Method and system for collecting solid food products

文档序号：114146 发布日期：2021-10-19 浏览：50次中文

阅读说明：本技术 用于收集固态食品的方法和系统 (Method and system for collecting solid food products ) 是由 H·I·汉森于 2018-04-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种收集具有粘性涂层的固态食品并且排出收集的固态食品的方法和收集器。该方法包括：提供具有第一开口的环状隔室,第一开口朝上以接收固态食品；第一开口由从底壁向上延伸的两个同心侧壁界定；还提供定位在环状隔室中并且在环状隔室中沿角度方向可移动的第一刮擦件；在环状隔室中的排出隔室；定位在排出隔室内并且可在排出隔室内沿径向方向移动的活塞；排出隔室具有排出开口,其中该方法还包括：接收环状隔室中的固态食品；借助第一刮擦件在角度方向上刮擦环状隔室,从而将接收的固态食品收集到第一批次中；以及将第一批次引入排出隔室内,借助活塞在径向方向上刮擦排出隔室,并且通过排出开口排出第一批次。(A method and a collector for collecting solid food products having an adhesive coating and discharging the collected solid food products. The method comprises the following steps: providing an annular compartment having a first opening facing upwardly to receive a solid food product; the first opening is defined by two concentric sidewalls extending upwardly from the bottom wall; also provided is a first scraper positioned in the annular compartment and movable in an angular direction in the annular compartment; a discharge compartment in the annular compartment; a piston positioned within the discharge compartment and movable in a radial direction within the discharge compartment; the discharge compartment has a discharge opening, wherein the method further comprises: receiving the solid food product in the annular compartment; scraping the annular compartment in an angular direction by means of a first scraper, thereby collecting the received solid food product into a first batch; and introducing the first batch into the discharge compartment, scraping the discharge compartment in a radial direction by means of the piston, and discharging the first batch through the discharge opening.)

1. A method of collecting a solid food product having a viscous coating and discharging the collected solid food product, the method comprising:

providing an annular compartment having a first opening facing upwardly to receive the solid food product;

the first opening is defined by two concentric sidewalls extending upwardly from a bottom wall;

also provided are:

a first scraper positioned in the annular compartment and movable in an angular direction in the annular compartment,

a discharge compartment in the annular compartment;

a piston positioned within the discharge compartment and movable in a radial direction within the discharge compartment;

the discharge compartment has a discharge opening,

the method further comprises the following steps:

-in a first mode of operation, receiving the solid food product in the annular compartment;

-in a second operating mode, scraping said annular compartment in said angular direction by means of said first scraper, thereby collecting said received solid food product into a first batch; and

introducing the first batch into the discharge compartment,

-in a third operating mode, scraping the discharge compartment in the radial direction by means of the piston and discharging the first batch through the discharge opening.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising cycling between the first, second, and third modes of operation to collect successive quantities of solid food products having a viscous coating into successive batches and discharge the successive batches one at a time.

3. The method of any one of claims 1 to 2, a separation wall having a first side facing the discharge compartment, the first side having a surface in a vertical plane parallel to the radial direction.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, comprising:

providing a second scraper for scraping the annular compartment in the angular direction;

-alternately scraping said annular compartment by means of said first scraper and said second scraper, respectively, to collect said discharged solid food products into a batch and to introduce said batch into a discharge compartment.

5. The method of claim 4, said second scraper having a second face facing said discharge compartment in said third mode of operation when said second scraper has scraped said annular compartment in said second mode of operation.

6. The method of any one of claims 4 to 5, comprising cycling between the first, second and third modes of operation so as to collect a continuous solid food product having a viscous coating into a continuous batch and discharge the continuous batch.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, comprising: in the first or second mode of operation, the dividing wall is moved to a position outside the annular compartment such that the dividing wall is out of the path of the first or second scraper.

8. A collector for collecting solid food products having a viscous coating and discharging the collected solid food products, the collector comprising:

an annular compartment having a first opening facing upwardly to receive the solid food product;

the first opening is defined by two concentric sidewalls extending upwardly from a bottom wall;

the collector further comprises:

a first scraper positioned in said annular compartment and movable in an angular direction therein for scraping said annular compartment and collecting said received solid food products into a first batch and introducing said first batch into said discharge compartment;

a discharge compartment having a discharge opening in the annular compartment;

a piston located within the discharge compartment and radially movable within the discharge compartment to scrape the discharge compartment and discharge the first batch through the discharge opening.

Technical Field

The present specification relates to methods and systems for weighing and collecting solid food products having an adhesive coating.

Background

In industries such as the food industry weighing systems have been described in publications such as US6015049, WO9849892, US5526437, US4569434, EP0909601 and WO12104404, all of which are incorporated herein by reference and into the present specification.

In the food industry, there is a need to sort products or items according to various physical characteristics, such as size, color or weight, or by any combination of these, at high speed or high throughput.

Industrial packages of solid food products, such as pieces or poultry, are typically packaged in packages of approximately equal weight, regardless of the number of pieces contained in the package. Thus, many solid food packages comprise more than one individual product, i.e. the package typically comprises at least two solid food products. Some product packages, such as chicken breast packages, typically include three pieces in each package, however, the number may be larger, such as four or five pieces in the same package, as long as the packages all have approximately the same weight.

To ensure that different weights of food items can be combined in packages having approximately the same weight, a multi-head scale may be used.

One example of a solid food product (as opposed to a liquid) is poultry, and one example of a viscous coating is a marinade. Marinades have a tendency to stick or adhere to the walls of a multi-headed scale, which can introduce weighing errors that can ultimately result in packaging solid food products having a smaller weight than that advertised on the packaging label.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for weighing, collecting and discharging solid food products having an adhesive coating.

The above objects and advantages and many others that will be apparent from the description are obtained according to a first aspect by:

a method of feeding and weighing a solid food product having an adhesive coating, the method comprising:

providing a pool hopper, the pool hopper comprising:

an inlet end for receiving the solid food product;

an outlet end for discharging the solid food product;

a feeder for conveying the solid food product from the inlet end to the outlet end,

introducing said solid food product into said intake end,

conveying the food product by means of the feeder in a direction from the inlet end towards the outlet end,

providing a receptacle for weighing the solid food product and a receptacle support for supporting the receptacle, the receptacle being located below the outlet end, the receptacle comprising:

a first end wall and a second end wall opposite the first end wall;

a first axis extending through the first end wall and the second end wall;

a receiver wall between the first end wall and the second end wall;

the receiver wall having an inner surface forming a cylindrical surface, the axis of rotation of the cylindrical surface coinciding with the first axis,

the inner surface extends angularly about the first axis from a first edge to a second edge at a first angle, the first angle being greater than 150 ° and less than 180 °,

the receptacle further comprising an opening between the first edge and the second edge for receiving the solid food product as it is discharged from the outlet end,

the receiver is rotatably mounted to the receiver support for rotation about the first axis,

discharging the solid food product from the outlet end into the receptacle and weighing the solid food product in a first mode of operation in which the opening is facing upwards,

providing a scraping member for scraping said inner surface,

the scraper member has a scraper member edge contacting the inner surface,

said scraper edge being proximate to said first edge and being fixed as said receiver rotates about said first axis,

in a second mode of operation, the receptacle is rotated such that the second edge rotates to the scraper edge while scraping the inner surface and the solid food product is discharged from the receptacle.

According to a second aspect of the present description, the above objects and advantages are obtained by:

a scale head for feeding and weighing solid food products having an adhesive coating, the scale head comprising:

a pool hopper comprising an inlet end for receiving the solid food product;

an outlet end for discharging the solid food product;

a feeder for conveying the solid food product from the inlet end to the outlet end,

the scale head includes:

a receptacle for weighing the solid food product and a receptacle support for supporting the receptacle, the receptacle being located below the outlet end,

the receiver includes:

a first end wall and a second end wall opposite the first end wall;

a first axis extending through the first end wall and the second end wall;

a bottom wall between the first end wall and the second end wall;

the bottom wall having an inner surface constituting a cylindrical surface, the axis of rotation of the cylindrical surface coinciding with the first axis,

the inner surface extends angularly about the first axis from a first edge to a second edge at a first angle, the first angle being greater than 150 ° and less than 180 °,

the receptacle further comprising an opening between the first edge and the second edge for receiving the solid food product as it is discharged from the outlet end,

the receiver is rotatably mounted to the receiver support for rotation about the first axis,

the receiver further includes:

a scraping member for scraping the inner surface;

the scraper member has a scraper member edge contacting the inner surface,

said scraper edge being proximate to said first edge and being fixed as said receiver rotates about said first axis,

the scale head further comprises:

an actuator for rotating the receptacle in an angular direction such that the second edge rotates to the scraper edge and the solid food product is discharged from the receptacle.

The first angle may be in a selectable interval such as between 160 ° and 180 ° or between 170 ° and 180 °, or between 175 ° and 180 °, or between 150 ° and 175 °, or between 150 ° and 170 °, or between 160 ° and 175 °.

According to a third aspect of the present specification, the above objects and advantages are obtained by:

a collection method of collecting a solid food product having an adhesive coating received from a multi-head scale and discharging the collected solid food product, the method comprising:

providing an annular compartment having a first opening facing upwardly to receive the solid food product;

the first opening is defined by two concentric sidewalls extending upwardly from a bottom wall;

also provided is:

a first scraper positioned in the annular compartment and movable in an angular direction in the annular compartment;

a discharge compartment in the annular compartment;

a piston positioned within the discharge compartment and movable in a radial direction within the discharge compartment;

the discharge compartment has a discharge opening,

the method further comprises the following steps:

-in a first operating mode, receiving the solid food product in the annular compartment from the multi-head weigher;

-in a second operating mode, scraping said annular compartment in said angular direction by means of said first scraper, thereby collecting said received solid food product into a first batch; and

introducing the first batch into the discharge compartment;

-in a third operating mode, scraping the discharge compartment in the radial direction by means of the piston and discharging the first batch through the discharge opening.

According to a fourth aspect of the present description, the above objects and advantages are obtained by:

a collector for collecting solid food items having an adhesive coating received from a multi-head scale and discharging the collected solid food items, the collector comprising:

an annular compartment having a first opening facing upwardly to receive the solid food product;

the first opening is defined by two concentric sidewalls extending upwardly from a bottom wall;

the collector further comprises:

a discharge compartment having a discharge opening in the annular compartment;

Drawings

The above-mentioned aspects will now be explained in more detail below by way of examples of embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a multi-head scale.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the receiver.

Fig. 3 a-3 c show perspective views of the receiver in three different positions.

Figure 4a shows a perspective view of the collector.

Figure 4b shows a perspective view of the collector.

Figure 4c shows a perspective view of the collector.

Figure 4d shows a perspective view of the collector shown in figure 4c in an operational mode constituting a collection mode.

Figure 4e shows a perspective view of the collector shown in figure 4c in an operational mode constituting a collection mode.

Detailed Description

These aspects may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. Therefore, the same elements will not be described in detail with respect to the description of the respective drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a multi-head scale 10.

The multi-head scale includes a receiving section 12. The receiving section has a conical shape with an apex pointing upwards for receiving the solid food product conveyed from above the receiving section.

During operation of the multi-head scale, when solid food products are received from above, the solid food products are generally randomly dispensed onto the receiving section, and due to gravity and the tapered shape of the receiving section, the solid food products will slide downward at the bottom end of the receiving section toward the periphery of the receiving section.

The receiving section may be selectively rotated or vibrated to more evenly distribute the food product along the perimeter of the receiving section and to avoid any food product from remaining on the receiving section for longer periods of time.

Sixteen pool hoppers (feed conveyors) are positioned around the perimeter of the receiving section, along the ring and up to 360 ° around the receiving section, without suffering any interruption, such as parts of the frame system for supporting the conveyor structure used in conjunction with a multi-head scale.

Each pool hopper comprises a feed channel in which a feeder 16 is located. The feeder is a screw conveyor in the form of a hollow rod of helical shape. The distance between the two rings generally corresponds to the size of the solid food to be conveyed, for example about 0.1m in the case of chicken breasts. The feed channel extends from an inlet end 14 located near the periphery of the receiving section to an outlet end 18 located opposite the inlet end.

Solid food products entering the receiving section will be randomly distributed in the pool hopper.

When solid food products enter the inlet end of one of the pool hoppers, they are carried by the screw conveyor along the feed channel towards the outlet end and discharged into the weighing hopper constituting a receiving member 20 below the outlet end.

The multi-head scale includes one receiver for each cell hopper. The tank hopper and the receiving member together constitute a weighing head. Thus, there are sixteen receivers (up to nine can be seen in the perspective view of the multi-head scale shown in FIG. 1). The receivers were placed in a plane below the sixteen pool hoppers along a ring.

The separate receiver will be described in more detail in connection with fig. 2.

Further below the plane of the receiver is a collector, which may be one of four different collectors as described more closely in connection with fig. 4 a-4 e.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of receiver 20.

The receiver is supported by the receiver support.

The receiver has a shape similar to a hollow half cylinder, i.e. it is defined by a first end wall 22 and a second end wall 24 opposite the first.

A first axis 36 extends through the first and second end walls.

Between the first end wall and the second end wall is a bent rectangular receiver wall, i.e. the receiver wall has an inner surface constituting a cylindrical surface, the rotational axis of which coincides with the first axis.

The inner surface extends angularly about the first axis from first edge 32 to second edge 34 at a first angle phi that is 170 deg. (or about 170 deg., such as 179 deg. or 178 deg. or 177 deg., or within 170 deg. + -9 deg. or 170 deg. + -8 deg. + -170 deg. + -7 deg. + -170 deg. + -6 deg. or 170 deg. + -5 deg.). This means that the receptacle is open, i.e. solid food product can fall into the receptacle in the receptacle opening between the first edge and the second edge. Thus, when solid food products are discharged from the outlet end of the pool hopper, they fall, due to gravity, into the receptacle below the outlet end of the respective receptacle.

The receiver is oriented such that the first axis is parallel or substantially parallel to the feed channels, each feed channel of the pool hopper having a second axis extending through the inlet end and the outlet end. Alternatively, the receiver may be oriented such that the first axis is perpendicular to the second axis.

The receiver is rotatably mounted to the receiver support such that the receiver is rotatable about a first axis.

The rotation and orientation of the receptacle and the discharge of the solid food product from the pool hopper are controlled such that the opening is upward when the solid food product is discharged from the pool hopper.

When the solid food product has been discharged into the receptacle, the weight of the solid food product is determined. If a plurality of receptacles have solid food products with a combined weight suitable for batching and packaging together in a package at a target weight, the respective receptacles are rotated upside down so that the solid food products fall out and into a collector located below the receptacles. The different collectors will be described in more detail in connection with fig. 4 a-4 e.

The multi-head scale is used to handle solid food products having an adhesive coating that can adhere to the inner surface and possibly to the first and second end walls. When the receptacle is emptied, a portion of the viscous coating may remain in the receptacle. This may introduce errors in weighing the continuous solid food product. The error may increase with the number of solid food products that have been processed by the multi-head scale. In order to avoid this, a scraper is provided inside the receptacle for scraping the interior of the receptacle when the receptacle is emptied.

The scraper has a scraper edge contacting the inner surface. The scraper edge is close to said first edge, i.e. the scraper edge is less than 10 ° from the first edge.

The scraper is U-shaped such that a base of the scraper scrapes the inner surface, a first leg of the scraper scrapes an inner side of the first end wall, and a second leg of the scraper scrapes an inner side of the second end wall.

The scraper is supported by the scraper mount and is stationary when the receiver rotates about the first axis.

The receiver is connected to an actuator that rotates the receiver such that the inner surface moves along the scraper until the second edge reaches the scraper edge, wherein the receiver has been rotated 170 ° minus the angle of the scraper edge away from the first edge (less than 10 °).

When the receptacle is emptied, it is rotated backwards in the opposite direction, so that it is ready to receive a continuous solid food product. Alternatively, the receptacle may continue to rotate and continue to rotate, ready to receive a continuous solid food product.

Fig. 3 a-3 c show perspective views of receiver 20 in three different positions.

In fig. 3a, the receptacle is facing upwards, i.e. the receptacle opening is facing upwards, and the solid food product 54 is in the receptacle. A cross-section of the receiver with a normal parallel to the first axis will show that the receiver is convex (in a vertical x-y coordinate system where the x-axis is horizontal and the y-axis is vertical). When the receiver has the position shown in fig. 3a, it can be said to be in a first operation mode/state constituting a reception mode.

In fig. 3b, the receptacle has been rotated about 30 °, i.e. the second edge has moved closer to the scraper edge than the position in the receiving mode, and the first edge has moved further away from the scraper edge than the position in the receiving mode. When the receiver has the position shown in fig. 3b, it can be said that it has entered the second operating mode/state constituting the discharge mode.

In fig. 3c, the receiver has been rotated so that it is more or less upside down, i.e. with the receiver opening facing downwards. A cross-section of the receiver with a normal parallel to the first axis will show that the receiver is concave. The second edge moves until it meets the wiper edge. In this way, the inner surface area between the line (where the scraper edge contacts the inner surface in the first mode of operation) and the second edge is scraped.

The solid food product will be discharged from the receptacle due to a combination of gravity and the solid food product being pushed by the receptacle wiper.

When the receiver is emptied, it rotates back to the position it was in the first mode of operation described in connection with fig. 3 a.

The receptacles cycle between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation as successive solid food products are discharged from the outlet end of the feed head above the respective receptacle.

Fig. 4a shows a perspective view of a collector 40, said collector 40 being used for collecting solid food products 54 having an adhesive coating and discharging the collected solid food products.

As described in connection with fig. 1, the collector is located below a multi-head scale, which may be of the type described in connection with fig. 1. The multi-head scale is not shown in fig. 4 a.

A collector is formed as an annular compartment having an upwardly facing first opening for receiving solid food products discharged from a receptacle located above the annular compartment.

The amount of discharged solid food depends on the weight of the individual solid food and the target weight of the packaging in which the amount of solid food is to be batched and packaged, i.e. the target weight may be in the range between e.g. 100g and 10 kg. In fig. 4a, two solid food products have been discharged into the receptacle.

The ring-like compartment has a center that coincides with a vertical axis that also passes through the center of the multi-head scale, i.e., the center is along a common vertical axis at different heights.

The first opening is defined by two concentric sidewalls extending upwardly from the bottom wall 42. The bottom wall has a circular shape, but it may have a ring shape (annular shape). The two concentric side walls are formed by an inner wall 44 and an outer wall 46.

The radial distance between the inner and outer walls (the width of the compartment) is greater than the distance between the first and second end walls 22, 24 so that the solid food product does not fall outside the collector when discharged from the feeding and weighing system.

The collector has a first scraper 48 which can be moved/rotated in an angular direction in the annular compartment.

The collector also has a dividing wall 52, and a second opening in the outer wall between a third edge 58 and a fourth edge 60.

In a first embodiment of the collector, the dividing wall can be moved in a horizontal direction or in a vertical direction into and out of the annular compartment. The divider wall is adjacent the fourth edge when the divider wall is within the annular compartment.

In a second embodiment of the collector, the partition wall is fixed. In a second embodiment, the partition wall is adjacent to the fourth edge.

A third embodiment of the collector 40' is described in connection with fig. 4b, in which the partition wall is replaced by a second scraper.

A fourth embodiment of a collector 40 "is described in connection with fig. 4c, which collector comprises, in addition to the first scrapers and the partition walls, also second scrapers.

Returning to the first embodiment, the two solid food products that have been discharged into the collector will be collected and discharged from the collector. For this reason, the partition wall is removed from the annular compartment and does not interfere with the first scraper. The partition wall is connected to an actuator for moving the partition wall into and out of the annular compartment. The first scraper then moves from a position adjacent the third edge, through the second opening and past the position where the partition wall is located, and may start scraping the bottom wall of the annular compartment.

The first scraper has a first face 62 facing in a scraping direction θ, wherein said first scraper moves around the annular compartment.

The first scraper has a second scraper edge for scraping the bottom surface of the annular compartment. The first scraper further has a third scraper edge and a fourth scraper edge for scraping the surfaces of the inner wall and the outer wall, respectively.

When the first scraper scrapes the annular compartment, the partition wall returns into the annular compartment.

On the way around the ring-shaped compartment, the first scraper collects the two solid food products and moves back to a position at the third edge. This process constitutes the collection mode.

When two solid food products are collected, the first scraper forms together with the partition wall a discharge compartment at the third edge within the annular compartment, and the piston 56, i.e. the area of the surface of the bottom wall adjacent to the second opening marked with a hatching pattern, i.e. the discharge compartment, will be understood as the area of the collector. The area is bounded by the first scraper, the piston and the partition wall.

The collected solid food product is then discharged from the discharge compartment through the second opening. This is achieved by displacing the piston in the radial direction. At the same time, the piston scrapes the bottom and side surfaces of the discharge compartment, leaving as little viscous coating as possible in the discharge compartment. This process constitutes the discharge mode.

The surface of the partition wall facing the discharge compartment is in a vertical plane, which is parallel to the direction of movement of the piston, so that the piston can scrape the surface of the partition wall facing the discharge compartment (when the collector is in the discharge mode).

The first face faces the discharge compartment in the discharge mode and is in a plane parallel to the direction of movement of the piston, i.e. in a plane parallel to the radial direction along which the piston moves, which means that the radial direction does not intersect this plane. In the discharge mode, the piston scrapes the first face during discharge of the collected solid food product.

The first scraper has a thickness (measured in the angular direction) that increases from the inner wall to the outer wall.

The piston has a fifth scraper edge, a sixth scraper edge and an eighth scraper edge for scraping the bottom wall, the partition wall and the first face, respectively.

After the discharge compartment has been emptied, the collector is ready to receive a continuous quantity of solid food products discharged from the plurality of receptacles (receiving mode).

The collector according to the first embodiment cycles between a receiving mode, a collecting mode and a discharging mode. The collector according to the first embodiment can be in the receiving mode and the discharging mode simultaneously.

In a second embodiment, in which the partition wall is permanently fixed at the fourth edge, the first scraper rotates back and forth.

After the discharge compartment is emptied (and before a successive amount of solid food particles is discharged into the annular compartment), the first scraper rotates in a reverse direction in a scraping direction away from the third edge and turns to a position adjacent to the partition wall. The solid food product is then discharged into the annular compartment, and the first scraper starts scraping the annular compartment and collecting the solid food product (in the collecting mode). Finally, the collector enters the discharge mode as described in connection with the first embodiment.

The collector according to the second embodiment cycles between a receiving mode, a collecting mode and a discharging mode. The collector according to the second embodiment cannot be in the receiving mode and the discharging mode at the same time.

Fig. 4b shows a perspective view of a collector 40' for collecting a plurality of solid food products which have been emptied from a corresponding number of receptacles 20 according to a third embodiment.

As described in connection with fig. 1, the collector is located below a multi-head scale, which may be of the type described in connection with fig. 1. The multi-head scale is not shown in fig. 4 b.

In contrast to the collector according to the first embodiment, the collector according to the third embodiment has a second scraper instead of the partition wall. The second scraper is identical to the first scraper. Furthermore, each of the first and second wipers has a back side 64, 68.

The second scraper has a ninth scraper edge for scraping the bottom surface of the annular compartment. The second scraper also has a tenth scraper edge and an eleventh scraper edge for scraping the surfaces of the inner wall and the outer wall, respectively.

In fig. 4b, the collector is in a state where the first scraper is located near the third edge, wherein the first face faces the discharge compartment and the first back face faces the opposite direction.

The second scraper is located near the fourth edge and the second rear face faces the discharge compartment and has a second face facing in the opposite direction (away from the discharge compartment).

The second back face is in a vertical plane that is parallel to the direction of movement of the piston so that the piston can scrape the second back face (when the collector is in the discharge mode).

The first scraper and the second scraper are interchangeable, i.e. during operation of the collector according to the third embodiment, the collector alternates between scraping the annular compartment with the first scraper and the second scraper. The first scraping member and the second scraping member rotate only in the scraping direction.

To collect the two solid food products that have been discharged to the collector in fig. 4b, the second scraper is rotated in a scraping direction away from the position at the fourth edge. At the same time, the first scraper rotates in a scraping direction away from the position at the third edge, passes the second opening and reaches a position at the fourth edge, where the second scraper is pre-positioned before starting scraping the ring-shaped compartment.

The second scraper is rotated all the way to a position at the third edge. In doing so, the two solid food products will be collected and pushed into the discharge compartment. In contrast to the previous discharge mode, the two scrapers have now changed position, i.e. the first back face is in a vertical plane parallel to the direction of movement of the piston, so that the piston can scrape the first back face and the second face faces the discharge compartment. When the second face faces the discharge compartment, the second face is in a vertical plane that is parallel to the direction of movement of the piston so that the piston can scrape the second face.

The collector according to the third embodiment cycles between the receiving mode, the collecting mode and the discharging mode. The collector according to the third embodiment can be in the receiving mode and the discharging mode at the same time.

Fig. 4c shows a perspective view of a collector 40 "for collecting a plurality of solid food products which have been emptied from a corresponding number of receptacles 20 according to a fourth embodiment.

As described in connection with fig. 1, the collector is located below a multi-head scale, which may be of the type described in connection with fig. 1. The multi-head scale is not shown in fig. 4 c.

Compared to the collector according to the first embodiment, the collector according to the fourth embodiment additionally has a second scraper. The second scraper is identical to the first scraper.

In fig. 4c, the collector is in a state where the first scraper is located near the third edge and the first face faces the discharge compartment, the partition wall is located in the annular compartment, and the second scraper is adjacent to the partition wall on the opposite side of the partition wall from the first scraper.

The two solid food products discharged into the collector will be collected and discharged from the collector. For this purpose, the second scraping member is rotated in a scraping direction away from a position adjacent to the partition wall. At the same time, the partition wall is removed from the annular compartment and does not interfere with the first scraper. The first scraper then moves from a position adjacent the third edge, through the second opening and past the position at which the partition wall is located. This is illustrated in fig. 4d, where the image of the separation wall is shown in a dashed circle as it has been moved out of the ring-shaped compartment.

The partition wall is then moved back into the annular compartment again, and the first scraper is positioned adjacent to the partition wall.

The second scraper is rotated all the way to a position at the third edge. In doing so, the two solid food products will be collected and pushed into the discharge compartment. Compared to the previous discharge mode, the two scrapers have now changed position, i.e. the second scraper has a second face facing the discharge compartment, said second face being in a vertical plane parallel to the direction of movement of the piston, so that the piston can scrape the second face.

Finally, the piston can discharge the collected solid food product out of the compartment through the second opening, which is shown in fig. 4 e.

The first scraping member scrapes the annular compartment in turn with the second scraping member.

The following items describe further features according to the present description.

1. A method of feeding and weighing a solid food product having an adhesive coating, the method comprising: