WO2003006219A1

WO2003006219A1 - Apparatus for dispensing items comprising a wheel with a plurality of pockets

Info

Publication number: WO2003006219A1
Application number: PCT/GB2002/003136
Authority: WO
Inventors: Steven Harold Smith; Andrew Ian Fraser
Original assignee: APPLE ENGINEERING Ltd
Current assignee: APPLE ENGINEERING Ltd
Priority date: 2001-07-12
Filing date: 2002-07-09
Publication date: 2003-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 2004-01-12
Also published as: GB0116976D0

Abstract

An apparatus for dispensing items one at a time from a discharge position, comprises a wheel (1) having a plurality of pockets or hollows (5) in the circumferential surface thereof. Each pocket (5) is circumferentially spaced from its immediate neighbour by a first distance and each pocket (5) is adapted to receive an item. Vacuum means creates a reduced pressure in each of the pockets (5) to cause the item to be retained therein, and indexing means (3) allows the wheel (1) to rotate in steps through the said first distance to bring each pocket (5) in turn to the discharge position where the contents of each pocket is ejected.

Description

APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ITEMS COMPRISING A WHEEL WITH A PLURALITY OF POCKETS

The present invention relates to food processing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for placing small items such as cake decorations, pieces of fruit and nuts, on top of food products passing in a line along a conveyor. The

present invention also relates to an apparatus for cutting small items in two.

It is known to place small items such as cake decorations, pieces of fruit, nuts and the like on top of buns and cakes. These small items are generally applied to give the food product a pleasing appearance. One such item which is commonly applied to cakes and buns is a cherry half. Generally, a single cherry half is placed on top of the cake or

bun, in the centre. Other items which might also be applied, are walnut halves, strawberry halves, whole raspberry, though this list is far from exhaustive.

Cherry halves are usually applied by hand as the cakes or buns travel on a continuous conveyor past operatives positioned at work stations spaced along the

conveyor. The cherries may be supplied already halved or may be cut in half by the

operatives as they work from the work stations. It will be readily appreciated that this

approach is labour intensive and, as a consequence, highly inefficient and expensive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for placing small

items one at a time onto food products passing in a line along a conveyor.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for cutting

a whole item into two pieces and placing each piece onto a respective one of two lines of food products passing along a conveyor.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for

placing small items one at a time onto a line of food products passing along a conveyor, the apparatus comprising a wheel, having a plurality of pockets in the circumferential

surface thereof, each spaced circumferentially from its neighbour by a first distance and each of which is adapted to receive one of the said small items, means for creating a

reduced pressure in each of the pockets to cause the said small items to be retained therein, and indexing means for causing the wheel to rotate in steps through the said first

distance to bring each pocket in turn to a discharge position adjacent the said conveyor. Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a vibrating chute the outlet end of which is positioned adjacent the said circumferential surface of the wheel such that as each empty pocket in turn is indexed past the outlet end a small item drops into it.

Conveniently small items are fed onto the vibrating chute from a hopper.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises means for causing the contents of each

pocket to be ejected when the pocket reaches the discharge position. Typically, this will be when the pocket is indexed to the bottom of the wheel. The ejection mechanism may

comprise a switch which selectively interrupts or turns off the reduced pressure in the

pocket thereby causing the small item to drop out of the pocket under its own weight.

Alternatively the ejection mechanism may comprise an arm which is moveable in the

pocket when it is indexed to the said lowermost position to push the small item

therefrom. Conveniently, the said arm is blade shaped and is located in a

circumferentially extending groove in the wheel. Preferably, the indexing means is synchronised with a conveyor for conveying

food products past the lowermost position of the wheel, such that each time the wheel is

indexed the conveyor moves through a predetermined distance.

In order to facilitate the placement of items onto a plurality of rows of food

products a plurality of wheels may be positioned side by side, or the said wheels may be embodied in a single cylinder having a plurality of rows of circumferentially spaced pockets in its circumferential surface.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for cutting small items in two. The apparatus comprises: a) a first wheel having a plurality of pockets in the circumferential surface thereof, each spaced from its neighbour by a first distance and each of which is adapted to receive a small item, means for creating a reduced pressure in each of the pockets to

cause the said small item to be retained therein, and indexing means for causing the

wheel to rotate in steps through the said first distance, b) a second wheel having a plurality of pockets in the circumferential surface thereof, each spaced from its neighbour by the said first distance and each of which is

adapted to receive a small item, means for creating a reduced pressure in each of the

pockets to cause the said small item to be retained therein, and indexing means for

causing the wheel to rotate in steps through the said first distance and in the opposite direction to the said first wheel,

c) the first and second wheels being positioned with the circumferential

surface of one facing the circumferential surface of the other so that as they are indexed past each other, each pocket in turn from the first wheel is aligned with a respective

pocket from the second wheel; and

d) a cutting blade positioned adjacent the point of union between the two

wheels such as to cause an item held between two aligned pockets to be cut in half as the

pockets are indexed past it.

Preferably, the second wheel is also provided with means for causing the contents

of a pocket to be ejected when the pocket reaches a discharge position.

The two halves of each item ejected from the apparatus may each be placed onto a respective one of two food products passing along a conveyor. Alternatively, they may each be packaged for subsequent use. The food products may be conveyed along the

conveyor in two side by side rows with each row receiving items from a respective one

of the two wheels, or they may be conveyed in a single row which moves two products forward for each indexing step of the apparatus.

In order to facilitate the placement of items onto a plurality of rows of food

products a plurality of first and second wheels may be positioned side by side, or the said

first and second wheels may each be embodied in a single cylinder having a plurality of rows of circumferentially spaced pockets in its circumferential surface.

The present invention allows for small items of fruit, nuts and the like to be

placed on cakes, buns and other food items without requiring the intervention of an

operative. Moreover, where there is a requirement to cut the item in half before placing

it in position this can be achieved as an integral part of the placing operation.

It will be understood that in order to facilitate the placement of items onto a plurality of rows of food products a plurality of wheels may be positioned side by side, or the said wheels may be embodied in a single cylinder having a plurality of rows of circumferentially spaced pockets in its circumferential surface.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it allows items to be placed accurately.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a schematic view of food processing apparatus for cutting small items in half and placing each of the two halves onto a respective one of two food products passing in line along a conveyor. Referring to the drawing there is shown food processing apparatus comprising a pair of wheels 1 and 2, each mounted for counter rotation with respect to the other on a respective indexing mechanism 3 and 4. Each wheel 1 and 2 has a plurality of equidistantly spaced pockets 5 formed in the circumferential surface thereof and each of the pockets 5 is connected to a source of vacuum via ducting (not shown) so as to maintain a reduced pressure therein. The distance between the pockets 5 in the first wheel 1 is the same as the distance between the pockets 5 in the second wheel 2 and the two wheels 1 and 2 are synchronised such that each pocket 5 from the first wheel 1 is aligned with a respective pocket from the second wheel 2 as the two wheels 1 and 2 touch

each other in the middle. Positioned adjacent the first wheel 1 is a feed mechanism 6 which supplies small items 9 to be halved and placed. The feed mechanism 6 comprises a vibratory feed hopper 7 and a chute 8. Items 9 from the hopper 7 are conveyed one at a time along the chute 8 to be received in an empty pocket 5 each time the wheel 1 is indexed. The

reduced pressure within the pockets 5 ensures that the items 9 received therein are

retained as the wheel 1 is indexed.

Positioned beneath the point of conjunction of the two wheels 1 and 2 is a cutting

blade 10. It will be understood that as the wheels 1 and 2 are indexed towards each other,

an item 9 held in a pocket 5 in the first wheel 1 is trapped by the corresponding pocket 5 in the second wheel 2. As the wheels 1 and 2 are indexed away from each other the item 9 trapped between the two pockets 5 is forced over the cutting blade 10 and is cut

in half. As the two wheels 1 and 2 are further indexed past the cutting blade each of the

two halves 11 and 12 of the item 9 is retained within a respective pocket by the reduced

pressure therein.

At the lowermost position of each wheel 1 and 2 there is provided an ejection

mechanism 13 and 14 which serves to eject an item contained in the pocket 5 onto a pre-

positioned food product 15, 16. Each ejection mechanism 13 and 14 comprises a narrow

blade 17 which is received in a circumferentially extending groove (not visible) in the

circumferential surface of the wheel 1, 2. The blade 17 is operated by a pneumatic ram 18 to move between a first position in which it is fully retained within the groove and a

second position in which it moves outwardly of the groove to displace an item from the

pocket 5.

As an alternative to providing a mechanical ejection mechanism to forcefully

displace the item from the pocket 5 against the action of the reduced pressure therein, a

switching mechanism may be provided within the wheel which operates to disconnect each pocket from the source of reduced pressure as it reaches the lowermost position.

Thus the item is free to fall from the pocket under its own weight. This may be effective with dried products, but "wet" products such as cherries have a tendency to stick in the

pocket and gravity alone may not be enough to displace them therefrom. In these

circumstances it may be appropriate to switch the pocket from a source of reduced pressure to one of raised pressure, thereby blowing the item out of the pocket.

Whilst the present invention has been described with reference to apparatus for

cutting items in half and placing each of the two halves, it will be understood that the .

present invention may be operated without the second wheel and the cutting blade to simply place items. In this regard, the apparatus is able to place small items accurately and without requiring human intervention.

Furthermore, whilst the embodiment of the present invention described

hereinabove shows a single pair of wheels 1 and 2 it will be understood that by providing a plurality of pairs of such wheels a multi station placing apparatus may be provided capable of placing items across a wide number of rows. Moreover, as an alternative to using a plurality of wheels positioned side by side, a single cylinder having a plurality of

rows of circumferentially spaced pockets in its circumferential surface may be provided.

Claims

1. Apparatus for dispensing items one at a time from a discharge position,

the apparatus comprising a wheel having a plurality of pockets or hollows in the circumferential surface thereof, each pocket being circumferentially spaced from its immediate neighbour by a first distance and each pocket being adapted to receive an item,

means for creating a reduced pressure in each of the pockets to cause the item to be

retained therein, indexing means for causing the wheel to rotate in steps through the said first distance to bring each pocket in turn to the said discharge position and means for causing the contents of each pocket to be ejected on reaching the said discharge position.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a vibrating feed chute

having an outlet end which is positioned adjacent the said circumferential surface of the

wheel such that as each empty pocket in turn is indexed past the said outlet end an item drops from it into the empty pocket.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vibrating feed chute is

connected to a hopper containing items to be dispensed.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 , 2 or 3, wherein the means for causing the

contents of each discharge position is reached when a pocket is indexed to the bottom of

the wheel.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the ejection means comprises a

switch which selectively interrupts or turns off the reduced pressure in a pocket as it is

indexed to the bottom of the wheel, thereby causing the item to drop out of the pocket under its own weight.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the ejection means comprises an

arm which is moveable in a pocket as it is indexed to the bottom of the wheel to push the

item therefrom.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the arm is blade shaped and is

located in a circumferentially extending groove in the wheel.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the indexing means is synchronised with a conveyor for conveying food products past the discharge position of the wheel, such that each time the wheel is indexed the conveyor moves through a predetermined distance.

9. Apparatus for simultaneously dispensing a plurality of items in a line comprising a plurality of dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 8 positioned side by side.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the said plurality of dispensing

apparatus positioned side by side are embodied in a single cylinder.

11. Apparatus for cutting a whole item in two and dispensing each of the two

halves to a respective discharge position, comprising a first apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 10, and a second apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the

second apparatus rotates in the opposite direction to the first apparatus; the

circumferential surface of the first apparatus faces the circumferential surface of the

second apparatus; and the first apparatus is synchronised with the second apparatus so

that as each rotates relative to the other, each pocket in turn from the first apparatus is aligned with a respective pocket from the second apparatus; and further comprising a cutting blade positioned between the facing apparatus such as to cause a whole item held between two aligned pockets to be cut in half as the pockets are indexed past it.