Filling system

Abstract: An apparatus and a process for transferring a product from a filling/weighing machine to a packaging machine which comprises introducing an upright open-topped bowl (30) containing a product into the upper part of one side a hollow drum (10) lacking a continuous peripheral wall adapted to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis to contact a guide (27) within the drum orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum and adapted to rotate with the drum, covering the top of the bowl, fixing the bowl to the guide, rotating the drum 180° to invert the bowl, uncovering the top of the inverted bowl and emptying the inverted bowl through the periphery of the wall of the drum, rotating the drum 180° to return the empty bowl to the upright position, releasing the empty bowl from the guide and withdrawing the empty bowl out of a side of the drum.

Description: The present invention relates to a filling system, especially for transferring products from filling/weighing machines to packaging machines. There are several situations where it is not possible to place the filling/weighing machine directly over the packaging machine, examples of which are as follows: 1. When there is not space enough to place the filling/weighing machine over the packaging system. 2. When more than one product should be filled, more than one filling/weighing machine has to be used and this uses up valuable space. 3. When a product must be handled and weighed manually: such an operation is very tedious and causes many back and neck problems to the personnel owing to the repetitive turning and leaning movements required. In such circumstances many factories use bowls or cups as a link between the filling/weighing machines and the packaging machines. We have devised and improved filling system for transferring products from filling/weighing machines to packaging machines. According to the present invention there is provided a filling system comprising. a) a hollow drum lacking a continuous peripheral wall adapted to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis, b) a guide within the drum, orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum and adapted to rotate with the drum, c) means for introducing an upright open-topped bowl containing a product through one side of the upper part of the drum to contact the guide when positioned horizontally, d) means for covering the top of the bowl, e) means for fixing the bowl to the guide, f) means for rotating the drum 180° to invert the bowl, g) means for uncovering the top of the inverted bowl to enable the product to be emptied out of the inverted bowl through the periphery of the drum, h) means for rotating the drum 180° so that the empty bowl returns to the upright position, i) means for releasing the empty bowl from the guide and, j) means for withdrawing the empty bowl out of a side of the drum. The drum may comprise a pair of gable rings held together by one or more transverse bars. Preferably, the drum is adapted to rotate intermittently so that it is stationary when a bowl is in an upright or an inverted position. Advantageously, means may be provided for introducing a plurality of upright open-topped bowls into the upper part of one side of the drum either consecutively or side-by-side and an appropriate number of guides are provided so that they are inverted and emptied simultaneouly, and returned to the upright position together. Conveniently, the means for introducing and withdrawing the upright bowls into and out of the sides of the drum is provided by a pair of horizontal conveyor belts one at each side of the drum. The guide may suitably be a guide rail provided with a base and side walls. If desired, more than one guide may be positioned within the drum, orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum angularly displaced from one another and adapted to rotate with the drum so that each guide successively reaches a horizontal position in the drum where it can receive further individual bowls or groups of bowls containing a product. The means for fixing a bowl to a guide is suitably provided by a holding plate which is adapted to descend to fix the bowl to the guide and is provided with one or more openings to allow the product to flow out of the bowl when desired. The means for covering and uncovering the top of a bowl as well as to enable the product to be emptied out of the inverted bowl through the periphery of the drum may be provided by a hopper fixed to and extending from the holding plate to the periphery of the drum and whose peripheral end is provided with opening and closing means e.g. a sliding cover. Containers of the packaging machine may be transported on a conveyor belt beneath the drum either parallel or transversely to the longitudinal axis of the drum. The present invention also provides a process for transferring a product from a filling/weighing machine to a packaging machine which comprises introducing an upright open-topped bowl containing a product into the upper part of one side of a hollow drum lacking a continuous peripheral wall adapted to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis to contact a guide within the drum, orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum and adapted to rotate with the drum, covering the top of the bowl, fixing the bowl to the guide, rotating the drum 180° to invert the bowl, uncovering the top of the inverted bowl and emptying the inverted bowl through the periphery of the drum, rotating the drum 180° to return the empty bowl to the upright position, releasing the empty bowl from the guide and withdrawing the empty bowl out of a side of the drum. Conveniently, the bowls are introduced into and withdrawn from the drum at opposite sides respectively. The bowls are conveniently pushed along the guide by succeeding bowls which have been introduced. Products that may be handled include rice, meat chunks, diced meat, sliced meat, shrimps, potatoes, sausages, meat balls, vegetables and vegetable mix. The present invention will now be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanygin drawings in which Figure 1 represents a transverse section through the filling system, Figure 2 represents a side section through the filling system, Figure 3 represents a transverse section through the filling system where the drum is capable of carrying more bowls than that of Figure 1, Figure 4 represents a top plan view of the conveyor of a packaging machine running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum, and Figure 5 represents a top plan view of the conveyor of a packaging machine running transversely to the longitudinal axis of the drum. Referring to the drawings, the filling system comprises a hollow drum 10 consisting of gable rings 11 held together by transverse bars 12 and drive wheels 13. Square holding plates 17 each having four apertures 18 and each provided with four pneumatic mini-cylinders 19 capable of raising and lowering the holding plates are fixed to the gable rings 11. Fixed to each holding plate 17 and aligned with the apertures 18 are four hoppers 20 each provided with an aperture 21 and a slideable cover 22 operated by sliding plate arms 23 pivoted at pivot point 24 activated by pneumatic cylinders 25. Fixed to the gable rings 11 by means of bolts 26 are guide rails 27 provided with side walls 28. A conveyor belt 29 is provided for transporting upright open-topped bowls 30 containing a product 31, each bowl having a foot 32, into the drum and a conveyor belt 33 is provided for withdrawing empty upright bowls out of the drum. Pockets 34 in a Multivac machine pass beneath the hollow drum 10. In the operation shown in Figures 1 and 2, two pairs of upright open-topped bowls 30 containing a given quantity of product 31 are introduced on the conveyor belt 29 into the hollow drum 10 and move to the right in the direction of the arrows as shown in Figure 2 on the guide rails 27. The leading bowl is pushed along the guide rails by the succeeding bowl. When all four bowls 30 are inside the drum the mini-cylinder 19 activates the holding plate 17 together with the hoppers 20 to descend to fix the bowls in position on the guide rails 27, and to cover them by the slideable covers 22 closing the apertures 21 activated by the mini-cylinders 25. The drum then rotates 180° until the bowls 30 are in the inverted position whereupon the drum stops, the slideable covers 22 are moved by means of the sliding plate arms 23 to one side exposing the apertures 21 and the product 31 flows out of the inverted bowls through the apertures 18 in the holding plate 17, the hoppers 20 and the apertures 21 into the pockets 34 after which the slideable covers 22 move back to close the apertures 21 and the drum rotates a further 180° until the empty bowls 30 are in the upright position. The holding plates 17 together with the hoppers 20 then ascend to release the empty bowls 30 from the guide rails 27 and two new pairs of filled upright open-topped bowls 30 containing further product 31 are then introduced on the conveyor belt 29 into the upper part of the hollow drum 10 and move to the right in the direction of the arrows as shown in Figure 2 and push the empty bowls 30 out of the drum onto the conveyor belt 33 after which the next cycle starts. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, when the drum has rotated 180° so that the filled bowls 30 are in an inverted position, two new pairs of upright bowls 30 containing product 31 are introduced into the upper part of the hollow drum 10 on the conveyor belt 29 guided by a second set of guide rails 27. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, when the drum has rotated 90°, 180°, 270°and 360° two new pairs of upright bowls 30 containing product are introduced into the upper part of the drum 10 on the conveyor belt 29 guided by second, third and fourth sets of guide rails 27 respectively. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 it is possible for the empty bowls to return through the square opening in the centre of the drum to the filling station. In Figures 4 and 5, one pair of bowls carries a product 35 and the adjacent pair of bowls carries a different product 36 and depending on the direction of travel of the two rows of pockets of the packaging machine beneath the drum the products may be arranged in single file or in alternate pairs. The filling system may be operated automatically with the aid of a computer. The drum may rotate at any practical speed e.g. 20 to 30 cycles per minute.

Claims: A filling system comprising. a) a hollow drum (10) lacking a continuous peripheral wall adapted to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis, b) a guide (27, 21) within the drum (10), orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum (10) and adapted to rotate with the drum (10), c) means (29) for introducing an upright open-topped bowl (30) containing a product (31) through one side of the upper part of the drum (10) to contact the guide (27, 28) when positioned horizontally, d) means (22) for covering the top of the bowl (30), e) means (17) for fixing the bowl (30) to the guide (27, 28), f) means (13) for rotating the drum (10) 180° to invert the bowl (30), g) means (23, 24, 25) for uncovering the top of the inverted bowl (30) to enable the product (31) to be emptied out of the inverted bowl (30) through the periphery of the drum (10), h) means (13) for rotating the drum (10) 180° so that the empty bowl (30) returns to the upright position, and i) means (17) for releasing the empty bowl from the guide (27, 28), and j) means (33) for withdrawing the empty bowl (30) out of a side of the drum (10). A filling system according to claim 1 wherein the drum (10) comprises a pair of gable rings (11) held together by one or more transverse bars (12). A filling system according to claim 1 wherein the drum (10) is adapted to rotate intermittently. A filling system according to claim 1 wherein means (29) is provided for introducing a plurality of upright open-topped bowls (30) into the upper part of one side of the drum (10) either consecutively or side-by-side so that they are inverted and emptied simultaneously and returned to the upright position together. A filling system according to claim 1 wherein the guide is a guide rail (27) provided with a base and side walls (28). A filling system according to claim 1 wherein more than one guide (27, 28) is positioned within the drum (10) orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum angularly displaced from one another and adapted to rotate with the drum (10). A filling system according to claim 1 wherein the means for fixing a bowl (30) to a guide (27, 28) is provided by a holding plate (17) adapted to descend to fix the bowl (30) to the guide (27, 28) and is provided with one or more openings (18) to allow the product (31) to flow out of the bowl (30). A filling system according to claim 1 wherein the means for covering and uncovering the top of a bowl (30) as well to enable the product (31) to be emptied out of the inverted bowl (30) through the periphery of the drum (10) is provided by a hopper (20) fixed to and extending from the holding plate (17) to the periphery of the drum (10) and whose peripheral end is provided with opening and closing means (22). A filling system according to claim 1 wherein containers (34) of a packaging machine are transported on a conveyor belt beneath the drum (10) either parallel to or transversely to the longitudinal axis of the drum (10). A process for transferring a product (31) from a filling/weighing machine to a packaging machine which comprises introducing an upright open-topped bowl (30) containing a product (31) into the upper part of one side of a hollow drum (10) lacking a continuous peripheral wall adapted to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis to contact a guide (27, 28) within the drum (10) orthogonal to and extending between the sides of the drum (10) and adapted to rotate with the drum (10), covering the top of the bowl (30), fixing the bowl (30) to the guide (27, 28), rotating the drum (10) 180° to invert the bowl (30), uncovering the top of the inverted bowl (30) and emptying the inverted bowl (30) through the periphery of the wall of the drum (10), rotating the drum (10) 180° to return the empty bowl (30) to the upright position, releasing the empty bowl (30) from the guide (27, 28) and withdrawing the empty bowl (30) out of a side of the drum (10).

Inventors: WADELL LARS GUSTAF ALBERT, WADELL, LARS GUSTAF ALBERT
Applicants: FRISCO FINDUS AG, FRISCO-FINDUS AG
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B65B39
IPC codes: B65B39