PRODUCTION FLOW-RATE MEASUREMENT OPTIONS FOR FOOD PROCESS LINES

Abstract

A transfer conveyor for food process lines has an endless conveyor belt characterized by an upper, food-product carrying run and a lower, return run. The upper, food-product carrying run defines a transit plane. The upper, food-product carrying run also extends between an intake end and a discharge end. The upper, food-product carrying run furthermore has a first pleat below the transit plane proximate the intake end and a second spaced-away pleat below the transit plane proximate the discharge end. These spaced-away pleats partitioning the upper, food-product carrying run into an intake-end span and a discharge-end span cooperatively flanking a mid-span. Wherein the transfer conveyor additionally includes one scale servicing the intake-end span of the upper, food-product carrying run and another scale servicing the discharge-end span.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/866,121, filed Jun. 25, 2019.

This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/940,003, filed Mar. 29, 2018; which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/478,822, filed Mar. 30, 2017; U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/545,634, filed Aug. 15, 2017; U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/560,392, filed Sep. 19, 2017; U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/577,375, filed Oct. 26, 2017; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/648,613, filed Mar. 27, 2018.

The foregoing patent disclosure(s) is(are) incorporated herein by this reference thereto.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to mechanized food-process line equipment for industrial food process plants and, more particularly, to production flow-rate measurement options for industrial food process plants.

It is an object of the invention to provide to production flow-rate measurement options for industrial food process plants other than doing so manually.

For example, a production instruction may come down to some responsible party, who will be generically referred to here as the supervisory attendant (eg., superintendent). In some small plants, this could actually be the owner.

A representative example of food process line machines (stations) configured in a non-limiting example of a working food process line might comprise the following sequence (note that the last four machines add coatings and/or weight to the raw chicken tenders):

• • a food-product (raw chicken tenders) load station (see, eg., FIG. 12);
  • a food-product spreading station (see, eg., FIG. 12);
  • a pre-dust coating machine (now see, eg., FIG. 8);
  • a batter station (see, eg., FIG. 8);
  • a bread-coating machine (see, eg., FIG. 8);
  • a fryer (see, eg., FIG. 8);
    and so on. The fryer might be set/limited to fry (par-fry) for a 20-30 second dwell time, which ‘sets’ the coatings for finished cooking later and elsewhere.

Assume the production instruction is to produce 100,000 ‘finished’ pounds of chicken tenders over two consecutive 8-hour shifts (eg., start at 6:00 a.m. and run through the evening). The instruction further states that the percent of pick-up of the various coatings is to be 30%. Hence the superintendent will need to have transferred out of refrigerated storage a total of 70,000 pounds of raw chicken tenders (see FIG. 10), but over time and not all at once.

The production instruction is likely to be a lot more specific about the coatings pick-up. For example, the production instruction might specify:

• • 3% pick-up of pre-dust;
  • 10% pick-up of batter;
  • 12% pick-up of final breading; and
  • 5% pick-up of oil.

The fryer represents two distinct things that distinguish if from the other operations. First, the fryer is usually the bottleneck for the production run. The throughput rate through the fryer sets the flowrate value for the rest of the food process line. Second, the fryer doesn't always add weight. The fryer drives off moisture content and replaces that with oil content. There might be a net-zero gain in weight pick-up, or else some net gain like up to about 10%.

Regardless, the foregoing represents an example production instruction.

A basic manner in which the superintendent monitors (or has monitored) whether the pick-up values are within specification is to do so manually. That is, a timed sample of flowing food product is removed from the food process line and weighed. Samples are obtained preferably before and after each coating machine. The samples are weighed on scales. The weight difference the before and after samples allows calculation of pick-up percent. Each coating machine (each coating process) affords various techniques for adjusting the percent up or down (several of the these techniques will be mentioned below). It might take about ten minutes to complete a round of manually sampling, weighing and adjusting. But for at least one snapshot in time, the set values should fairly well agree with the specified values in the production instruction.

However, the shortcomings as distinct from the challenges are numerous, and both the shortcomings and challenges jeopardize the chances of a successful run. The risks of an unsuccessful run is that the whole batch will be downgraded, and bring a lower price (perhaps a much lower price) than if the whole batch were deemed to have met the specification. So that's a loss of potential yield, a loss of potential profitability. It might even represent a plain stark net loss.

So again, it might take about ten minutes to complete a round of manually sampling, weighing and adjusting: which provides for, in at least one snapshot in time, an idea of the set values. The machines may go out of specification as soon as the attendants walk away. The attendants might only take measurements once an hour to once a shift. Hence the food process line could run outside of specification for a long time before anybody knew any different.

The superintendent is challenged right from the start to know the initial flowrate. FIG. 10 shows that the food processing plant is likely to have an on-site refrigerated storage capable of storing the 70,000 pounds of raw chicken tenders until called for. The raw chicken tenders are stored in these bulk open-topped cubic vats measuring 4 foot on a side with about 4,000-4,500 pounds capacity. The vats are typically weighed and the weight thereof is labeled on each vat.

However, the weight of chicken tenders is not the labeled weight minus the tare of the vat. The chicken tenders in the vat are originally covered in ice, which melts over time. Hence as FIG. 11 shows, the vats are a slurry of chicken tenders, ice and meltwater. A vat labeled at 4,000 pounds might only actually contain just 3,200 pounds of chicken tenders.

Workers will typically shovel off the ice, but keep the meltwater. The vats will be emptied into perhaps a first holding tank (the vats are typically plastic, but the holding tanks are typically stainless steel). The chicken tender slurry might then be moved to (pumped into) a marinade tumbler, the goal being to drive in as much marinade as possible. The marinade can be liquid but is more likely to be powder, so retention of the meltwater is useful. And the marinaded product is pumped into perhaps one or more further downstream holding tanks until a last one functions as a hopper.

The manual way of determining initial start flowrate of raw chicken tenders is to monitor the drop in the hopper. If the level drops six inches in a ½ hour, this might roughly correspond to 1,000 pounds. So that value corresponds to 2,000 pounds of raw tenders input per hour, or perhaps 32,000 pounds over 2 shifts. The superintendent should order for a second food process line to be run in tandem with this first one, and the values project that the two lines together still will not achieve the target of 100,000 finished pounds of product with 30% pick-up, per the production instruction.

Given the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide improvements and/or options to overcome some of the shortcoming and challenges of the prior art that were briefly sketched above.

A number of additional features and objects will be apparent in connection with the following discussion of preferred embodiments and examples.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

There are shown in the drawings certain exemplary embodiments of the invention as presently preferred. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed as examples, and is capable of variation within the scope of the skills of a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of mechanized food-process line equipment arranged in such a working food process line and furnished with production flow-rate measurement options in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged scale perspective view of detail II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged scale perspective view of not only detail III-III in FIG. 1 but also detail III-III in FIG. 2 showing a first embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention provisioned with scales at each nose end;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of FIG. 3, again showing the first embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention, and as provisioned with scales at each nose end;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view comparable to FIG. 4 except showing an alternate embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 is top plan block diagram view of a given food process line in accordance with the invention and showing a weighing transfer conveyor as exemplified by FIG. 3 indicated in the diagram as a block identified as “PRODUCT WEIGHT;”

FIG. 7 is a top plan block diagram view comparable to FIG. 6 except showing a different assemblage of machines composing this FIG. 7 food process line;

FIG. 8 is a top plan block diagram view comparable to FIGS. 6 and 7 except showing still another different assemblage of machines composing this FIG. 8 food process line;

FIG. 9 is a top plan block diagram view comparable to FIGS. 6-8 except showing yet another different assemblage of machines composing this FIG. 9 food process line;

FIG. 10 is an elevational representation of a refrigerated storage locker in accordance with the prior art, situated inside a food processing factory (not shown) also in which resides a food process line in accordance with the invention, including any of the four non-limiting examples shown by FIGS. 6-9;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an exemplary series of processes and operations that move batch-stored food product in the mass storage containers shown in FIG. 10 onto a loading zone of a food process line in accordance with the invention, including any of the four non-limiting examples shown by FIGS. 6-9;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view functionally representing detail XII/XIII-XII/XIII in FIG. 11, showing one version of operations where a food product loader in accordance with the prior art is loading food product (which food product is not in view) onto a landing conveyor in accordance the prior art, which landing conveyor affords implementation of some form of product spreading technology whether it be manual or otherwise, and which landing conveyor discharges to a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view comparable to FIG. 4 and providing an alternate functional representation of detail XII/XIII-XII/XIII in FIG. 11, showing another version of operations where the loading of raw food product is directly onto a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention, it likewise having a mid-span which affords implementation of some form of product spreading technology whether it be manual or otherwise;

FIG. 14 is a schematic side elevation view of a further embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention, shown in an expanded position;

FIG. 15 is a schematic side elevation view comparable to FIG. 14 except showing the further embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention in a contracted position;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of this further embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention, showing that it further allows pivoting about a vertical axis in addition to being reversibly expanding-contracting;

FIG. 17 is a top plan view, partly in section, taken in the direction of arrows XVII-XVII in FIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 is a perspective view comparable to FIG. 16 except showing the transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention situated between two machines which do not pivot and showing the transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention pivoted obliquely away from the main axis of the food process line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 through 4 show a first embodiment of mechanized food-process line equipment arranged in a working food process line and furnished with production flow-rate measurement options in accordance with the invention. FIG. 5 is comparable to FIG. 4 except showing an alternate embodiment of a production flow-rate measurement option in accordance with the invention.

To turn to FIG. 1, it shows a series of food process line machines configured in a non-limiting example of a working food process line.

In series, from right to left, the machines comprise:

• • a food-product load station;
  • a food-product spreading station;
  • a weighing transfer conveyor;
  • a pre-dust coating machine;
  • a weighing transfer conveyor;
  • a batter station;
  • a weighing transfer conveyor;
  • a seasoning-applying coating machine;
  • a weighing transfer conveyor;
  • a Panko-crumb coating machine;
  • a weighing transfer conveyor;
  • a fryer;
    and so on. The fryer might be set/limited to fry for a 20-30 second dwell time, which corresponds to a par-fry.

FIGS. 6-9 provide several non-limiting examples of food process line configurations in accordance with the invention and show a like the series of stations/machines as outlined above.

It is an object of the invention to provide the supervisory attendant (superintendent) of weight-flow (˜mass-flow) of product across any weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention for real-time feedback of weight-flow values.

FIG. 4 shows a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention. The weighing transfer conveyor has scales at both the intake end (eg., to the right in the view) and outflow end (to the left in the view). For example, the intake scale might indicate that past one or another coating machine, there was a 5% pick-up of coating material. However, the outflow scale might indicate that some coating material shook off across the transit of the weighing transfer conveyor, showing that there was only a 4.8% pick-up of coating material remaining.

Preferably, several such weighing transfer conveyors are used to space the various process machines apart.

FIG. 5 is a side view comparable to FIG. 4 except showing an option with flip or agitation sections so this could possibly remove some coating material and then, when the proper weight pick-up is reached as specified in the production instruction, the food product conveyance is returned to a flat transit mode.

Hence the weighing conveyor not only provides weight-flowrate measurements at both the intake and outflow nose end, the weighing conveyor might be equipped with various provisions to increase or decrease the pick-up percent.

The following techniques can be employed to adjust the pick-up percent. For dry particulate coatings, techniques which would increase pick-up percent include:

• • add more breading material into the coating machine;
  • add finer breading material into the coating machine;
  • use a compression roller at the outflow;
  • increase the pressure of the compression roller;
  • turn down the flowrate of air knives at the outflow;
  • add moisture to the food product at the inflow;
  • reduce/eliminate shaking/thumping/agitation of the outflow; and so on.

For dry particulate coatings, techniques which would decrease pick-up percent include:

• • eliminate addition of moisture to the food product at the inflow;
  • decrease the pressure of the compression roller;
  • increase shaking/thumping/agitation of the outflow to knock-off excess;
  • increase the blast from the air knifes to blow-off excess; and so on.

For batter, a further technique for adjusting increase or decrease of pick-up percent includes thickening or thinning the batter. The batter is readily made thicker by adding more powder. In the other direction, the batter is readily made thinner by adding more water.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary series of processes and operations that move batch-stored food product in the vats shown in FIG. 10 onto a loading zone of a food process line. Ice is preferably scooped/shoveled off the surface of the slurry in the vats. The meltwater is left behind with the chicken tenders. The vat is poured/emptied likely into a holding tank of some sorts at the start. The contents of the holding tank are pumped into a marinade tumbler. The meltwater is put to good use to dissolve the powdered marinade. The outflow of the marinade tank is pumped/poured onto a landing conveyor of some sort. The conveyor will be of an open construction like a chain link belt, or drag link belt and so on. The excess water at this point is allowed to flow through the belt and into an underlying drain. Food product has hence landed onto the initial inflow end of the food process line.

FIG. 12 shows one version of what can functionally transpire in detail XII/XIII-XII/XIII in FIG. 11. A food product loader in accordance with the prior art is loading food product (which food product is not visible in the view) onto a landing conveyor also in accordance the prior art. The landing conveyor affords a longitudinal run of conveyor transit which allows some implementation of some form of product spreading technology. This can be manual. Typically two to three workers would stand on each side of the conveyor and more product apart so that single pieces are not touching each other. There are other options to accomplish this which are not manual.

Here in FIG. 12, the landing conveyor discharges to a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention, and the weight-flowrate measured here is the inflow flowrate of raw chicken tenders. The flowrate can be adjusted practically immediately at start-up to the max flowrate of the ‘bottleneck’ of the food process line. This was mentioned above to be nearly always the maximum throughput flowrate through the fryer.

FIG. 13 shows an alternate option to FIG. 12. FIG. 13 is a side elevational view comparable to FIG. 4 and providing an alternate functional representation of detail XII/XIII-XII/XIII in FIG. 11.

Here in FIG. 13, the loading of raw food product is poured/pumped directly onto a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention. Wherein the weighing transfer conveyor likewise has a mid-span which affords implementation of some form of product spreading technology, whether it be manual or otherwise.

For weighing conveyors situated before or after coating apparatus, the mid-span can accommodate the mounting of some technology like thumpers/shakers/agitators for knocking off excess, or knives for blowing off excess, or else compression rollers for driving in the particulate to increase retention, misters to moisten the product and so on.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are schematic side elevation views of a further embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention. FIG. 14 shows it in an expanded position. FIG. 15 shows this further embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention in a contracted position.

FIG. 16 shows that this further embodiment of a weighing transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention, showing that it further allows pivoting about a vertical axis in addition to being reversibly expanding-contracting.

FIG. 17 is a top plan view, partly in section, taken in the direction of arrows XVII-XVII in FIG. 16, showing aspect of the pivot hardware/turntable.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view comparable to FIG. 16 except showing the transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention situated between two machines which do not pivot and showing the transfer conveyor in accordance with the invention pivoted obliquely away from the main axis of the food process line.

The role for pivoting is not during production run time, but during down time. The advantages of pivoting enable cleaning and/or maintenance operations without breaking apart the food process line as a whole.

The invention having been disclosed in connection with the foregoing variations and examples, additional variations will now be apparent to persons skilled in the art. The invention is not intended to be limited to the variations specifically mentioned, and accordingly reference should be made to the appended claims rather than the foregoing discussion of preferred examples, to assess the scope of the invention in which exclusive rights are claimed.

Claims

1. Flow-rate measurement apparatus for food process lines, comprising:

at least one transfer conveyor comprising an endless conveyor belt having an upper, food-product carrying run and a lower, return run;

wherein the upper, food-product carrying run defines a transit plane; the upper, food-product carrying run extends between an intake end and a discharge end; and the upper, food-product carrying run has a first pleat below the transit plane proximate the intake end and a second spaced-away pleat below the transit plane proximate the discharge end; said spaced-away pleats partitioning the upper, food-product carrying run into an intake-end span and a discharge-end span cooperatively flanking a mid-span;

at least one food process line machine disposed relative the at least one transfer conveyor to discharge food product onto the intake end of the belt of the transfer conveyor;

at least one other food process line machine disposed relative to the at least one transfer conveyor to receive food product from the discharge end of the belt of the transfer conveyor;

wherein the at least one transfer conveyor further comprises one scale servicing the intake-end span and another scale servicing the discharge-end span.