MULTIVAC, Kansas City, Mo., developed the Multivac centrifuge feeder (MCF), which can be integrated seamlessly into packaging lines.
How it works is, the sausages are transported via an inclined conveyor to the centrifuge plate that is constantly turning. There, they are orientated at the outside edge of the plate by the centrifugal force, and are taken up individually from the centrifuge ring. Then, a V conveyor transports them to a downstream compartment conveyor that carries each product, individually and precisely aligned in a separate compartment, to the handling module. There, the gripper picks up the desired number of sausages and loads them into the pack cavity.