Apparatus and method for cutting products
AssigneeFam
InventorBrent L. Bucks
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus for cutting products, comprising: a base; a cutting head rotatably fitted to the base; an impeller adapted for rotating concentrically within the cutting head to urge products fed into the cutting head towards the circumference of the cutting head by means of centrifugal force; an impeller drive mechanism for driving the rotation of the impeller at an impeller rotational speed setting the centrifugal force; and a cutting head drive mechanism for driving the rotation of the cutting head at a cutting head rotational speed which is greater than the impeller rotational speed.
Claims18
A method for cutting a product with an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
- a base;
- a cutting head comprising at least one cutting element along the circumference of the cutting head for cutting products fed into the cutting head, the cutting head being rotatably fitted to the base with the at least one cutting element oriented to impart cutting action in a first rotational direction;
- and
- an impeller adapted for rotating concentrically within the cutting head to urge products fed into the cutting head towards the circumference of the cutting head by means of centrifugal force;
- the method comprising:
- feeding the product to be cut into the cutting head;
- rotating the impeller in the first rotational direction at an impeller rotational speed, which sets the centrifugal force;
- and
- rotating the cutting head in the first rotational direction at a cutting head rotational speed which is a predetermined difference greater than the impeller rotational speed, such that the product is cut by the at least one cutting element at a predetermined cutting velocity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.