SingleFeed for successful singulation

SingleFeed is ideal for the off-line bulk process or for an in-line random product flow. Sometimes in processing plants, when there is no immediate retail order for all the breast meat coming from the deboning system, products may end up in a large bulk bin. Other processors buy fillets or tenderloins as bulk products, often in large batches of 1000 kilos, and need to create retail trays of 600 grams [21.1 oz], for example.

Saving labor 

The question is how to singulate these products without manual work? SingleFeed can take over this task, saving the labor of from two to six operators, depending on line speed and application. It places products singulated on the belt, ready to be processed by a grader, a SensorX, a RoboOptimizer with I-Cut, a RoboPacker, a RoboBatcher, or any other system that needs the infeed of individual products. The SingleFeed can handle boneless products such as tenderloins, breast fillets, deboned thighs, strips, or sandwich fillets. Its footprint is extremely compact, taking up very little space in the processing plant.

How does it work? 

SingleFeed is a dual-lane system designed to streamline the singulation of boneless products. From the bulk bin and a gooseneck conveyor, products are dropped into the SingleFeed. There, counter running conveyor belts guide them toward two continuously running belt lanes. These operate on a vacuum principle. 

In wet conditions, the process is easier. In water-chilled markets, such as the US, products are already wet, so spraying water on both products and belt to aid the vacuum process is no problem. However, air-chilled markets are far more sensitive to applied water and intentionally adding water to the product is generally disapproved of. The challenge, therefore is to prevent spraying the product and to use as little water as possible.

No wet products

During the development of SingleFeed, JBT Marel’s engineers achieved the ideal balance between effectively picking up products and using the least amount of water possible. This is not only more sustainable but also meets consumer expectations, as products must not leak water or appear wet when placed in trays. As a result, SingleFeed consumes little water. It does not wet the products themselves. Instead it lightly moistens the conveyor belt. The careful water application ensures that the products remain mostly dry throughout the process, making SingleFeed highly adaptable and suitable for use in processing facilities around the world.

Improved control

Thanks to the HMI touchscreen, controlling and maintaining SingleFeed is simple. Operators can control the speed at which products are singulated with a simple touch on the screen. The ability to run at a specific set speed is convenient to synchronize with the speed of the downstream grader. The internal software synchronizes the speed of the conveyor belts before and after SingleFeed, keeping the process flow smooth, preventing product overload or delays. Besides speed, few adjustments have to be made and if so, they are easy to do, such as lane offset and product spacing. Serviceability has improved too. If alerts occur, they are displayed on the HMI screen, making troubleshooting and fault identification easy. Remote login access to the SingleFeed is available for worldwide support from the JBT Marel helpdesk.