Abstract:
A method and apparatus for delivering a predetermined amount of material into a predetermined position on each of a series of moving trays while avoiding spillage of the product onto other portions of the trays. A conveyor lifts the material from a supply bin and deposits the material onto a shaker pan. The shaker pan delivers the material in an even flow on to a rotating turntable having a plurality of radially extending gutters thereon. The turntable directs the material to flow along the gutters and into a plurality of hoppers disposed at the periphery of the turntable. The hoppers are rocked to distribute the product evenly within each hopper. Once a hopper is full, any excess material falls onto a drip tray which returns the material back to the supply bin. The filled hoppers are rotated above the trays, which are moving on a conveyor, and release the material onto a predetermined area of the trays by means of funnels mounted adjacent to each hopper.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a method and apparatus for delivering a predetermined amount of material such as food material to a moving container such as a tray. 
     The sale of prepared meals for consumption at home goes back in time, at least to the early days of television broadcasting, when the so-called &#34;T.V. dinner&#34; was introduced. The feature of the TV dinner is that it made available a meal which could be stored in frozen form and which could be conveniently heated and served on its own tray for consumption in front of a television set. In more recent times, the desire for prepared meals on trays and typically frozen, is based upon the trend away from the preparation at home of fresh foods for meals. The popularity of frozen meals has also been increased drastically by the growing use of microwave ovens which are the most convenient and rapid way to heat frozen meals. Accordingly, there is a need for equipment within a food processing plant to place predetermined amounts such as predetermined weights of both fresh and cooked food material on trays for subsequent freezing and sealing. 
     The trays for prepared meals typically contain a plurality of compartments such as a compartment for a meat product, a compartment for a starch product, such as rice or potatoes, and a compartment for a vegetable product. Conventional means are available for delivering a meat product in a predetermined amount to a compartment of a tray since the meat product can be prepared in slices, patties, or the like of fixed weight. Starch materials are conventionally delivered to a tray by a dispensing device which can conveniently handle accurate weights of rice, mash potatoes, and the like. When it comes to a vegetable product to be delivered to a tray, the fibrous or particulate nature of such products in the case of broccoli, cauliflower, stringbeans, etc., makes the delivery or the dispensing of a predetermined amount of material automated by apparatus more difficult. Accordingly, hand selection, weighing and delivering of such vegetable products is typically employed. Where the meat product and the starch product can be delivered by conventional food processing machinery, it becomes evident that the need for hand delivering the vegetable product necessarily complicates and slows down the production of prepared meals on trays. 
     The method and apparatus of the invention enable a material such as a vegetable food product to be delivered in a predetermined amount to a compartmented tray. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The conventional procedures for delivering food material of a fibrous or particulate nature, such as broccoli, cauliflower, stringbeans and the like to a container has been hand delivery of such food materials. This has been the procedure notwithstanding that the container or tray to which the materials are delivered has been partially filled by machinery for delivering a meat product or a starch product to the tray. The practice has been for a human operator to select, by hand, the amount of vegetable material from a supply and place it on a scale for determining that a predetermined weight of material has been selected. Depending upon the weight indication, additional material is added or excess material is removed from the scale. The human operator then places the weighed food material by hand into the proper compartment on the tray. It is evident that this is a tedious and time-consuming task. Where the trays are being filled by machines, meat products and starch products, it may be necessary to have a plurality of human operators to load the vegetable product by hand at a rate which can match that of the loading of the meat product and the starch product. A consequence of hand loading at a reasonable rate of production of trays is that the control of the predetermined amount of vegetable material, such as by weight, will suffer. Thus, in achieving a reasonable rate of production, the human operator will inevability overfill or underfill the trays with vegetable material. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to deliver a predetermined amount of material such as food material to a predetermined location for release of the material into a container such as a tray used for prepared frozen meals. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for delivering predetermined amounts of fibreous or particulate materials, such as food materials, to a container. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for delivering a predetermined amount of material in which various adjustments can be made in be delivered. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for delivering predetermined amounts of materials, where the materials are prone to agglomerate or to adhere to any surface with which the material may come in contact. 
     Still another object of the invention, is to provide a method and apparatus for delivering a predetermined amount of material in which the amount of material itself can be conveniently and accurately varied as conditions may required. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated in the following detailed description of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     The invention comprises a method and apparatus for delivering a predetermined amount of material to a predetermined location, such as a location adjacent a container which can be a tray for example, which is to be filled. The apparatus and method of the invention are particularly adapted to deliver food material, such as vegetable material, to a tray of the type used for frozen prepared meals. 
     The apparatus of the invention includes a turntable which is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis with the turntable being crowned and with the periphery of the turntable being lower than the central portion of the turntable. Means are provided for depositing a flow of material upon the turntable. The material so delivered is adapted to move radially outwardly and over the periphery of the turntable as the turntable rotates. A plurality of hoppers are disposed, spaced apart from one another, with the mouth of each hopper facing upwardly beneath the periphery of the turntable. The plurality of hoppers are moved in the direction of the rotation of the turntable to enable each of the hoppers to receive material moving radially outwardly over the periphery of the turntable. At a predetermined arcuate extent about the perihery of the turntable in the direction of the rotation of the turntable from the location at which the material is delivered thereto, there is provided means for releasing material from each of the plurality of hoppers. In this way, the hoppers each determine the predetermined amount of material which is ultimately to be released. 
     The turntable can be provided with a plurality of radially extending gutters, each of which is aligned with a different one of the hoppers in order to direct the flow of material over the periphery of the turntable and into the hoppers. 
     The hoppers are pivotally mounted with the mouth of the hopper facing upwardly to receive the material and being inverted to face downwardly to release the material. A cam track and cam follower construction can be employed to position each pivotally mounted hopper between a position in which the mouth of the hopper faces upwardly as well as in an inverted position. 
     To facilitate the movement of material with respect to the turntable, the turntable can be oscillated laterally. 
     To insure that each hopper is filled with material and that excess material is separated from each hopper, each of the plurality of hoppers can be rocked about their pivotal axis with the amplitude of the rocking being selectable. 
     The nominal position of each of the plurality of hoppers when the mouth of the hopper is facing upwardly can be selected, again in order to insure that each hopper is filled with material and that any excess material is separated therefrom. Funnels can be disposed adjacent each hopper to direct the flow of material released therefrom to a container or tray. 
     Any excess material separated from a hopper or otherwise failing to enter a hopper is intercepted by a drip tray which is provided with means for removing such material from the drip tray in response to the motion of the hoppers with respect thereto. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1. is a fragmentary perspective view of the apparatus of the invention showing a conveyor for the material to be delivered, a shaker pan, a turntable, a plurality of hoppers, a drip tray and a tray conveyor for advancing trays with respect to the apparatus; 
     FIG. 2. is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus of the invention showing the turntable and the plurality of hoppers including the predetermined location for the release of materials to the trays; 
     FIG. 3 is a vertical section view showing the drives to the turntable and the plurality of hoppers; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the plurality of hoppers, the funnels for the hoppers, and the means for pivotally mounting each of the hoppers; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a gear and a gear element for erecting each of the hoppers, a cam track and cam follower for positioning the hoppers, means for vertically reciprocating the cam track to rock the hoppers, and means for vertically positioning the cams track to adjust the upward facing position of the mouth of each hopper; 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of the means for vertically positioning the cam track; 
     FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section showing an alternate position of the vertical adjustment of a cam track; 
     FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bucket-shaped flights of the product conveyor; 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged horizontal section view taken along the line 9--9 in FIG. 8 and showing the ribs on the surface of the product conveyor for minimizing adhesion with the product; 
     FIG. 10 is a fragmentary section view of a hopper showing a corrugated surface for the hopper; 
     FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of the gutters of the turntable showing the graining thereon to reduce friction with the product; 
     FIG. 12 is a fragmentary section view of the graining of the gutters of the turntable; 
     FIG. 13 is a fragmentary section view of the graining of the gutters of the turntable in an alternate configuration; 
     FIG. 14 is a vertical section view showing another embodiment of the suspension of the turntable; 
     FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the apparatus adapted to deliver material to a single row of trays and showing a drip pan with wipers beneath the hoppers; and 
     FIG. 16 is a plan view of the drip pan and wipers. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The apparatus and method of the invention for delivering a predetermined amount of material to a predetermined location, such as food material into a tray, is described hereinafter in accordance with its preferred embodiment and with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus 30 of the invention includes a turntable 31 which is pivotally mounted about a substantally vertical axis. A plurality of hoppers 32 which are cup-shaped are mounted, spaced apart from one another, with the mouth 32(a) of each hopper facing upwardly beneath the periphery of the table. Drip tray 33 is disposed beneath the path of travel of the plurality of hoppers and the periphery of the turntable in order to intercept any material which fails to enter a hopper during the filling operation thereof, or is separated from a hopper during filling. Shaker pan 34 serves as a means for depositing a flow of material upon turntable 31 inwardly of the periphery thereof. Conveyor 35 which operates in the direction of the arrows adjacent thereto as shown in FIG. 1 delivers material from supply bin 36. Tray conveyor 37 advances two rows of trays extending substantially parallel to one another. The trays are advanced beneath the predetermined location 38 of the apparatus where there is disposed the means for releasing material from each of the hoppers 32. Trays 39 each contain, by way of example, three compartments 39(a), 39(b) and 39(c). Further by way of example, a vegetable product can be delivered to compartment 39(a), a starch product to compartment 39(b), and a meat product to compartment 39(c). 
     In FIG. 2, there is shown material 40 such as pieces of vegetable material, descending along shaker pan 34 and leaving exit end 34a at the lower end of the inclined shaker pan. The material then drops upon the upper portion of turntable 31 radially inwardly from the periphery 31b of the turntable. As shown in FIG. 3, the turntable 31 is crowned in the sense that central portion 31a thereof is elevated with respect to peripheral portion 31b thereof. FIGS. 1 and 3 show that the turntable is provided with a plurality of radially extending gutters 31c which are formed by sectors 31d sloping with respect to one another and intersecting at bottom portion 31e and top portion 31f. As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom portion 31c of each gutter is aligned with mouth 32a of a hopper 32. As the turntable rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 2, the material 40 moves radially outwardly within the gutters 31c and passes over the periphery 31a of the turntable and enters the hoppers 32. 
     As shown in FIG. 11, the upper surfaces of the sectors forming gutters 31c are grained or textured with radially extending grooves 41 disposed between ridges 42. FIG. 13 shows ridges 42 which can be substantially triangular in profile and can be formed from a sheet of elastomer or resin material which is attached to the sectors 31d of the turntable. In the alternative, higher ridges 42a with wider grooves 41a can be used as determined by the nature of the material 40. It can be seen in FIG. 11 that the grooves and ridges extend radially, that is substantially parallel to the bottom portion 31e of each of gutters 31c. By extending radially, material 40 can move radially outwardly with respect to the gutters with the least tendency to adhere thereto. 
     The means for rotating turntable 31 about its vertical axis is shown in FIG. 3. Frame member 43 to which is attached frame elements 44 supports uprights 45. In turn, the uprights support base plate 46. Adapter 47 is mounted on base plate 46 and supports bearing 48 which rotatably supports gear 49. The gear is coupled through hub 50 to plate 51. 
     In FIGS. 3 and 4, radially extending spokes 52 are shown mounted upon plate 51. The spokes 52 support springs 53 which in turn support carrier 54 engaged with the spokes by screws 55. Ribs 56 attach turntable 31 to carrier 54. Clearance is provided in the openings 52a within spokes 52 in order that screws 55 can move laterally to a limited extent with respect to the spokes. Washers 57 have clearance with respect to screws 55 in order that the screws have freedom with respect thereto. With this arrangement, it can be understood that the carrier and thereby the turntable has a resilient suspension which enables the turntable to move somewhat vertically as well as to an extent horizontally. 
     The means for oscillating the turntable laterally with respect to its vertical axis includes eccentric 58 which is attached to hub 59 of the central portion of the turntable. Motor 60, which by way of example can be a hydraulic motor, has a shaft 60a which is coupled to eccentric 58. The shaft is piloted by bearing 61 mounted on hub 50. Rotation of shaft 60a causes carrier 54 to oscillate in a lateral direction and thereby oscillates the turntable in a lateral direction with respect to its vertical axis. 
     FIG. 3 sows the means for pivotally supporting each of the plurality of hoppers 32. A support 61 is attached to each of spokes 52. A shaft 62 attached to the hopper 32 pivotally mounts the hopper wtih respect to support 61. As shown in FIG. 5, the means coupled to each shaft 62 for maintaining the shaft in a position in which the mouth 32a of a hopper 32 is facing upwardly includes cam track 63 and cam follower 64. The cam follower which can be a roller cam follower is mounted on gear or sprocket 65 which in turn is connected to shaft 62. In FIG. 5 it can be seen that whenever cam follower 64 is in rolling engagement with cam track 63, the sprocket and thereby the shaft 62 and hopper 32 connected thereto are rotated to a position in which the mouth 32a of the hopper faces substantially upwardly. 
     Each of the hoppers 32 is provided with means for biasing the hopper to an inverted position. As shown in FIG. 3, the biasing means comprises clock spring 66 having one end portion connected to support 61 and the opposite end portion connected to shaft 62. A bucket 32 is shown in an inverted position in FIG. 5 in response to the biasing of clock spring 66. 
     In FIG. 5, there is shown means for erecting each hopper into a position in which the mouth of the hopper faces upwardly. The erecting means includes the engagement of gear or sprocket 65 with gear element 67 which can comprise a plurality of spaced cogs. Thus as is seen in FIG. 5, the rolling motion of sprocket 65 with respect to cogs 67 rotates the sprocket in a counterclockwise direction and thereby shaft 62 which is connected to hopper 32. Once the sprocket has approached end portion 63a of cam track 63, cam follower 64 is rotated by the engagement of sprocket 65 with cogs 67 with the result that the follower is then placed in engagement with the upper surface of cam track 63. The engagement of the follower with the cam track prevents the hopper from being driven into its inverted position by spring 66. 
     As seen in FIG. 5, hopper 32 remains in an upwardly facing position in response to the engagement of the cam follower with the cam track until end portion 64a of the cam track is reached. Here the cam follower 64 leaves the cam track and in response to the biasing of the shaft 62 by clock spring 66, the hopper is inverted. In FIG. 3, there is shown vertically sliding support 68 for laterally positioning cam track 63 with respect to base plate 46. As shown in FIG. 5, cam track 63 is provided with a plurality of rollers 69 which extend radially inwardly from the inner wall of the cam track. Adjacent to the inner wall of the cam track is carrier 70 which contains ramps 70a which are in rolling engagement with roller 69. Circumferential movement of carrier 70 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5, moves the ramp with respect to the roller and thereby changes the vertical position of cam track 63 from a minimum position at the lower end of the ramp to a maximum elevated position at the high end of the ramp (See FIGS. 6 and 7). It can be understood that movement of the cam track vertically provides a means for rocking the hoppers by engagement of the cam followers 64 with the cam track. The carrier is moved in a reciprocating circumferential manner as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 5 by means of an actuator, for example a hydraulic motor 71. Shaft 71a of the motor rotates eccentric 71b which is coupled by turnbuckle 72 to pin 73. The pin 73 is pivotally engaged with the carrier 70. The rotary motion of the shaft 71a of motor 71 is converted into reciprocating motion by eccentric 71b. Thus, it can be seen that upon driving actuator 71, the carrier 70 can be reciprocated circumferentially with respect to the cam track, thereby reciprocating the ramps 70a with respect to rollers 69. By way of example, shaft 71a of motor 71 can be driven at approximately 300 RPM. This rotational speed results in a rocking motion of about 300 cycles per minute for the hoppers. 
     The adjustment of turnbuckle 72 enables the nominal vertical position of the cam track to be established at a predetermined level with respect to which the cam track is vertically oscillated. The nominal vertical position of the cam track as determined by turnbuckle 72 sets the position of the cam follower 64 during its travel with respect to the cam track and thereby the angular position of the upwardly facing hopper during the filling operation (FIGS. 6 and 7). Thus, the hopper can be selectively tilted from a nominal horizontal position of the mouth 32a of the hopper (FIG. 6) to a nominal tilted position of the hopper 32 (FIG. 7) in order to receive a predetermined amount of material within the hopper during the filling cycle. The angle of tilt of the hopper 32 determines the volume of the hopper which is available for filling and thereby the amount of material being received by the hopper. 
     In FIGS. 6 and 7, the setting of the position of bucket 32 is shown. In FIG. 6, the mouth 32a of the bucket is shown facing vertically and extending in a substantially horizontal position. Alternate vertical positions of roller follower 64 are shown for alternate vertical positions of cam track 63 as determined by ramps 70a and roller 69. In FIG. 7, the mouth of bucket 32 is shown in a tilted position. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the interaction of rollers 69 and ramps 70a show the range of adjustments which can be achieved. In summary, the means for rocking each of the plurality of hoppers about their laterally extending axes of rotation comprises the driving of eccentric 71b by actuator 71 to introduce a vibratory motion through the turnbuckle and pin 73 to carrier 70. The vibratory motion is transmitted by ramps 70a to rollers 69 and thereby to cam track 63. By adjusting the rotational speed of shaft 71a of actuator 71, the frequency of the vibratory motion is selected. 
     In FIG. 8, there is shown bucket-shaped flights 74 for delivering material to shaker pan 34. The surfaces of the conveyor 35 including flights 74 which contact the product being delivered to the turntable are grained or textured as shown in FIG. 9 with ribs 75 which prevent the material from adhering to the surfaces during operation of the product into compartment 39c. 
     In FIG. 10, there is shown a section of a wall or bottom 32b and 32c of hopper 32 which is provided with a raised or stippled surface 32d for preventing the adhering of the material to the interior of the hopper upon the releasing of material 40 from hopper 32 is shown in FIG. 3. 
     Funnels 76 mounted upon supports 61 direct the product being released from the hoppers into the proper compartment of the tray. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower end portion 76a of each of the funnels alternate in circumferential position in order that the hoppers may fill trays in each of the two parallel rows of trays. In order to present compartments 39a of the pair of rows of trays to the successive hoppers, the rows of trays are staggered on conveyor 37 with respect to one another as shown in FIG. 1. 
     In FIG. 1, there is shown shaft 77 having sprocket 78 and chain 79. Shaft 77 is driven in synchronism with the drive for conveyor 37. In FIG. 3, there is shown chain 79 engaged with sprocket 80 having bevel gear 81 which is meshed with bevel pinion 82. Bevel pinion 82 drives pinion 83 by means of shaft 84. Since pinion 83 is meshed with gear 49, the drive for turntable 31 rotates in synchronism with the conveyor 37. 
     In FIG. 1, there is shown the drives for the conveyor 35 which include motor 85, which by way of example can be a hydraulic motor, having a controllable speed, and angle gear drive 86. The gear drive is coupled to sprocket 87 which in turn is coupled by chain 88 to sprocket 89 mounted on shaft 90. Shaft 90 drives pulley 91 which is engaged with conveyor 35. The conveyor passes over rollers 92-95. The control of the speed of hydraulic motor 85 enables the rate of delivery of material from supply bin 36 to be adjusted to match the rate of filling of hoppers 32. 
     Shaker pan 34 which receives material 40 from conveyor 35 can be vibrated by actuator 93, coupled to the shaker pan by link 94. Accordingly, the shaking motion of the shaker pan can be tuned by means of actuator 93 to deliver a steady flow of material 40 to turntable 31. 
     In FIG. 14, there is shown another embodiment of the invention in which carrier 95 for turntable 31 is supported by bolts 96 about each of which is disposed spring 97 which engage the bottom surface of the carrier. Above the carrier, retainers 98 and 99 between which is mounted spring 100, resiliently support the carrier and thereby the turntable for vertical and horizontal movement. Nut 101 secures retainer 99 with respect to bolt 96. Sockets 102 adjacent to the head of bolt 96 enable the bolt to rock with respect to carrier 52. 
     Shaft 103 which is coupled to eccentric 104 is slidingly engaged by a coupling (not shown) to shaft 105 of motor 106. Uprights 110 support turntable 31 with respect to carrier 95. Eccentric 104 is coupled to sleeve 107 which oscillates turntable 31 horizontally. Due to the suspension of turntable 31 by springs 97 and 100, the horizontal oscillation of the turntable causes some vertical vibratory movement of the turntable. By way of example, motor 106 can drive shaft 103 having eccentric 104 at approximately 500 RPM. To eliminate any unbalance due to the mass of the turntable 31 during oscillation, counterweight 103a may be mounted on shaft 103 by support 103b, opposite to the portion of eccentric 104 which is furthest from the centerline of the shaft 103. Counterweight 103a is adjustably mounted on support 103b in order to achieve balance. 
     In FIGS. 14 and 15, there is shown drip pan 110 which is disposed beneath the path of travel of hoppers 32. In the embodiment of FIGS. 14 and 15, the hoppers are provided with funnels 111 which have a centrally disposed spout 111a to deliver material to a single row of trays. By way of example, the single row of trays can be advanced by the conveyor at approximately 200 trays per minute. Where turntable 31 has eighteen hoppers, by way of example, as shown in FIG. 14, the turntable and hoppers are rotated at approximately 11.1 RPM to be in synchronism with the arrival of the trays. Adjacent the releasing location 38 where the material is released from the inverted hopper 32 (FIG. 15), drip pan 110 is provided with opening 110a as shown in FIG. 16. In this way, material 40 can pass through opening 110a and enter compartment 39a of tray 39. In the case of a drip pan 112 for the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-3, the drip pan is provided with a pair of openings 112a for sequentially delivering material 40 into the trays of each of the staggered pair of rows of trays. 
     In FIG. 15, it is shown that as material 40 is delivered by turntable 31 to hoppers 32, a certain amount of the material can fall between the hopper and funnel 111 or even outside of the funnels and thereby land upon drip pan 110. To prevent an accumulation of material 40 on drip pan 110 during operation, there are provided wipers 113 which are angled with respect to the periphery of the drip pan as shown in FIG. 15. Accordingly, the wipers when driven in rotation with respect to the drip pan can advance any material 40 on the drip pan to adjacent the periphery 110b of the drip pan. 
     In FIG. 14, wipers 113 are shown as mounted by arms 114, attached to supports 61. Accordingly, the wipers 113 are driven in rotation by the spokes 52 to which supports 61 are attached. FIG. 15 shows that at exit portion 110c of drip pan 110, material 40 is urged by wiper 113 to move in the direction of the arrow and return to supply bin 36.