Patent ID: 11883974
Assignee: JOHN BEAN TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  A | IPC A  B

Claim 0:
1. A food processing system for processing food items, as the food items are being carried on a support surface of a conveyor, and removing the food items from the conveyor after processing, comprising:
(a) a scanning system for scanning the food items and generating data pertaining to physical specifications of the food items including sizes and shapes of the food items and locations of the food items on the conveyor;
(b) a removal system for removing the food items from the conveyor to deliver the food items to desired locations, the removal system comprising:
a first nozzle having an inlet opening configured to receive the food items from the conveyor into the first nozzle;
a discharge system in fluid receiving communication with the first nozzle for receiving the food items from the first nozzle and for launching the food items in a desired trajectory so that the food items travel through the air exterior of any conduit;
a vacuum generator generating a vacuum at the inlet opening of the first nozzle; and
an actuator to move and position the first nozzle to desired positions relative to the food items and to automatically rotate the first nozzle about an upright axis to aim the discharge system at a desired angular orientation about the upright axis; and

(c) a control system:
receiving the data pertaining to the physical specifications of the food items from the scanning system and the locations of the food items on the conveyor;
controlling the actuator to position the first nozzle with respect to the food items to enable the first nozzle to pick up the food items from the conveyor, and controlling the actuator to rotate the first nozzle based on the data received from the scanning system;
positioning the discharge system to control the trajectory of the food items launched into the air by discharge system to deliver the food items to the desired locations away from the conveyor while the first nozzle is capable of remaining located over the conveyor during the launching of the food items; and
controlling an operation of the vacuum generator.