Vibratory feeders solve a meat handling issue

Enmin Vibratory Equipment engineers were asked to develop a vibratory handling system that would allow frozen meat to be presented to a special conveying process that individually weighed the meat pieces before transferring them to a packaging process.

Bulk meat is initially handled through a dicing machine at a rate of 1000 kg/h then conveyed to a spiral freezer. On exiting the freezer the task presented to Enmin engineers was to accumulate the product, then separate the frozen pieces into four lanes discharging at a constant rate to the special conveying process. Issues that needed to be considered were the irregular shape and sizes of the meat pieces, time to process avoiding potential defrosting and engineering the vibratory handling system to accommodate the existing installation.

Enmin undertook trials of the product to first establish the best form of vibratory feeders to be employed having both electromagnetic and electromechanical types available. Tests proved that the latter electromechanical designs would be best suited. The engineering model also showed that the overall concept could be installed with a minor adjustment to the existing installation. A feature of this concept was that the complete vibratory handling system was demountable and engineered for maximum flexibility to assist the installation.

The vibratory handling system is divided into three stages to achieve the end result of delivering a constant supply of product of separate pieces of meat. Stage one accepts the frozen meat from the spiral conveyor and since it is not a constant supply there is a need to have some accumulation. Through a specially developed gate the accumulated product is converted to a more constant supply where the pieces are processed via a series of diverters to stage two.

This second stage further channels the meat into a specific area on the unit which is designed to eliminate any overriding of pieces. Through a clever adjustable gating system the pieces are delivered to the third and final stage of the conveying process.

The third vibratory feeding unit has a series of contoured vee sections that form the four meat streams into constant end for end lines, before discharging to a directional chute for delivery to the special conveying process handling trays.

The three stages of vibratory feeders are positioned in a cascading arrangement and since each stage is provided with its own control station the system can be tuned to suit the material flow. The design is flexible in that the drive angles are adjustable as well as having the facility be inclined or declined should the meat parameters or upstream processes change in the future.

With the exception of the drive motors the entire vibratory handling system is constructed in 304 grade stainless steel and engineered to meet with HACCP requirements.

Benefits of using the Enmin vibratory feeding system is in cleaning since all surfaces are easily accessible and where necessary parts can be quickly dismantled. Safety issues such as noise are not applicable since sub 75 decibels are the case, motors are totally enclosed and other moving parts have no nip points or rotating components.

Prior to shipment, full-scale tests were performed to fully satisfy the operator of the performance of the equipment and to demonstrate the ease of installing the equipment through the demountable design.

Parallel to their ability to engineer custom-designed systems, Enmin Vibratory Equipment offers a range of standard electromagnetic and electromechanical vibratory feeders, screeners and conveyors for the food and allied industries servicing both local and overseas markets.