US 6,655,248 B1Granted

Cheese cutting

OwnerCharles H. Johnsoninventor

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Abstract

A cutter, preferably a cheese cutter, for cutting food into consumer-size chunks. The cutter comprises a feed conveyor, slab drive apparatus for driving a slab along the feed conveyor, and a cutting harp adjacent the discharge end of the feed conveyor. The cutting harp has cutting devices which make cuts extending across an opening. A slab discharged from the conveyor passes through the central opening, and the cutting devices cut the food product in the direction of advance of the slab. Transverse harp drive apparatus drives the harp transverse to the direction of advance of the slab, severing chunks of product from the slab. A take-away conveyor takes the severed chunks away from the cutting harp, to a weighing device which weighs the chunks. A controller receives weights from the weighing device, and sends adjustment instructions to the slab drive apparatus to adjust subsequent weights of product cut from such slabs.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A cutter for cutting slabs of food product into smaller chunks, said cutter comprising:

(a) a feed conveyor having an intake end and a discharge end, and a conveying surface for conveying such slabs of food product thereon;
(b) slab drive apparatus for driving such slabs of food product along said feed conveyor in a direction from said intake end toward said discharge end;
(c) a cutting harp disposed adjacent said discharge end of said feed conveyor, said cutting harp comprising a frame, a central opening inside said frame, and cutting wires extending across the opening, the cutting wires being operative to make cuts extending through the food product, the opening being aligned with said feed conveyor such that a slab being discharged from said feed conveyor passes through the opening and such that, when such slab of food product is driven through the opening in said harp, said cutting wires effect cuts in such food product in the direction of advance of such slab of food product;
and
(d) transverse harp drive apparatus, for driving said harp in a direction transverse to the direction of advance of such slab, and generally parallel to the conveying surface of said feed conveyor, thereby to sever chunks of such food product from such slab, said cutting harp being longitudinally stationary and transversely mobile with respect to the direction of drive of such food product toward said cutting harp.

2 more elements

A method of advancing a slab of cheese into and through a cutting harp, and thereby cutting the slab of cheese, the method comprising:

(a) positioning the slab of cheese between a first underlying feed conveyor having a support surface, and a second overlying conveyor having a conveyance surface;
(b) biasing at least one of the first and second conveyors against the other of the first and second conveyors through the slab of cheese, with sufficient compression of the slab of cheese that the overlying and underlying conveyors can collectively drive the slab in a direction through the cutting harp, the cutting harp being longitudinally stationary and transversely mobile with respect to the direction of driving the slab of cheese through the cutting harp;
(c) driving at least one of the first and second conveyors, as slab drive apparatus, in a direction toward the harp, such that friction forces of the support surface and the conveyance surface drive the slab of cheese into and through the cutting harp, thereby cutting the slab of cheese;
and
(d) moving the harp transversely across the slab of cheese, and generally parallel with the support surface of the underlying conveyor, and thereby cutting respective chunks of cheese.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.