Machine and method for high speed cutting and portioning of extruded products
AssigneeRisco USA Corporation
InventorAlan G. MILLER
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An input conveyor, output conveyor, and knife assembly with a blade between the input and output conveyors all reciprocate back and forth as a blade moves perpendicular to the conveyors to cut portioned sized of product, such as ground meat. The cut cycle allows the product feed to keep moving in a continuous manner on conveyors. For ground meat, this system can allow production rates of 150 pieces or more per minute per conveyor line and can improve the accuracy of portioning. The blade is actuated by a profiled cam set that pulls the blade down, and then returns it with a spring to an upper position. The knife assembly can accelerate just after cutting to reduce the potential for sticking to the cut product.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a first conveyor belt;
- a second conveyor belt, substantially co-planar with the first conveyor belt in a first plane, and arranged so that a distal end of the first conveyor belt is near a proximal end of the second conveyor belt such that product can move from the first conveyor belt to the second conveyor belt;
- a knife assembly mounted at least in part between the first and second conveyor belts such that product goes from the first conveyor belt to the second conveyor belt past the knife assembly, wherein the knife assembly, the distal end of the first conveyor belt, and the proximal end of the second conveyor belt are movable together laterally in a reciprocating manner;
- the knife assembly including a die slot between the first and second conveyor belts, and a blade that is movable in a first direction perpendicular to the first plane from an upper position spaced in the first direction from the first and second conveyor belts to a lower position where the blade is in the die slot and between the first and second conveyor belts, thus allowing the blade to cut through product conveyed on the first and second conveyor belts while the first and second conveyor belts are moving continually.
An apparatus comprising:
- a first conveyor belt for moving product along a first direction;
- a knife assembly mounted for reciprocating motion along the first direction;
- the knife assembly including a blade movable in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction from an upper position spaced in the second direction from the first conveyor belt to a lower position where the blade cuts through product from the first conveyor belt,
- wherein the knife assembly moves from a proximal end to a distal end in a forward direction to make cut, and in a reverse direction to return to the proximal end,
- wherein the knife assembly is configured to accelerate in the first direction faster than the first conveyor belt after making the cut to provide separation from a product being cut.
A method comprising providing a product in a continuous flow and moving in a continuous manner on a conveyor to a cutting zone, cutting the product for cutting the product into portioned pieces by using a blade moving from a position over the conveyor to a position where the blade is in a die slot to cut through the product, while the product moves continuously without stopping.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.