Method and Apparatus for Preparing Portions

A method for the automatic preparation of portions of a plurality of food products of different types with at least two cutting apparatus, the method comprising:

• cutting off at least one product slice from a product of a first type with a first cutting apparatus, with the cut-off product slice of the first type falling onto a product carrier and forming a first part portion;
• conveying the product carrier having the first part portion to a second cutting apparatus by a conveying device;
• and
• cutting off at least one product slice of a second type with the second cutting apparatus, with the cut-off product slice of the second type falling onto the product carrier and forming a second part portion which complements the first part portion to form a desired total portion no longer to be complemented or to form a part portion still to be complemented using at least one further cutting apparatus.

A production line for multitype packs each containing a total portion of product slices of food products of different types, the production line comprising:

• an apparatus configured for automatic preparation of portions from a plurality of food products of different types, the apparatus comprising:
• a first cutting apparatus;
• a second cutting apparatus;
• and
• a conveying device configured to convey at least one product carrier from a product slice placement zone of the first cutting apparatus to a product slice placement zone of the second cutting apparatus, the apparatus configured such that a first part portion is formable from at least one product slice of a first type on the product carrier in the placement zone of the first cutting apparatus, a second part portion of at least one product slice of a second type is formable on the product carrier in the placement zone of the second cutting apparatus, and the second part portion and the first part portion form the total portion no longer to be complemented or a part portion still to be complemented by at least one further cutting apparatus;
• and
• a packaging machine.