Knife blade retraction mechanism for a food article slicing machine

A food article slicing machine, comprising:

• a slicing station comprising a knife blade mounted on a blade shaft having a blade shaft axis and a knife blade drive driving the blade along a cutting path in a cutting plane by rotating the blade shaft about said blade shaft axis;
• a food article feed apparatus supporting one or more food articles for movement along respective one or more food article paths intersecting the cutting path;
• an automated retraction mechanism for periodically retracting said knife blade from said cutting plane to make empty cuts during a continuous cutting operation, said retraction mechanism comprising:
• a stationary hub and a sliding member with a bearing hub, wherein said stationary hub surrounds at least a portion of the bearing hub, and wherein said bearing hub is arranged for sliding movement in an axial direction parallel to said blade shaft axis within said stationary hub;
• wherein the bearing hub engages with the blade shaft such that an axial movement of the bearing hub along said blade shaft axis causes a corresponding axial movement of the blade shaft, and wherein the sliding member is arranged outside the blade shaft and guided for sliding movement and non-rotation with respect to the stationary hub and arranged to exert an axial force on an outside of the blade shaft;
• and
• a linear actuator having a shaft that moves linearly and is operatively connected to a pivot bar at a base end of the pivot bar and the pivot bar operatively connected to the sliding member at a distal end, wherein the pivot bar has a pivot axis with respect to the stationary hub that is between the base and distal ends, and wherein movement of the linear actuator shaft pivoting the pivot bar about the pivot axis causes the sliding member to slide and exert an axial force on an outside of the blade shaft to retract said knife blade away from said cutting plane in a direction along said blade shaft axis.