Cutting apparatus

A cutting apparatus for food items comprising a knife for cutting the food items into a desired configuration and means for feeding the food items to the knife and for urging the food items therethrough, the feed means including:

• an upper endless belt made from a flexible material and mounted about an upper idler roll and an upper drive roll, the upper idler roll and upper drive roll being spaced from each other;
• a lower endless belt made from a flexible material and mounted about a lower idler roll and a lower drive roll, the lower idler roll and lower drive roll being spaced from each other, wherein the upper and lower endless belts each extend into proximity with the knife and are spaced from each other to generally define a flow path for the food items;
• means for providing the belts with a contour having a profile generally matching that of the food items to be cut as food items are passed between the belts, the endless belts each comprising an elongate generally planar belt and the providing means comprising a plurality of contoured resilient paddles carried by the endless belts, the paddles defining the contour having a profile generally matching that of the food items to be cut;
• and
• means for driving the upper and lower drive rolls.