Classifying – separating – and assorting solids – Sorting special items – and certain methods and apparatus for... – Traveling item turned to predetermined position
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-21
2003-03-25
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Classifying, separating, and assorting solids
Sorting special items, and certain methods and apparatus for...
Traveling item turned to predetermined position
C209S541000, C209S542000, C209S592000, C209S645000, C209S656000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06536599
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the batching or grouping of products, such as whole fishes, which are elongate and asymmetrical about their middle, typically with reference to packings appearing as simple boxes, e.g., of expanded polystyrene, with a content of a higher or smaller number of fishes in two or more layers, or perhaps not strictly made up of neat layers.
2. Description of Related Art
Salmon is a typical example of fish handled in the initially mentioned manner, packed with or without their heads intact. Fish in such packings are usually accounted for in terms of weight, for delivery, e.g., to slicing enterprises or large kitchens. For the building up of reasonably compact packings, it is considered important to arrange the fishes in the boxes so that they are oriented in mutually opposite directions in at least approximately equal numbers, whether or not distributed strictly layer-wise in the box. Hereby, the top side of the packed goods will be substantially level, irrespective of the products being narrower at one end than at their opposite end, and thus, the boxes may be loaded in a compact manner.
Traditionally, the associated weighing, orienting and packaging operations have been carried out fully manually, with inherent possibilities of producing packings of approximately uniform weight and size as desirable from a customer's point of view, a.o., for facilitating the associated accounting.
However, it is already known that the weighing-out of the products, for a building up of desired total target weight portions in a plurality of receiver stations, can be based on a grader technique, according to which the products are serially supplied to a dynamic weighing station and, therefrom, conveyed further along a sorter line including a plurality of receiver stations and diverter means operable to divert products selectively into any of these receiver stations, controlled by a computer connected with the weighing station. Once informed of the desired target weight or even different weights, the computer will be suited to control the sorting out of the products in such a manner that each receiver station will automatically receive products building up to the relevant target weight or weight range. This is highly facilitating for the required manual work, and it is advantageous for the producer, not only because of the reduced need of manual activities, but also because the resulting packings are much more likely to really hold the target weight, without undue overweight or so-called “give-away”.
Thus, practically the only remaining manual activity will be to arrange the products in the individual portions or packings such that the products are oppositely oriented as mentioned above, just implying a turning of some of the products lengthwise. This does not require any particular skill, so generally the use of the said grader technique is highly advantageous.
In connection with the present invention, however, it has been realized that the said computer may in fact be utilized even for effecting a qualified turning of a relevant number of products in the individual portions, thus obviating even the said unskilled manual work.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
At its outset, the invention is based on the idea that, once the computer has decided into which receiver station a given product should be delivered, it will be operable to also hold information as to the orientation of the products previously allocated to that particular receiver station. Thus, basically, it could convey a message to an operator, indicative of “please turn this fish”, but in practice, it is highly preferable, according to the invention, to arrange for mechanical turning means operable to effect the required turnings based on the knowledge of the computer with respect to the sequential delivery of products to the individual receiver stations. In this manner, it will be possible to effect a relevant turning, e.g., of every second allocated product or of any number of successively allocated products to any receiver station such that the result will be packings in which approximately one half of the products are turned in an opposite direction with respect to the other approximate half, whether or not being arranged in specific layers.
This principle is based on the computer instituting operations resulting in a turning of a partial number of products or rather a “relative turning” thereof, in order to achieve the desired result. For example, the computer could control some of the products to be turned 90° in one direction, while all other products are turned 90° in the opposite direction. Such turnings can be effected in a variety of different ways as discussed in more detail below.
According to another aspect of the invention, mechanical turning means can be entirely avoided, provided it is ensured beforehand that the products as delivered to the weighing station, e.g., on a conveyor belt, are already arranged systematically with alternating orientations, irrespective of how this has been arranged for. One possibility is the use of a feeder belt passing a loading station in which two operators place on the belt respective products with the same orientation, yet with mutually opposite orientations, in an alternating manner. The grader computer, now not being able to effect product turning, nevertheless will have at disposal for the batching calculations, a flow of products of which some are already turned, i.e., it can determine relevant allocations with an associated selection of correctly oriented products. “Correct orientation,” here, will be opposite orientation relative to the foregoing product allocated, respectively, to each of the individual receiver stations. For high efficiency, this kind of operation may require an increased number of receiver stations.
According to a further aspect of the invention, it is not strictly necessary to make use of the grader computer for other than its ordinary purpose, because a further possibility will be to arrange at each receiver station a “product arrival sensor” operatively connected with an associated local turning device in such a manner that every second product will be automatically turned before delivery to the final product batch. These devices may, as well as the computer, be programmable so as to effect turning of any preset number of consecutive products following any number of consecutive unturned products and prior to receiving further consecutive unturned products in the respective individual receiver stations.
It should be noted that the invention is not limited to the said “batching to predetermined weight”, as it will apply equally to mere sorting operations or to the weighing out of product portions according to other criteria, e.g., “batching to minimum weight,” which implies that batching goes on until a preset minimum weight has been reached, no matter the surplus or give-away weight involved for the attainment of the minimum weight. Such a batch, normally for delivery to a specific customer, may well comprise a number of different products according to specified orders, e.g. specified numbers of salmons from specified weight ranges with a top filling of smaller salmons up to a total minimum weight.
In the following invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
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Nixon & Peabody LLP
Rodriquez Joseph C
Safran David S.
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