Food article loading head and method
AssigneeF. R. Drake Company
InventorsColin R. Hart, Gregg A. Martin, Jimmy L. Meyer, James A. Thompson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A loading head for loading food articles into packaging includes a transfer conveyor in operable communication with a source of articles to be loaded. The transfer conveyor communicates the articles from an upper receiving position to a lower loading position. A first drive drives the transfer conveyor at a variable speed. A second drive oscillates the transfer conveyor between a first position and a second position. A controller is in operable association with the first and second drives for varying the driving speed of the transfer conveyor as a function of the position of the transfer conveyor. An article holder is disposed at the loading position for receipt of a transferred article.
Claims42
A loading head for loading food articles into packaging, comprising:
- a) a transfer conveyor in operable communication with a source of articles to be loaded and for communicating the articles from an upper receiving position to a lower loading position;
- b) a first drive for driving said transfer conveyor at a variable speed;
- c) a second drive oscillating said transfer conveyor between a first position and a second position;
- d) a controller in operable association with said first and second drives for varying the speed of said transfer conveyor as a function of the instantaneous speed of said transfer conveyor;
- and
- e) an article holder at said loading position for receipt of a transferred article.
A loading head for loading food articles, comprising:
- a) an intermediate conveyor for transferring food articles from a source;
- b) a transfer wheel in operable communication with said intermediate conveyor for receiving the articles.
- c) a transfer conveyor in operable communication with said transfer wheel for receiving the articles from said transfer wheel and for communicating the articles to a loading position;
- d) a first drive for driving said transfer conveyor at a variable speed;
- e) a second drive oscillating said transfer conveyor between a first position and a loading position;
- f) a controller in operable association with said first and second drives for varying the speed of said first drive and thus of said transfer conveyor as a function of the instantaneous speed of said transfer conveyor;
- g) an article holder at the loading position for receipt of a transferred article;
- and
- h) an intermittently operated stripper device for removing articles from said article holder.
A method for loading food articles for packaging, comprising the steps of:
- a) transferring a source of food articles onto a continuously driven transfer conveyor and moving the articles from a receive position to a load position;
- b) oscillating the transfer conveyor between a first position and a second, and varying the driving speed of the transfer conveyor as a function of the instantaneous speed of the transfer conveyor;
- and
- c) discharging the food articles from the transfer conveyor at the loading position.
A method for loading food articles for packaging, comprising the steps of:
- a) supplying at a constant instantaneous speed a source of food articles onto a continuously driven transfer conveyor and moving the articles from a receive position to a load position;
- b) oscillating the transfer conveyor between a first position and a second, and varying the driving speed of the transfer conveyor as a function of the rate of the transfer conveyor;
- c) discharging the food articles from the transfer conveyor at the loading position onto a holding surface;
- and
- d) stripping the food articles from the holding surface at a constant speed and uniform force independent of the rate at which food articles are supplied from the source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.