for receiving cookies from said first belt conveyor means, a pin surface conveyor means for pushing cookies to said loading wheel, transfer means positioned between said second belt conveyor means and said pin surface conveyor means for moving cookies from said second belt conveyor means to said pin surface conveyor means at a velocity greater than the velocity of said second belt conveyor means, and drive means for operating said second belt conveyor means, said pin surface conveyor means and said transfer means in timed relationship wtih said loading wheel and said turret.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.