Product category:
Food Processing News
News Release from: Key Technology | Subject: Tegra sorters
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 November 2006
Tegra sorters for fresh-cut food
processors
Key Technology introduces Tegra sorters designed specifically for fresh-cut processors to automatically detect and remove defects and foreign material from the product stream at high production rates
Key Technology introduces Tegra sorters designed specifically for fresh-cut processors to automatically detect and remove defects and foreign material from the product stream at high production rates Featuring proprietary Vis/IR cameras and a unique metal-mesh catenary C-Belt for positive product positioning, Tegra views product, top and bottom, while in-air to maximise the removal of defects and foreign material
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 20 Jul 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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With Tegra, fresh-cut processors can dramatically improve product quality and food safety while minimising labour costs.
Tegra provides gentle product handling, which minimises product damage to maximise shelf life, making it ideal for tender leaf products such as baby spinach and spring mix as well as other greens like mache, butter leaf, arugula, and oakleaf.
Processors of iceberg, romaine, and cabbage use the Key Optyx with Raptor on-belt sorter, where the addition of a laser is ideal for removing core as well as defects and foreign material.
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Using high-performance tri-chromatic Vis/IR cameras, Tegra analyses size and shape, combining data information from both the visible and infrared spectrums.
Vis/IR technology maximises the recognition and removal of protein-based animal matter such as insects and rodent parts, as well as cardboard, plastic, metal, and glass.
Tegra for fresh-cut can achieve foreign material removal accuracy rates of up to 100 percent.
Tegra is available with a 60-inch wide platform to handle up to 8000 pounds (3.6 metric tons) of fresh-cut product an hour and a 30-inch wide platform for up to 4000 pounds (1.8 metric tons) of fresh-cut product an hour.
The Tegra patented metal-mesh catenary C-Belt uses gravity and centrifugal force - not friction - to gently accelerate, stabilise and launch product into the inspection zone.
Improving the predictability of the in-air product trajectory, which is especially important given the aerodynamic properties of tender leaf, Tegra achieves superior performance.
Positive product positioning improves the accuracy of defect and foreign material removal while reducing the volume of good product being rejected.
Yield loss is typically less than 0.5 percent with Tegra for fresh-cut.
Regardless of line flow fluctuations, product is consistently launched from the C-Belt for in-air viewing by the cameras.
Using Key proprietary image processing technology, the sorter quickly analyses the images, comparing each object to previously defined accept/reject standards.
When defective product or foreign material is identified, the system activates the close-coupled high-speed ejector system, which is made up of a series of closely spaced air jets that span the width of the system.
While the defective object is still air-borne, the air jets pinpoint the object to reject and remove it from the acceptable product stream.
The advanced Key G6 electro-optical platform, which features a powerful new controller, modular vision engine, and high-resolution cameras, enables Tegra to provide a quality sort for even the most complex inspection challenges.
The flexible architecture and use of industry-wide connectivity standards ease future upgrades to keep Tegra up to date and performing at peak as technology advances.
For uncomplicated operation, Tegra for fresh-cut is equipped with KeyWare Application Software designed specifically for fresh-cut processors.
Defects and foreign material are categorised on the user interface in terms common to the fresh-cut plant.
KeyWare reduces the skill level required to operate at optimum performance and insures consistent performance.
Featuring a smooth unibody design with no horizontal surfaces, Tegra also promotes sanitation.
Reduced scatter, which results from the predictable in-air product trajectory, and a series of air management devices, which help guide product flow, also improve sanitation.
Automated clean-in-place systems round out the sanitation package.
As a part of the fresh-cut solution, Key provides a unique infeed shaker, which uses the vibration separation technique to settle heavier foreign material to the bottom of the product stream.
Smaller foreign material can then fall out through screened openings just prior to the product entering Tegra.
Foreign material too large to be separated via the dropout screens enters Tegra underneath the light-weight product, making the in-air bottom camera detection and separation more effective and preventing damage to the tender leaf.
To further reduce product damage, Key designed a unique take-away belt.
Featuring a mesh belt that moves at a complementary rate to that of the product passing through Tegra, the belt provides a landing area for leafy product that acts as a gentle cushion for the delicate product.
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