Tray conveyor/loading system
US6854588B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 16, 2003 |
| Grant date | Feb 15, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 16, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65G47/78
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A trap door system for receiving a plurality of articles from a pick and place mechanism, moving those articles to the vicinity of an underlying tray on a conveyor, and dumping those articles on said conveyor in a pre-arranged layout, forming loaded trays, which loaded trays may then be positioned in a frame to form a cube for retort processing of the contents of the articles. The preferred embodiment of the invention contemplates a horizontally situated product gate for receiving a plurality of pouches which are received upon four side-by-side holding slots running the length of the pouch gate by a pick and place mechanism. The pouch gate is then lowered a predetermined distance (in the present case, about 12-18 inches) so as to be situated just above a transversely aligned conveyor having a series of retort trays or pallets thereon, the underlying tray or pallet being aligned with the holding slots of the lowered tray such that, when the holding slots are pivoted about their longitudinal axis (as in a trap door), so that the pouches thereon fall through the pouch gate and onto predetermined compartments on the underlying retort tray.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.