Waffle sandwich sawing machine

Apparatus for sawing a stack of large baked sheets into a multitide of pieces arranged in package-sized groups, comprising in combination:

• an elongated product supporting surface having input and output ends;
• a first saw mechanism positioned between said ends of said surface including a row of reciprocating saw blades extending through said surface;
• pusher means moveable to engage the product and slide it along said surface through said saw blades and off the output end of said surface;
• product transporting means positioned at the end of said surface for receiving and engaging the cut product to move the cut product in the direction perpendicular to the cut lines therein;
• and
• a second saw mechanism including a row of reciprocating saw blades extending across the path of the product carried by said transporting means to cut the product perpendicular to the first cut lines, said pusher means including at last one pusher element oriented perpendicularly with respect to said surface for engaging the edges of a first stack of baked sheets to slide said first stack along said surface from a first position thereon to a second position thereon, said apparatus further comprising stack shifting means engageable with the product on said surface for moving a second stack of baked sheets into said first position during a shifting of said first stack from said first position to said second position by said pusher element, said pusher means including carriage means attached to said pusher element for shifting same in direction parallel to said surface and along a path between said input and output ends while maintaining said pusher element in an orientation perpendicular to said surface, said pusher means further including transverse shifting means supporting said carriage means for shifting said carriage means and said pusher element perpendicularly to said surface and said path prior to and after a stroke of said carriage means along said path while maintaining said pusher element in an orientation substantially perpendicular to said surface, said pusher means also including drive means operatively coupled to said carriage means and said transverse shifting means for operating same in alternation with one another.

Apparatus for sawing a stack of large baked sheets into a multitude of pieces arranged in package-sized groups comprising in combination:

• an elongated product supporting surface having input and output ends, said supporting surface being provided with slots extending longitudinally from said input end toward said output end;
• a first saw mechanism positioned between said ends of said surface including a row of reciprocating saw blades extending through said surface;
• pusher means including a first pushing mechanism for sliding the stack of sheets along said surface through and past said first saw mechanism and a second pushing mechanism for moving said stack off the output end of said surface, said first pushing mechanism including a longitudinally extending carriage support member beneath said surface and a carriage mounted to move along said support member, said pusher means including a first set of fingers mounted on one end of said carriage and extending upwardly through said slots in said surface for engaging the edges of the stacked sheets and moving the product stack from the input end of said surface to a position intermediate said input end and said first saw mechanism, and a second set of pusher fingers mounted on the other end of said carriage and extending upwardly through said slots in said surface for engaging the edges of the stacked sheets and moving the product stack from said intermediate position through and past said saw blades of said first saw mechanism, said second fingers passing between adjacent saw blades during the sawing operations, said pusher means further including shifting means for moving said carriage along said support member and drive means for raising and lowering said carriage support member to move said fingers through said slots between an extended position and a retracted position;
• product transporting means positioned at the end of said surface for receiving and engaging the cut product to move the cut product in the direction perpendicular to the cut lines therein;
• and
• a second saw mechanism including a row of reciprocating saw blades extending across the path of the product carried by said transporting means to cut the product perpendicular to the first cut lines.