Patent Application
20240001578
This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. DE 102022116352.0 filed on Jun. 30, 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
The invention relates to slicing machines, in particular so-called slicers, which are used in the food industry to slice strands of an only slightly compressible product such as sausage or cheese.
Since these strands can be produced with a cross-section that retains its shape and dimensions well over its length, i.e., is essentially constant, they are called product calibers.
In most cases, several product calibers arranged parallel to one another are sliced at the same time by the same blade, which moves in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the product calibers, cutting off one slice at a time in a single pass.
The product calibers are pushed forward by a feed conveyor of a feed unit in the direction of the blade of the cutting unit, usually on an obliquely downwardly directed feed conveyor, and are each guided through the product openings of a plate-shaped, so-called cutting gland, at the front end of which the part of the product caliber projecting beyond it is cut off as a slice by the blade directly in front of the cutting gland.
The slices generally fall onto a discharge conveyor of a discharge unit, by means of which they are transported away for further processing.
During slicing, the product calibers are usually held by a gripper at their rear end facing away from the cutting gland, which is provided with corresponding gripper claws for this purpose.
For reloading the slicer with new product calibers, the feeder can usually be folded down from the inclined slicing position to a horizontal loading position for easier loading.
After this has been done, the end piece that can no longer be cut is removed from the gripper, which moves away from the cutting unit to its initial position at a maximum distance therefrom, so that when the feed conveyor is subsequently pivoted upwards, the gripper is again behind the rear end of the new product caliber and can grip it.
With such contamination-intensive and wear-intensive machines, cleaning, maintenance, changeover or other work must often be carried out besides normal slicing operations.
Depending on the work to be performed, it is important that certain moving parts of the machine—i.e., those parts that are required for the job to be carried out—, in particular the very sharp blade, are in a certain position so that the work to be carried out on the machine can be performed in the first place and the risk of the operator injuring himself is reduced to a minimum.
The moving of such movable working parts into a safe position is often left to the operator himself and depends on his manual skills, but also on his risk awareness.
It is therefore the object according to the invention to provide an operating method which offers a maximum of safety for the operator during all service work to be carried out, as well as a slicing machine suitable for this purpose.
With regard to the operating method for operating a slicing machine, this problem is solved in that the operating method—which is usually controlled by an electronic control system and is stored in the control system with regard to the individual movements of the moving machine parts—can be switched between a slicing mode and a service mode.
In the slicing mode, one or more slicing programs stored in the control system are accessible and selectable, which are usually directed to different slicing tasks, for example for different products, and include all operations from the cutting of the first to the last slice of a caliber, of which several can be sliced side by side simultaneously in a slicer.
In the service mode, on the other hand, the one or more service programs stored in the control system are accessible and selectable, which are usually directed to different service actions as their purpose.
If, for example, the purpose is to enable cleaning of the machine or a component of the machine—in particular to be carried out manually by the operator—the service program comprises the approaching of a cleaning position of one or more movable working parts of the machine so that these are in such a position, that, on the one hand, the points or parts of the machine to be cleaned are accessible to the operator from the outside at all and, on the other hand, working parts of the machine which are located in the vicinity and which pose a risk of injury are located in a position which is as safe as possible, for example as far away as possible from the hands or arms of the operator when the latter is carrying out the cleaning work or the working parts are covered by covers.
A service program can thus effect a movement of a working part or a sequence of movements of a single or several different working parts of the machine, where in particular
If the purpose of the machine is the repair or for the purpose of conversion the change of a part of the machine, the service program for this—i.e., the or one of several repair programs—includes the approaching of a repair position or conversion position of one or more movable working parts of the machine.
If, for example, the machine is to be converted from four narrow tracks to two wide tracks, the conveyor belt units involved are brought into such a conversion position that they can be easily dismantled by the operator, for example axially removed from a supporting shaft or axle.
The working parts should then be in such a position that, on the one hand, the change of the desired component by the operator is possible at all and, on the other hand, nearby working parts of the machine which are dangerous for injury are as far away as possible from the hands or arms of the operator while he is carrying out this change, or the working parts are protected against contact by the operator.
Programs whose purpose is, for example, to remove a caliber end piece from a gripper or to load the machine with a new caliber can be selectable either as slicing programs from the slicing mode, or also as service programs from the service mode.
For example, if the purpose of the service program is to load at least one path of the machine with a new caliber, this loading program may include as a service program the approaching of a loading position of one or more moving parts of the machine.
For example, the rear part of the feed conveyor for the calibers can often be folded down from a raised cutting position to an approximately horizontal loading position.
Part of such a loading program can also be the detection of the presence of a caliber in the machine, in particular on the corresponding track of the feed conveyor, which is a prerequisite for the start of the slicing operation and thus the start of the slicing program for this track.
If the purpose is, for example, the removal of a caliber end piece from one of the grippers, such an end piece removal program may comprise the approaching of an end piece removal position by one or more parts of the machine, for example the bringing of the gripper into such an end piece removal position, which may be located, for example, in the operative range of an end piece remover.
As soon as, according to the invention, the operating method is switched by the operator to the service mode, a specific service program is selected, preferably automatically, i.e., in particular by the control system of the machine, and in particular started as soon as a specific start event associated with this service program occurs at a protective part of the machine and is registered, for example, by the control system.
The start event is usually a movement or the reaching of a certain position of a movable protective part of the machine, for example a protective part such as a movable protective hood covering the cutting unit or a protective door, of which the machine housing contains several.
However, the start event may not be related to a moving protective part of the machine, but may be an event apart from the protective parts, such as the arrival of a caliber end piece on the end piece conveyor provided for it, or the detection of one or more new calibers appearing on the feeding unit.
As a rule, the start event is in any case an event that can be caused manually on the machine by the operator—also as an input on the input unit—and/or that can be detected automatically by a sensor and reported to the control system.
Accordingly, different start events are defined for the different service programs.
A specific service program is automatically triggered as soon as such a stored start event occurs.
However, it is also possible that a certain event can be the start event for several different service programs. In this case, the operator must also select—preferably in advance—which of these various service programs should be started.
Subsequent possible start events that are assigned to other service programs are ignored as long as the specific service program activated by this first start event is active.
Only events that occur after the switchover to service mode can be evaluated as start events, but it is also possible to evaluate the last event detected before the switchover as a start event, provided it is stored as a possible start event.
This makes it possible for an operator who, for example, has opened the cover for the cutting unit because he intends to replace the blade with a freshly ground blade, but has forgotten to switch to the service mode on the operator unit beforehand, to carry out this switchover only after opening the cover.
While opening the cover in normal slicing mode, i.e., while the slicing program or one of the slicing programs is active, simply brings the machine to a standstill, the subsequent switchover to service mode causes startup movements or movement sequences stored in the corresponding service program to be performed in addition to this start event.
A movement sequence can consist—in the example of the cleaning of a specific module of the machine, such as the discharge conveyor unit—for example in that, as part of this cleaning program, the individual conveyors must be wetted with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent in defined circulating positions—i.e., positions of their conveyor belt in the direction of circulation—and then operated for a defined time at a defined circulating speed and direction of circulation, and such a sequence must be carried out several times in succession—for example with different circulating positions of the conveyor belt during wetting—as a cycle.
The previously necessary switch to the service mode and also the selection of the specific cleaning program can be carried out manually by the operator at the input unit, or can be effected automatically by the control system—and preferably also displayed at the operating unit—for example when a predetermined maximum operating time has been reached since the last cleaning. This can represent a first start event.
Then, after stopping the slicing operation, the corresponding working parts of the machine, here the individual conveyors of the discharge unit, are brought into a cleaning position necessary for this, for example into a certain height position, and also the belts are stopped in a certain circulating position intended for the 1st run of the cycle, in which, for example, a 1st half of the conveyor belt forms the upper run.
Preferably only after this has happened, the corresponding protective door, which gives access to this module of the machine, can be opened by the operator, which the control interprets as a 2nd start event, and the module is no longer moved, and he can wet, usually spray, the module with the cleaning agent.
Then the operator closes this protective door, which the control interprets as a 3rd start event and, for example, circulates the sprayed conveyors in a 1st run in the specified manner and for the specified time.
After this 1st run has been completed and, for example, the conveyors of the conveyors have been stopped with their other half in the position of the upper run, the operator can open the protective door again—which the control interprets as the next defined start event—and wet the module again with the same or also a different cleaning agent intended for the now following 2nd run of the cleaning cycle.
After closing the protective door again—which the control interprets as the next defined start event—the control will execute the 2nd run of the cleaning cycle in the predefined manner for the predefined period of time, e.g., operate the conveyors.
When the last predefined sequence of this cleaning cycle is finished, the operator can switch back to the cutting mode manually or the control can switch back to the cutting mode automatically.
If the operator opens the protective door during one of the runs of the cleaning cycle before the end of this run, which is evaluated by the control system as a special additional start event, for example, because he has still detected coarse contamination on the module, it can be stored in the control system that this special start event, after closing the protective door, either leads to a repetition or completion of the previous, aborted run, or leads directly to a transition to the intended subsequent run.
Such a service program can contain spatial as well as temporal and also further specifications.
In spatial terms, at least one movement or sequence of movements of at least one moving part of the machine is stored, for example,
In temporal terms, such a service program can comprise a start time and/or a time duration in which such a movement or such a movement sequence is to be performed, and/or also a specific time window within which the movement or movement sequence is to be performed, whereby in the case of a simultaneously specified time duration, the time window is then generally longer than the specifically required time duration.
In temporal terms, such a service program can also include a number of times a specific movement or movement sequence is to be performed in succession within the scope of this service program, or a detectable success event can be stored until which the stored movement or movement sequence is to be performed.
Such a success event can be—for example in the end piece removal program—the arrival of the end piece of the relevant path on an end piece removal conveyor.
If the spatial and/or temporal specifications are several specifications at the same time, for which in particular a conflict of objectives can occur, then an additional prioritization of the several specifications is stored, i.e., it is determined which specification is to be fulfilled first and which next, etc.
Furthermore, a start event may not only be a single event, but may comprise several partial events, which in particular must occur in a certain order.
For example, a first partial event can be stored as a necessary partial event for several different service programs. Which of these is to be started in concrete terms can depend on which further partial event occurs next, so that activation of a particular service program can only take place after the occurrence of at least a second partial event, since only then is a decision in favor of a particular service program possible.
With regard to a slicing machine, the existing object is solved by the fact that, on the one hand, the control system must be designed in such a way that it is able to carry out the operating procedure described above, in particular to automatically select and activate a specific service program on the basis of a start event after switching to the service mode.
For this purpose, the machine requires the appropriate sensors, i.e., at least sensors that are designed to detect a potential start event on the machine and report it to the control system.
Such a sensor is in particular a motion sensor or position sensor, which monitors a protective part of the machine, in particular a movable protective part of the machine, at which a start event can occur, for a corresponding event, e.g., a movement or reaching of a corresponding position, which represents such a start event.
Since the operator is to switch manually between the slicing mode and the service mode, a corresponding changeover switch is also required for this purpose on the machine, in particular its operating unit.
Preferably, the machine, in particular its operating unit, comprises display elements in order to be able to communicate various information to the operator, for example display elements which indicate:
This information is not only helpful, but also partly necessary to guide the operator, who sometimes has to perform several manual steps in a certain sequence or at a certain time interval within a certain service program, safely through the corresponding service program.
Embodiments according to the invention are described in more detail below by way of example and with reference to the figures, which show:
It can be seen that the basic structure of a slicer 1 according to the state of the art is that a slicing unit 7 with blades 3 rotating about a blade axis 3′, such as a sickle blade 3, has several, in this case four, product calibers K lying next to one another transversely to the feed direction 10 on a feed conveyor 4 with spacers 15 of the feed conveyor 4 between them which are fed by this feed unit 20, from the front ends of each of which the rotating blade 3 cuts off a slice S with its cutting edge 3a in one operation, i.e., almost simultaneously.
For slicing the product calibers K, the feed conveyor 4 is in the slicing position shown in
The rear end of each caliber K lying in the feed unit 20 is held positively by a gripper 14a-d with the aid of gripper claws 16, as shown in
Both the feed of the gripper carriage 13 and of the feeder 4 can be driven in a controlled manner, but the actual feed speed of the calibers K is effected by a so-called upper and lower product guide 8, 9, which are also driven in a controlled manner and which engage on the upper side and lower side of the calibers K to be sliced in their front end regions near the cutting unit 7:
The front ends of the calibers K are guided each through a so-called product opening 6a-d of a plate-shaped cutting frame 5, the cutting plane 3″ running directly in front of the front, obliquely downward-pointing end face of the cutting frame 5, in which cutting plane the blade 3 rotates with its cutting edge 3a and thus cuts off the protrusion of the calibers K from the cutting frame 5 as a slice S. The cutting plane 3″ runs directly in front of the front, obliquely downward-pointing end face of the cutting frame 5. The cutting plane 3″ runs perpendicular to the upper run of the feed conveyor 4 and/or is spanned by the two transverse directions 11, 12 to the feed direction 10.
The inner circumference of the product openings 6a-d serves as a counter cutting edge of the cutting edge 3a of the blade 3.
Since both product guides 8, 9 can be driven in a controlled manner, in particular independently of each other and/or possibly separately for each track SP1 to SP4, they determine the—continuous or clocked—feed speed of the calibers K through the cutting frame 5.
The upper product guide 8 is displaceable in the second transverse direction 12—which is perpendicular to the surface of the upper run of the feed conveyor 4—for adaptation to the height H of the caliber K in this direction. Furthermore, at least one of the product guides 8, 9 can be designed so as to be pivotable about one of its deflection rollers in order to be able to change the direction of the run of its guide belt resting against the caliber K to a limited extent.
The slices S standing obliquely in the space during separation fall onto a discharge device 17 which begins outside the cutting frame 5 and runs in the passage direction 10* and which in this case consists of several discharge units 17a, b, c arranged one behind the other in the passage direction 10* with the upper runs of their conveyor belts approximately aligned, of which the first discharge unit 17a in the passage direction 10* can be designed as a portioning belt unit 17a and/or can also be designed as a weighing unit.
The slices S can hit the portioning belt unit 17a individually and spaced apart from each other in the passage direction 10*, or they can form shingled or stacked portions P by appropriate control of the portioning belt 17a of the discharge device 17—the movement of which, like almost all moving parts, is controlled by the control unit 1*—by stepwise forward or backward movement of the portioning belt 22.
Below the feed unit 20 there is usually an approximately horizontal end piece conveyor 21, which starts with its front end below the cutting frame 5 and directly below or behind the discharge unit 17 and with its upper run thereon—by means of the drive of one of the discharge conveyors 17 against the passage direction 10*—transports falling end pieces to the rear.
It is best seen that the protective enclosure 30, viewed from above, surrounds the entire machine 1 in a rectangular shape and consists of a frame with upright posts 28 and cross-members 29 connecting the upper ends of the posts 28, whereby the area between two adjacent posts from the floor to the cross-member 29 is covered by protective doors 23.2 to 23.13, which can be pivoted about vertical pivot axes on posts 28, to such an extent that no hand can be inserted into the interior of the protective enclosure 30 through the remaining gaps.
The protective doors 23.2 to 23.13 can be swung open to the outside to provide access to the machine 1 over a large area.
For example, the protective doors 23.4 and 23.5 must be opened on the operator side B to allow access to the folded-down feed conveyor 4 from the operator side, for example to load or clean it.
Furthermore, a pivoting protective hood 23.1 is symbolically shown, which can be pivoted about a pivot axis 23.1′ lying inclined in the passage direction 10 and which, in the pivoted-down state, covers the rotating blade 3 as far as possible.
Each of these movable protective parts 23.1-23.13 is assigned an event sensor 27.1-27.13, which is attached to an adjacent, usually fixed, component such as the frame of the protective housing 30 or the housing of the cutting unit 7. The event sensor is usually a position sensor which detects the closed position of the respective protective part and reports this to the control unit 1 and, if the protective part is not completely closed, emits an alarm signal to the control unit 1* which is interpreted by the latter as a start event in service mode SM if this is already activated or is activated by the operator immediately after the start event.
To carry out a work order, he switches to the slicing mode CM, which usually comprises several slicing programs AP1, AP2, etc., and selects the slicing program suitable for his current work order, for example on the basis of the type of product to be sliced or the portions to be produced, for example the slicing program AP2, and slices the product pieces or calibers K.
If service work has to be carried out on machine 1—which may also be indicated to the operator by control 1* of machine 1 with regard to the time, and may therefore also be necessary in the middle of the running work order—the operator switches to service mode SM by means of changeover switch 25, whereupon the slicing operation is aborted or at least interrupted.
If the service work to be performed requires the protective door 23.1 to be opened, for example, the operator opens this protective door 23.1, which is registered by an event sensor 27.1 mounted there—for example a position sensor that detects that the protective door 23.1 is now no longer in the closed position—and reported to the control 1*.
If the opening of this protective door 23.2 is stored in the control system as a start event for only one specific service program, for example the cleaning program SP1, the control system 1* then usually starts this service program SP1 immediately.
If the opening of this protective door 23.2 is stored in the control 1* as the only or primary start event for different service programs, for example SP2.1 and SP2.2—in this case two different repair programs for the repair of, for example, different components of the machine 1—then two cases must be distinguished:
If the opening of this protective door 23.2 is the only stored start event for both service programs SP2.1 and SP2.2 in question, the operator must inform the control 1* by means of a selector switch 26—which is also usually present on the service unit 22—which specific one of the two service programs in question in this case he wishes to execute.
For this purpose, the control unit 1* usually offers him only these two service programs SP2.1 and SP2.2 for selection after opening the protective door 23.1. Only after the selection can the control unit start the selected service program, for example SP 2.1.
If, according to
Of course, the secondary start event, like the primary start event, is usually an operation that the operator must perform anyway in order to perform the desired service work.
If the movement of a working part 24 of the machine 1 or sequence of movements of one or more working parts 24 of the machine 1 stored in a service program already poses a risk of injury to the operator,
The latter can be achieved, for example, by opening a protective door 23.2—which represents the start event—only a small gap at first, which does not yet allow an arm to be pushed through, and this protective door 23.2 can only be opened further—as is necessary for carrying out the service work—after the corresponding service program SP has moved the working parts 24 concerned into the service position.
When the service work is completed—which may require one or more corresponding completion messages from the operator at the control unit 22, but in any case a final closing of all guard parts 23, which is detected by the corresponding event sensors 27—the control unit 1* emits a signal that the machine 1 can now be switched back to the cutting mode CM.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102022116352.0 | Jun 2022 | DE | national |
