Apparatus for manufacturing biodegradable food service article and method

Abstract

An apparatus and method manufactures biodegradable food dishes and the like using a slurry of food starch and limestone which is formed and heated in a press into a shape of a food dish or food container or the like. The formed dishes or containers are removed from the press and trimmed in a trimming station, after which a lamination station laminates a biodegradable film onto food contacting surfaces of the food dish or the like. An optional step of applying a wax coating to a rear surface of the food dish or the like is provided. The now completed food dish or food container is provided to a packaging apparatus for stacking and packaging.

1 . An apparatus for manufacture of biodegradable food service articles and the like, comprising: 
 a press having upper and lower press plates operable to press the press plates together, said press plates defining cavities having a shape for molding a plurality of food service articles, said press being operable to form the food service articles in a matrix arrangement;    a heater in said press to heat said cavities;    a supply of biodegradable slurry;    a depositer mounted to move between said upper and lower press plates, said depositor being connected to said supply of biodegradable slurry and operable to deposit predetermined quantities of the slurry into said cavities in said press plates, said depositer including an accumulator to receive a quantity of the slurry from said supply and provide the slurry during depositing, said depositor including a plurality of depositor nozzles connected to said accumulator and being operable to deposit the slurry row by row in said matrix arrangement;    a first transfer assembly including a plurality of vacuum pickups in a matrix arrangement corresponding to said matrix arrangement of said press, said first transfer assembly being mounted and operable to move between said upper and lower press plates, said vacuum pickups being operable to engage molded food service articles substantially simultaneously in substantially all of said cavities of said matrix arrangement of said press and to remove the molded food service articles from said cavities, said first transfer assembly having a turn over apparatus constructed and operable to invert the food service articles held by said vacuum pickups, said first transfer assembly being movable along a first transfer path;    a second transfer assembly having a plurality of article vacuum holding elements, said second transfer assembly being operable to receive the molded food service articles from said vacuum pickups of said first transfer assembly at a transfer position and hold the food service articles in said article vacuum holding elements, said second transfer assembly receiving the food service articles from said first transfer assembly, said second transfer assembly constructed to receive rows of said food service products from said first transfer assembly, said second transfer assembly being movable along a second transfer path, said second transfer path overlapping said first transfer path at said transfer position;    a trimmer having trimming blades, said trimmer being positioned along said second transfer position and being constructed and operable to trim excess material from the molded food service articles held in said article vacuum holding elements of said second transfer assembly, said trimmer being constructed and operable to trim said food service articles on a row by row basis;    a dust collector operable to collect debris from said trimmer;    a laminator in said second transfer path, said laminator being operable to apply a film to a surface of the food service articles after said trimmer has trimmed the food service articles, said laminator constructed and operable to apply the film to the food service articles row by row;    an off loading station in said second transfer path and constructed and operable to receive the food service articles row by row from the second transfer apparatus;    a conveyor receiving the food service articles from said off loading station, said conveyor being constructed and operable to transport the food service articles along a conveying path in single file;    a coating station constructed and operable to apply a coating to the food service articles, said coating station being disposed along said conveying path;    an inspection station in said conveying path, said inspection station including an optical inspection device constructed and operable to visually inspect the food service articles on the conveyor, said inspection station including a food service article removing apparatus to selectively remove ones of the food service articles from the conveyor; and    a packaging station along said conveyor path.    
     
     
         2 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said heater in said press includes heater rods and heat sinks in thermal contact with ends of said heater rods.  
     
     
         3 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said press includes a lift fixture.  
     
     
         4 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: a deceleration valve on said press and connected to affect closure motion of said press.  
     
     
         5 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: insulation on said press at said press plates disposed to reduce heat loss from said press plates.  
     
     
         6 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said supply of slurry is a hopper, and further comprising: 
 a transport cart for transport of mixed slurry to said hopper, said transport cart including a pump and a hose connected from said pump, said hose having a diameter of greater than 2 inches.    
     
     
         7 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said slurry supply includes a low expansion hose.  
     
     
         8 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: air jets directed toward the food service articles held by said first transfer assembly.  
     
     
         9 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said second transfer assembly includes manifolds shaped to hold the food service article, said manifolds being shaped to flex the food service article to present an edge of the food service article for trimming by said trimmer.  
     
     
         10 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 9 , further comprising: a ceramic coating on a surface of said manifolds.  
     
     
         11 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: a high performance vacuum pump connected to said second transfer assembly to generate a vacuum to hold the food service articles.  
     
     
         12 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said second transfer assembly includes a shuttle mounted for movement along a frame, said shuttle having a frame formed of a rigid plate.  
     
     
         13 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: bar straps connected so vertical guide shafts of said second transfer assembly to maintain said guide shafts in parallel.  
     
     
         14 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: shocks on said second transfer assembly to cushion vertical motion of a shuttle of said second transfer assembly.  
     
     
         15 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said apparatus is configured for forming bowls, and said trimmer includes eight trimming blades.  
     
     
         16 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: air jets directed toward said trimming blades of said trimmer.  
     
     
         17 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: debris guards at said trimmer mounted to deflect debris from said trimming blades.  
     
     
         18 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said dust collector includes brushes contacting said food service articles to remove debris.  
     
     
         19 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said laminator includes heaters to heat the film, said heaters including stainless steel thermocouples.  
     
     
         20 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said off load station includes a lamination roller.  
     
     
         21 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said laminator includes a film supply, said film supply including pinch rollers for moving the film of the film supply, said pinch rollers including drive gears at only one end of said pinch rollers.  
     
     
         22 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said laminator includes a film take-up for used portions of the film, said film take-up including a second take-up roller station for supporting a second take-up roller.  
     
     
         23 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said dust collector includes a self cleaning filter.  
     
     
         24 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said apparatus includes a plurality of modules, each of said modules including: a press, a depositor, first and second transfer assemblies, a trimmer, a laminator and an off loading station, said plurality of modules being connected to a single one of said conveyor.  
     
     
         25 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 24 , wherein said dust collector includes a single vacuum apparatus for said plurality of modules.  
     
     
         26 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 24 , further comprising: a chiller connected to each of said plurality of modules.  
     
     
         27 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 24 , wherein said slurry supply is connected to supply slurry to each of said plurality of modules.  
     
     
         28 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 24 , wherein said conveyor includes a plurality of first conveyor portions connected to each of said plurality of modules at said off loading stations, said conveyor includes a single second portion extending from said first portions to said coating station and said inspection station and said packaging station.  
     
     
         29 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: a steam collection system connected to said press, said steam collection system including drains and clean out traps.  
     
     
         30 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said depositor includes push lock connectors.  
     
     
         31 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said first and second transfer assemblies are mounted to a frame, said frame including two frame portions capable of separate transport, said two frame portions being joined to one another to form said frame.  
     
     
         32 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: rotary actuators in said first transfer assembly connected to said vacuum pickups and operable to invert said vacuum pickups.  
     
     
         33 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said press includes press plates for said molds, said press plates defining holes, said press having dowels mounted to extend into said holes in said press plates, said holes and dowels being sized to accommodate thermal expansion of said press plates.  
     
     
         34 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said heater in said press includes a plurality of heater rods disposed in a corresponding plurality of holes in said press, said heater rods and said holes being sized to provide a loose fit of said heater rods in said holes.  
     
     
         35 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 34 , further comprising: thermocouples connected to ends of said plurality of heater rods.  
     
     
         36 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: alignment dowels and alignment openings between components of said apparatus.  
     
     
         37 . A method for manufacturing biodegradable food service products, comprising the steps of: 
 mixing a slurry of biodegradable materials;    depositing said slurry as dollops of a predetermined quantity into molds for a plurality of food service articles;    pressing and heating said dollops to form an plurality of the food service articles;    removing the plurality of food service articles from said molds using a first vacuum pickup;    inverting the plurality of food service articles using said first vacuum pickup;    transferring ones of said plurality of food service articles to a second vacuum pickup;    flexing the food service articles in said second vacuum pickup;    trimming excess material from the food service articles while in said flexed condition in said second vacuum pickup;    coating at least one surface of the food service articles with a film; and    collecting and packaging the food service articles.    
     
     
         38 . A method as claimed in  claim 37 , wherein said step of transferring including a first transferring step transferring less than all of the food service articles held by said first vacuum pickup to said second vacuum pickup and a second transferring step transferring further of the food service articles from said first vacuum pickup to said second vacuum pickup.  
     
     
         39 . A method as claimed in  claim 37 , wherein said steps of depositing, pressing, removing, inverting, transferring, flexing, trimming and coating are performed simultaneously in a plurality of modules, and said step of collecting is performed for said plurality of modules in a single collecting apparatus.