NZ504664A - Mussel packing with free-flow through hopper and settling into carton - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispensing hopper includes walls 2, 3 that flex about their mounts 2A, 3A so that the flexing of the walls as product is dispensed onto the walls from above and into the container 5 below the hopper serves to assure the free-flow (no clogging) of the product, such as unshucked muscles, through the hopper into the container.

Description

NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No: 504664/504690 Date: 18 May 2000/19 May 2000 intellectual property office of n.z. " 6 MAR 2003 received COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "Packing and Settling Apparatus" We, GARRY COOPER, a New Zealand citizen of Nelson, New Zealand and WADE FLANAGAN, a New Zealand citizen of Nelson, New Zealand in trust for CARTER HOLT HARVEY LIMITED, a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand of 640 Great South Road, Manukau City, Auckland, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to packing and settling apparatus.

Frequently there is a need to decant or otherwise pour out individual products for loading into smaller containers. One such instance is the pouring of unshucked mussels or other bivalves (hereafter "mussels") from, for example, a bag into individual smaller cartons. Here a typical chute blocking problem is likely to arise. In the past it has been necessary to provide some external input whereby induced vibrations (eg; an eccentric weight or ultrasound) will lead to a free pour situation.

Accordingly irrespective of whether or not individual items are being decanted there is a need to provide for a smooth free flowing thereof into a container.

There is also a desirability, whether in conjunction with any such apparatus or during the performance of any such method, to ensure also that any pack that is being filled by such items is sufficiently compacted so as to be able to be closed with the articles compacted therein. In the past it is frequently a case that individual items (such as unshucked mussels) have been placed into a paperboard or other container to a level greater than that to which they might settle and thereafter with appropriate shaking, banging or the like of the container the content has been encouraged to settle and compact to an acceptable level.

There is therefore a need whether in conjunction with an overall mechanised device or otherwise to provide means whereby a container such as a carton, box or the like can be presented to a filling zone or station and without direct human intervention appropriate settling of the filling content encouraged.

The present in one aspect relates to an alternative to actively induce vibration hoppers which surprisingly merely requires passive flexure (single or multi modal) in response to a pouring of articles into a hopper.

The present invention in another aspect relates to a mechanised means and thus related apparatus and methods whereby a loading of discrete articles into a container (eg; carton, box or the like) leads to such fill being encouraged to settle to a desired (possibly pre-determined) (level preferably to enable closure).

In a first aspect the present invention consists in packing apparatus for receiving discrete articles and for dispensing such articles in a substantially free pour condition (such as into a container), said apparatus comprising or including a hopper assembly having a lower outlet for the articles to be dispensed or discharged and, above said outlet, an inlet into which said articles can be conveyed, poured or the like, the hopper assembly being characterised in that at least one or more wall surface or surfaces of the hopper assembly are capable of flexure. wherein said flexure is or includes flexure of at least one wall surface relative to a mount or support for such wall, wherein said flexure is to be caused at least in part by receiving and/or dispensing said discrete articles, Preferably said flexure is or includes flexure of at least one wall surface outward and/or upward relative to another such wall.

Preferably said flexure at least arises from a flexible mounting of the operative surface providing region of each wall and preferably such flexible mounting is by an extension of any such component anchored to an appropriate frame.

Preferably said frame is peripheral of said hopper axis (ie; from said inlet to said outlet).

Preferably at least a pair of opposed walls of said hopper assembly are flexibly mounted.

Preferably hopper walls or parts thereof themselves either flex or are flexibly mounted, or both.

Preferably said wall component includes a wall region and a mounting region, there being a degree of flexure between the parts thereof and/or of said mounting region.

In still a further aspect the present invention consists in a method of packing discrete articles (for example, unshucked mussels) which comprises or includes providing packing apparatus in accordance with the present invention, positioning a container into which the articles are to be packed below the discharge outlet of said hopper assembly, and pouring or otherwise conveying the articles to be dispensed into said hopper assembly and from thence into said container.

Preferably said articles are unshucked muscles.

In still a further aspect the present invention consists in a method of dispensing discrete articles capable of free flow, which method comprises or includes, passing under gravity said articles to an outlet down a chute (for example, in the form of a hopper) where the wall surfaces of the chute are capable of flexure outward and/or upward relative to each other whereby clumping of the articles, prior to the outlet discharging thereof, is substantially reduced, wherein said flexure is to be caused at least in part by receiving and/or dispensing said discrete articles.

Preferably said chute is of a hopper.

In some aspects of the present invention the wall surfaces are mounted in a manner hereinbefore described. In others they could be spring mounted from a number of spring mounting members. In still others they can be pivoted but with some flexible control as to the disposition about the pivot. Most preferably however both such a pivot point and the disposition about said pivot is capable of movement thereby more greatly enhancing the degree of flexure. Such an arrangement arises from the componentry substantially as hereinafter described.

This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples.

A preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 shows a crashlock carton of the kind into which, by way of example, mussels may be decanted from a much larger bag, Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a preferred form of the arrangement in accordance with the present invention, there being shown a bagged product above the hopper assembly (the hopper assembly shown only in part) and a carton diagrammatically shown below the discharge region thereof, Figure 3 is a perspective view from above of a frame and a hopper assembly in accordance with the present invention where preferably all four components of the hopper assembly are flexibly mounted from the frame, Figure 4 shows the arrangement where wall components are separately mounted by a flexible extension from a peripheral frame, Figure 5 is a perspective view of a component as shown in Figure 4, and Figure 6 is a perspective view of a hopper assembly and packing apparatus of the present invention supported from a frame and positioned above an indexing conveyor to advance containers (not shown) under the hopper assembly for loading and thereafter for movement to a consolidation zone at which the top filled containers are subjected to both lateral and vertical components of movement of at least part thereof, Figure 7 shows in more detail by arrows the movements inwardly and outwardly of pneumatic rams whilst it is also possible to move upwardly and downwardly the entire system which carries the indexing conveyor, the individual cartons being positioned between indexing upstands, and Figure 8 shows a production design for the hopper as shown in Figure 3.

In the preferred form of the present invention the apparatus is for dispensing unshucked mussels.

In the preferred form of the present invention apparatus as depicted in Figure 3 is provided whereby a chute 1 is defined by four components (one of which is as depicted in Figure 5) and each of which is attached to a peripheral frame. The peripheral frame 1 has two opposed components 2 and two opposed components 3 each of which is likewise attached to the peripheral frame 1 by appropriate fixings so that the extensions 3 A and 2A of each can ensure a wobbling inter-relationship of the chute providing guiding internal surfaces of each of the components 2 and 3.

As depicted in Figure 2 a bagged product is dropped as a pour into the open top of the hopper formed by the members 2 and 3 thereby enabling the poured materials entering the top inlet 4 to be dispensed from the bottom outlet 5 (if desired) into a carton 6 such as depicted in Figure 1.

Preferably the arrangement of Figure 3 is as more clearly shown in Figure 4 (the peripheral frame 1 having been removed) with a surface 7 of member 2 being able to move independently of the opposing surface of the other member 2 and likewise the surface 8 of one component 3 likewise being able to move independently of the opposing surface of the other component 3.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate how, for example, a component 2 as shown in Figure 5 has the ability to flex both upwardly and outwardly in the manner depicted with reference to Figure 5 as, for example, discrete articles move as product pours in and product drops out of the arrangement shown in Figure 4.

As used herein the term "dispense" and "dispensing" should be considered in the broadest possible sense, ie; there may or may not be any control on the number of discrete articles passed out of the discharge outlet of the hopper assembly. It is envisaged however that with a free pour arrangement cartons can be placed on a conveyor and indexed to receive product under the discharge outlet 5.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate the benefits such a relatively simple packing apparatus with its novel proper assembly can provide.

Of course the product has application with any product irrespective of whether or not discrete articles with a tenancy to clump, block or the like or not, eg; could be used with for example, products ranging from sugar through to a viscous liquid.

Figure 6 shows (from the right) a frame carrying an assembly 9 which is packing apparatus as previously defined. As can be seen a conveyor 10 of a conveying system 11 is provided which has upstands 12 between which an open top container, (eg; a carton or the like) from a carton opening system (out to the right of the apparatus shown in Figure 6) can be positioned to index for filling under the discharge opening of the packing apparatus 9.

Thereafter such a filled carton, still with its discrete items largely uncompacted, is advanced by the indexing conveyor as the next carton is presented under the discharge zone of the packing apparatus 9, ie; to the filling zone.

Previously filled and uncompacted cartons ultimately pass between consolidating arrangements 13 each of which has an arrangement whereby a pneumatic ram can move inwardly and outwardly (and laterally to the conveying direction) each member 14 so that a carton can be compacted against a reactive surface 15. At the same time and/or between any inward pressing of the members 14 under the machine control of a pneumatic ram, preferably the whole assembly 16 moves upwardly and downwardly with the guides 17 preferably leaving each pneumatic assembly and thus member 14 and 15 unmoved vertically. With such arrangement it is possible either one after the other or together to both uplift and laterally squeeze a container to ensure by some cyclic variation thereof an appropriate level of compaction. Any appropriate means of uplifting and/or dropping can be used.

In summary therefore the procedure is as follows; once the bagged product is placed in a carton, via the previously described hopper mechanism, the product is consolidated. This process is repeated twice to ensure the mussels are firmly packed in the cartons. the process of consolidating the mussels is a simple lift and drop operation. Two opposing faces, on opposing sides of the carton, are forced together to grip the box. These "grippers" and the carton, are then raised vertically before the carton is released and allowed to drop back onto the conveyor. This process is repeated until the mussels are firmly consolidated. The process is pneumatically operated, ie; rams to move the "grippers" and the raising mechanism, and a PLC controls the system. This links the lifting and dropping with the movement of the conveyor.

Claims (13)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Packing apparatus for receiving discrete articles and for dispensing such articles in a substantially free pour condition (such as into a container), said apparatus comprising or including a hopper assembly having a lower outlet for the articles to be dispensed or discharged and, above said outlet, an inlet into which said articles can be conveyed, poured or the like, the hopper assembly being characterised in that at least one or more wall surface or surfaces of the hopper assembly are capable of flexure, wherein said flexure is or includes flexure of at least one wall surface relative to a mount or support for such wall, and wherein said flexure is to be caused at least in part by receiving and/or dispensing said discrete articles.

2. Apparatus of claim 1 wherein said flexure is or includes flexure of at least one wall surface outward and/or upward relative to another such wall.

3. Apparatus of claim 2 wherein said flexure at least arises from a flexible mounting of the operative surface providing region of each wall.

4. Apparatus of claim 3 wherein said flexible mounting is by an extension of any such component anchored to an appropriate frame.

5. Apparatus of claim 4 wherein said frame is peripheral of said hopper axis (ie; from said inlet to said outlet).

6. Apparatus of any one of the preceding claims wherein at least a pair of opposed walls of said hopper assembly are flexibly mounted.

7. Apparatus of claim 6 wherein hopper walls or parts thereof themselves either flex or are flexibly mounted, or both.

8. Apparatus substantially as herein described in any one of claims 1 to 7 with reference to any one or more of the drawings.

9. A method of packing discrete articles (for example, unshucked mussels) which comprises or includes providing packing apparatus in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 8, positioning a container into which the articles are to be packed below the discharge outlet of said hopper assembly, and pouring or otherwise conveying the articles to be dispensed into said hopper assembly and from thence into said container.

10. A method of claim 9 wherein said articles are unshucked mussels.

11. A method of dispensing discrete articles capable of free flow, which method comprises or includes, passing under gravity said articles to an outlet down a chute where the wall surfaces of the chute are capable of flexure outward and/or upward relative to each other whereby clumping of the articles, prior to the outlet discharging thereof, is substantially reduced, and wherein said flexure is to be caused at least in part by receiving and/or dispensing said discrete articles.

12. A method of claim 11 wherein said chute is of a hopper.

13. A method of any one of claims 11 or 12 performed using apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 8. intellectual property office of n.z. ~ 6 MAR 2003 riciivkd