Conveyors, Loading & Line Equipment

Loading lines pick up portions such as patties, meatballs, minced meat and sausages, group them and place them into trays or thermoformer pockets. Groupers collect sausages into sets and lay them onto freezer, oven or packing belts. Multi-lane loaders take products from a single infeed and set them out in several lanes, straight into packs or onto freezing and cooking belts, and line convergers bring several lanes together into one. Tray denesters take empty trays from a stack and set them on the conveyor, and paper interleavers slide a sheet of paper or film under each portion so stacked products do not stick together.

Automated handling reduces manual contact with food, keeps output steady and makes it easier to join a vacuum filler, a forming or linking machine and a packaging machine into one continuous line. Meat, sausage, convenience food and plant-based producers use it wherever large volumes are loaded into packs.

Loading lines and groupers are only some of the handoffs a line can automate; our guide to automated food processing lines covers the rest, from casing loading to sealing.