Slicing of products
AssigneeThurne Engineering Company Limited
InventorTrevor Barry Hoyland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of and apparatus for slicing products, such as of foodstuffs, has a slicing station at which slices are cut from a product fed to the station. The cut slices fall on a receiver arranged below the slicing station, and the vertical distance between the slicing station and the receiver is varied as a stack of slices builds up on the receiver.
Claims15
Slicing apparatus comprising:
- feed means to feed a slicing station in a conventional manner a product to be sliced;
- a slicing blade arranged at the slicing station to cut successive slices from product fed to the slicing station;
- a sub-frame slidably mounted on a fixed part of the slicing apparatus for generally vertical movement;
- a receiver for cut slices and arranged below the slicing station, said receiver having an outfeed end and being carried on the sub-frame for vertical movement with the sub-frame relative to the slicing station, the receiver further including first and second endless conveyors mounted on the sub-frame and arranged in a fixed angular orientation with respect to each other such that an infeed end of the second conveyor is located substantially adjacent an outfeed end of the first conveyor and such that the first and second conveyors are maintained in fixed relationship to each other during any variation of vertical position between the slicing station and the receiver;
- adjustment means to adjust the vertical position of the sub-frame and so also of the receiver below the slicing station during slicing of the product;
- and
- discharge means having an input end disposed on the sub-frame adjacent the outfeed end of the receiver, the input end of the discharge means and the outfeed of the receiver being linked by the sub frame to remain in vertical alignment during adjustment of the vertical position of the sub-frame.
A method of slicing a product to produce a formed stack of slices, using a slicing machine having a slicing station, a receiver for slices cut from the product at the slicing station which receiver comprises first and second endless conveyors arranged in a fixed angular orientation end to end with respect to each other, and a discharge means for a stack of slices built up on the receiver, which discharge means includes an input end for receiving the stack of slices from the receiver, the method comprising:
- feeding the product to a slicing station;
- cutting slices one at a time from the product at the slicing station and allowing the slices to fall on to said first endless conveyor of the receiver to build up a stack of slices thereon;
- varying the vertical distance between the slicing station and the receiver as the stack of slices builds up on the receiver, the first and second conveyors remaining in fixed relationship with respect to each other during variation of the vertical distance;
- maintaining the input end of the discharge means substantially in alignment with said second endless conveyor of the receiver during the varying of the vertical distance of the receiver from the slicing station;
- and
- following the formation of a stack of slices on the first endless conveyor, transferring the stack from that conveyor to the second endless conveyor, from where the stack of cut slices is moved to the discharge means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.