EP0274229A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Conveyor system
Assignee: Thurne Engineering Co Ltd
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Filing: 1987-12-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-12-07
Abstract
Abstract A conveyor system for positioning slices of meat or other foodstuffs by converting M input streams of products into N output streams of product where M is an integer greater than one and N is an integer not equal to M comprises input conveyor means (15, 55) for conveying M input streams and output conveyor means (16,58) for conveying N output streams. It also includes a multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) having its upstream input end arranged to receive products (P) from an input stream and having its downstream end arranged to move laterally to deposit products from the input stream into an output stream shifted laterally with respect to the input stream. The conveying elements (37, 41, 67) of the multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) are arranged to conform as its downstream end moves laterally.
Inventors
- 👤 Trevor Barrie Hoyland
- 👤 Richard Payne
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 21:25
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65G; B65G47/00; B65G47/52; B65G47/68; B65G47/681; B65G47/02; B65G47/04; B65G47/06; B65G47/08; B65G47/084; B65G47/71; B65G57/00; B65G57/32
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
141 words
A conveyor system for positioning slices of meat or other foodstuffs by converting M input streams of products into N output systems of products where M is an integer greater than one and N is an integer not equal to M comprises input conveyor means (15,55) for conveying M input streams and output conveyor means (16,58) for conveying N output streams, characterised in that it includes a multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) having its upstream input end arranged to receive products (P) from an input stream and having its downstream end arranged to move laterally to deposit products from the input stream into an output stream shifted laterally with respect to the input stream, the conveying elements (37, 41, 67) of the multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) being arranged to conform as its downstream end moves laterally.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
141 words
A conveyor system for positioning slices of meat or other foodstuffs by converting M input streams of products into N output systems of products where M is an integer greater than one and N is an integer not equal to M comprises input conveyor means (15,55) for conveying M input streams and output conveyor means (16,58) for conveying N output streams, characterised in that it includes a multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) having its upstream input end arranged to receive products (P) from an input stream and having its downstream end arranged to move laterally to deposit products from the input stream into an output stream shifted laterally with respect to the input stream, the conveying elements (37, 41, 67) of the multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) being arranged to conform as its downstream end moves laterally.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
120 words
A conveyor system according to claim 1, in which the multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) includes at its upstream end, a drive roller (21, 38, 60) and at its downstream end idler roller means (29, 39, 65, 66) both being grooved to receive the conveying elements (37, 41, 67) of the strip conveyor, the idler roller means (29, 39, 65, 66) being movable laterally with respect to the drive roller (21, 38, 60) and the conveying elements (37, 41, 67) of the strip conveyor being elastic to accommodate changes in length between the idler roller means (29, 39, 65, 66) and drive roller (21, 38, 60) as the idler roller means (29, 39, 65, 66) is moved laterally.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
A conveyor system according to claim 1 or 2, in which the conveying elements (37, 41, 67) of the multi-element conveyor (17, 18, 56, 57) are formed by elongate bands of rubber or rubber-like elastomeric material having a substantially circular cross-section.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
69 words
A conveyor system according to claim 2 or 3, in which the idler roller means (65, 66) are formed by a number of individual roller elements mounted on a common axle, each of the individual roller elements receiving one of the conveying elements of the strip conveyor and being free to rotate with respect to its neighbours around the common axle, the common axle also being free to rotate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
A conveyor system according to any one of the preceding claims, in which two multi-element strip conveyors (17, 18, 56, 57) are included.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
55 words
A conveyor system according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the number of input streams M is greater than the number of output streams N, the input streams are separated in the vertical direction and where vertically separated, are moved laterally by the multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18) to overlap the streams.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
A conveyor system according to claim 6 when dependent upon claim 5, in which the two multi-element strip conveyors (17, 18) are positioned one on top of the other with their downstream ends displaced laterally in opposite directions.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
A conveyor system according to claim 6 or 7, including means to vary the speed of the or each multi-element strip conveyor (17, 18).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
115 words
A conveyor system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the number of outputs streams N is greater than the number of input streams M, all of the conveyors in the conveyor system lie in the same generally horizontal plane, and the downstream end of the or each multi-element strip conveyor (56, 57) moves laterally backwards and forwards to deposit products from one input stream into one of two different output streams, the output conveyor means (58) including liftable platforms (59) which are operable to stop the progress of products in the output streams individually to enable successive products from an input stream to be located side-by-side in adjacent output streams.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
A conveyor system according to claim 9, in which the or each multi-element strip conveyor is arranged to convey at least two successive products from each input stream to each output stream before being moved laterally to convey successive products to a different output stream.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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