DEVICE FOR USE WHEN ARRANGING PORTIONS OF FOOD ON PORTION CARRIERS

Abstract: The device comprises a conveyor (1) for conveying the portion carriers past at least one working station (7), at which an amount of a food portion is manually placed on the portion carriers. The conveyor (1) runs in a cooled or heated duct (4), in which at least one openable hatch (7) corresponding to one working station is provided.

Description: DEVICE FOR USE WHEN ARRANGING PORTIONS OF FOOD ON PORTION CARRIERS The present invention relates to a device for use when arranging portions of food on portion carriers, comprising a conveyor for conveying the portion carriers past at least one working station, at which an amount of a food portion is manually placed on the portion carriers. Such devices are for instance used in the flight catering business, where meals are to be arranged on trays or plates, which meals are to be served later during a flight. There are, however, requirements that the food, which is thus arranged, for hygienic reasons is to be kept below a certain temperature, for which reason it is necessary that the room, in which the portion carriers (the trays or the plates) are moved, is kept cooled.- It is, however, expensive and a nuisance for the persons, which are to arrange the food on the portion carriers, if the whole working space is cooled down. There may, however, also be cases, in which it is desirable to keep the food at a temperature which is above room temperature. The object of the invention is to provide a device, by means of which the need to cool or heat the whole working space is eliminated. This is obtained by means of a device of the type stated by way of introduction, said device being characteristic in that the conveyor runs in a cooled or heated duct, in which at least one openable hatch corresponding to one working station is provided. Hereby is obtained that the portion carriers move in a separate room which has a temperature which is lowered or raised relative to the temperature of the working space, and to which room access for the arranging of the food is possible through the hatch. In an embodiment the conveyor is adapted to convey the portion carriers around in a closed path in order to pass the working station several times. Hereby is obtained that a (smaller) series of portion carriers, on which portions are to be arranged, may be conveyed several times past a working station and at each passage be provided with an amount of a certain type of food until all portion carriers have been provided with the different kinds of food desired. In a second or further embodiment several hatches are provided in the duct corresponding to several working stations arranged along the conveyor. This makes it possible in case of long series of portion carriers, on which portions are to be arranged, to work continuously, the portion carriers passing all working stations once, such that the arranging of the food on the portion carriers has been finished when all working stations have been passed. In a further embodiment the conveyor is divided up into sections, an independently operable section being present at each hatch, and a sensor means is provided at each hatch for determining if the hatch is open and a second sensor means for sensing a portion carrier arriving to the open hatch, and control means are provided for stopping the conveyor section, when a portion carrier is opposite the open hatch and for starting the conveyor section again by a signal from an operator at the hatch/the working station. Hereby a more comfortable working place is obtained, as not all operators have to work in time, the conveyor sections between the working stations acting as buffers. The invention will be described in detail in the following by means of an embodiment with reference to the schematic drawing, in which Fig. 1 shows a device according to the invention seen from above, and Fig. 2 is a sectional perspective view of a conveyor in a cooled duct according to the invention. Fig. 1 shows a conveyor 1 with an inlet end 2 and an outlet end 3. The conveyor 1 runs at its inlet end 2 into a duct 4 comprising a rectilinear section 5, and a circumferential section 6 which leads from the outlet end 3 back to the inlet end 2. It is to be understood that the conveyor 1 in a manner not shown is designed in such a way that articles which are placed on the conveyor 1 at the inlet end may be taken through the rectilinear section 5 of the duct 4 and out at the outlet end 3, or articles, which are placed on the conveyor 1 at the inlet end 2 may be taken through the rectilinear section 5, through the circumferential section 6 back to the inlet end 2 and then recycled a desired number of times before the articles are taken out at the outlet end 3. At the rectilinear section 5 of the duct 4 there are in the example shown provided four working stations, as there are four open hatches 7 in the duct 4. At each hatch 7 an operator 8 is shown, and at each hatch 7 a tray 9 is further shown, on which food is present, from which the operator 8 is to arrange a certain portion on portion carriers which are conveyed on the conveyor 1, when the portion carriers are present opposite the open hatch 7. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the rectilinear section 5 of the duct 4 with two hatches 7a and 7b, one of which 7a is open and the other one 7b is closed. The conveyor 1 is in the example shown a roller conveyor and the rollers are driven sectionwise in a way which shall be described in the following. The duct is carried by legs 10, and a cooling tube 11 runs below the conveyor 1. If it is desirable to keep a raised temperature in the duct, the cooling tube 11 will be replaced by a heating element. In the following an example is given of the use of the plant when arranging portions comprising several different types of food on plates. The plates are placed on the conveyor 1 at the inlet end 2 and taken past a number of working stations corresponding to the number of the different types of food which is to be arranged on the plates. When the arranging of the portions is finished, the plates are taken out at the outlet end 3. Fig. 1 shows four working stations, but it is to be understood that according to need more or fewer working stations may be provided. A working station actually means an open hatch 7a, as means (not shown) are provided for sensing whether a hatch is open or not. The result of this sensing is sent to a control unit. The conveyor 1 is divided up into sections, which may be driven independently. Thus an independently operable section is provided opposite each hatch and means (not shown) for sensing the arrival of a plate are provided. When the control unit thus registers that a plate has arrived to a working station with an open hatch 7, the corresponding conveyor section is stopped, whereby the plate comes to a standstill at the working station. The operator 8 takes a definite amount of food which is present on the adjacent tray 9 and arranges it on the plate. When this has happened, the operator gives a signal through a push-button 12 to the control unit which starts the conveyor section in question, following which the plate is conveyed to the next working station. If it is a question of a long series of plates, the plates will be conveyed in a row through the device on the conveyor 1 from its inlet 2 to its outlet 3 and on its way pass a•number of working stations 7 which corresponds to the number of different types of food on a finished plate, and possibly a last working station 7, at which the plate is wrapped, the finished plates being taken out at the outlet end 3 after having passed each working station 7 once. If only a smaller number of plates is to be arranged, a single working station may be provided, and the row of plates is, after having passed the working station 7, taken back through the circumferential section 6 of the conveyor 1 and passes once more the working station 7. Thereby one type of food at a time is arranged on all the plates by the same operator, who then arranges another type of food on all plates and so on until all plates have been arranged, following which they are taken out at the outlet end 3. It is to be understood that though one conveyor 1 is mentioned, it will normally be composed by several smaller conveyors. For instance the sections 5 and 6 may comprise four rectilinear conveyors with suitable transfer means for transferring articles from one conveyor to the other.

Claims: C L A I M S 1. A device for use when arranging portions of food on portion carriers, comprising a conveyor (1) for conveying the portion carriers past at least one working station (7) , at which an amount of a food portion is manually placed on the portion carriers, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the conveyor (1) runs in a cooled or heated duct (4) , in which at least one openable hatch (7) corresponding to one working station is provided. 2. A device according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r¬ i z e d in that the conveyor (4) is adapted to convey the portion carriers around in a closed path (5, 6) , thus making them pass the working station (7) several times. 3. A device according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r¬ i z e d in that several hatches (7) are provided in the duct corresponding to several working stations placed along the conveyor (1) . 4. A device according to claim 1 or 3, c h a r a c t- e r i z e d in that the conveyor (1) is divided up into sections, an independently operable section being present at each hatch (7) , that a sensor means is provided at each hatch (7) for determining if the hatch is open and a second sensor means for sensing a portion carrier arriving to the open hatch, and in that control means for stopping the conveyor section is provided, when a portion carrier is opposite the open hatch and for starting the conveyor section again by a signal (12) from an operator (8) at the hatch/the working station (7) .

Inventors: MICHAELSEN OLE, MICHAELSEN, OLE
Applicants: MICHAELSEN OLE, SIBOLA AS, MICHAELSEN, OLE, SIBOLA A/S
Application year: 1995
Main classification: A23L3
IPC codes: B65B25