RU2645974C2 - Device for orienting fish head in one direction - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: device includes a conveyor with trays oriented perpendicular to the conveyor motion, pivotally mounted thereon and pivoted in the orientation plane. The tray is provided with the second roller interacting with an additional guide and an additional copier. The guides are pivotally connected to the copiers, and the copiers rest on thrust rollers of the lifting devices, mounted with the possibility of vertical movement, by which the device is additionally equipped. The device is equipped with a calculating unit connected to the lifting devices and with measuring instruments oppositely mounted on the sides of the conveyor in front of the copiers. Each device contains a laser and an ultrasonic sources connected through a modulator with the calculating unit, as well as photodetectors and ultrasound receivers associated with them, which perceive the radiation reflected from the fish and connected through a demodulator to the calculating unit. The opposite measuring instruments are installed symmetrically with respect to the vertical plane passing through the center of the trays, and use a different frequency modulation of the laser and ultrasonic sources to exclude mutual interference.

EFFECT: increasing the reliability of fish orientation.

2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the fishing industry, and more specifically, to the field of technological equipment for orienting fish head in one direction, and can find application on coastal fish processing enterprises and vessels of the fishing fleet.

The operation of a modern fish-cutting machine involves preliminary orientation of the fish according to a certain characteristic, as well as the correct laying of carcasses on the operating conveyor of the machine. In general, the loading unit performs the following technological operations: piecewise separation of carcasses, orienting the fish head in one direction, timely piecewise supply of oriented carcasses to the operating conveyor of a fish cutting machine. The listed actions are performed by the corresponding devices, most often included in the boot unit.

Currently, increasing the productivity of fish processing industries is constrained by the lack of reliable devices for orienting raw materials (orientators) before loading them into fish processing machines. In this regard, it is not possible to fully mechanize the processing of fish and, as a result, it is impossible to abandon the tedious manual labor in fish processing plants.

The main factor determining the reliability and stability of the fish cutting machine is the operation of preliminary orientation of the fish head in one direction. The overall performance of the fish processing industry and the quality of the cut fish depend on the correctness of the orientation operation. The following main methods are used to orient the fish:

- orientation of the fish on a horizontal oscillating plane;

- orientation of the fish on an inclined plane;

- orientation of fish on the slats moving in antiphase;

- orientation of the fish due to the separation of the flow of carcasses by mechanical capture of the head or tail of each instance.

Existing devices for orienting fish with their heads in one direction, implementing the above methods, often allow carcasses to be misoriented — disorientation. In this regard, the likelihood of jamming of the working bodies of fish-cutting machines increases due to erroneously oriented fish, and an emergency stop of the entire fish processing line is also possible. Thus, the reliability of the operation of orienting the fish head in one direction has a significant impact on the stability of the operation of fish-cutting machines and, at the same time, remains low in existing orientation devices.

Along with this, in orienting devices based on the above methods, the fish is damaged during capture and during shedding from the grips. The movement of fish along vibrating working bodies leads to the loss of part of the scales and juice, and the consistency of carcasses is deteriorating.

The principles of operation of well-known orientators are based mainly on the use of its particular properties - dimensions, thickness, section, etc. At the same time, the use of more general properties of fish would significantly improve the universality of devices. So, for example, a common property of commercial fish species is the significant asymmetry of the wedge-shaped lateral profile, which does not depend on the size of the carcass.

In view of the foregoing, a device is required that provides reliable operation of orienting fish with high productivity and versatility that will not damage the fish.

A device for orienting fish is known (RU No. 1204165, IPC A22C 25/12, publ. 01/15/1986), including a table mounted on a vertical shaft, equipped with an annular guide board mounted above the table with a gap, fish loading and unloading trays. The device also includes a cylinder mounted above the table with a guide bar adjacent to the annular board in the loading zone, as well as a conical visor mounted on the annular side for directed feeding of the fish tail into the slot. Around the circumference of the device at the location of the slit mounted annular sector with teeth for fixing the caudal fin.

The device carries out orientation of the fish due to the occurrence of centrifugal forces, which, when the table rotates, press the carcass to the annular guide board. The fish moves under a conical visor and unfolds with the head cut forward.

The main disadvantage of this device is the low reliability of the orientation of the fish. In the device, the carcass of the fish is crimped by the working bodies, in connection with which extrusion of the entrails and damage to the carcass are possible, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of the product. There is a high probability of jamming of carcasses between the table and the conical visor, as well as jamming of the tail of the fish in the ring sector with teeth. This does not allow to increase the productivity of the device, significantly reduces the reliability of orientation and leads to downtime.

A device for orienting fish with his head in one direction (RU No. 1344310, IPC A22C 25/12, publ. 10/15/1987), including a transporting body and two articulated plates. The transporting body consists of two rotationally driven drums mounted one below the other with the possibility of their simultaneous dilution. The plates are spring loaded and fixed on the horizontal axis. In this case, one of the plates is located below the plane of symmetry of the drums and parallel to it with the possibility of rocking motion. The second plate is made curved and placed with a gap relative to the surface of the lower drum.

The device provides orientation of the fish due to the difference in elasticity of the head and tail parts of the fish. The head part of the fish is less elastic, so the carcass head first hits the straight plate and bends it under the influence of its own weight. The tail of the fish is more elastic, so the tail bends, falls into the gap between the drum and the curved plate, the carcass falls on the curved plate and bends it.

The main disadvantages of this device are low reliability of orientation and low productivity. If the carcass hits the corresponding plate, it largely depends on the consistency of the fish. In the case of the arrival of chilled raw materials or fish with a damaged tail, carcasses may fall forward with their tail on a straight plate. In addition, it is possible that a fish gets stuck between a curved plate and a drum. The performance of the device is low, since an increase in the speed of dragging the carcasses leads to a significant decrease in the reliability of orientation, since the carcasses when moving at high speed will fall on a straight plate.

The closest technical solution is a device for orienting fish with his head in one direction (RU No. 1796118, IPC A22C 25/12, publ. 02.23.1993), including a conveyor with swivel trays with rollers pivotally attached to it at one end, a guide located under the conveyor and designed to interact with the rollers of the trays to divert non-oriented fish. The trays are spring-loaded, and spring-loaded elastic clips with rollers for fixing the fish are installed above them. The device is equipped with a copier for interacting with rollers of spring-loaded elastic clips. The roller of each clip is connected by means of a lever to the lower side of each tray, and the copier is located between the working branch of the conveyor and the guide.

The device carries out orientation of the fish due to the difference in carcass thickness in the head and tail parts. Since the thickness of the head portion is greater than the thickness of the tail of the fish, the elastic spring-loaded clamps are lowered down and fixed in the trays of the carcass, which are oriented with the head toward the clamps. The carcasses oriented with the tail towards the clamps are not fixed by them, since the clamps do not reach the tail during lowering. When moving along the guide, the trays rotate, and the carcasses that are not fixed in the trays with clamps slide off the trays and are removed.

The decisive disadvantages of this device are the low reliability of orientation, low productivity and a significant number of damaged carcasses of fish. The reliability of the fixation of carcasses depends on the thickness of the body of the fish and the consistency. Instances of even one species of fish differ in size and shape. This leads to the fact that many copies are not held by the clamps by the head and slide off the trays when they are rotated. Clips create large local stresses in the fish tissue, and therefore, carcass integrity may be impaired and product quality may be reduced. Clippings of the snout and skin are possible. The increase in conveyor speed leads to a decrease in the reliability of the fixation of carcasses, which significantly limits the performance of the device.

The invention solves the problem of improving the reliability of orientation of the fish with the head in one direction, eliminating damage to the fish, increasing productivity and improving versatility by using the asymmetric reflection of light and ultrasonic waves by the head and tail parts of the fish body lying on its side in the tray.

To achieve the desired technical result in a device for orienting fish with his head in one direction, including a conveyor with trays pivotally mounted on a vertical plane pivotally mounted on rollers, a guide located below the conveyor designed to interact with trays rollers, a copier, trays on a conveyor are proposed Orient perpendicular to the movement of the conveyor and install with the possibility of rotation in the orientation plane. In addition, it is proposed that the tray be equipped with a second roller interacting with the additional guide and the copier, the guides being pivotally connected to the copiers, and the copiers should be supported by the thrust rollers of the lifting devices installed with the possibility of vertical movement, which it is proposed to additionally equip the device. In addition, it is proposed to additionally equip the device with a computing unit associated with lifting devices, and measuring instruments that are opposite mounted on the sides of the conveyor in front of the copiers, each of which contains laser and ultrasound sources connected through a modulator to the computing unit, as well as photo- and ultrasonic receivers receiving radiation reflected from the fish and through a demodulator connected to the computing unit, moreover, the opposite measurement Devices are invited to set symmetrically with respect to the vertical plane passing through the center of the tray, and use a different frequency modulation laser and ultrasonic sources to avoid interference.

For automatic decision-making on carcass removal to one of the conveyors of a fish-cutting machine, depending on the orientation of the head, information on the actual location of the fish head is required. Data on the position of the head can be obtained by processing measurement information about the geometric shape of the fish.

Fish of the main commercial species is characterized by the fact that the body shape has a characteristic wedge-shaped towards the tail. With simultaneous irradiation of the head and tail parts of the carcass with light and ultrasonic waves, this asymmetry of the shape determines different angles of reflection of the incident waves. This leads to a noticeable difference in the levels of radiation reflected by the head and tail parts, which is recorded by measuring instruments. Calculation of the difference in the levels of the reflected signals allows the microcomputer to reveal the characteristic asymmetry of the geometric shape of each instance. This feature allows you to reliably determine the position of the head and tail to make an accurate decision about the orientation of the fish.

In fish processing facilities, water droplets and steam particles can affect equipment. It is also possible sticking to the elements of measuring instruments of fish scales and integumentary tissues. This necessitates taking measures to increase the reliability of measurements of the shape of the body of the fish. An effective measure to prevent the influence of production factors is the simultaneous use of two types of waves of different nature - light and ultrasound.

High noise immunity is characterized by laser radiation. The use of laser sources even with a low beam intensity and a narrow beam allows you to confidently detect the asymmetry of the fish body under the influence of water drops and fog.

At the same time, the use of ultrasonic waves makes measuring instruments insensitive to the adherence of moist scales and opaque particles of integumentary tissues, since ultrasonic radiation passes almost unhindered through them.

Thus, with the simultaneous use of light radiation, two independent differences in the levels of reflected signals are calculated along with ultrasonic waves, which significantly increases the reliability of determining the asymmetry of the fish body under the influence of adverse production factors.

The accompanying drawings show:

FIG. 1 - the proposed device for orienting fish with his head in one direction, front view;

FIG. 2 - the same side view.

In the drawings, the following notation:

1 - tray;

2 - roller;

3 - hinge;

4 - conveyor chain;

5, 6 - asterisk;

7, 8 - guide;

9, 10 - copier;

11, 12 - thrust roller;

13, 14 - lifting device;

15, 16 - measuring device;

17, 18 — laser source;

19, 20 - an ultrasonic source;

21, 22 - photodetector;

23, 24 - an ultrasonic receiver;

25, 26 - modulator;

27, 28 - demodulator;

29 - computing unit;

30 - fish.

In the proposed technical solution, the reliability of orienting the fish with the head in one direction is increased due to the simultaneous comparison in the computing unit of the levels of reflected light and ultrasonic waves from the head and tail parts of the fish. The complete elimination of mutual interference of the measuring bodies opposite installed on the conveyor sides is ensured by the different-frequency modulation of light and ultrasonic waves, as well as the demodulation of reflected waves. The use of two types of radiation provides high accuracy in determining the position of fish in the conditions of contamination of measuring elements and exposure to moisture. The increase in productivity is due to the high response speed of photodetectors and ultrasonic receivers, quick decision-making in the computing unit on the removal of fish to the appropriate side of the device, as well as the accelerated rotation of the articulated trays with lifting devices. The exception of damage to the carcass of the fish during the orientation operation is ensured by non-contact determination of the location of the head of each carcass. An increase in universality with respect to the types and sizes of commercial fish is ensured by measuring such a common feature of the processed objects as the significant asymmetry of the wedge-shaped side profile, independent of the type and size of the carcass.

In the proposed device for orienting fish with the head in one direction, the trays 1 are mounted on the rollers 2. The trays 1 are connected by means of hinges 3 to the conveyor chain 4 stretched on the sprockets 5 and 6. The tray 1 has the ability to rotate on the hinge 3 in a vertical plane perpendicular to the movement of the trays 1 with fish. The guides 7 and 8 are pivotally connected to the copiers 9 and 10, which are supported from the bottom by the thrust rollers 11 and 12, respectively. The thrust roller 11 is connected to the lifting device 13, the thrust roller 12 is connected to the lifting device 14. Measuring devices 15 and 16 are opposite installed on the sides of the conveyor. In the measuring device 15, a laser source 17 and an associated photodetector 21, an ultrasonic source 19 and associated with an ultrasonic receiver 23, a modulator 25, a demodulator 27. A modulator 25 is connected to a laser source 17 and an ultrasonic source 19, a demodulator 27 is connected to a photodetector 21 and an ultrasonic receiver 23. In the measurement The instrument 16 has a laser source 18 and an associated photodetector 22, an ultrasound source 20 and an associated ultrasound receiver 24, a modulator 26, a demodulator 28. A modulator 26 is connected to a laser source 18 and an ultrasonic source 20, a demodulator 28 is connected to a photodetector 22 and ultrasonic receiver 24. Lifting devices 13 and 14, modulators 25 and 26, demodulators 27 and 28 are connected to the computing unit 29.

Description of the operation of the device for orienting fish with his head in one direction

The fish 30 is located in the trays 1, moved by the conveyor chain 4. The rollers 2 of the trays 1 roll along the guides 7 and 8. The lifting devices 13, 14 are in the raised state and support the copiers 9, 10 by means of the stop rollers 11, 12, as a result of which the copiers 9, 10 are raised, and their upper edges are at the level of the guides 7, 8. The computing unit 29 transmits to the modulators 25, 26 commands specifying various modulation frequencies of the laser and ultrasonic radiation of the measuring devices 15, 16. The modulator 25 modulates the oscillations of the laser source 17 and ultra the sound source 19, and the modulator 26 modulates the oscillations of the laser source 18 and the ultrasonic source 20. When the tray 1 with the fish 30 passes between the measuring devices 15, 16, the laser beam emitted by the laser sources 17, 18, as well as the ultrasonic vibrations emitted by the ultrasonic beam, act on the carcass sources 19, 20. When laser and ultrasound beams fall on the surface of a fish’s body, their partial reflection occurs, the conditions of which are determined by the asymmetric shape of the fish. Since the fish body has a pronounced wedge-shaped toward the tail, the levels of laser and ultrasonic vibrations reflected from the head and tail parts of the fish are significantly different. Laser light and ultrasonic waves, reflected from the surface of the fish 30, are incident on the photodetectors 21, 22 and ultrasonic receivers 23, 24. Signals about the radiation levels from the photodetector 21 and the ultrasonic receiver 23 are fed to the demodulator 27, and the signals from the photodetector 22 and the ultrasonic receiver 24 enter the demodulator 28. Thus, the measuring device 15 only accepts the reflected waves that emit the laser source 17 and the ultrasonic source 19, and the measuring device 16 only accepts the reflected waves that are emitting the laser source 18 and the ultrasonic source 20 are eliminated. This way mutual interference between the measuring devices 15 and 16 is completely eliminated. If the fish 30 is oriented with the tail toward the measuring device 16, then the levels of reflected laser and ultrasonic signals received by the measuring device 16 are higher compared to the levels the signals received by the measuring device 15. The demodulated signals come from demodulators 27, 28 to the computing unit 29, which calculates the difference between the levels of the received reflected signals for zhdogo type of radiation. Based on this information, the computing unit 29 transmits a command to one of the lifting devices. If the fish 30 is oriented with its head toward the measuring device 15 (Fig. 1), then the computing unit 29 gives a command to the lifting device 13. The lifting device 13 lowers the thrust roller 11, as a result of which the copier 9 falls under its own weight. Since the roller 2 of the corresponding tray 1 at this point rolls along the surface of the copier 9, then the roller 2 goes down from the guide 7 to the lowered copier 9, and the tray 1 rotates on the hinge 3 and tilts towards the lowered lifting device 13. The fish 30 slides out of the tray 1 head first on one side of the device and is relegated to the conveyor of a fish cutting machine. Since the fish 30, when moving on an inclined plane, tends to turn its head forward, the correct orientation of the carcass is maintained until it hits the conveyor of the fish cutting machine. After the descent of the carcass, the computing unit 29 gives a command to the lifting device 13, which raises the thrust roller 11, as a result of which the copier 9 also rises, and the empty tray 1 returns to the horizontal position while the roller 2 moves along the copier 9. The corresponding roller 2 of the tray 1 comes off the copier 9 and then rolls along the guide 7. If the fish 30 is oriented with the head toward the measuring device 16, then the computing unit 29 gives a lowering command to the lifting device 14. As a result, the fish 30 is led head forward on the other side of the device into a fish-cutting machine. The cycles of measuring the position of the head of the fish 30 and the tipping of the tray 1 are repeated for each instance.

Thus, when using the proposed device, in comparison with the device described in the closest analogue, reliable orientation of the fish with the head in one direction is provided. As industrial studies show, productivity when orienting fish increases by 2 times, damage to carcasses is excluded. The device allows you to orient the fish in a wider species and size ranges.

The device provides reliable orientation of the fish head in one direction, which eliminates the time-consuming operation of manual orientation, maintain the quality of the finished product, and also reduces the number of personnel in the workplace.

Claims (1)

A device for orienting fish with the head in one direction, including a conveyor with trays pivotally mounted on a vertical plane and mounted on rollers, a guide located under the conveyor for interacting with trays rollers, a copier, characterized in that the trays on the conveyor are oriented perpendicular to the movement conveyor and installed with the possibility of rotation in the orientation plane, in addition, the tray is equipped with a second roller interacting with additional guide and mine ohm, and the guides are pivotally connected to the copiers, and the copiers rely on the thrust rollers of the lifting devices installed with the possibility of vertical movement, which are additionally equipped with the device, in addition, the device is additionally equipped with a computing unit associated with the lifting devices, and measuring devices opposite mounted on the sides conveyor in front of copiers, each of which contains laser and ultrasound sources connected through a modulator to a computing unit, and also correspondingly coupled photo and ultrasonic receivers that receive radiation reflected from the fish and through a demodulator are connected to the computing unit, and the opposite measuring instruments are installed symmetrically with respect to the vertical plane passing through the center of the trays and use different frequency modulation of laser and ultrasonic sources to exclude mutual interference.

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