Slice control circuit for a slicing machine

A slice control circuit for a slicing machine, said machine including a motor driven, reservsible conveyor on which unsliced product is transported, a rotating slicing knife positioned transversely of said conveyor and a pulse operated motor control for the conveyor, said slice control circuit comprising:

• (a) first pulse generating means for operating said motor control when slicing is initiated or interrupted,
• (b) second pulse generating means producing pulses of a lower frequency than said first pulse generating means for operating said motor control during continuous slicing,
• (c) logic means for gating said pulse generating means to said motor control and for determining the direction of movement of said conveyor,
• (d) means for detecting the angular orientation of said knife relative to said conveyor and for operating the logic means responsive thereto,
• whereby slicing is initiated or interrupted only when the knife is correctly oriented to avoid partial, nonuniform slices.

A method of intermittently slicing a product on a slicing machine having a rotating knife to produce discrete series of slices, said method comprising the steps of:

• advancing the product across the knife at a first rate until a predetermined number of whole slices has been cut to form a first said series of slices;
• interrupting slicing by retracting the product from the blade at a second rate, faster than said first rate;
• introducing the product to the knife by moving the product at said second rate to engage the knife with the latter in the same position relative to the product as in the start of said retracting step;
• and
• again advancing the product across the knife at said first rate whereby to form a second said series of slices,
• the said position of the knife at the start of said retracting step and the end of said introducing step being preselected to avoid partial, non-uniform slices at the beginning and end, respectively of said second and first series.