Singulation and separation system for a shrimp processor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022039410-A1
Application number	US-202117499093-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 12, 2021
Priority date	Sep 5, 2017
Publication date	Feb 10, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A separation and singulation system for presenting shrimps or other product individually to a processor. The separation and singulation system includes a divider pan that separates a layer of shrimp into several lanes, a shaker pan that receives the lanes of shrimp and agitates them to separate clumps of shrimp and a flume for providing further singulation and acceleration of the shrimp. The singulated, separated shrimps are then sent to a processor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of processing shrimp, comprising the steps of:
providing a batch of shrimp; distributing the batch of shrimp onto a conveyor to form a layer of shrimp; delivering the layer of shrimp to a divider pan; dividing the layer of shrimp into a plurality of lanes of shrimp using the divider pan; and conveying the plurality of lanes of shrimp to a visioning system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
imaging each shrimp using the visioning system to determine the size of each shrimp; and separating the shrimp into different sizes based on the step of imaging each shrimp.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of removing water from the shrimp using a dewatering belt prior to the step of imaging each shrimp.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of conveying the plurality of lanes of shrimp to a visioning system comprises the steps of:
spreading out each lane of shrimp using a shaker pan to form a plurality of spread-out lanes of shrimp; delivering each spread-out lane of shrimp to a flume; singulating each spread-out lane of shrimp using a flume; and transferring the singulated, spread-out lanes of shrimp to the visioning system.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the divider pan comprises a plurality of diverging channels and a plurality of converging channels for receiving product from the diverging channels.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the divider pan comprises:
a back wall extending at an angle from the outfeed of the inclined conveyor belt; a set of upper dividing walls on the back wall that fan out to form diverging channels; and a set of angled lower dividing walls that form converging channels.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein two of the angled lower dividing walls form an A-frame divider having a peak that extends into an end of a diverging channel.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the back wall extends at an angle of between 10° and about 20° from vertical.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of distributing the batch of shrimp onto a conveyor to form a layer of shrimp comprises creating a wave-like motion to spread product onto the conveyor.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of distributing the batch of shrimp onto a conveyor to form a layer of shrimp comprises plunging the shrimp using a plunging paddle.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the batch of shrimp are provided to a bulk feed tank, and further comprising the step of pulling the shrimp out of the bulk feed tank using a first inclined conveyor belt.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of distributing the batch of shrimp comprising transferring the batch of shrimp from the first inclined conveyor belt to a secondary feed tank, which distributes the shrimp onto a second inclined conveyor belt.

13 . A method of processing shrimp, comprising the steps of:
passing a layer of shrimp to a divider pan; and dividing the layer of shrimp into a plurality of lanes of shrimp using the dividing pan, the dividing pan comprising a plurality of diverging channels and a plurality of converging channels for receiving product from the diverging channels.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
directing the lanes of shrimp to a visioning system; imaging each shrimp using the visioning system to determine the size of each shrimp; and separating the shrimp into different sizes based on the step of imaging each shrimp.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the divider pan comprises:
a back wall extending at an angle from the outfeed of the inclined conveyor belt; a set of upper dividing walls on the back wall that fan out to form the diverging channels; and a set of angled lower dividing walls that form the converging channels.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein two of the angled lower dividing walls form an A-frame divider having a peak that extends into an end of a diverging channel.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the back wall extends at an angle of between 10° and about 20° from vertical.

18 . A method of processing shrimp, comprising the steps of:
providing a batch of shrimp; distributing the batch of shrimp onto a conveyor to form a layer of shrimp; delivering the layer of shrimp to a divider pan; dividing the layer of shrimp into a plurality of lanes of shrimp using the divider pan; spreading out each lane of shrimp using a shaker pan to form a plurality of spread-out lanes of shrimp; delivering each spread-out lane of shrimp to a flume; singulating each spread-out lane of shrimp using a flume; imaging each shrimp using a visioning system to determine the size of each shrimp; and separating the shrimp into different sizes based on the step of imaging each shrimp.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the divider pan comprises a plurality of diverging channels and a plurality of converging channels for receiving product from the diverging channels.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of removing water from the shrimp using a dewatering belt prior to the step of imaging each shrimp.

Assignees

• Laitram Llc

Inventors

• Greve Christopher G
• Vedsted Lars
• Borrello Charles L
• Lapeyre Robert S
• Ledet Charles J

Classifications

• A22C29/023 Primary

  Conveying, feeding or aligning shellfish · CPC title

• A22C29/02

  Processing shrimps, lobsters or the like {; Methods or machines for the shelling of shellfish} · CPC title

• A22C29/005 Primary

  Grading or classifying shellfish or bivalves · CPC title