Apparatus for cutting food product and method of use thereof

An apparatus for cutting food product, the apparatus comprising:

• a casing defining a stationary housing, the casing comprising an axial opening sized to accommodate a food product entering the casing, and comprising a circumferential opening sized to accommodate the food product exiting the casing;
• an impeller rotatable within the casing about an axis of symmetry thereof, the impeller comprising a drum, paddles mounted to the drum, and pockets defined by and between adjacent pairs of the paddles, each of the paddles being associated with one of the pockets that is circumferentially ahead thereof in a direction of rotation of the impeller, the drum having an axial opening coinciding with the axial opening of the casing to define an inlet through which the food product enters the impeller, the paddles being circumferentially spaced along a perimeter of the drum so that each pocket is radially aligned with the circumferential opening of the casing to expel the food product within the pocket through the circumferential opening as the impeller rotates within the casing and the pocket travels past the circumferential opening of the casing, each paddle defining a planar surface for pushing the food product and having a relief slot defined in an outer radial edge of the paddle;
• means for rotating the impeller within the casing to expel the food product through the circumferential opening as the impeller rotates within the casing and as each of the pockets travels past the circumferential opening of the casing;
• and
• a cutting device comprising at least a first knife disposed at the circumferential opening of the casing and having a cutting edge that is oriented perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the impeller, the first knife being secured to the casing at oppositely-disposed ends of the first knife and defining a cord of the casing and having the cutting edge located within an interior of the casing so that the first knife extends into the path of the paddles, passes through the relief slots of the paddles, and cuts the food product expelled through the circumferential opening as the impeller rotates and the pockets pass across the circumferential opening in the casing;
• wherein the planar surface of a first of the paddles is approximately perpendicular to the cutting edge of the first knife at the moment the first paddle has completed its pass across the circumferential opening of the casing.