Patent Description:
Typical flowline systems that are used in the food industry comprise a conveyor and multiple of processing stations arranged along the conveyor where food products are processed. The processed food products are commonly released from the processing stations onto an underlying take-away conveyor that may feed the processed food products into any type of subsequent food processing equipment where subsequent processing steps take place. As an example, if the food products are fish fillets, such food processing equipment may be an X-ray apparatus comprising a cutting device, such as a high pressure water jet cutter, for cutting the fish fillets automatically around e.g. the pin bones and even into portions. Other examples for such subsequent food processing equipment could be a freezer for freezing the processed food products, or a portioning device for cutting the processed food products into portions.

Such a take-away conveyor reserves a fixed sloth length for the processed food, e.g. the fish fillets, typically such that it corresponds to at least the length of the largest fish so as to prevent the fish fillets from overlapping, which is obviously not acceptable when the take-away conveyor is configured to act as an infeed conveyor for the food processing equipment. This however has the drawback that if the processed food products varies much in length, there will be an empty space between the processed food products,. e.g. the fish fillets, which affects the throughput of the processing at the food processing equipment.

<CIT> discloses a workstation of a food item processing system. Food items are received at the workstation from a primary conveyor of the food item processing system, and the food items are returned as processed food items to the primary conveyor. <CIT> discloses a flowline system according to the preamble of claim <NUM> and a method according to the preamble of claim <NUM>. In particular, the document discloses an apparatus for an automatic, controlled feeding and transportation of fish fillets or meat portions conveyor belts and workstations in a flow line. A first conveyor belt transports the pieces from a first workstation to a second workstation, and a second conveyor belt transports the pieces of material away from the second workstation. The material is transported in such a way as to suffer minimum impact and is fed onto conveyor belts for subsequent processing in the optimum position at the correct time.

On the above background it is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide a flowline system that is suitable to be operated as an infeed conveyor for subsequent food processing equipment where the throughput may be increased.

In general, the invention preferably seeks to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art singly or in any combination. In particular, it may be seen as an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide a flowline system and a method that solves the above mentioned problems, or other problems.

To better address one or more of these concerns, in a first aspect of the invention a flowline system according to claim <NUM> is provided for processing food products.

Accordingly, the distance between adjacent processed food products received by the takeaway conveyor assembly will be reduced and preferably be minimized since now the slot length is adapted to the length of the individual processed food products, e.g. a <NUM> long processed fish fillet will be given more slot length than a <NUM> long processed fish fillet. This means that the throughput of one or more subsequent processing steps performed by another processing equipment, when the takeaway conveyor assembly is implemented as an infeed conveyor, will be increased. An example of such one or more subsequent processing steps is where the processed food product is e.g. transferred into a freezer apparatus, or to an automatic cutting and/or trimming machine, e.g. where the processed food product may be exposed by X-rays and where the resulting X-ray signals are processed and used as an operation parameter in operating a cutting tool, such as a high pressure water jet. Other subsequent processing steps could include cutting the processed food products on the takeaway conveyor assembly.

The term length of the processed food product may according to the present invention be understood as the length along a longitudinal axis of the processed food product meaning that if the food product is a fish fillet, it is the length of the fish fillet, and if the food product is loin of meat, it is the length of the loin.

Particularly, there is a plurality of workstations for each conveyor and the diverting means may form the interface between the common conveyor and the individual workstations. The control unit is adapted to allocate a slot length on the takeaway conveyor assembly in accordance to a length of the processed food product, i.e. the control unit allocates space on one common takeaway belt which joins products from a plurality of workstations - by this slot allocation, products from a plurality of workstations can be combined on one conveyor assembly with sufficient space between individual products.

The takeaway conveyor assembly comprises a receiving conveyor arranged below the plurality of workstations, and where the step of allocating the slot length in accordance to a length of the processed food product comprises allocating such a slot length on the receiving conveyor. The takeaway conveyor assembly comprises a receiving conveyor arranged below the plurality of workstations and a buffer conveyor arranged downstream to the receiving conveyor in an end-to-end arrangement, where the control unit is configured to utilize the length of the processed food product in operating the speed of the receiving conveyor and/or the buffer conveyor such that the slot length on the buffer conveyor is in line with the length of the processed food product.

The release mechanism comprises a weighing unit configured to weigh the processed food product. In an embodiment, the weight of the processed food product is compared to a reference weights or weight distribution, and based thereon the length of the processed food product is obtained. Accordingly, a simple solution is provided for utilizing the weighing data in obtaining a length or length estimate of the processed food product. This may as an example be performed by performing a calibration measurements where a particular type of food product, e.g. cod fillets, are weighed and where the weight is linked to the length of the fish fillets. Thus, a weight vs. length distribution is obtained. This may also be a process where e.g. the first x number of food products are to start with assigned with a fixed sloth length, sufficiently large, and where the length of the food products (e.g. the cod fillets) are in the subsequent processing step determined and linked to the weight. The resulting distribution may then be utilized in acquiring the weight or weight estimate of the processed food product. As an example, said automatic cutting and/or trimming machine may determine the length of the food products, and where after a sufficiently accurate distribution is obtained, that fixed slot length "process" is replaced with a "dynamic process" where the slot length selection is based on the length or length estimates of the food products.

The release mechanism comprises side by side arranged carrying members having length at least equaling the length of the processed food product and configured to receive the food product such that a longitudinal axis of the food product is essentially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the carrying members, and where the control unit is further configured to operate the releasing of the processed food product by means of simultaneously opening the carrying members at their adjacent sides, causing the processed food product to fall there through while maintaining the initial shape on the carrying members. It is thus ensured that the processed food product will remain its initial shape on the release mechanism and thus be optimally located/positioned for the one or more processing step which may e.g. include cutting the food product into portions. In such instances, it is obviously important that the food product is lying smoothly on the takeaway conveyor assembly, instead of being wrinkled that would require a manual intervene to un-wrinkle and reposition it and thus prepare it for the at least one subsequent processing step.

In one embodiment, the release mechanism comprises a reference line configured to indicate where one end of the processed food product is to be situated. In that way, it is ensured that the processed food product always has a fixed reference point before it is transferred to the takeaway conveyor assembly meaning that the assigned slot length will be optimized.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises at least one imaging device for capturing image data of the processed food product and a processor configured to process the image data so as to determine the position of the processed food product on the release mechanism and the length of the processed food product. Thus an accurate solution is provided to determine the length of the food product. Moreover, there is no need for a reference. The imaging device may e.g. comprise any type of digital camera.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises a quality inspection station including at least one quality inspection device for determining the quality of the processed food product, and a tracking device for tracking the processed food product to the workstation where the food product was processed. The quality inspection device may comprise one or more of the following: an X-ray apparatus, digital camera, line camera and the like, where the acquired image data is processed by a processor and utilized to evaluate the quality of the processing. If the quality is considered not to be acceptable, the tracking device is capable of identifying at what processing station the food product was processed. The tracking device may e.g. comprise a computer device that may evaluate, based on.

Other tracking devices may of course also be implemented, e.g. devices that may comprise a digital camera that observes all the released food products and when they arrive at the quality inspection station.

In one embodiment, the flowline system further comprises at least one buffer device arranged below the release mechanism for temporarily receiving the processed food product from the release mechanism and store it until a suitable slot on the takeaway conveyor assembly has been allocated, followed by releasing the processed food product from the at least one buffer device and into the allocated slot. Accordingly, the time it may take to allocate the suitable slot length will not affect the throughput from an operator at the processing station, e.g. in case of a scenario where the operator has already processed a given food product that has not yet been released on the takeaway conveyor assembly. Instead, the at least one buffer device may temporarily preserve the processed food product while the operator is processing the subsequent food product. Even two or more buffer devices may be provided below each other where the upmost buffer device may release the processed food product onto the underlying buffer device. The release mechanism may, as already addressed, comprise two carrying members that are placed parallel to each other and are rotatable round elongated rotation axes via an appropriate moving mechanism such that when being in a closing position, they define a smooth surface, and when being in an open position, there is a gap there between the allows the processed food product to fall down, preferably in a way such that its initial position is preserved. The at least one buffer device may be similarly designed as the release mechanism.

In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method according to claim <NUM>.

Accordingly, a method is provided that is capable of arranging the processed or pre-processed food products such that their arrangement is adapted to one or more subsequent processing steps, e.g. keep pre-defined distance between adjacent processed food products.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises transferring the processed food product from the release mechanism onto a takeaway conveyor assembly such that the shape of the processed food product is preserved. In that way, it is ensured that the processed food product is optimally positioned and preserved for the one or more subsequent processing steps.

The takeaway conveyor assembly comprises a receiving conveyor arranged below the plurality of workstations, and where the step of allocating the slot length in accordance to a length of the processed food product comprises allocating such a slot length on the receiving conveyor. This receiving conveyor may e.g. be positioned such that it's free end acts as an infeed for another food processing equipment which may comprise a conveyor arranged in an end-to-an-end arrangement with the receiving conveyor, and where the dynamic allocation of the slot length maximizes the infeed from the receiving conveyor and into the food processing equipment.

In general the various aspects of the invention may be combined and coupled in any way possible within the scope of the claimed invention. These and other aspects, features and/or advantages of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

<FIG> depict a perspective view and a top view of an embodiment of a flowline system <NUM> according to the present invention for processing food products, e.g. fish fillets or any other type of food products.

The flowline system <NUM> comprises a feeding conveyor <NUM> for conveying the food products to be processed in a direction as indicated by arrow <NUM> and a plurality of workstations 102a,b arranged along the feeding conveyor <NUM>.

Each of the plurality of workstations 102a. b comprises a diverting means or as shown here sweep arms 105a,b for diverting food products from the feeding conveyor <NUM> to the workstations, receiving areas 103a,b where the unprocessed food products are accumulated together, processing tables 104a,b where the food products are processed by an operator (not shown), and a release mechanism 109a,b configured to among other things to receive a food product after being processed.

The flowline system <NUM> further comprises a control unit <NUM> that is among other things configured to operate the diverting means in diverting the food products from the feeding conveyor <NUM> to the workstations 102a,b. This may e.g. be based on which of the workstations lack food products to be processed and which do not lack food products.

The flowline system <NUM> further comprises a takeaway conveyor assembly, which, as shown in this embodiment, comprises a receiving conveyor <NUM> arranged below the plurality of workstations 102a,b, where the receiving conveyor <NUM> is configured to receive processed food products from the release mechanism 109a,b.

The control unit <NUM> is further configured to allocate a slot length on the receiving conveyor <NUM> in accordance to a length of the processed food product, where the receiving conveyor <NUM> conveys the received, processed food products in a direction as indicated by arrow <NUM>. This means that if e.g. the food products are fish fillets having variable length, e.g. from <NUM>-<NUM>, the slot length is allocated accordingly. As an example, a processed fish fillet of <NUM> may be allocated a slot length of <NUM> plus <NUM> on the opposite sides, i.e. <NUM>, and a processed fish fillet of <NUM> may be allocated a slot length of <NUM>. The term length shall preferably be understood as the length along the longitudinal axis of the processed food products.

The release mechanism <NUM>, which will be discussed in more details in relation to <FIG>, comprises a weighing unit configured to weigh the processed food product. This weighing information may, as an example, be utilized to measure the yield of the processing, where the food products may be weighed before the processing and after the processing at the release mechanism. Also, in a preferred embodiment, the weight of the processed food product may be used as an input in estimating the length of the processed food product by e.g. means of comparing the weight with a reference distribution linking the weight of the processed food product to the length.

<FIG> show the release mechanism <NUM> discussed in relation to <FIG>, where <FIG> shows the release mechanism <NUM> comprising said weighing unit <NUM>, and two side by side arranged carrying members <NUM>, <NUM> having length at least equaling the length of the processed food product, i.e. at least equaling the length of the longest food product to be processed. One of the opposite sides of the release mechanism <NUM> may further be configured to act as a reference line, e.g. side <NUM>, so as to ensure that the reference position of the processed food product is always the same. This may be crucial when allocating the slot length for the processed food products to ensure their initial position at the release mechanism <NUM> is always the same, e.g. if the processed food product is only two third of the length of the release mechanism <NUM> it must be positioned at the correct reference position, i.e. at said reference line.

In another embodiment, this may be solved by using a camera position above e.g. each workstation where the image data indicate clearly the position of the food product, i.e. no reference position is needed, and an accurate length of the processed food product.

The side by side arranged carrying members <NUM>, <NUM> are connected to an opening and closing mechanism (not shown) that is operated by the control unit <NUM> for opening and closing the adjacent sides of the carrying members <NUM>, <NUM>, when the processed food product has been assigned a slot on the receiving conveyor <NUM>.

<FIG> shows as an example where a processed food product <NUM> has been placed onto the release mechanism <NUM> with one end of it facing said reference line <NUM>, and such that the longitudinal axis of the food product is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis <NUM> of the release mechanism <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts an example where, in response to a control signal issued by the control unit <NUM>, the adjacent sides carrying members <NUM>, <NUM> open downward simultaneously causing the processed food product to fall down and into the slot that has been assigned to this particular processed food product such that its length fits optimally into the slot.

More importantly, due to the design of the release mechanism <NUM> it is ensured that when the processed food product drops into said assigned slot length, it preserves the initial shape as shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> depict graphically one way of implementing the invention, where e.g. the food product shown in <FIG> falls down towards the receiving conveyor <NUM> (see <FIG>), and where the slot length l shown in <FIG> has been allocated for this particular processed food product <NUM>, such that it fits in the most optimal way in the stream of processed food items <NUM>, <NUM> as shown in <FIG>.

The processed, or pre-processed food products shown in <FIG> may form an infeed stream of food products for a subsequent processing steps (e.g. freezing process), where, due to the elimination of the space between adjacent food products, the throughput may be increased.

<FIG> depict another embodiment of the system shown in relation to <FIG>, where, in this embodiment, the flowline system further comprises at least one buffer device <NUM> arranged below the release mechanism <NUM> for temporarily receiving the processed food product from the release mechanism and for storing it until a suitable slot on the takeaway conveyor assembly has been allocated. The at least one buffer device <NUM>, which, as shown here, is a single buffer device, may be designed similarly to the release mechanism as shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> depicts the step where a suitable slot /' has been detected for e.g. said fish fillet <NUM> that has recently been processed by an operator (not shown). As shown here, the slot l' is however not yet below the release mechanism <NUM>. Both the release mechanism <NUM> and the buffer device <NUM> are shown here in a closing position.

<FIG> shows where the processed fish fillet <NUM> has been released from the release mechanism <NUM> (e.g. as shown in <FIG>), shown here in a closing position, and onto the buffer device <NUM> that is positioned below the release mechanism <NUM>. The buffer device <NUM> is shown here in a closing position and stores the processed fish fillet <NUM> until the slot length l' is below the buffer device <NUM>. During this time, the operator has processed another fish fillet (food product) and placed it onto the release mechanism <NUM>.

<FIG> shows the scenario where the processed fish fillet <NUM> has been released from the buffer device <NUM> and is entering slot l'. The buffer device has moved back to a closing position. The fish fillet <NUM> is shown here being released from the releasing mechanism <NUM>, shown here in an open position, and into the buffer device <NUM>.

This cycle is then repeated for the subsequent fish fillets (food products).

Claim 1:
A flowline system (<NUM>) for processing food products (<NUM>), comprising:
• a feeding conveyor (<NUM>) for conveying the food products (<NUM>) to be processed,
• a plurality of workstations (102a,b) arranged along the feeding conveyor (<NUM>),
• a control unit (<NUM>),
• a diverting means (105a,b) associated with each of the plurality of workstations (102a,b) for diverting food products (<NUM>) from the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) to the workstations (102a,b), and
• a takeaway conveyor assembly (<NUM>),
wherein each workstation (102a,b) comprises a release mechanism (109a,b) configured to receive a food product (<NUM>) after being processed and to transfer the processed food product (<NUM>) onto the takeaway conveyor assembly (<NUM>), wherein the takeaway conveyor assembly (<NUM>) comprises a receiving conveyor (<NUM>) arranged below the plurality of workstations (102a,b) and a buffer conveyor arranged downstream to the receiving conveyor (<NUM>) in an end-to-end arrangement, wherein the release mechanism (109a,b) comprises a weighing unit (<NUM>) configured to weigh the processed food product (<NUM>),
characterized in that
the control unit (<NUM>) is adapted to allocate a slot length on the takeaway conveyor assembly (<NUM>) in accordance to a length of the processed food product (<NUM>),
the step of allocating the slot length in accordance to a length of the processed food product (<NUM>) comprises allocating such a slot length on the receiving conveyor (<NUM>),
the control unit (<NUM>) is configured to utilize the length of the processed food product (<NUM>) in operating the speed of the receiving conveyor (<NUM>) and/or the buffer conveyor such that the slot length on the buffer conveyor is in line with the length of the processed food product (<NUM>), and
the release mechanism (109a,b) comprises side by side arranged carrying members (<NUM>, <NUM>) each having a length at least equaling the length of the processed food product (<NUM>) and configured to receive the food product (<NUM>) such that a longitudinal axis of the food product (<NUM>) is essentially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the carrying members (<NUM>, <NUM>), and the control unit (<NUM>) is further configured to operate the releasing of the processed food product (<NUM>) by simultaneous opening of the carrying members (<NUM>, <NUM>) at their adjacent sides, causing the processed food product (<NUM>) to fall there through.