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AssigneeKraft Foods Holdings, Inc.
InventorsZbigniew S. Borkiewicz, Timothy J. Drebing, Kris K. Hulett
Estimating the term…
A system and methods for conveying linked chains of food product in a production cycle. In one implementation, a system comprises a first and second conveyors each traveling from a loading station proximate a linker to an unloading station and back, each conveyor having link support members for receiving linked chains discharged from the linker and conveying them to the unloading station. Preferably, the conveyors are independently driven such that while the link support members of one conveyor are at the loading station, the link supports members of the other conveyor are conveyed to the unloading station and/or are unloaded at the unloading station. Thus, the receiving of one linked chain at a conveyor is not affected by interruptions in movement of the other conveyor. Similarly, the unloading of one linked chain is not affected by interruptions in movement of the other conveyor.
A system for conveying chains of linked food products comprising:
A system for conveying chains of linked food products comprising:
A The system for conveying chains of linked food products comprising:
A system for conveying chains of linked food products comprising:
A method of conveying chains of linked food products comprising:
A method of conveying chains of linked food products comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Apparatus for hanging-up meat or sausages: specially adapted for hanging or conveying several sausages or strips of meat
Processing meat, poultry, or fish
Term ended 1 Nov 2022 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the production of linked food products, and more specifically to conveyor equipment for conveying linked food products, such as hot dogs or sausages, output from a linker that makes the linked food product.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a conveyor system having a loading station for loading linked food products output from a linker and conveying the linked food product to an unloading station for removal in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conveyor system including two independently driven but coordinated conveyors for transporting linked food products from the linker to the unloading station in accordance with the present invention.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of preferred embodiments. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.
The invention is generally directed to conveyor systems for efficiently transporting or conveying an elongated chain of linked food product, such as hot dogs or sausages, through at least a portion of a production line. For example, while generally referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a chain of linked food product (also referred to as a linked chain 32) is received onto a set of link support members of a conveyor at a loading station 12 as the linked chain is output from a conventional linker machine 16. The linked chain 32 is then transported a distance to an unloading station 14 where it is unloaded from the set of link support members and further processed before final delivery to the consumer. In preferred form, the invention provides a conveyor system 10 having two or more independently driven conveyors, each configured to load linked chains 32 of food product from the linker 16 at a shared loading station and transport the linked chains to a shared unloading station to be removed. The two conveyors 20, 22 are independently driven but coordinated such that preferably while one conveyor 20 is loading a linked chain of food product, the other conveyor 22 transports a previously loaded linked chain to the unloading station 14 and/or unloads a previously loaded and conveyed linked chain of food product and/or is transported into position to load the next linked chain.