Bread cutting machine with cutting process aid, and operating method

A bread slicer for cutting a loaf of bread into slices, the bread slicer comprising:

• a slicer housing, the slicer housing accommodating a drive motor and a slicing blade, the slicing blade being configured to be driven by the drive motor, the slicing blade being retained on a blade arm, and the slicing blade being configured to rotate in a slicing plane or to be movable in a circulating manner;
• a feed chute configured to introduce the loaf to be sliced into the bread slicer;
• a receiving chute, which adjoins the feed chute except for a blade gap, the receiving chute being configured for receiving all of the slices of the sliced loaf;
• and
• an advancing plate, the advancing plate being configured such that an end face of the loaf introduced into the feed chute rests thereon and comprising a gripper provided with claws for holding the loaf,
• wherein a connecting axis between the feed chute and the receiving chute is arranged in a manner inclined with respect to a vertical by at least 30°,
• wherein the receiving chute is arranged above the feed chute in a vertical direction,
• wherein the advancing plate is configured such that it is able to travel from one end of the feed chute remote from the receiving chute as far as over the blade gap and back again,
• wherein the bread slicer further comprises an electronic controller, which is configured to:
• cause the claws of the gripper to extend out and reach into an end-face securing portion, which is elongated in the direction of the connecting axis, of the loaf introduced into the feed chute,
• then to cause the as-yet-unsliced loaf to be transported into the receiving chute over the blade gap, and
• to cause the slicing blade to travel into the blade gap multiple times automatically during the transportation in order to cut off one slice from the loaf each time, and the slicing blade then moving fully back out of the blade gap again in order to allow each cut-off slice to be transported onward into the receiving chute and to allow the rest of the as-yet-unsliced loaf to be transported onward over the blade gap.