Overhead conveyor system for conveying packaging trays

摘要

A food processing system for processing food products includes a food processing device for processing food products, at least one filling station at which packaging trays are filled with those food products, and a conveyor system configured for conveying the packaging trays. The food processing system also includes a distribution control system configured for linking product information, in the form of one or more characteristics of the packaging trays and/or the food products in said trays, to the respective packaging tray, and for activating the conveyor system, the at least one filling station and the food processing device, and for activating two or more export stations.

主权项

1. A food processing system for processing food products, comprising:
a food processing device for processing food products; at least one filling station; an overhead conveyor system configured for conveying packaging trays, for food products from one or more import stations to at least one of multiple export stations, wherein the packaging trays are at the at least one filling station filled with food products supplied by the processing device for processing food products, the overhead conveyor system comprising:
an endless conveyor track comprising a rail extending in a direction of conveyance;a multiplicity of trolleys which are movably connected to the rail and are connected to one another;a multiplicity of tray carriers each coupled to the rail via at least one trolley for forming a chain of tray carriers, wherein each tray carrier is provided with a support platform configured for supporting at least one packaging tray, and wherein each tray carrier is suspendedly coupled to one or more trolleys in such a way that the support platform of each tray carrier is positioned below the rail and the packaging tray placed on the support platform is conveyed along the bottom of the rail;a drive device configured for continuously displacing the chain of tray carriers in the direction of conveyance along the conveyor track;at least one import station configured for importing the packaging trays into the tray carriers;multiple export stations located along the endless conveyor track and configured for selectively exporting the packaging trays from the tray carriers, each of the multiple export stations being provided with an export track extending in the direction of conveyance along a part of the endless conveyor track, wherein the export track has a horizontal support surface with respect to a ground level, corresponding to the support platform of a passing tray carrier, configured to receive the packaging tray released from the support platform of the passing tray carrier in a horizontal direction with respect to the ground level while the tray carriers are continuously moved along the endless conveyor track;an export device provided on each tray carrier and/or at each export station, configured for pushing a packaging tray from a tray carrier onto a corresponding export track in the horizontal direction while the tray carriers are continuously moved along the endless conveyor track; anda distribution control system configured for linking product information, in the form of one or more characteristics of the tray and/or the food products in said tray, to each individual packaging tray, and for activating the overhead conveyor system, the at least one filling station, the food processing device, and the export devices, the distribution control system comprising:
a chain position determining device configured to determine the position of each of the tray carriers with respect to a fixed point along the endless conveyor track; anda receiving device configured to receive information about tray carriers and/or product information concerning the packaging trays and/or the contents of packaging trays, which information is received from an import station, an export station, and/or a treatment station; andan electronic memory storage device with a memory table comprising, for each tray carrier in the overhead conveyor system, at least one memory field for accommodating at least one item of data which is related to the packaging tray and/or contents of the packaging tray, and comprising at least one memory field for storing a variable which is representative of the tray carrier in which the packaging tray is placed at an import station.