Method of controlling a rate at which an upstream process feeds a conditioned product to a downstream process
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
G01G-011/08
B65B-057/14
B65B-035/10
G01G-013/24
출원번호
US-0000735
(2016-01-19)
등록번호
US-9957074
(2018-05-01)
발명자
/ 주소
Petri, Kenneth C.
Rees, Richard
출원인 / 주소
Heat & Control, Inc.
대리인 / 주소
Steele, Patrick K.
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
0인용 특허 :
10
초록▼
A method of controlling an upstream and a downstream process wherein the upstream process conditions a stream of product delivered to the downstream process is provided. The control method uses an empirically determined formula to determine a metric for adjusting the activity of the upstream process
A method of controlling an upstream and a downstream process wherein the upstream process conditions a stream of product delivered to the downstream process is provided. The control method uses an empirically determined formula to determine a metric for adjusting the activity of the upstream process to thereby adjust the rate with which the upstream process conditions and feeds a stream of conditioned product to the downstream process. The empirically determined formula determines the metric using two input variables: a duty cycle setting of the upstream process and an output rate of the downstream process expressed as a decimal amount of the output rate set-point.
대표청구항▼
1. A control method, comprising: using a distribution conveyor to move a stream of product consisting of a plurality of individual portions;providing an actuated flow control valve to selectively discharge from the distribution conveyor a fraction of the stream of products;providing one or more rece
1. A control method, comprising: using a distribution conveyor to move a stream of product consisting of a plurality of individual portions;providing an actuated flow control valve to selectively discharge from the distribution conveyor a fraction of the stream of products;providing one or more receiving conveyors to receive the fraction of the stream of product discharged from the distribution conveyor by the flow control valve;providing within the one or more receiving conveyors include a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor;providing an upstream process, fed by one of the one or more receiving conveyors, to condition the fraction of the stream of product conveyed through the upstream process;providing a downstream process fed by the upstream process to one of 1) further condition the fraction of the stream of products conditioned in and delivered to the downstream process from the upstream process, and 2) weigh and package a plurality of discrete amounts of the fraction of the stream of product into a plurality of packages, each package containing a predetermined weight amount of the product;providing a dispersion surface intermediate the downstream process and the upstream process;providing a load cell coupled to the dispersion surface to detect a mass flow rate at which the portion of the stream of product is received from the upstream process to the downstream process;providing one or more load cells in the downstream process to detect the weight of the product processed by the downstream process within a given time interval;providing a processor with a timer function;providing a controller to regulate the rate at which the downstream process produces packaged product;entering a set point into the controller coupled to the downstream process to regulate the rate at which the downstream process will produce packaged product;sensing with the one or more load cells in the downstream process the weight of product packaged;using the one or more load cells to generate one or more signals, corresponding to the weight of packaged product, to the processor;sensing the force applied to the dispersion surface by product delivered from the upstream process to the downstream process;using the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface to generate a signal corresponding to the sensed force applied to the dispersion surface;using the processor to receive the signal from the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface;using the processor to close the flow control valve to prevent unwanted accumulation of product intermediate the upstream process and the downstream process;using the processor to correlate the force applied by product interaction with the dispersion surface to a rate of product delivery from the upstream process to the downstream process;using the processor to determine a performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the downstream process to the set point;selecting a time interval of interest;using the processor to determine a performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the upstream process is active to the duration of the time interval;use the processor to determine a metric equal to a product of a first factor times a second factor times a third factor, wherein the first factor is 1.0 divided by the performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the upstream process is active to the duration of the time interval, wherein the second factor is the square of the performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the downstream process to the set point, and the third factor is 2.0 divided by the sum of the performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the upstream process is active to the duration of the time interval and the performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the downstream process to the set point;use the processor to compare the metric to 1.0;use the processor to generate a signal to the actuated flow control valve to one of (i) leave the actuated flow control valve in the present position upon finding that the metric is equal to 1.0, (ii) open the flow control valve to increase the rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor upon finding that the metric is less than 1.0, and (iii) close the flow control valve to decrease the rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor upon finding that the metric is greater than 1.0;using the processor, the one or more load cells in the downstream process, the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface and the time function to generate a new metric corresponding to updated performance of the upstream process and the downstream process; andrepeating the steps of comparing the new metric to 1.0 and adjusting the actuated flow control valve. 2. The control method of claim 1, wherein the flow control valve is an adjustable gate. 3. The control method of claim 2, wherein the adjustable gate comprises a rotatable sleeve having an opening that is positionable using a drive motor responsive to a signal from a processor. 4. The control method of claim 1, wherein providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor comprises: providing a plurality of load cells intermediate the section of the receiving conveyor and one or more adjacent supporting sections of the receiving conveyor to measure the rate at which product is received from the distribution conveyor to the upstream process. 5. The control method of claim 1, wherein providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor comprises: providing an optical sensor to detect a level at which the product within the receiving conveyor interfaces with one or more walls of the receiving conveyor; andusing the detected wall interface to obtain a mass flow rate from a look-up table to empirically determine the mass flow rate at which product is received from the distribution conveyor to the upstream process. 6. The control method of claim 1, wherein providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor comprises: providing an ultrasonic sensor to detect a height interface of the product within the receiving conveyor; andusing the detected height interface to obtain a mass flow rate from a look-up table to empirically determine the mass flow rate at which product is received from the distribution conveyor to the upstream process. 7. The control method of claim 1, wherein the distribution conveyor is a reciprocating conveyor; and wherein the one or more receiving conveyors are reciprocating conveyors. 8. A control method, comprising: using a distribution conveyor to move a stream of a food product consisting of a plurality of individual food portions;providing an actuated flow control valve to selectively discharge from the distribution conveyor a fraction of the stream of a food product;providing a receiving conveyor to receive the fraction of the stream of food product discharged from the distribution conveyor by the flow control valve;providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which the food product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor;providing a seasoning station to apply a seasoning material the fraction of the stream of food product conveyed through the seasoning station;providing a weighing and bagging machine to weigh and package a plurality of discrete amounts of the fraction of the stream of food product into a plurality of packages of equal weight of the seasoned food product; providing a dispersion surface intermediate the weighing and bagging machine and the seasoning station;providing a load cell coupled to the dispersion surface to detect a mass flow rate at which the fraction of the stream of food product is received from the seasoning station to the weighing and bagging machine;providing one or more load cells in the weighing and bagging machine to detect the weight of the food product processed by the weighing and bagging machine within a given time interval;providing a processor with a timer function; providing a controller to regulate the rate at which the weighing and bagging machine produces bags of the food product at the predetermined weight;entering a set-point into the controller coupled to the weighing and bagging machine to regulate the rate at which the weighing and bagging machine will produce packaged product;sensing with the one or more load cells in the weighing and bagging machine the weight of the food product bagged;using the one or more load cells to generate one or more signals, corresponding to the weight of food product bagged by the weighing and bagging machine, to the processor;sensing the force applied to the dispersion surface by product delivered from the seasoning station to the weighing and bagging machine;using the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface to generate a signal corresponding to the sensed force applied to the dispersion surface;using the processor to receive the signal from the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface;using the processor to temporarily suspend operation of the seasoning station to prevent unwanted accumulation of product intermediate the seasoning station and the weighing and bagging machine;using the processor to correlate the force applied by product interaction with the dispersion surface to a rate of product delivery from the seasoning station to the weighing and bagging machine;using the processor to determine a performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the weighing and bagging machine to the set point;selecting a time interval of interest;using the processor to determine a performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the seasoning station is active to the duration of the time interval of interest;use the processor to determine a metric equal to a product of a first factor times a second factor times a third factor, wherein the first factor is 1.0 divided by the performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the seasoning station is active to the duration of the time interval, wherein the second factor is the square of the performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the weighing and bagging machine to the set point, and the third factor is 2.0 divided by the sum of the performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the seasoning station is active to the duration of the time interval and the performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the weighing and bagging machine to the set point;use the processor to compare the metric to 1.0;use the processor to generate a signal to the actuated flow control valve to one of (i) leave the actuated flow control valve in the present position upon finding that the metric is equal to 1.0, (ii) move the flow control valve towards a fully open position to increase the rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor upon finding that the metric is less than 1.0, and (iii) move the flow control valve towards a fully closed position to decrease the rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor upon finding that the metric is greater than 1.0;using the processor, the one or more load cells in the weighing and bagging machine, the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface and the time function to generate a new metric corresponding to updated performance of the seasoning station and the weighing and bagging machine; andrepeating the steps of comparing the new metric to 1.0 and adjusting the actuated flow control valve. 9. The control method of claim 8, wherein the flow control valve is an adjustable gate. 10. The control method of claim 9, wherein the adjustable gate comprises a rotatable sleeve having an opening that is positionable using a drive motor responsive to a signal from a processor. 11. The control method of claim 8, wherein providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which the food product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor comprises: providing a plurality of load cells intermediate the section of the receiving conveyor and one or more adjacent supporting sections of the receiving conveyor to measure the rate at which product is received from the distribution conveyor to the seasoning station. 12. The control method of claim 8, wherein providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which the food product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor comprises: providing an optical sensor to detect a level at which the product within the receiving conveyor interfaces with one or more walls of the receiving conveyor; andusing the detected wall interface to obtain a mass flow rate from a look-up table to empirically determine the mass flow rate at which product is received from the distribution conveyor to the seasoning station. 13. The control method of claim 8, wherein providing within the receiving conveyor a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which the food product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor comprises: providing an ultrasonic sensor to detect a height interface of the product within the receiving conveyor; andusing the detected height interface to obtain a mass flow rate from a look-up table to empirically determine the mass flow rate at which the food product is received from the distribution conveyor to the seasoning station. 14. The control method of claim 8, wherein the distribution conveyor is a reciprocating conveyor; and wherein the one or more receiving conveyors are reciprocating conveyors. 15. A computer program product for controlling an upstream process that conditions product and feeds conditioned product to a downstream process, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising: using a distribution conveyor to move a stream of product consisting of a plurality of individual portions;providing an actuated flow control valve to selectively discharge from the distribution conveyor a fraction of the stream of products;providing one or more receiving conveyors to receive the fraction of the stream of product discharged from the distribution conveyor by the flow control valve;providing within the one or more receiving conveyors include a section for measuring the mass flow rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor; providing an upstream process, fed by one of the one or more receiving conveyors, to condition the fraction of the stream of product conveyed through the upstream process;providing a downstream process fed by the upstream process to one of 1) further condition the fraction of the stream of products conditioned in and delivered to the downstream process from the upstream process, and 2) weigh and package a plurality of discrete amounts of the fraction of the stream of product into a plurality of packages, each package containing a predetermined weight amount of the product; providing a dispersion surface intermediate the downstream process and the upstream process;providing a load cell coupled to the dispersion surface to detect a mass flow rate at which the portion of the stream of product is received from the upstream process to the downstream process; providing one or more load cells in the downstream process to detect the weight of the product processed by the downstream process within a given time interval;providing a processor with a timer function; providing a controller to regulate the rate at which the downstream process produces packaged product;computer program product code for receiving a set point entered into the controller coupled to the downstream process to regulate the rate at which the downstream process will produce packaged product;computer program product code for receiving one or more signals from one or more load cells in the downstream process corresponding to the weight of product packaged;computer program product code for receiving from the one or more load cells one or more generated signals, corresponding to the weight of packaged product, to the processor;computer program product code for sensing the force applied to the dispersion surface by product delivered from the upstream process to the downstream process;computer program product code for receiving from the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface a signal corresponding to corresponding to the sensed force applied by the product impinging on the dispersion surface;computer program product code for receiving the signal from the load cell coupled to the dispersion surface;computer program product code for generating a signal to actuate a drive motor of the flow control valve to close the flow control valve to prevent unwanted accumulation of product intermediate the upstream process and the downstream process;computer program product code to correlate the signal corresponding to the force applied by impingement of the product on the dispersion surface to a rate of product delivery from the upstream process to the downstream process;computer program product code for determining a performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the downstream process to the set point;computer program product code for one of selecting a time interval of interest and receiving a time interval of interest input on a user input device;computer program product code for determining a performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the upstream process is active to the duration of the time interval;computer program product code for determining a metric equal to a product of a first factor times a second factor times a third factor, wherein the first factor is 1.0 divided by the performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the upstream process is active to the duration of the time interval, wherein the second factor is the square of the performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the downstream process to the set point, and the third factor is 2.0 divided by the sum of the performance indicating variable ratio of the time interval during which the upstream process is active to the duration of the time interval and the performance indicating variable ratio of the actual rate of product packaged by the downstream process to the set point;computer program product code for comparing the metric to 1.0;computer program product code for generating a signal to the actuated flow control valve to one of (i) leave the actuated flow control valve in the present position upon finding that the metric is equal to 1.0, (ii) actuating a drive motor to open the flow control valve to increase the rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor upon finding that the metric is less than 1.0, and (iii) actuating the drive motor to close the flow control valve to decrease the rate at which product is discharged from the distribution conveyor to the receiving conveyor upon finding that the metric is greater than 1.0;computer program product code for generating a new metric corresponding to updated performance of the upstream process and the downstream process; andcomputer program product code for repeating the steps of comparing the new metric to 1.0 and adjusting the actuated flow control valve.
Hahn William F. (2500 Fidelity Building Philadelphia PA 19109) McAdams Hirimie T. (Clarence NY) Talley Robert L. (Marilla NY), Differential rate screening.
Burke, David L.; Fitzgerald, Jonny; Knodell, Jr., Thomas G.; Petri, Kenneth C.; Svejkovsky, P. Blake; Svejkovsky, Paul A., Seasoning system and method.
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