System and blade assembly for cutting food pieces
AssigneeCavendish Farms Corporation
InventorsJason Mackinnon, Alan Thorpe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Existing blade assemblies for cutting complex three-dimensional shapes such as twisted shapes are typically slow and suffer from frequent breakdowns. Disclosed herein is a stationary blade assembly for cutting food products into complex shapes as the food products are directed along a direction of flow at the blade assembly, wherein the blade assembly comprises a plurality of blades, each of the plurality of blades having a length, wherein the length of the blade is oriented along the direction of flow and the blade is twisted along its length, whereby the food products are rotated by the blade during cutting.
Claims20
A blade assembly for cutting food pieces into complex shapes as the food pieces are directed along a direction of flow, through the blade assembly, wherein the blade assembly comprises a plurality of blades arranged about a central, longitudinal axis, each blade of the plurality of blades including anchoring edge and a longitudinal edge, the anchoring edge defining a length oriented along the direction of flow parallel the central, longitudinal axis, the longitudinal edge extending outward from the anchoring edge and twisted along its length from its proximal end to its distal end relative to the anchoring edge, and wherein the plurality of blades do not extend through the central, longitudinal axis.
A blade assembly comprising a housing having a proximal end and a distal end, a housing bore, and a plurality of blades held along their length, lengthwise within the housing and wherein the plurality of blades is arranged about a central, longitudinal axis that is generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the housing bore, each of the plurality of blades having a length, an anchoring edge securing the blade along its length within the housing, a proximal edge, a distal edge and a longitudinal edge opposite the anchoring edge, and being twisted along its length, and wherein the plurality of blades do not extend through the central, longitudinal axis of the housing bore.
A method for cutting food pieces into complex shapes, the method comprising:
- directing a food piece along a direction of flow towards a blade assembly,
- wherein the blade assembly comprises a plurality of blades arranged about a central, longitudinal axis parallel to the direction of flow each of the plurality of blades having a length, wherein the length of the blade is oriented along the direction of flow and parallel to the central, longitudinal axis and the blade is twisted along its length;
- and cutting the food piece into complex shapes with the plurality of blades of the blade assembly;
- and
- wherein the plurality of blades do not extend through the central, longitudinal axis of the housing bore.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.