Life on the front line

French food firm Marie Surgelés has selected Ishida to design and install a new line to weigh and pack ready meals into microwavable trays.

The Ishida solution includes two tray denesters, an Ishida multihead weigher with distribution system, an Ishida QX-1100 traysealer, a volumetric dosing system for rice and pasta, a 20m chain-and-peg conveyor, a converger and a central control point for all the equipment.

A typical example of the output of the new line is a calorie-controlled ready meal of pasta and prawns in a sauce, with diced courgettes.

Empty trays are placed in two lines on the conveyor by two high-speed Ishida tray denesters. Spaghetti is added by the volumetric system, followed by a dose of sauce. Trays then pass to the Ishida multihead weigher, one side handles the prawns and the other the courgettes.

The distribution system collects the weighments from the two weigher outlets into a set of timing hoppers, positioned above four dipping funnels, each with a right-hand channel for the courgettes and a left-hand channel for the prawns. This array tracks four trays at a time, adding the ingredients in a neat but well-distributed presentation. Importantly, this system does not require slowing or stopping of the conveyor.

Contact: Ishida
Tel: 0121 607 7700