Distributing device

Abstract: An apparatus for distributing quasi-spherical objects (14) on to a food product 24 comprising a) a vibrating feeder (10) for quasi-spherical objects (14) having one or more outfeed chutes (11,12,13), b) one or more vertical transport tubes (18) positioned below the outfeed chutes (11,12,13), c) a first plate (15) provided with one or more spaced pockets (16) each pocket (16) having two openings (20) one capable of aligning with the end of an outfeed chute (11,12,13) and the other capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube (18), d) a second plate (19) below the first plate (15) provided with one or more spaced holes (21) each of which is capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube (18), either the first plate (15) or the second plate (19) being adapted to oscillate so that in one direction of oscillation, an opening (20) in a pocket of the first plate (15), a hole (21) of the second plate (19) and the upper opening of a transport tube (18) are in alignment enabling quasi-spherical objects (14) to fall one at a time by gravity from a pocket to a transport tube (18), and e) means (22) for applying the quasi-spherical objects (14) onto the food product (24).

Description: This invention relates to a distributor for spherical or quasi-spherical objects which is intended in particular for the application of cherries, pralines, nuts or other similar articles used to enhance the taste and appearance of, and/or to decorate, food products such as confectionery articles, biscuits or ice creams. Of the known distributors for quasi-spherical objects, the most widely used are of the pneumatic or mechanical type. Pneumatic distributors comprise either means for randomly withdrawing one of the quasi-spherical objects by suction from a pile or, by contrast, means for pulsing said objects by means of compressed air from cavities into which they have previously been introduced and, in either case, for projecting said object onto the receiving product. Mechanical distributors which are very widely used include versions in which needles take up the objects to be placed on the receiving product from a reserve and subsequently transfer them from this reserve to the product and deposit them thereon. These known distributors, whether of one type or the other, are attended by the disadvantage of generally poor reliability in operation. For instance, it is usually desirable that only one nut is applied to a cake but many known distributors are unable to ensure this and often apply more than one nut. In addition, mechanical distributors equipped with needles involve a real danger so far as the food products are concerned in that needles or fragments of needles can break or become detached and remain in the product without any possibility of detection at the moment the incident occurs, making the end product particularly dangerous to eat. In view of these disadvantages, distribution is still generally done by hand but this involves considerable labour costs. The present invention obviates these disadvantages by providing an apparatus and method for distributing quasi-spherical objects such as cherries, nuts or pralines, preferably not sticky, capable of applying them to food products one at a time. According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for distributing quasi-spherical objects onto a food product comprising a) a vibrating feeder for quasi-spherical objects having one or more outfeed chutes, b) one or more vertical transport tubes positioned below the outfeed chutes, c) a first plate provided with one or more spaced pockets each pocket having two openings one capable of aligning with the end of an outfeed chute and the other capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube, d) a second plate below the first plate provided with one or more spaced holes each of which is capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube, either the first plate or the second plate being adapted to oscillate so that in one direction of oscillation, an opening in a pocket of the first plate, a hole of the second plate and the upper opening of a transport tube are in alignment enabling quasi-spherical objects to fall one at a time by gravity from a pocket into a transport tube, and e) means for applying the quasi-spherical objects onto the food product. A vibrating feeder is a conventional device available commercially consisting of a hopper in the form of a hollow cylinder with narrow spiral lanes around the wall terminating in one or more usually horizontal outfeed chutes at the upper end. During the vibrating which is usually carried out magnetically, the quasi-spherical objects travel along the lanes to the outfeed chutes. In the present invention, there are preferably from 3 to 5 outfeed chutes depending upon the product size and the feeder diameter. The size of the cylinder and the width of the lanes may vary according to the size of the quasi-spherical objects. The quasi-spherical objects are preferably size graded before feeding into the vibrating feeder. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for distributing quasi-spherical objects on to a food product comprising a vibrating feeder having one or more outfeed chutes, or one or more vertical transport tubes positioned below and offset laterally from the outfeed chutes, an oscillating sliding device formed with one or more pockets with openings adapted to align alternately with the ends of the outfeed chutes and the upper openings of the transport tubes, positioned between the oscillating sliding device and the transport tubes is a fixed plate provided with one or more holes directly above the upper openings of the transport tubes, and means for applying the quasi-spherical objects onto the food product. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sliding device oscillates so that in one direction of oscillation, one opening in a pocket comes into alignment with the end of an outfeed chute and in the opposite direction of oscillation the other opening in a pocket comes into alignment with the upper opening of a transport tube. When there is more then one outfeed chute, the ends are spaced from one another and preferably the number of transport tubes is equal to the number of outfeed chutes. When there are a plurality of transport tubes and outfeed chutes the upper openings of the transport tubes are preferably positioned opposite the spaces between the outfeed chutes. The means for applying the quasi-spherical objects onto the food product may advantageously be an applying head such as described in EUR-A-0280746. The present invention also provides a process for distributing quasi-spherical objects onto a food product which comprises feeding the quasi-spherical objects to a vibrating feeder having one or more outfeed chutes, causing the vibrating feeder to vibrate so that the quasi-spherical objects travel along the outfeed chutes, oscillating either a) a first plate provided with one or more spaced pockets each pocket having two openings one capable of aligning with the end of an outfeed chute enabling quasi-spherical objects to pass into a pocket, and the other capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube or b) a second plate below the first plate provided with one or more spaced holes each of which is capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube, so that in one direction of oscillation an opening in a pocket of the first plate, a hole of the second plate and the upper opening of a transport tube are in alignment enabling the quasi-spherical objects to fall one at a time by gravity from a pocket into a transport tube from where they are conveyed to the food product. The present invention provides in a preferred embodiment a process for distributing quasi-spherical objects on to a food product which comprises feeding the quasi-spherical objects to a vibrating feeder having a one or more outfeed chutes, causing the vibrating feeder to vibrate so that the quasi-spherical objects travel along the outfeed chutes, oscillating a sliding device positioned between the ends of the outfeed chutes and one or more transport tubes positioned below and offset laterally from the outfeed chutes, the sliding device being formed with one or more pockets with openings adapted to align alternately with the ends of the outfeed chutes and the upper openings of the transport tubes so that at each oscillation one quasi-spherical object passes from the end of an outfeed chute into a pocket and then via a hole in a fixed plate positioned between the oscillating sliding device and the transport tubes to a transport tube from where it is applied to the food product. The present invention will now be further illustrated by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 represents a diagrammatic side view of an apparatus according to the invention, Figure 2 represents a diagrammatic top view of the same apparatus, Figure 3 represents a view of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows A-A, and Figure 4 represents a view of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows B-B. Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a vibrating feeder 10 having a diameter of from 250 to 450 mm with three spaced outfeed chutes 11, 12 and 13 along which travel nuts 14. Positioned perpendicular to the upper ends of the outfeed chutes is a plastic sliding device 15 having square pockets 16 each with a first opening 17 shown opposite the ends of the outfeed chutes 11, 12, 13 in Figure 2. Positioned below the sliding device are vertical transport tubes 18 and between the sliding device and transport tubes is a fixed plate 19 with holes 20 positioned directly above the upper openings of the transport tubes 18. A second opening 21 in each square pocket 16 is shown facing the fixed plate 19 in Figure 4. An applying head 22 is positioned above a belt 23 conveying biscuits 24. In operation, the nuts 14 are size graded and filled into the vibrating feeder 10 the vibration of which causes the nuts to travel along the outfeed chutes 11, 12 and 13 to enter the pockets 16 at the opening 17. The sliding device 15 oscillates in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 2 firstly to the left so that the pockets each containing one nut move to a position above the transport tubes 18, where the second opening 21 of each pocket comes into alignment with the upper opening of each transport tube whereupon one nut passes through the second opening 21 of each pocket 16, then through a hole 20 in the fixed plate 19 and finally enters a transport tube 18. In this position the solid parts of the sliding device between the pockets are situated opposite the ends of the outfeed chutes and effectively form a closure to prevent any nuts leaving the ends of the outfeed chutes. The sliding device then oscillates in the reverse direction so that the pockets are once again opposite the ends of the outfeed chutes where one nut enters each pocket and the process is repeated. The nuts in the transport tubes 18 are then fed one at a time by means of an applying head 22 to biscuits 24 travelling on the conveyor belt 23 and the whole apparatus is synchronised to ensure that only one nut is embedded in each biscuit.

Claims: An apparatus for distributing quasi-spherical objects on to a food product comprising a) a vibrating feeder (10) for quasi-spherical objects having one or more outfeed chutes (11,12,13), b) one or more vertical transport tubes (18) positioned below the outfeed chutes, c) a first plate (15) provided with one or more spaced pockets (16) each pocket having two openings one capable of aligning with the end of an outfeed chute (11,12,13) and the other capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube (18), d) a second plate (19) below the first plate (15) provided with one or more spaced holes each of which is capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube (18), either the first plate (15) or the second plate (19) being adapted to oscillate so that in one direction of oscillation, an opening in a pocket (16) of the first palte, a hole of the second plate (19) and the upper opening of a transport tube (18) are in alignment enabling quasi-spherical objects to fall one at a time by gravity from a pocket (16) to a transport tube (18), and e) means (22) for applying the quasi-spherical objects onto the food product. An apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a vibrating feeder (10) having one or more outfeed chutes (11,12,13), one or more vertical transport tubes (18) positioned below and offset laterally from the outfeed chutes (11,12,13), an oscillating sliding device (15) formed with one or more pockets (16) adapted to align alternately with the ends of the outfeed chutes (11,12,13) and upper openings of the transport tubes (18), positioned between the oscillating sliding device (15) and the transport tubes (18) is a fixed plate (19) provided with one or more holes directly above the upper openings of the transport tubes (18), and means (22) for applying the quasi-spherical objects onto the food product. An appartaus according to claim 1 wherein the vibrating feeder (10) has from 3 to 5 outfeed chutes. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein when there is more than one outfeed chute the ends are spaced from one another. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the number of transport tubes (18) is equal to the number of outfeed chutes. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein there are a plurality of transport tubes and outfeed chutes, the upper openings of the transport tubes are positioned opposite the spaces between the outfeed chutes. A process for distributing quasi-spherical objects on to a food product which comprises feeding the quasi-spherical objects to a vibrating feeder (10) having one or more outfeed chutes (11,12,13), causing the vibrating feeder (10) to vibrate so that the quasi-spherical objects travel along the outfeed chutes, oscillating either a) a first plate (15) provided with one or more spaced pockets (16) each pocket (16) having two openings one capable of aligning with the end of an outfeed chute (11,12,13) enabling quasi-spherical objects to pass into a pocket (16) and the other capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube (18) or b) a second plate (19) below the first plate (15) provided with one or more spaced holes each of which is capable of aligning with the upper opening of a transport tube (18) so that in one direction of oscillation an opening in a pocket (16) of the first plate (15), a hole of the second plate (19) and the upper opening of a transport tube (18) are in alignment enabling the quasi-spherical objects to fall one at a time by gravity from a pocket (16) into a transport tube (18) from where they are conveyed to the food product. A process for distributing quasi-spherical objects on to a food product according to claim 7 which comprises feeding the quasi-spherical objects to a vibrating feeder (10) having one or more outfeed chutes (11,12,13), causing the vibrating feeder (10) to vibrate so that the quasi-spherical objects travel along the outfeed chutes (11,12,13), oscillating a sliding device (15) positioned between the ends of the outfeed chutes (11,12,13) and one or more transport tubes (18) positioned below and offset laterally from the outfeed chutes (11,12,13), the sliding device (15) being formed with one or more pockets (16) with openings adapted to align alternately with the ends of the outfeed chutes (11,12,13) and the upper openings of the transport tubes (18) so that at each oscillation one quasi-spherical object passes from the end of an outfeed chute (11,12,13) into a pocket (16) and then via a hole in a fixed plate (19) positioned between the oscillating sliding device (15) and the transport tubes (18) to a transport tube (18) from where it is applied to a food product. A process according to claim 7 wherein the quasi-spherical objects are size graded before being fed into the vibrating feeder (10).

Inventors: WADELL LARS GUSTAF ALBERT, WADELL, LARS GUSTAF ALBERT
Applicants: FRISCO FINDUS AG, FRISCO-FINDUS AG
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65G47
IPC codes: B65G47, A21C9