For frozen food manufacturers producing dumplings, siomai, wonton, mochi and other filled dim‑sum, tray‑loading is a critical station connecting forming machines and quick‑freezing tunnels. Many food factories still rely heavily on manual tray‑placing. Manual operation brings high labor cost, inconsistent spacing, squeezed or deformed products, as well as potential food‑safety risks caused by direct human contact. Automatic tray‑arranging machines solve these pain points, neatly place finished dim‑sum onto trays and enable fully‑automated workflow from forming to IQF freezing.
Core Working Principle of Automatic Tray‑Arranging Machine
A complete tray‑arranging system consists of feeding conveyor, servo positioning unit, automatic tray feeder, placing execution unit and PLC touch‑screen control system. It can seamlessly connect with GQ‑series dumpling machine, WHP wonton machine, XSJ mini dumpling machine and other forming equipment for synchronized production.
The full‑cycle workflow includes four key steps:
1.Product feeding & conveying: Finished dumplings, siomai or wontons drop out from forming machines onto food‑grade conveyor belts and travel to tray‑loading station. Photo‑electric sensors detect real‑time incoming material status.
2.Automatic tray supply: Empty trays are separated, conveyed and precisely positioned automatically without manual handling. Both plastic retail trays and stainless‑steel freezing trays are supported.
3.Servo‑driven accurate placement: Two mainstream technical solutions are widely adopted：
- Robotic workstation solution (WT‑060E Intelligent Robot Tray Loading Workstation). Servo‑driven robot gently picks up delicate dim‑sum and places each piece onto pre‑programmed tray positions. It avoids squeezing or damaging thin‑skin food like dumplings and wontons. Layout parameters can be set directly via touch‑screen for quick product change‑over.
- Falling‑type integrated tray‑arranging(QS400-600 Automatic Tray Loading). Servo swing and aligning mechanism controls product falling track and drops items onto trays with preset row‑column gaps. This modular tray loading unit works well for sticky glutinous mochi products, and is easy to integrate with various forming machines to save factory floor space.
4.Full‑tray discharging: Once one tray is fully filled, the system pushes it forward to next station (quick‑freezing tunnel or packaging station), meanwhile feeding a new empty tray for continuous round‑the‑clock production.
Major machine frames and food‑contact parts adopt SUS304 stainless steel. Multiple product recipe profiles are stored in touch‑screen controller. Operators can simply recall saved settings when switching between dumpling, siomai and wonton production to cut down change‑over time significantly.
How to Keep Dim‑Sum Neatly Arranged Without Squeezing & Deformation?
Many plant managers wonder how automatic equipment maintains tidy layout while handling soft, fragile frozen dim‑sum. Stable performance relies on three core designs:
1.Closed‑loop servo positioning control: All placing movements are controlled by servo motors. Row‑column spacing and coordinates are pre‑programmed, keeping positioning tolerance within millimetre range. Every piece maintains uniform gap without dense or sparse placement.
2.Gentle material‑handling structure: For thin‑skin dumplings and wontons, WT‑060E workstation applies soft picking mechanism to prevent skin rupture caused by rigid clamping. For sticky mochi, QS400-600 Automatic Tray Loading is equipped with optimized buffer falling path to reduce sticking and shape distortion.
3.Speed synchronization with upstream forming machines: Tray‑arranging system communicates real‑time signal with dumpling / siomai forming units. Adjust working rhythm automatically according to incoming output speed to avoid material piling or missing placement.
Application & Production‑line Configuration
Automatic tray‑arranging equipment can work as standalone unit or integrated into complete gyoza production line, paired with GQ‑2‑ZJ high‑speed dumpling machine, vacuum dough mixer, frozen meat grinder for turn‑key factory solutions. It fits large‑scale frozen‑food factories, medium‑size processors and central kitchens. Processable products cover dumpling, gyoza, wonton, siomai, khinkali, mochi‑ice‑cream and other encrusted pastries.
Further info: If you plan frozen dim‑sum production‑line upgrading, check our WT‑060E intelligent robot tray‑loading workstation and QS400-600 Automatic Tray Loading. Custom layout solution, overseas on‑site commissioning and 24‑hour online after‑sales service are available.