초록 ▼

A system and method are provided for handling food products whereby stacked food products can be mechanically singulated or singulated product not on pitch can be dispensed individually at a regular pitch onto transport system carrying the food products to a subsequent process unit or units in an au

A system and method are provided for handling food products whereby stacked food products can be mechanically singulated or singulated product not on pitch can be dispensed individually at a regular pitch onto transport system carrying the food products to a subsequent process unit or units in an automated and essentially labor-free manner. The automated handling system may be used advantageously on stacks of pizza crusts, among other food product types.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engag

What is claimed is: 1. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the unstacker assembly further comprises a ramp upon which the picking mechanism rollers are supported for travel wherein the ramp includes a recessed track portion located above the stack loader and upraised track portions located adjacent the lift platforms. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein first and second suction devices are associated with the pick head and are fixed for rotation therewith such that either of the suction devices can contact and suction grip an edge portion of a food product and hold the food product as the pick head is rolled over the top surface of the food product effective to peel a food product from the stack of food products. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the loader is operable to lift the stack of food products a predetermined distance in a synchronized manner such that after the pick head picks a food product, the loader is operable to upraise the stack of food products a predetermined distance effective that the next pass of the pick head contacts the upper surface of the next food product in the stack of food products. 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor is operable to transport food products discharged from the accumulator assembly to a topping dispenser adapted to successively deposit food material upon the food products. 6. An apparatus for fluffing food products, comprising: an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface having a resilient cord mounted on an A-shaped frame member and being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products. 7. An apparatus for unstacking food products, comprising: a loader for receiving a stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; and lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor. 8. An apparatus for accumulating food products and dispensing them individually at an approximately regular pitch, comprising: a pair of augers each comprising a multi-turn helicoid mounted for rotation on a generally vertically-oriented rotatable shaft, wherein the augers are positioned in sufficiently close yet spaced proximity to co-define a plurality of vertically spaced-apart flights adapted to receive food products, the flights having a food product introduction side and an opposite side; a food product feeder operable to selectively transfer a food product onto any selected one of said flights; a vertically-extending stop disposed on the opposite side and being operable to delimit forward movement of food products fed into the augers, wherein the augers are operable for synchronized rotation whereupon a food product placed on a flight progressively moves down to lower flights; and a transport means receiving food products from the augers in substantially uniform pitch relative to other food products fed into the accumulator assembly. 9. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the fluffing engagement surface comprises elastic cord segments arranged transversely in spaced, approximately parallel relationship on the engagement surface. 10. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the fluffing assembly further comprises a first pneumatic cylinder operable to provide the lateral movement of the engagement surface against the side of the stack of food products, and a second pneumatic cylinder operable to provide the vertical movement of the engagement surface against the side of the stack of food products sufficient to separate adjoining food products of the stack of food products at their edge portions. 11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the fluffing assembly further comprises a holder member operable to pin an approximately central top region of the stack of food products in a fixed position during the vertical movement of the engagement surface. 12. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the unstacker further being operable for providing reciprocal movement of the pick head back-and-forth across a top surface of the stack of food products in which individual food products may be successively releasably gripped at an edge portion thereof by the suction device while the pick head rolls across the top surface of the stack of food products effective to grip and at least partly curl a food product relative to the pick head during rotation of the pick head such that the food product is laterally transported to one or the other lift platform for transfer thereon via temporary release of the suction force applied via the suction device. 13. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the pick head comprises a pair of integral wheels having a circumference larger than the diameter of the food product being picked up effective to enhance peeling action on the top food product relative to the stack of food products. 14. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, the system further comprising a pick head position controller adapted to control servo motors located on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism, each servo motor connected to a side of the picking mechanism via at least one tension element adapted to be wound/unwound upon a servo motor spool, and an encoder operable to track the position of the pick head. 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the controller being operable to send control signals to the servo motors to accelerate the lateral motion of the pick head after contacting and gripping a food product and as the pick head traverses the top surface of the food product. 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein controller being further operable to process encoder tracking data corresponding to the position of the pick head and send command signals to the controller and valving controlling vacuum pressure drawn at the at least one suction device. 17. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the lift platforms are associated with an overhead roller operable to push the food product onto an adjoining conveyor line. 18. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the unstacker assembly further being operable such that failure of the pick head to grip a given food product when passing across the food product in one lateral direction is followed by gripping the same food product during a next pass of the pick head over the same food product in the opposite lateral direction. 19. A system for handling food products, comprising: a fluffer assembly comprising an engagement surface and a support member, the engagement surface being adapted for making lateral and vertical movement relative to a stack of food products with opposite side portions, the engagement surface being operable to compressively contact a side portion of the stack of food products and effective to bend and separate edge portions of adjoining food products in the stack of food products while the support member retains the opposite side portion of the stack of food products; an unstacker assembly comprising: a loader for receiving a fluffed stack of food products including a lifter operable to vertically raise the stack of food products through predetermined increments of distance; a picking mechanism including a rotary shaft, a pick head rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft, and respective rollers arranged on opposite sides of the pick head and on the rotary shaft, and the pick head including at least one suction device: operable for releasably applying suction to an edge portion of a food product resting on top of the stack of food products, and operable to peel a single food product from the top of the stack of food products during rolling movement of the pick head over the food product, and operable to releasably hold the peeled food product until released by temporarily relieving the suction; lift platforms arranged on opposite lateral sides of the picking mechanism operable for reciprocal up-and-down movement, wherein the lift platforms are operable to move downwards to receive a food product transferred from the pick head upon release of suction at the suction device, and thereafter lift the food product for transfer of the food product to a conveyor; and an accumulator assembly operable for temporarily collecting a plurality of the food products received from the unstacker or other singulated source of product, the accumulator being configured for dispensing food products individually at an approximately regular pitch onto another conveyor, wherein the accumulator assembly further comprises: a pair of augers each comprising a multi-turn helicoid mounted for rotation on a generally vertically-oriented rotatable shaft, wherein the augers are positioned in sufficiently close yet spaced proximity to co-define a plurality of vertically spaced-apart flights adapted to receive food products; a vertically-extending stop on a side opposite to a food product introduction side of the flights which is operable to delimit forward movement of food products fed into the augers, wherein the adjacent augers are operable for synchronized rotation whereupon a food product placed on a flight progressively moves down to lower flights until reaching a transport means in substantially uniform pitch relative to other food products fed into the accumulator assembly; and a food product feeder operable to selectively transfer a food product onto any selected one of said flights.