Machine, method, and system for high speed cutting and portioning of extruded products
AssigneeRisco USA Corporation
InventorAlan G. Miller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An input conveyor, output conveyor, and knife assembly with a blade between the input and output conveyors all reciprocate back and forth as a blade moves perpendicular to the conveyors to cut portioned sized of product, such as ground meat. The cut cycle allows the product feed to keep moving in a continuous manner on conveyors. For ground meat, this system can allow production rates of 150 pieces or more per minute per conveyor line and can improve the accuracy of portioning. The blade is actuated by a profiled cam set that pulls the blade down, and then returns it with a spring to an upper position. The knife assembly can accelerate just after cutting to reduce the potential for sticking to the cut product.
Claims19
An apparatus comprising:
- a first conveyor configured to move along a first direction;
- and
- a knife assembly configured to provide a reciprocating motion along the first direction;
- wherein the knife assembly includes a blade movable in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction from an upper position spaced in the second direction from the first conveyor to a lower position to provide a cut to a product on the first conveyor,
- wherein the knife assembly is configured to move from a first position to a second position along the first direction while the first conveyor moves in the first direction, and wherein the knife assembly is further configured to move in a reverse direction to return to the first position, and
- wherein the knife assembly is configured to accelerate in the first direction faster than the first conveyor as the blade moves from the lower position to the upper position to provide separation between the blade and the product on the first conveyor, thereby providing a cut product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.