Food-slicing machine and method

An apparatus for preparing foodstuff slices comprising:

• a blade;
• means including a motor for rotating said blade
• a table adapted to hold said foodstuff;
• means for relatively displacing said table and said blade past each other in a slice direction for slicing said foodstuff into a succession of slices each having a respective width measured parallel to said slice direction;
• a support;
• means for depositing said succession of slices on said support in a plurality of rows with the slices in each row offset from one another by a predetermined first distance and for relatively offsetting the rows by a predetermined second distance;
• means connected to said motor for generating an output when said blade engages into and cuts said foodstuff;
• means for continuously monitoring the relative positions of said table and said blade in said slice direction;
• means for signaling the monitored relative position of said table and said blade on generation of said output for continuously measuring the widths of said slices;
• and
• means for automatically varying at least one of said distances in dependence on the measured width.

A method of preparing slices of an elongated foodstuff of generally uniform cross section, said method comprising the steps of:

• supporting said foodstuff on a table adjacent a blade;
• relatively displacing said table and said blade in a predetermined slice direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said foodstuff into a succession of slices each having a respective width measured parallel to said slice direction;
• depositing said succession of slices on a support in a plurality of rows with the slices in each row offset from one another by a predetermined first distance and the rows being relatively offset by a predetermined second distance;
• generating an output signal when said blade engages into and cuts said foodstuff;
• continuously monitoring the relative positions of said table and said blade in said slice direction;
• signaling the monitored relative positions of said table and said blade on generation of said output to measure the widths of said slices;
• and
• automatically varying at least one of said distances in dependence on the measured width.