Food product slicing apparatus and methods associated with the same
AssigneeFormax, Inc.
InventorsGage A. Fox, Glen F. Pryor, Fernando Garcia-Perez, Jeff Schmuker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A food product slicing apparatus includes a tray configured to support food product blocks. A cavity is provided for receiving unsliced ends of food product blocks, and a removal member is used to eject the ends from the cavity. Upper and lower drive assemblies are provided for moving the blocks to a slicing station. The height of the upper drive assembly is adjustable relative to the lower drive assembly. A plurality of output conveyors receive stacks of sliced food product from the slicing station. The output conveyors are parallel and convey the stacks of sliced food product along linear and parallel paths.
Claims26
A food product slicing apparatus comprising:
- a tray configured to support food product blocks;
- a cavity for receiving unsliced ends of food product blocks;
- and
- a removal member movable within the cavity to remove the unsliced ends of the food product blocks from the cavity.
A food product slicing apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
- an upper drive assembly mounted on said frame and including an upper belt;
- and
- a lower drive assembly mounted on said frame and including a lower belt;
- wherein the upper belt is configured to engage a top surface of a food product block to be sliced and the lower belt is configured to engage a bottom surface of the food product block.
A food product slicing apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
- a tray mounted on said frame;
- a slicing station attached to said frame;
- and
- a plurality of output conveyors adapted to received stacks of sliced food product from the slicing station, wherein the plurality of output conveyors are parallel and convey the stacks of sliced food product along linear and parallel paths.
A food product slicing apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
- a tray attached to said frame and configured to support food product blocks;
- a cavity for receiving unsliced ends of food product blocks;
- a removal member movable within the cavity to remove the unsliced ends of the food product blocks from the cavity;
- an upper drive assembly mounted on said frame and including an upper belt;
- a lower drive assembly mounted on said frame and including a lower belt, wherein the upper belt is configured to engage a top surface of a food product block to be sliced and the lower belt is configured to engage a bottom surface of the food product block;
- a slicing station attached to said frame;
- and
- a plurality of output conveyors adapted to received stacks of sliced food product from the slicing station, wherein the plurality of output conveyors are parallel and convey the stacks of sliced food product along linear and parallel paths.
A method of slicing a food product block comprising:
- placing a food product block onto a tray;
- pivoting said tray upwardly to engage an upper drive assembly;
- engaging said upper drive assembly to move said food product block in a streamwise direction;
- engaging said food product block with a lower drive assembly;
- and
- moving said food product block into a slicing station and using said slicing station to slice the food product block into slices.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.