Patent Application
20110126679
The invention relates to an apparatus for slicing food products, in particular to a high-performance slicer, having a product feed which is made to feed at least one product to a cutting plane in which at least one cutting blade is moved, in particular in a rotating and/or orbiting manner, to cut slices off the product.
Such apparatus are generally known and serve to cut food products such as sausage, meat and cheese into slices at high speed. Typical cutting speeds lie between several 100 to some 1,000 cuts per minute. Modern high-performance slicers differ inter alia in the design of the cutting blade as well as in the manner of the rotary drive for the cutting blade. So-called scythe-like blades or spiral blades rotate about an axis of rotation, with this axis of rotation itself not carrying out any additional movement. To enable an advance of the product beyond the cutting plane, i.e. to enable the cutting off of product slices at all, these blades are designed so that they release the path for the advance of the product for a specific range of angles of rotation during an orbit. Such a provisional release would obviously not be possible with only rotating circular blades. Provision is therefore made with slicers having circular blades to let the rotating circular blade additionally orbit in a planetary manner about a further axis spaced apart from the axis of rotation to provide the required release for the advance of the product during the slicing. Which blade type or which type of drive is to be preferred depends on the respective application. It can generally be stated that higher cutting speeds can be achieved with only rotating scythe-like blades, whereas rotating circular blades additionally orbiting in a planetary manner can be used more universally without compromises in the cutting quality.
The above-mentioned high cutting speeds make it necessary—and this applies independently of the type of blade and of the kind of drive—that, with a portion-wise slicing of products, so-called blank cuts are carried out in which the blade continues to move, i.e. carries out its cutting movement, but does not cut into the product in so doing, but rather cuts “into space” so that temporarily no slices are cut the product and these “cutting breaks” can be used to transport away a portion formed with the previously cut off slices, for example a slice stack or slices arranged overlapping. The time elapsing between two slices cut off after one another is not sufficient for a proper transporting away of the slice portions from a specific cutting performance or cutting speed onward. The length of these “cutting breaks” and the number of blank cuts per “cutting break” depend on the respective application.
A problem known in practice in connection with carrying out blank cuts is that it is not sufficient in most cases simply to stop the feed of the product temporarily to prevent the cutting off of slices. With products having a soft consistency, it namely regularly occurs that after the stopping of the product feed, relaxation effects come into force, whereby the front product end moves beyond the cutting plane and thus enters into the active zone of the cutting blade. The consequence is an unwanted cutting off of so-called product snippets or product scraps. Such a scrap formation can also occur with products having a solid consistency in which the above-mentioned relaxation effects therefore do not occur, and indeed when the products are fed continuously during the slicing operation.
The above-described phenomena are sufficiently known to the skilled person so that they will not be looked at in more detail.
Measures are already known from the prior art, for example, which serve to avoid scrap formation on carrying out blank cuts. Reference is made in this respect, for example, to EP 0 289 765 A1, DE 42 14 264 A1, EP 1 046 476 A2, DE 101 147 348 A1 and DE 154 952.
It has accordingly already been proposed not only to interrupt the product feed for carrying out blank cuts, but additionally to retract the product—if necessary together with the product support. This approach in particular reaches its limits when the cutting speeds and/or the masses to be moved in this process become too large since it can then no longer be ensured that the front product end can be retracted sufficiently fast. It has furthermore already been proposed as an alternative to the retraction of the product to move the cutting blade away from the front product end. Both solution approaches have the consequence that a sufficiently large spacing is established between the front product end and the cutting blade which reliably prevents scrap formation. The required blade stroke only amounts to a few millimeters; however, it must take place in a very short time in the order of a few hundredths of seconds.
The prior art proposes various possibilities for establishing this spacing by a transposition of the blade. It must generally be noted here that a movement of the total cutting head has precisely the disadvantage which is also present in the alternative—namely the retraction of the product—that a comparatively large mass namely has to be moved. A movement of only the blade together with the drive shaft admittedly has the advantage of a smaller mass to be moved, but means a substantial construction effort since an object has to be displaced along an axis and simultaneously rotates at high speed about just this axis. Very specific problems in conjunction with the mounting of the blade or of the blade shaft have to be solved for this purpose, which admittedly does not present any general problems, but is nevertheless complex and expensive.
There is additionally the fact that not all the concepts proposed in the prior art for moving the blade can be easily realized for all blade types or kinds of drives common in conjunction with slicers. Whereas the above-mentioned scythe-like blades or spiral blades only rotate about one axis, but this axis does not additionally carry out an orbital movement, concepts for the axial movement of the blade can be realized with justifiable effort in practice despite the above-mentioned mounting problems. Slicers with rotating circular blades which simultaneously orbit in a planetary manner, in contrast, present the skilled person with previously unsolved problems of how a transposition of only the blade or of only the blade shaft can be effected with a justifiable construction effort.
It is the object of the invention to provide a possibility which can be realized with a justifiable construction effort in a slicing apparatus of the initially named kind, in particular in a high-performance slicer, to establish a spacing between the cutting blade and the front product end by a transposition of the cutting blade, wherein the avoidance of scrap formation on carrying out blank cuts should in particular hereby be possible.
This object is satisfied by the features of claim 1.
In accordance with the invention, the cutting blade is pivotably mounted and is pivotable for carrying out at least one additional function, in particular for carrying out blank cuts, for setting the cutting gap and/or for the vertical or dipping depth setting such that the spacing between the cutting blade and a reference plane which extends parallel to the cutting plane or which coincides with the cutting plane is changed and in this respect the cutting blade remains aligned parallel to the cutting plane or departs from a parallel alignment.
The term “additional function” is to be understood such that a function is meant by it which does not relate exclusively to the actual slicing function, that is the rotational movement or orbital movement of the cutting blade. The additional function is in particular carrying out blank cuts or the setting of the cutting gap, which will be looked at in more detail in the following. The additional function can also be a vertical setting or a setting of the dipping depth of the cutting blade, in particular with respect to the product or products to be sliced or with respect to the product support. The pivoting of the cutting blade therefore takes place In accordance with the invention when the additional function should be carried out, with this additional function being able to be carried out—depending on its type—with a rotating or orbiting cutting blade and/or with a stationary cutting blade.
The pivotable mounting in accordance with the invention has the advantage that the forces required for the pivoting can be kept relatively small. Furthermore, the pivoted mounting has the advantage that no plain bearings or slide bearings are needed such as are required with a purely translatory, for example axial, adjustment movement.
The embodiment of the pivotable bearing possible in accordance with the invention such that the cutting blade remains aligned parallel to the cutting plane has inter alia the advantage that the movability of the cutting blade can also be utilized for such functions in which a non-parallel alignment of the cutting blade relative to the cutting plane, that is, for example, a tilting of the cutting blade during the adjustment movement, cannot be accepted. Whereas it is irrelevant to the carrying out of blank cuts which orientation the cutting blade adopts with respect to the cutting plane as long as a sufficiently large spacing is present between the cutting blade and the front product end, it is obviously absolutely necessary on an adjustment of the cutting blade for the purpose of setting the cutting gap that the cutting blade is aligned parallel to the cutting plane in every position since the cutting blade has to satisfy the actual cutting function in every position.
The embodiment of the pivotable bearing possible in accordance with the invention such that the cutting blade departs from a parallel alignment can in particular be used when a non-parallel alignment of the cutting blade relative to the cutting plane is not only non-critical, but is moreover associated with an advantage, because e.g. a desired large spacing between the cutting blade and the front product end can be established particularly fast and/or simply, as is in particular sensible for carrying out blank cuts.
Provision is made in an embodiment of the invention that a cutting head is provided which includes the cutting blade and is pivotable as a whole. This further development of the invention has inter alia the advantage that a bearing required for a rotation of the cutting blade is not affected by the adjustment movement. It is thus not necessary for the practical implementation of the invention to develop special cutting heads since the invention can be used in conjunction with conventional cutting heads which do not allow an adjustment movement of the blade or of the blade shaft without an adjustment movement of the cutting head as a whole.
A further advantage of this embodiment of the invention is that it is independent of the type of blade and of the manner of the drive of the blade. Both a scythe-like blade cutting head in which the cutting blade only rotates and a circular blade cutting head in which the circular blade rotates and additionally orbits in a planetary manner can be pivoted as a whole in the manner in accordance with the invention.
The term “cutting head” is to be understood widely in that the size or the extent of the unit pivotable as a whole is not fixed hereby. Depending on the specific embodiment of the slicing apparatus, a drive motor providing the rotary drive of the cutting blade can in particular either belong to the cutting head and can thus be pivoted in common with the cutting blade and the other components or cannot take part in this pivoting. The drive means between a drive motor which is stationary in this respect, on the one hand, and a cutting blade or blade shaft, on the other hand, can in this case be designed so that they permit the pivot movement. Furthermore, the cutting head can only include a so-called blade head which can in particular include the cutting blade together with the holder and the transmission or the blade head and a so-called blade head housing which at least partly surrounds the blade head and can include the drive motor providing the rotary drive of the cutting blade, with the latter, however, not being absolutely necessary.
It must be taken into account in this connection that a maximum adjustment path of no more than 5 to 10 mm is sufficient for the situations relevant in practice in which an adjustment of the cutting blade is required or desired, with in many cases the maximum required adjustment path even being less than 5 mm. It is in particular sufficient for carrying out scrap-free blank cuts if a spacing of a few millimeters is established between the cutting blade and the front product end. This also applies to the cutting gap setting since in most cases a maximum gap size of a few millimeters does not need to be exceeded or may not be exceeded at all.
Other components than the mentioned drive motor, which are in the widest sense related to the drive, holder and/or mounting of the cutting blade, cannot belong to the cutting head to the extent that they do not participate in the pivot movement taking place for carrying out the at least one additional function. Furthermore, further components in addition to the drive motor, which are in the widest sense related to the drive, holder and/or mounting of the cutting blade, can participate in the pivot movement.
In practice, the unit to be pivoted overall as a whole can have a weight, for example, of 50 to 100 kg. Setting this mass briefly into motion, however, does not represent a problem due to the pivotable mounting in accordance with the invention which could not be solved with a justifiable construction effort since, with a corresponding relative arrangement of the pivot mounting and the pivot drive, in particular while utilizing long lever arms, the forces to be applied can be kept relatively small without having to design the pivot drive itself in an unnecessarily complicated manner.
When in the following a pivoting of the cutting blade is spoken of, then—if not otherwise mentioned—this should also be understood as the possibility of a pivoting of a cutting head as a whole including the cutting blade.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a parallelogram guide, at least one parallelogram guiding part and/or at least one four-bar lever are provided for pivoting the cutting blade which are each preferably pivotally connected to the cutting blade or to a cutting head or to its mount or holder, on the one hand, and to a base, on the other hand.
A pivoting of the cutting blade with an unchanged alignment of the cutting blade with respect to the cutting plane can hereby be realized in a relatively simple manner from a construction aspect.
In a further embodiment of the invention, at least one pair of guiding parts and/or levers can be provided for pivoting the cutting blade which are each pivotally connected to the cutting blade or to a cutting head, on the one hand, and to a base, on the other hand.
Base is here to be understood as a component of the slicing apparatus relative to which the pivot movement of the cutting blade takes place, with it admittedly not being compulsory in most practical cases, but nevertheless being provided that the base is stationary with respect to the environment, that is it does not itself carry out a movement of any kind relative to the environment.
The parallelogram guide, the parallelogram guiding part or the four-bar lever can be made such that their decisive elements, in particular guiding parts and/or levers, each have the same length. Alternatively or additionally, the pivotal connection points of the elements or guiding parts and/or levers can be selected so that the respective desired movement of the cutting blade is produced. Furthermore, the lengths and/or the pivotal connection points of the guiding parts and/or levers can be made changeable in order to be able to realize different movements of the cutting blade on the pivoting—depending on the selected setting or on the set configuration.
In accordance with a further possible embodiment of the invention, the cutting blade is suspended in a pivotable manner. The suspension can in particular take place at a base belonging to the slicing apparatus, with the base itself being able to be stationary with respect to the environment.
A further embodiment of the invention provides that a pivot drive is provided for the cutting blade. Provision can in particular be made that this pivot drive, which serves to pivot the cutting blade for carrying out the at least one additional function, is provided in addition to a rotary drive of the cutting blade which provides the movement of the cutting blade in the cutting plane, that is which is responsible for the rotation and/or orbiting of the cutting blade. A respective separate drive is therefore then provided for the actual cutting, on the one hand, and the pivoting of the cutting blade, on the other hand. It is, however, also possible in accordance with the invention to derive the pivot operation by suitable means from a rotary drive of the cutting blade. These means are then in particular designed such that the cutting blade rotates without interruption, but that the pivoting of the cutting blade is only carried out on demand, that is when a pivoting of the cutting blade is necessary for carrying out the at least one additional function.
The pivot drive for pivoting the cutting blade can be made to act on the cutting blade along a line of action extending at least substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane. It is hereby possible to design the pivot drive particularly simply from a construction aspect. A simple piston-in-cylinder arrangement can serve as a pivot drive, for example. When the pivoting of the cutting blade is associated with a stroke, that is with a component of movement of the cutting blade in the cutting plane, the coupling between the pivot drive and the cutting blade can be made such that such a relative movement takes place in the cutting plane between the pivot drive and the cutting blade is permitted without impairing the pivoting of the cutting blade by means of the pivot drive.
It is also possible to mount the pivot drive movably. A relative movement between the pivot drive and the cutting blade, in particular in the sense of a clearance between the pivot drive and the cutting blade, can be avoided in this manner.
It is furthermore proposed in accordance with a further aspect of the invention that an adjustment device for the cutting blade is provided with which the cutting blade is movable in an adjustment direction, with the blade axis and/or the center axis of the cutting blade being inclined with respect to the horizontal during the slicing and with the direction of adjustment of the cutting blade extending obliquely to the blade axis and/or the center axis of the cutting blade.
This aspect is disclosed and claimed both in combination with the subject matters disclosed in the claims and as an independent aspect.
The cutting blade can therefore accordingly be pivotable such that an adjustment direction, i.e. on adjustment to the start and the end of the adjustment movement, is effectively produced which extends obliquely to the blade axis and/or to the center axis of the cutting blade The adjustment movement of the cutting blade does not have to be a linear movement, with the pivotable mounting of the cutting blade, however, also being able to be made such that a linear adjustment movement of the cutting blade is produced.
This further aspect of the invention means a turning away from the established idea of the professional world documented by the prior art that the adjustment movement of the cutting blade has to take place parallel to the axis of rotation of the cutting blade; that is, in the terminology used here, parallel to the blade axis and/or center axis. The portion of the weight to be overcome can be lowered or—as in a preferred embodiment with a horizontally extending adjustment direction—reduced to zero by the approach of moving the cutting blade obliquely to its axis of rotation. This thus allows a weight-neutral blade adjustment in which only the inert mass of the assembly to be moved plays a role in the case of a horizontal adjustment movement from the view of the adjustment device.
However, not only the advantage of a lower performance demand on the adjustment device is thus achieved, but rather further advantages are moreover achieved:
If, in accordance with the prior art, the blade is adjusted parallel to its axis of rotation, the adjustment path is then identical to the change in spacing caused by the adjustment between the blade and the front product end or between the blade and the cutting edge since the axis of rotation of the blade and the product feed direction extend parallel to one another. If, in contrast, the adjustment direction extends obliquely to the axis of rotation of the blade, the blade has to cover a larger path in comparison with the prior art to effect the same change in spacing. This increase in the adjustment path is actually an advantage since—as already initially explained—the adjustment paths in question here are anyway small, namely only a few millimeters up to a maximum of a few centimeters, which is generally problematic with respect to the design and operation of the adjustment device. The precision of adjustment movements is namely the more difficult to ensure, the shorter the adjustment path is. Particularly the blade movements required with high-performance slicers require a very high degree of precision so that correspondingly high demands are made on the drive technology, particularly since only extremely brief times are available for the adjustment movements, as likewise explained in the introductory part. As long as the required adjustment path does not become too large overall, any increase in the adjustment path which results—from the viewpoint of the adjustment device—thus represents a facilitation to the extent that the required precision of the adjustment movement can be realized more simply or becomes possible at all.
To illustrate these relationships, it can be mentioned by way of example that in the case of a spindle drive for the blade movement, such as is known from DE 101 47 348 A1, the spindle only makes approximately half a revolution for the adjustment movement taking place parallel to the axis of rotation of the blade, which already represents an optimization with respect to the drive technology used. It has been shown in practice that problems hereby result in connection with the lubrication of the spindle, which would not be the case if the spindle could carry out at least one full revolution, e.g. in an oil bath.
It also becomes clear in view of this state of affairs that an enlargement of the adjustment path can provide unexpected additional advantages in that, for example on use of a spindle drive for the adjustment device, the required spindle lubrication is simplified.
It can furthermore generally be said that this aspect of the invention allows a higher regulation quality for the drives since more uniform load relationships and larger adjustment paths are present.
As already mentioned above, provision can be made in accordance with a possible embodiment of this aspect that the adjustment direction of the cutting blade extends at least approximately horizontally. The “weight portion” of the blade on the adjustment is in this way reduced to zero, i.e. the adjustment device no longer has to “raise” the blade.
The blade axis and/or the central axis of the cutting blade can extend at least approximately parallel to the product feed direction.
The adjustment movement of the cutting blade can be a linear movement.
The adjustment device for the cutting blade can include a linear drive, for example a spindle drive or a piston-in-cylinder arrangement. The axis of rotation of the spindle drive or the longitudinal axis of the piston-in-cylinder arrangement preferably extends parallel to the adjustment direction of the cutting blade. Alternatively, the adjustment device for the cutting blade can include an eccentric drive.
The angle of inclination between the blade axis and/or the central axis of the cutting blade and of the horizontal axis during the slicing can lie in the range from 30° to 50° and in particular amount to at least approximately 40°.
Provision can furthermore be made that a blade holder to which the cutting blade is replaceably attachable is movable in the adjustment direction.
Provision can furthermore be made that a blade holder to which the cutting blade is replaceably attachable is movable in the adjustment direction relative to at least one rotary bearing for the movement of the cutting blade about the blade axis and/or about the central axis and/or relative to a base part via which the blade holder is attachable to a carrier fixed to the rack.
In a possible embodiment, a blade head is movable as a whole in the adjustment direction to adjust the blade. The blade head in particular includes a blade holder to which the cutting blade is replaceably attached and at least one rotary bearing for the movement of the cutting blade about the blade axis and/or about the center axis. Due to the movement of the blade head as a whole, no relative movement takes place in the adjustment direction between the blade holder and the rotary bearing. This represents a simplification in a construction regard.
A particular advantage of a movement of the blade head as a whole is that the blade head is both a scythe-like blade head for a scythe-like blade rotating about the blade axis and a circular blade head for a circular blade rotating about the blade axis and orbiting the center axis in a planetary manner. Irrespective of how the adjustment device is specifically designed, this therefore means that the respective adjustment principle can be used both for a scythe-like blade and for a circular blade.
A carrier which is stationary with respect to the adjustment direction, which is, for example, a component of a fixed-position rack of the slicing apparatus or which is fastenable to the rack can be provided and the blade head is movable relative thereto as a whole in the adjustment direction. This carrier can be made universal such that a change can be made between a scythe-like blade head and a circular blade head. A scythe-like blade slicer can thus be converted in a particularly simple manner into a circular blade slicer and vice versa.
Furthermore, a plain bearing or a slide bearing can be provided between the blade head and the carrier or between a blade holder to which the cutting blade is replaceably attachable and at least one rotary bearing for the movement of the cutting blade about the blade axis and/or about the center axis.
The carrier can be arranged at or in a cutting head housing.
The carrier for the blade head can be made universal such that a change can be made between a scythe-like blade head and a circular blade head.
A blade head can be provided with which a rotary drive is associated.
The rotary drive can be arranged fixed to the rack or be able to make a compensation movement matched to the adjustment movement of the cutting blade.
The rotary drive can furthermore be arranged together with the blade head at or in a cutting head housing fixed to the rack.
The rotary drive can cooperate with the blade head carrying out the adjustment movement as a whole or with a part of the blade head carrying out the adjustment movement, in particular a blade holder, in particular via at least one drive belt.
Provision is furthermore in particular made that the cutting blade is movable in the adjustment direction for carrying out at least one additional function, in particular for carrying out blank cuts which are e.g. carried out on a portion-wise slicing and/or within the framework of a vertical or dipping depth setting and/or for the cutting gap adjustment.
As already mentioned, the term “additional function” is to be understood such that a function is meant by it which does not relate only to the actual slicing function, that is to the rotational movement or orbiting movement of the cutting blade. The additional function is in particular carrying out blank cuts or the setting of the cutting gap, which will be looked at in more detail in the following. The additional function can also be a vertical setting or a setting of the dipping depth of the cutting blade, in particular with respect to the product or products to be sliced or with respect to the product support, more precisely the avoidance of scrap formation with blank cuts carried out within the framework of the vertical or dipping depth setting. The adjustment movement of the blade therefore takes place as required whenever the additional function should be carried out, with this additional function being able to be carried out—depending on its kind—with a rotating or orbiting cutting blade and/or with a stationary cutting blade.
Provision can furthermore be made that the cutting blade is movable in the adjustment direction such that the spacing between the cutting blade and a reference plane which extends parallel to a cutting plane defined by the edge of the cutting blade is changed.
It must be mentioned in this connection that for most of the situations relevant to practice in which an adjustment of the cutting blade is necessary or desired a maximum adjustment path of no more than 5 to 10 mm is sufficient, with in many cases the maximum required adjustment paths even being smaller than 5 mm. It is in particular sufficient for carrying out scrap-free blank cuts if a spacing of a few millimeters is established between the cutting blade and the front product end. This also applies to the cutting gap setting since in most cases a maximum gap size of a few millimeters does not need to be exceeded or may not be exceeded at all.
On the cutting gap adjustment, the gap between the cutting blade—more precisely the cutting plane defined by the edge of the blade—and a cutting edge is set to a preset dimension. The cutting edge also called a counter-blade cooperates with the cutting blade on the cutting of slices from the product. The cutting edge in particular forms the end of the product support disposed at the front in the direction of the product feed. Cutting edges occur in a variety of embodiments in practice. Even relatively complex arrangements which are provided, for example as so-called cuffs or molded shells, with leadthroughs which are open or closed in the peripheral direction for the products to be sliced in order ideally to fix the front product end to increase cutting quality are frequently simply called a “cutting edge” in practice.
Depending on the product to be sliced and optionally on other circumstances, it is necessary for an ideal cutting quality to set the spacing—in the product feed direction, that is measured perpendicular to the cutting plane—to a specific dimension between the cutting blade and the cutting edge. The axial position of the cutting plane is not exactly defined to this extent since the plane defined by the cutting edge, on the one hand, and the plane defined by the cutting blade—more precisely: by the blade edge—on the other hand, likewise do not coincide. This is, however, unproblematic in that, for example, the plane defined by the cutting edge can be used as a reference plane when a reference in the axial direction, that is in the product feed direction, is needed or desired.
A further advantage of the invention, which is also of importance in this connection, comprises the fact that it is possible that the cutting blade maintains its orientation relative to the product feed direction, in particular that the cutting plane therefore extends perpendicular to the product feed direction in every blade position. The movability of the cutting blade can thus also be utilized for such functions—such as the above-explained cutting gap setting—in which a non-parallel alignment of the cutting blade relative to the original cutting plane, that is, for example, a tilting of the cutting blade during the adjustment movement, cannot be accepted. Whereas the orientation which the cutting blade adopts with respect to the product feed direction is generally unimportant for carrying out blank cuts as long as a sufficiently large spacing is present between the cutting blade and the front product end, it is obviously absolutely necessary for an adjustment of the cutting blade for the purpose of the cutting gap setting that the cutting blade is aligned with the cutting plane perpendicular to the product feed direction in every position since the cutting blade has to satisfy the actual cutting function in every position.
The invention also relates to a use of an apparatus of the described kind for carrying out blank cuts, in particular on the portion-wise slicing of food products and/or in a vertical or dipping depth setting.
In this respect, for the temporary interruption of the cutting of slices from the product, the cutting blade can be pivoted away from the front product end and, after carrying out one or more blank cuts, can be pivoted back again for restarting the cutting of slices from the product. In this respect, the apparatus is therefore not only used for slicing the products, but also during the slicing of a product, as required, for carrying out one or more blank cuts in order in this manner in particular to allow a portion-wise slicing with an ordered transporting away of the respective formed portions. The interruption of the cutting of slices from the product can naturally take place a plurality of times during the slicing of a product since, with a portion-wise slicing of the product, the number of “blank cut phases” corresponds to the number of the slice portions formed from the product.
In accordance with an embodiment of this use, the blank cuts are carried out with a stopped production advance.
The invention furthermore relates to the use of an apparatus of the described kind for setting the cutting gap, wherein the gap between the cutting blade and a cutting edge is set to a preset dimension by pivoting of the cutting blade. The cutting edge, also called a counter-blade, cooperates with the cutting blade on the cutting of slices from the product. The cutting edge in particular forms the end of the product support disposed at the front in the direction of the product feed. Cutting edges occur in a variety of embodiments in practice. Even relatively complex arrangements which are provided, for example as so-called cuffs or molded shells, with leadthroughs which are open or closed in the peripheral direction for the products to be sliced in order ideally to fix the front product end to increase cutting quality are frequently simply called a “cutting edge” in practice.
Depending on the product to be sliced and optionally on other circumstances, it is necessary for an ideal cutting quality to set the spacing—in the product feed direction, that is measured perpendicular to the cutting plane—between the cutting blade and the cutting edge to a specific dimension. The axial position of the cutting plane is not exactly defined to this extent since the plane defined by the cutting edge, on the one hand, and the plane defined by the cutting blade—more precisely: by the blade edge—on the other hand, likewise do not coincide. This is, however, unproblematic in that, for example, the plane defined by the cutting edge can be used as a reference plane when a reference in the axial direction, that is in the product feed direction, is needed or desired.
In a possible embodiment of this use, the cutting gap setting can be carried out with a stationary cutting blade. Alternatively, it is, however, also possible to carry out the cutting gap setting with a cutting blade moving in the cutting plane, which is also called a “dynamic cutting gap setting” and which offers advantages with respect to a “static” cutting gap setting with a stationary blade which will likewise not be looked at in more detail here.
The invention furthermore relates to a method for slicing food products, in particular by means of the described apparatus, in which at least one product is supplied by means of a product feed to a cutting plane in which at least one cutting blade moves, in particular in a rotating and/or orbiting manner, to cut slices from the product and the cutting blade is pivoted for carrying out at least one additional function, in particular for carrying out blank cuts, for setting the cutting gap and/or for the vertical and/or dipping depth setting such that the spacing between the cutting blade and a reference plane which extends parallel to the cutting plane or coincides with the cutting plane is changed and in this process the cutting blade remains parallel to the cutting plane or departs from a parallel alignment.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are also set forth in the dependent claims, in the description and in the drawing.
The invention will be described in the following by way of example with reference to the drawing. There are shown:
a-1c schematically, a slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention with a cutting blade in different pivoted positions;
In the following different reference numerals will also be used for such parts and terms which actually correspond to one another.
The embodiments explained in the following can either be combined with one another or can each be separately realized.
In the embodiment of
The cutting blade 17 is a scythe-like blade or a spiral blade which can be driven by a rotary drive, not shown, to rotate about an axis of rotation 18. Alternatively, the pivotable mounting can also be provided for a circular blade head whose blade rotates and additionally orbits in a planetary manner.
For the pivotable mounting of the cutting blade 21, a parallelogram guiding part is provided which in this embodiment includes two guiding part pairs. Only one respective guiding art 25 and 27 respectively is shown of the front and rear guiding part pairs in the direction F of the product feed (cf.
The pivot axes 33 to 39 of the guiding parts 25, 27 at the base 43 and at the cutting head 21 are disposed in parallel planes respectively extending perpendicular to a reference plane 19. The guiding parts 25, 27 moreover have the same lengths. The orientation or position of the cutting blade 17 in space consequently does not change on a pivoting, as the comparison of
Alternatively, the guiding parts or the guiding part pairs 25, 27 can be of different lengths and/or the pivot axes 33 to 39 or pivotal connection points can be disposed in planes not extending parallel to the reference plane 19. Depending on the specific embodiment, an alignment of the cutting blade 17 always parallel to the reference plane 19 can either nevertheless be realized or a movement of the cutting blade 17 differing therefrom can be realized on the pivoting e.g. with the aim of deliberately pivoting the cutting blade 17 out of a parallel position. The length of the guiding parts or guiding part pairs 25, 27 and/or the pivot axes 33 to 39 can also be made adjustable to be able directly to preset different movements of the cutting blade 17 on the pivoting in this manner.
A pivot drive effecting the pivot movement of the cutting head 21 is not shown in
The mentioned reference plane 19 is defined with respect to its axial position, that is its position with respect to the product feed direction F, by the cutting edge 23 forming the end of a product support 13. In addition, the reference plane 19 extends perpendicular to the product feed direction. The axis of rotation 18 of the cutting blade 17 extends perpendicular to the product feed direction and thus parallel to the product feed direction F.
Due to the parallelogram guiding part, which can also be called a parallelogram guide or a four-bar lever, the axis of rotation 18 remains aligned parallel to the product feed direction F in every pivoted position of the cutting blade 17.
Due to the pivotable mounting in accordance with the invention of the cutting blade 17 or of the cutting head 21 including the cutting blade 17, an axially movable mounting of the cutting blade 17 is not necessary, i.e. it is not necessary to displace the cutting blade 17. Special slide bearing means or plain bearing means such as a plain bearing sleeve are consequently not necessary in conjunction with the invention. In accordance with the invention, the desired change in the spacing between the cutting blade 17 and the reference plane 19 takes place only by a pivoting or by one or more rotational movements.
The movement which the cutting head 21 carries out on the pivoting is a superimposition of two pivot movements or individual pivot movements: On the pivoting of the cutting head 21, it is pivoted, on the one hand, relative to the base 43 about the pivot axis 33 by means of the front guiding part pair 25. On the other hand, the cutting head 21 is pivoted about the other pivot axis 35 of the front guiding part pair 25. The rear guiding part pair 27 provides this in the sense of a positive guidance. Depending on the pivot movement about the pivot axis 33, the pivoting of the cutting head 21 about the pivot axis 35 is guided by the rear guiding part pair 27 such that the position of the axis of rotation 18 and of the cutting blade 17 in space does not change. The cutting blade 17 consequently always remains parallel to the reference plane 19 and thus to the cutting plane during the pivoting.
This action of the parallelogram guiding part in accordance with the invention can be described in an analog manner starting from the rear guiding part pair 27: the cutting head 21 is pivoted as a whole about the pivot axis 37 relative to the base 43 and simultaneously in a manner guided by the front guiding part pair 25 about the other pivot axis 39 of the rear guiding part pair 27.
In the embodiment of
This pivot-induced blade stroke is, however, completely unproblematic in practice and in particular for the cutting quality since it must be taken into account in this connection—as already mentioned above—that the axial displacement path of the cutting blade 17, that is the displacement path measured of the cutting blade in the product feed direction F, which is effected by the pivoting of the cutting head 21, only lies in the order of magnitude of millimeters.
As already mentioned in the introduction part, the pivoting of the cutting head 21 and of the axial offset of the cutting blade 17 resulting therefrom can serve different purposes, and indeed in particular for carrying out blank cuts and for setting the cutting gap.
The illustrations in
It can be seen from
c illustrates a situation during the slicing of a product 15 in which blank cuts are just being carried out. The product advance 11 which engages at the rear product end and which can be driven in the product feed direction F during the slicing to feed the product 15 to the cutting blade 17 is set out of operation in this situation. In addition, the cutting head 21 is pivoted so far by means of a pivot drive, not shown, that a sufficiently large spacing is present between the front product end 57 adjoining the cutting edge 23, on the one hand, and the cutting blade 17, on the other hand, in order, in this situation reliably to prevent the cutting of scraps from the product 15 by the cutting blade 17 also still rotating about the axis 18 in this situation.
As soon as the slice portion (not shown) previously formed by cutting slices from the product 15 is transported away, the cutting head 21 is again pivoted back to restart the cutting of slices from the product 15 so that the cutting blade 17 again adopts its original cutting position which corresponds, for example, to the position in accordance with
In the embodiment shown schematically in
The cutting head 21 is located between an upper section of the carrier 55, which is connected via the parallelogram guiding part to a base 43 of the slicer, and a lower section at which a pivot drive 45 engages which is likewise supported at the base 43. The pivot drive 45 is, for example, a piston-in-cylinder arrangement which—as indicated by the double arrow in FIG. 2—is able to act on the carrier 55 along a line of action which extends parallel to the axis of rotation 18 of the cutting blade 17 and thus perpendicular to the cutting plane.
In this respect, the pivot drive 45 is coupled with the carrier 55 such that, on the one hand, a movement of the carrier 55 in both directions is possible, that is the carrier 55 together with the cutting head 21 can both be “pushed” and “pulled” and, on the other hand, the stroke perpendicular to the axis of rotation 18 also taking place by the pivoting of the carrier 55 can be started (for example by an elongated hole guide) without a corresponding stroke movement of the pivot drive 45 being necessary for this purpose. Alternatively, the pivot drive 45 can be movable mounted to be able to follow the movement of the cutting head 21 and thus to avoid a clearance between the pivot drive 45 and the cutting head 21.
The cutting head 21, but in this embodiment not the rotary drive 47, is pivotably suspended at a base 43, and indeed in turn via a parallelogram guiding part of which only one guiding part pair 25, 29 is shown here whose guiding parts are pivotally connected to the base 43 about pivot axes 31, 33 and to the cutting head 21 about pivot axes 35, 41.
Both the pivot movement of the cutting head 21 and the stroke of the cutting head 21 perpendicular to the axis of rotation 18 adopted in this process can be started without problem by the drive belt 49 without impairing the rotary drive of the blade holder 53.
It is generally also possible in accordance with the invention in deviation from the concept of
As is indicated in
The cutting plane S1 is defined by the edge of a cutting blade 111 which cooperates during the slicing operation with a cutting edge 131 which is also called a counter-blade and which forms the front end of the product support 137. In practice, the cutting edge is usually a separate, replaceable component, e.g. made from plastic or steel, which is not shown here for reasons of simplicity.
As mentioned in the introduction part, the cutting blade 111 can be a so-called circular blade which both orbits a center axis in a planetary manner and rotates about a separate blade axis. Alternatively, the cutting blade 111 can be a so-called scythe-like blade or spiral blade which does not orbit in a planetary manner, but rather only rotates about the blade axis A1. The drive for the cutting blade 111 is not shown in
In order to establish a spacing between the blade 111 and the front end of the product 127 within the framework of an additional function of the slicer, an adjustment device, not shown, is provided which is made to move the cutting blade 111. As indicated by the double arrow in
With a portion-wise slicing of the product 127, as is shown in
During the slicing, the product support 137 thus represents a slanted plane for the product 127. The advance direction of the product 127 is hereby assisted by the earth's gravitational pull. It is, however, of greater importance that due to the oblique position of the product feed 113, the front product end is not oriented vertically—as would be the case with a horizontally lying product—so that due to the inclination of the front product end, the depositing of the cut-off product slices 133—on a belt 145 for transporting away here—is improved or a usable product depositing is only made possible at all.
The slicing of food products 127 with a product feed 113 inclined with respect to the horizontal H1 is sufficiently known from the prior art. Practically all high-performance slicers work with such an oblique product feed 113.
Whereas the cutting blade 11 is moved—in accordance with the representation in FIG. 4—parallel to the blade axis A1 in slicers known from the prior art in order, for example, to achieve a spacing between the cutting blade 111 and the front product end for carrying out blank cuts, a horizontal adjustment movement of the cutting blade 111 is provided in accordance with the invention in the embodiment of
Whereas the cutting position of the blade 111 in which the cutting plane S1 and a reference plane defined by the cutting edge 131 coincide is shown with solid lines, the disengaged position of the blade 111 is indicated by broken lines in
Whereas the structure and the adjustment of the blade head 119 will be explained in more detail with reference to
The blade 111 is replaceably attached to what is here called a blade holder 117 which is also called a blade mount, rotor or blade shaft. The possible designation as a blade shaft is also selected because in the embodiment shown here the blade holder 117 is that component of the blade head 119 which is set into rotation directly—namely by a drive belt 143—by the rotary drive 139 of the slicer.
The blade head 119 movable to and fro as a whole in the adjustment direction V1 furthermore includes a base part 149 which does not rotate. Roller element bearings 121 are arranged between the blade holder 117 and the base part 149.
The base part 149 and thus the blade head 119 is therefore displaceable via plain bearings or slide bearings 122 in the adjustment direction V1, that is horizontally, and thus obliquely to the blade axis A1 and to the product feed direction F1 relative to a carrier 124.
The carrier 124 having approximately an S shape or Z shape is fixedly connected to a wall 147 which is a component of a cutting head housing 141 which is attached to a rack or frame 123 stationary with respect to the adjustment direction V1 (cf.
A cover or hood which is connected to the cutting head housing 141 and which at least partly surrounds the cutting blade during the cutting operation is likewise provided, but is not shown in
An adjustment device for the blade head 119 which includes a spindle drive having a spindle 151 and a spindle nut 153 is supported at the cutting head housing 141, with alternatively a support of the spindle drive (or generally of an adjustment drive for the cutting blade 111 or for the blade head 119 of any design) also being able to be provided at the carrier 124.
A drive motor, not shown, is made to rotate the spindle nut 153 fixedly connected to the cutting head housing 141 in the adjustment direction V1 on demand about an axis of rotation D1 of the spindle drive. Depending on the direction of rotation of the spindle nut 153, the spindle 151 consequently moves to the left or to the right in
Whereas
Since the adjustment movement of the blade head 119 and thus of the blade 111 takes place in the horizontal direction and thus obliquely to the product feed direction F1, the spacing 155 measured in the product feed direction F1 (
Whereas in the embodiment of
In a further alternative of the embodiment shown, instead of the shown scythe-like blade head 119, a circular blade head can also be provided and can be adjusted in the horizontal direction V. These different blade heads, on the one hand, and the carrier 124 relative to which the adjustment movement takes place in the adjustment direction V1, on the other hand, can in particular be designed in the form of a universal, mutually matched interface or coupling device so that a single cutting head housing 141 with an adjustment device, e.g., with a spindle drive 151, 153, can be coupled both to a scythe-like blade head and to a circular blade head. On a matching of the different blade heads also with respect to the required rotary drive, the same rotary drive can then also be used for the different blade heads.
With respect to the drive belt 143 shown in
The effect of the belt stretching or belt deflection can also be at least largely eliminated by a suitable orientation of the blade head. For this purpose, the blade head can be installed such that its longitudinal axis does not coincide with the rotary axis, but is rather mounted tilted by a specific angle with respect to it. It can result in this respect that the adjustment direction does not extend exactly horizontally, but rather obliquely to the horizontal.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2009 056 670.8 | Dec 2009 | DE | national |
| 10 2010 008 047.0 | Feb 2010 | DE | national |
