VALKA EHF Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120307013 | FOOD PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AND CUTTING TOUGH TISSUES FROM FOOD ITEMS - A food processing apparatus for detecting and cutting tough tissues from food items such as fish, meat, or poultry. At least one x-ray machine associated to a first conveyor for imaging incoming food items on the first conveyor based on a generated x-ray image indicating the location of the tough tissues in the food items. A vision system supplies second image data of the food items subsequent to the imaging by the x-ray machine. The second image data including position related data indicating the position of the food items on the second conveyor prior to the cutting. A mapping mechanism determines an estimated coordinate position of the food items on the second conveyor by utilizing the x-ray image and tracking position data. The processor compares the estimated coordinate position of the food items to the actual position on the second conveyor based on the second image data. | 12-06-2012 |
20120150339 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PORTIONING OF ARTICLE - A method is provided for allocating a first item from a group of items to a receiver selected from a group of receivers. The method includes obtaining characteristic property information for the group of items and obtaining capacity information for the group of receivers. According to the method, a characteristic property of the first item which is to be allocated and a characteristic property of a selected second item within the group of items are used in consideration of possible options for allocating said first and second items to the group of receivers. Taking into account the respective capacities of receivers in the group of receivers, it is then determined which receiver should be selected for allocation of the first item thereto. | 06-14-2012 |
20090238670 | ROBOT GRIPPER FOR FOOD PRODUCTS - The invention relates to a gripper for a robotic arm which is specially designed for fresh food products. The invention also relates to a method, a device and a system which arranges food products fully automatically onto a conveyor, e.g. in-feed conveyor to an IQF freezer, or into a tray or a box. The gripper unit comprises penetration mechanism for penetrating into the articles that are to be picked up, thereby providing an engagement between the gripper unit and the articles while rearranging the positions of the articles, whereby the position of the penetration mechanism into the articles is operated in such a way that one end of the articles becomes at least partially freely hanging. | 09-24-2009 |
20090057098 | ARTICLE DISTRIBUTION APPARATUS - This invention relates to an article distribution apparatus for distributing a stream of conveyed food articles from a conveyor conveying the food articles to one or more receiving stations, where two or more receiving arms are used for successively receiving and displacing the food articles from the conveyor to the one or more receiving stations. In a receiving position the first receiving arm is arranged at the end of the conveyor and forms an extension of the conveyor and the conveying path of the food articles for receiving one or more of the food articles. After receiving one or more food articles from the conveyor the first receiving arm is moved from the receiving position to the one or more receiving stations, the receiving position subsequently being replaced by the second receiving arm for receiving one or more of the subsequent food articles. | 03-05-2009 |
20090026119 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GRADING ARTICLES BASED ON WEIGHT, AND ADAPTED COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA - The present invention relates to an apparatus for grading food articles based on at least one characteristic of the food articles. The grading comprises building up portions of the food articles in containers or grading the food articles onto one or more receiving areas, wherein the arrangement of the food articles during the grading is preserved. According to the invention, determining means determines one or more characteristic parameters indicating the characteristics of the food articles. A first conveyor conveys the food articles along a closed-loop conveying path, where the conveyor comprising a number of article holders is attached to the conveyor for holding the food articles during the conveying along the closed-loop conveying path. An arranging means arranges the food articles onto the article holders, where the article holders preserve the arrangement of the food articles in the article holders during the conveying. A processor uses the one or more characteristic parameters for selecting article holders that are suitable for the grading. Removing means then finally removes the food articles from the article holders in the containers or to the one or more receiving areas without altering the arrangement of the food articles in the article holders. | 01-29-2009 |