This invention related to band saws for cutting meat and more particularly to apparatus for cleaning the saw blades while the saw is in operation.
It is important to keep meat clean and free of meat residue resulting from the cutting of the meat to avoid the need to separately clean the cut meat to make it marketable and to avoid contamination. Also it is important to keep the saw blade free of such residue to avoid clogging of the blade and accumulation of meat particles and fats on the drive and guide wheels for the blade which seriously impairs operation and efficiency of the saw.
Various approaches have been taken to cleaning the blades of meat cutting band saws such as scrapers and wipers acting directly on the blade while the saw is in operation. Even with such approaches it is necessary to thoroughly clean and maintain the surrounding parts of the meat cutting saw after each period of use by manually washing and brushing the various components. The patent to Noizet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,892 is an example of a saw arrangement in which multiplicity of nozzles are operatively arranged inside the saw housing for spraying cleaning liquid or drying air after a period of use of the saw and while it is not operating.
It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus for cleaning a meat cutting band saw while the saw is in operation to avoid contamination of the cut meat, minimize the necessity for manually cleaning and to insure efficient operation of the meat cutting saw.
It is another object of the invention to provide a water cleaning apparatus which can be added to existing meat cutting band saws of various sizes.
Purposes of the invention are attained by cleaning apparatus for a meat cutting band saw in which the saw has a meat cutting table with a drive wheel below the table and a guide wheel above the table together with an endless band saw blade trained over the wheels to provide a downwardly moving meat cutting blade flight and an upwardly moving return flight. A water manifold is disposed rearwardly of the two flights with spaced portions of the manifold in water communication with spray nozzles assemblies each of which has a pair of nozzles directed against opposed portions of each of the two flights. The spray nozzle also is directed downwardly relative to each of the flights, one of which is traveling downwardly and the other which is traveling upwardly.
The wash apparatus of the present invention is incorporated in the meat cutting band saw designated at 10 which includes a lower drive wheel 12 and an upper, idling, guide wheel 14. The wheels 12 and 14 have an endless toothed band saw blade 16 trained over the wheels to form a downwardly moving or cutting flight 18 and an upwardly moving flight 20.
The lower drive wheel 12 is supported in a base 22 which includes a plate or sidewall 24 and a transversely extending center plate or wall 26 which act to support a horizontal cutting table 28. The base 22 also acts to support a standard 30 which extends above the cutting table and supports the guide wheel 14 in elevated relation to the table 28. As viewed in
The lower drive wheel 12 is supported at one side of wall 26 as seen in
The cleaning apparatus associated with the saw 10 is designated generally at 30 in
A pair of nozzle assemblies 50 and 51 are mounted on the center wall 26 of the base 22 by fasteners 53 one of which is seen in
In each case the nozzle elements 56 are directed against the blade 16 and also in a downward direction relative to base 22. However, the direction of the spray relative to the downward blade flight 18 is in the same direction as the blade movement but in the case of the blade flight 20 the spray direction is opposite to the blade movement. This causes a relative increase in spray velocity in the flight 20 over that of flight 18. Also, the angle of the spray relative to the blade 16 can be adjusted by rotating the elbows 54 and locking them in the selected position with set screws, one of which is indicated at 58 in
In use with the blade 16 moving water can be directed against the moving blades by regulating the valve 32 to the desired degree.
During the cutting operation spray is directed downwardly to wash away meat and bone fragments from the blade toward a collection tray 60 at the bottom of the base 22. The tray 60 may be directly connected to a drain which transports the water and entrained debris away from the saw to a location for further handling.
In addition to the water cleaning during meat cutting operation, an advantage of the present arrangement is that it is readily adaptable to many existing meat cutting saws. The length of the hoses 34, 40 and 42 may be readily shortened or varied to larger lengths to accommodate band saws with different diameter drive and guide wheels 12 and 14, and therefore variations in the spacing of the flights 18 and 20.
A cleaning apparatus for meat cutting band saws has been provided in which each of the two flights of a band saw are cleansed by opposed spray jets acting on opposite sides of the blades and in a downward direction relative to the saw. In the case of the cutting flight or downwardly moving flight the direction of the water spray is in the same direction as the blade movement and in the case of the upward flight or return flight the direction of the water spray is in the opposite direction to blade movement which increases the velocity of the water on the return flight of the blade.