Method and system for portioning and orientating whole fish or other elongate, non-symetrical articles
OwnerUlrich Carlin Nielseninventor
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Abstract
A method and system for packaging batches of elongate, non-symmetrical products that are soft and/or flexible in nature, such as fish, in which the products are arranged in mutually reversed orientations for maximized utilization of package space. The products are weighed for determining their individual weights and a computerized control is used to selectively accumulate the products on the basis of product weight and other predetermined criteria, to merge the products into groups, and to automatically deposit the products into boxes with a mutual reversed orientation.
Claims11
A method of providing weight determined groups of products which are elongate, non-symmetrical between a first front end and a second rear end thereof, and at least one of soft and flexible in nature, said products being supplied, without regard to the front end to rear end orientations of successive products, to a grouping station in which the products are arranged for packaging into boxes in accordance with preset criteria for total batch weight and mutual reversed orientation of the first front end and second rear end of the products, said method comprising the steps of:
- weighing the products for determining individual weights of the products;
- utilizing a computerized control
- to selectively accumulate the products, which are at least one of soft and flexible in nature, into groups on the basis of product weight and said preset criteria for total batch weight and mutual reversed orientation of the first and second ends of the products,
- to track the front end to rear end orientation of the products being supplied to said grouping station and of last-accumulated products in each of said groups, and
- to automatically deposit the products into boxes with said mutual reversed orientation.
A computerized batching system for selectively accumulating products into batches according to product weight, comprising:
- a product weigher;
- a conveying device;
- product orienting means for reversing the orientation of a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end of products which are elongate, non-symmetrical between said first longitudinal end and second longitudinal end thereof, and at least one of soft and flexible in nature;
- a product collecting station for collecting of the products into said batches;
- means for tracking front end to rear end orientation of the products being supplied to said product collecting station and of products last-collected in each of said batches;
- and
- a computerized control means for facilitating the production of said batches of a desired weight range in accordance with weight outputs from the product weigher and in accordance with preset criteria and said tracking of front end to rear end orientation of the products by controlling the orientation of products supplied, without regard to the front end to rear end orientations of successive products, to said product collection station via said orienting means for producing close packaging of the elongate, non-symmetrical products of at least one of soft and flexible in nature in a mutually reversed orientation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.