Automatic weighing and distributing apparatus for topping sliced cheese, etc. on pie crusts

An apparatus for topping a succession of regularly spaced pizzapie crusts on a conveyer with sliced topping material, such as cheese, comprising slicing means to cut blocks of the material on the conveyor into slices of appropriate shapes and sizes, and an automatic weighing means to supply appropriate amounts of the sliced material to the pizzapie crusts. The apparatus further includes an electrical control means which controls the operations of the above-mentioned means so that the operations will have a timed relationship with the movement of the pizzapie crusts, thereby placing each amount of sliced material on top of the corresponding pie crust with accuracy and without loss.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for topping 
pizzapie crusts with sliced cheese, and more particularly to a novel and 
improved automatic apparatus which comprises operatively associated means 
for cutting blocks of topping cheese and the like into slices of 
appropriate shapes and sizes, for weighing the slices to supply 
appropriate amounts of slices and for distributing each amount of slices 
onto the top of a succession of regularly spaced pie crusts on a conveyer. 
The operations have a timed relationship with the movement of the pie 
crusts so that every amount of slices can be distributed over the pie 
crust with accuracy and uniformity and without the necessity of recovering 
improperly distributed slices. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
According to a conventional apparatus for topping pizzapie crusts with 
slices of cheese, etc., a conveyer is provided which carries a continuous 
flow of slices of cheese and the like, and a continuous conveyer travels 
below the first-mentioned conveyer, carrying a succession of regularly 
spaced pizzapie crusts. A flow of sliced cheese is made to fall over each 
traveling pie crust like in a waterfall at the end of the first-mentioned 
conveyer. In the above conventional apparatus, a flow of sliced cheese 
travels on the conveyer with a thin layer of sliced cheese transversely 
covering the width of the conveyer and with the timed relationship with 
the movement of a succession of pizzapie crusts traveling at a constant 
speed. The above apparatus has disadvantages from the economical aspect 
and from the necessity of recollecting or regathering the portions of the 
slices not overlying the pie crusts, or placed otherwise than the surfaces 
of the crusts to return the same to the conveyer for recycling. As noted 
above, during the recycling of those portions the quality of the cheese 
will be lowered or aggravated to a marked degree, while slices of cheese 
are very unevenly distributed over the surface of the pie crust. Another 
conventional apparatus comprises a rotary sliced cheese supplier and a 
continuous conveyer carrying regularly spaced pie crusts thereon. The 
sliced cheese supplier has a plurality of sections regularly spaced on the 
periphery thereof and separated from each other by means of stationary 
pins. This supplier rotates on its axis in a synchronized relationship 
with the movement of the pie crusts on the conveyer so that each of the 
sections corresponds to each of the crusts when the former is positioned 
immediately above the conveyer which travels below the supplier. Each 
section has a plurality of movable pins which are operated for movement up 
and down by means of a cam. A continuous flow of sliced cheese is fed to a 
rotating supplier so that a given amount of sliced cheese is allotted to 
each section, the excess of the sliced cheese being eliminated by means of 
compressed air so that a given thickness of sliced cheese can be fed to 
each section. A guide is provided over several sections and extends 
circumferentially to the position immediately above the conveyer. Then, 
each of the sections of the supplier which carries a charge of sliced 
cheese therein with movable pins raised rotates along the guide to the 
above-mentioned discharge position, and the sliced cheese falls by gravity 
over the pie crust. The section which has gone past the position is 
cleared of the remaining cheese slices adhered thereto by means of a 
stationary knife which contacts the surface of the section with the 
movable pins lowered by the cam. However, the apparatus is disadvantageous 
particularly because of its uneven distribution of sliced cheese over the 
crust and easy adhesiveness of the cheese slices to the surfaces of 
contact. 
In addition, problems which are common to the two conventional apparatuses 
cited above should be noted in relation to the kind or type of topping or 
garnishing sliced edible materials used, such as cheese. In other words, 
cheese readily softens at elevated temperatures, and it is therefore 
necessary to maintain the operating temperature at about 0.degree. C. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In light of the disadvantages and problems of the prior art cited above, it 
is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a novel and 
improved apparatus for topping a succession of regularly spaced pizzapie 
crusts on conveyer with given amounts of sliced cheese or other similar 
sliced edible topping substances. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus 
which comprises a slicing device for cutting blocks of cheese, etc. to 
slices of desired sizes and shapes; an automatic weighing device for 
supplying appropriate amounts of sliced cheese; and a distributing device 
for distributing the amounts of sliced cheese on top of a succession of 
pizzapie crusts on conveyer. The above-mentioned devices are operatively 
associated with each other so that all of the operations are performed 
automatically and economically. 
Still another object of the present invention is to eliminate the 
unnecessary recycling of those portions of the already distributed sliced 
cheese lying outside the pie crusts by placing all allotted slices over 
the surfaces of the pie crusts with certainty and without loss. 
A further object of the present invention is to distribute every allotted 
amount of sliced cheese over each pie crust evenly and uniformly. 
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved 
apparatus which includes an automatic speed control circuit operative for 
changing the rate of feeding a charge of sliced cheese from high to low 
and eventually to an automatic stop depending on the proportions of the 
charge to be fed. 
The advantages and features of the apparatus constructed according to the 
present invention provide for the apparatus to operate at ambient 
temperatures of about 15.degree. C. or more as well as at 0.degree. C., 
and for the automatic alotting of amounts of sliced cheese and evenly 
distributing the cheese over the entire surfaces of a procession of 
regularly spaced pizzapie crusts without loss or without escaping of the 
cheese away from the crusts, thereby eliminating the necessity of 
recollecting those portions of the distributed slices which have escaped 
outside the crust for the purpose of recycling use and thus maintaining 
the nature of cheese in a constant good quality.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The present invention will further be illustrated by way of several 
preferred embodiments by referring to the accompanying drawings. An 
intermittently driven conveyer 1 is provided which carries a succession of 
blocks of edible topping material 23 such as for example cheese 
(hereinafter referred to as cheese for simplicity and clarity of 
understanding). At one end of the conveyer 1 is a slicing device or cutter 
2 rotating continuously at a constant rate and which has the form of a 
round plate having a plurality of protruded cutters 2a thereon opposite 
the conveyer 1. More specifically, the slicing device 2 has its protruded 
cutter surface 2a located opposite one end of the conveyer 1 at right 
angles to the direction of the conveyer 1 and has the upper half of its 
surface located above the level of the conveyer 1. Below the slicing 
device 2 is a further intermittent sloping downward conveyer 3 with one 
end located immediately below the slicing device 2. The conveyer 3 has a 
frame member 4 extending on the opposite sides and the inlet end thereof 
for preventing the sliced cheese 23a from escaping the conveyer 3. The 
frame member 4 has a feather-equipped rotary shaft 5 traversing the 
conveyer 3 and rotatably connected to the opposite sides there of. At the 
other end of the conveyer 3 is a pivotally movable shutter member 6 which 
is solenoid-operated (not shown). The conveyer 1 and the conveyer 3 are 
intermittently driven and controlled by an electrical control circuit to 
be described later so that the two conveyers 1 and 3 can move and stop 
simultaneously. Below the conveyer 3 is a vertical cylindrical distributor 
casing 7 having at the upper end thereof an opening 7a of substantially 
rectangular shape opposite the outlet end of the conveyer 3 and at the 
other bottom end an opening 7b of rounded shape. As shown in FIG. 1, the 
casing 7 is shaped such that it has the cross-sectional area gradually 
decreasing toward the lower open rounded end 7b which has a 
cross-sectional area slightly smaller than that of a pie crust 20 to be 
topped. The casing 7 has a rotary vertical shaft equipped with stirring 
blades 8. This shaft is located at a central position inside the casing 7 
and continuously rotates at constant speed. As noted, the lower open end 
7b of the casing 7 is located opposite a conveyer 9 which carries a 
succession of regularly spaced pizzapie crusts 20 thereon. The casing 7 is 
also equipped with a movable annular guide ring 24 which is 
solenoid-operated for movement up and down. In more detail, the guide ring 
24 is rigidly held by two arms 25 which are connected to a lever 26 which 
is operated by a solenoid 27 for movement up and down. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a 
weighing device generally designated by 10 is provided inside the casing 7 
at the upper opening 7a thereof and is located immediately below the 
outlet end of the conveyer 3. As particularly shown in FIG. 2, the 
weighing device 10 consists essentially of a bucket-shape vessel having 
two separate parts 10a and 10b hinged togehter at one as shown at 10c and 
which engage each other at the other end. As shown, the vessel is open at 
top, and is openably closed at bottom to form a box. The parts 10a and 10b 
have ferromagnetic elements 11 and 11a on the respective upper edges 
thereof and are supported in suspension by a two-arm support member 12 
which is hinged at 10c to the parts 10a and 10b. The support member 12 
has an electromagnetically-energized bar 13 whose ends are located 
opposite the corresponding parts 10a and 10b. Thus, electrical signals 
from an electric circuit, which will be described later, are fed to the 
electromagnet bar 13, which is then energized for magnetically attracting 
the ferromagnetic elements 11 and 11a on the parts 10a and 10b thereto and 
magnetically attaching the elements 11 and 11b, thereby urging the parts 
10a and 10b hinged at 10c to rotate and cause the lower ends of the parts 
10a and 10b to move outwardly and open at the bottom. Pivotally connected 
at 14c to the other end of the support member 12 is one end 14a of a 
rockable rod member 14 which is rockably carried by a support member 15 
fitted therein at the mid-position as shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the rod 
member 14 can pivot on the support member 15 for swinging movement. An 
electrical switch 16 is located near the outer end 14b of the rockable rod 
member 14. The switch 16 has a contact point which is depressed by the end 
14b of the rod member 14 for completing the switch circuit 16. As readily 
understood, the switch 16 is actuated when the contact point is depressed 
by the end 14b of the rockable rod member 14 which swings on the pivot 15 
in the direction shown by arrow 22 when the weighing device 10 is lowered 
through the opening 7a of the casing 7 by the weight of an amount of 
sliced cheese 23a fed from the conveyer 3. A pneumatic air nozzle supply 
pipe 17 is located above the weighing device 10 and has two branches 17a 
and 17b. The air nozzle pipe 17 supplies a blow of air from the nozzles of 
the branches 17a and 17b into the area between the bucket-shaped parts 10a 
and 10b in order to prevent adhesion of sliced material 23a to the inner 
side walls of the parts 10a and 10b and thus aids in making the material 
23a fall without difficulty. 
In FIG. 1, a vertical stopper plate 18 is provided across the conveyer 9 
for movement close to and away from the conveyer 9, and a micro-switch 19 
is located near the passage of the conveyer 9. The micro switch 19 is 
actuated when a pizzapie crust 20 on the conveyer 9 is placed immediately 
below the lower open end 7b of the casing 7 so that it can close the 
circuit for bringing the stopper plate 18 down, thereby, arresting the 
crust 20 in position immediately below the open end 7b from forward 
movement. As particularly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the stopper plate 18 is 
operated by an electromagnetically actuated solenoid, which in turn is 
controlled by the switch 19. The location of the switch 19 is such that 
the switch is actuated when a pie crust 20 is placed immediately below the 
open end 7b, and it simultaneously actuates the solenoid 7b to move the 
stopper plate 18 down. In further detail, in connection with the 
solenoid-operated guide ring 24, the switch circuit 19 cooperates with the 
switch circuit 16 which in turn is actuated by the swinging movement of 
the rod member 14 so that, as shown in FIG. 3, since both circuits 19 and 
16 are almost simultaneously closed, current from power source flows 
through the solenoid coil 28 and a further coil 29, thus actuating the 
solenoid 28 to move the stopper plate 18 and also actuating the coil to 
attract a switch 30, such as a reed switch, while a current from the power 
source flows through the electromagnetic coil assembly 13 and solenoid 
coil 27, thus actuating both the weighing device 10 and the guide ring 24, 
which moves down to cover the crust 20 in position. 
In accordance with the apparatus constructed as illustrated heretofore, 
blocks of cheese 23 shaped to appropriate sizes carried by the conveyer 1 
move in the arrow direction 21 in an intermittent manner which has the 
timed relationship with the conveyer 3, as described earlier, while the 
slicing device 2 is rotating. The slicing device 20 cuts or slices a block 
or blocks of cheese 23 to appropriate shapes and sizes by means of its 
protruded cutters 2a, thus providing slices of cheese 23a which fall to 
the inclined conveyer 3. The cheese slices 23a travel down onto the 
intermittently-driven conveyer 3 and are then fed to the weighing device 
10. The slices 23a are maintained at a constant thickness by means of the 
rotary feathered shaft 5. The conveyer 3 is controlled by an automatic 
speed control circuit (FIG. 4) which will be described later so that it 
can move at high speed until about 50 to 90% by weight of the charge of 
sliced cheese 23a have been discharged to the weighing device 10 while it 
can move at low speed for the remaining amount of the charge equal to 
about 50 to 10% by weight. The conveyer 3 comes to a stop when the switch 
16 is closed. Then, the weighing device 10 is lowered by the weight of the 
charge of sliced cheese 23a fed thereto, causing the rockable rod member 
14 supporting the device 10 in suspension to swing on the pivot member 15 
thus raising the end 14b of the member 14 closer to the switch 16 for 
depressing the switch contact and closing the switch circuit 16. In the 
meantime, a pizzapie crust 20 is moving on the conveyer 9 toward the 
position immediately below the lower open end 7b. When the crust 20 
reaches that position, the microswitch 19 senses the location of the crust 
20 and is actuated to close the circuit so that it can energize the 
solenoid coil 28 to move the stopper plate 18 down to block the pizzapie 
crust 20 in position while current flows into a coil 29 which attracts the 
switch 30 for closing. Then, the switch circuits 16 and 19 are completed 
to energize the electromagnet coil assembly 13 so that the ferromagnetic 
elements 11 and 11a on the upper edges of the bucket parts 10a and 10b can 
magnetically be attracted to the electromagnet 13, thus turning the 
buckets 10a and 10b on the pivot 10c and causing the lower ends thereof to 
open wider. As described above, the air supply pipe 17 delivers a blow of 
air from its branched pipes 17a and 17b which accelerates the fall of the 
charge of sliced cheese 23a through the casing 7. While the slices 23a are 
falling, they are stirred by means of the rotary stirrer blades 8 and are 
delivered through the lower open end 7b of the casing 7 uniformly over the 
surface of a crust 20 which is arrested by the stopper plate 18 and 
remains stationary. In the meantime, the guide ring 24 is operated by the 
solenoid coil 27 which is energized by the switch circuit 16 actuated by 
the rod member 14, so that the ring 24 can be lowered to cover the crust 
20, thereby preventing escape of the distributed slices 23a. When the 
delivery of the charge of sliced cheese 23a is completed and the switch 
circuit 16, opened the guide ring 24 is again raised away from the 
conveyer passage 9 and is ready for a next crust 20. 
FIG. 4 indicates a block diagram of the automatic speed control circuit 
earlier mentioned which controls the speed or rate of feeding a charge of 
sliced cheese 23a from the conveyer 3 to the weighing device 10. In the 
circuit of FIG. 4 a differential transformer 31 is shown which replaces 
the switch 16 in FIG. 1. As particularly indicated in FIG. 4, a signal 
generator 32 delivers constant a.e. output signals which are supplied to 
the above differential transformer 31. The differential transformer 31 
consists of a primary coil, a secondary coil and a core between the two 
coils, and controls the input signals to induce varying control output 
signals in the following manner. The constant a.e. output signals of the 
signal generator 32 vary in magnitude or level with the movement of the 
core which is moved by the rod member 14, so that signals of varying value 
develop at the secondary coil of the transformer 31. The output signals of 
the transformer 31 are then amplified by an amplifier 33 which supplies 
amplified output signals which then go to a rectifier 34 which converts 
the a.c. signals to d.c. signals. The conveyer 3 travels at a high speed 
until about 50 to 90% by weight of a charge of sliced cheese 23a has been 
supplied to the weighing device 10, then the core of the transformer 31 
operatively associated with the rod member 14 is moved so that the 
transformer 31 can produce output signals of a given level which are fed 
through amplifier 33 and rectifier 34 to the comparators 35 or 36 which 
compare the signals with reference signals. In this case, the comparator 
35 is actuated for changing the supply speed from high to low. While the 
remaining 50 to 10% by weight of the charge is being supplied, a further 
displacement of the core causes the transformer 31 to produce output 
signals of a different given level which, in this case, actute the 
comparator 36 for stopping the conveyer 3. The circuit of FIG. 4, 
including the transformer 31 has been described, but it may include the 
switch 16 which is constructed to function similarly to the transformer 
31. 
FIGS. 5 and 6 indicate a varied form of the conveyer 9 in FIG. 1, in which 
the conveyer generally designated by 37 consists of a plurality of 
parallelly spaced rope belts 37a, etc. of smaller width running along the 
length of the conveyer passage. By this construction of the conveyer 37, 
it is possible to place the microswitch 19 in FIG. 1 upstream of the 
conveyer passage and adjacent to the passage. More specifically, the 
location of the microswitch 19 is such that it can sense the presence of a 
crust 20 before it and can then be actuated for moving up a different 
stopper, later to be described, before the crust 20 passes the switch 19 
and has been placed in a topping position. This can arrest a pie crust 20 
in that position by the stopper with certainty and without delay. The 
stopper plate 18 in FIG. 1 is replaced by the second stopper 38 in FIGS. 5 
and 6, which is located below the conveyer passage 37 and is also 
solenoid-operated as in FIG. 1. As particularly shown, the stopper 38 
consists of a plurality of parallel spaced rods 39, etc. which are capable 
of movement up and down through the corresponding gaps between the 
adjacent rope belts 37a, etc. As shown in FIG. 5, the rods 37a, etc. have 
the semi-circular arrangement which substantially corresponds to the round 
peripheral shape of a pie crust, and can fit the peripheral edge of the 
crust. As described, the stopper 38 is operated by a solenoid 40, and 
because the micro-switch 19 is actuated by sensing the presence of a crust 
as it passes it, the circuit is closed to energize the solenoid coil 40 to 
move the stopper 38 up through the gaps and then arrest the crust 20 by 
its protruded rods 39, etc. The sliced cheese topping operations are 
performed in the above-described manner, and after completion of the 
operations for one crust, at which time the switch 19 has turned off, the 
stopper 39 moves down for allowing the crust 20 to be released therefrom 
and moved forward by the belt conveyer 37a. The conveyer 9 in FIG. 1 may 
have a further modified form not shown in which it can be driven in the 
intermittent manner. By this construction, it is possible to eliminate the 
stopper plate 18 in FIG. 1 or stopper 39 in FIGS. 5 and 6. It should be 
understood that the intermittently-driven conveyer can place a succession 
of crusts 20 thereon one after another in position immediately below the 
lower open end 7b of the casing 7 and can automatically stop in that 
position during the topping operation. The present invention has been 
described heretofore by referring to the several chosen embodiments and 
modified forms thereof, and the topping sliced substance on crusts such as 
cheese has typically been exemplified for clarity and simplity of 
understanding, (but the substance is not limited to the cheese shown.) 
Substance materials may be any that can have the character of being cut to 
sliced pieces. It should also be understood that various changes and 
modifications of the shown embodiments may be made without departing from 
the spirit and scope of the invention.