DK160968B - METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING THE KNIFE POSITION IN A HEAVY OR HEAD CUTTING MACHINE - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A method for controlling the knife position prior to and during the initial cutting phase in a machine for removing the rind from for skinning meat and the like by means of a spring biased knife which is movably supported relative to a driven conveying roller, wherein the knife is guided during idling of the machine in each case back into a raised position when compared with the predeterminable operating position, and is guided back into the operating position on occurrence of a resistance in the drive transmission for the conveying roller, characterized in that the raised position of the knife during idling is selected in accordance with an effective but increased cutting thickness setting ; in that the material from which the rind is to be removed or which, is to be skinned, is directed against the cutting edge of the nife which is the increased cutting thickness setting ; and in that the increase of the conveying roller drive force at the instant of penetration of the knife into the material is exploited to release a store of energy which feeds the knife, which alreadly engages in the increased cutting thickness setting into the material from which the rind is to be removed, or which is to be skinned, back into the operating position.

Description

DK 160968 B

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method for controlling the knife position prior to and during cutting in a machine for cutting heavy or skin from meat or similar goods by means of a movable bearing and a spring-biased knife in relation to a driven transport roller, wherein the knife during the idle of the machine, a cutter position is raised in comparison with the adjustable operating position and when a resistance force in the transport roller drive is brought back to the operating position. Furthermore, the invention provides an apparatus for practicing this method.

Known machines for cutting pork are known in which a knife holder is pivotally mounted at its rear end, where the product from which the cutter is to be cut is brought to the knife by means of a pull roller, and the knife for relief of the cut should first work in the soft lobe, lowered by the pedal down. Such a mechanism is not suitable for automation and furthermore has the disadvantage that it is incumbent on the operator to decide when to lower the knife. A delayed lowering of the knife causes some loss of valuable pork or pork.

From DE-patent specification 20 12 724 there is known a cutting machine, in which a pivotally mounted knife can be moved or switched from a cutting position to a working position by means of a drive cylinder. The rerouting of the knife between these two positions occurs in response to a photocell responding to the oncoming item to be defended. This costly mechanism is particularly susceptible to operational disruption due to the still-present device pollution.

DE Patent Specification No. 12 93 635 discloses a machine for cutting swine from pork and with a pull roller for advancing the treatment product against a knife wall as well as with an adjustable knife holder under the influence of

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2 shows a spring which automatically pushes the unloaded knife into the cutting position, from which the blade, as a result of load from the treated product, automatically and in the spring overcoming the spring force, moves back in direction 5 towards the pull roller to be brought into cutting position. In order to ensure the transition between the cutting position and the cutting position, the knife holder is associated with a guide which guides the knife along a curve, calculated from the cutting position evenly and in the same curvature direction, the pull roller circumference. In this way, it is to be achieved that at the beginning of the cutting, the knife first cuts into the soft blubber or pork and then, under increasing load, automatically lowers in the direction of the blubber and cuts it along with the blubber or pork. In this case, it is a disadvantage that with the pre-cut cutting position the different hard layers, in terms of hardness, toughness and thickness, cannot be taken into account, which is why some finishing is necessary.

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DE Patent Specification No. 1,269,314 discloses an apparatus for removing skins from fish fillets in which the pivotally mounted knife for removing skins is pivoted against the fillet lying against the skin removal roller when the tooth pressure in the roller wheel drive at the inlet of the fillet the gap between the skin removal roller and the pressure roller is increased. The elevated tooth pressure causes oscillation of a switch wheel which is mounted in a switching wing under the influence of a retaining spring. Due to the chosen retention and 30 bearing, the skin removal knife performs a complicated movement between four different positions. During this complicated course of movement, the knife also reaches from an initial position in which it does not engage with the product from which leather is to be removed to an operating position at which skin removal is possible. Due to the drive guide provided for the skin removal knife 3

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ring, the achievable rate of movement of the skin removal knife is limited, and in particular, it is not possible to transfer the skin removal knife casually from one position to another.

US Patent No. 2,856,630 also discloses an apparatus for removing skins from fish fillets, which is provided with an adjusting unit for swinging the knife.

The knife is also firmly connected to an adjusting arm, and there is arranged at the knife an adjustable, thickening setting, giving the stop, whereby the adjusting unit engages with the adjusting arm. By means of this device, a control is made depending on the weight of the current product arriving, whereby via the weight of the product a switching actuation is performed over an arm, which results in the knife being inserted through the product formed by a fish fillet and brought into a preset. equal distance from a table.

It is an object of the invention to further develop a method of the aforementioned kind in such a way that, independently of the nature of the product to be liberated from severe and / or skin, a complete removal of the swelling or the skin, respectively, can be obtained so that that manual after-work can be avoided and practically without cutting losses both by manual and by automatic delivery of the product.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by selecting the raised position of the knife at idle corresponding to an effective but elevated cutting thickness setting, that the product from which severe or skin is to be cut is directed towards the egg in its lifted cutting position and the moment the knife penetrates into the product, the increase in the transport selection drive force is utilized to release a force which returns the knife which, in the elevated cut-thickness thickness, engages in the product from which heavy or house is to be cut, back to the operating position .

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By providing two precisely definable and individually adjustable cutting positions, namely the cutting position and the operating position respectively, and by utilizing the traction force given immediately upon the commencement of the cutting roller as a criterion for lifting the knife holder support in the cutting position, In the very simple way, an optimal cutting is ensured, and at the same time the surprising effect is obtained that the knife is returned to the pre-adjusted operating position in a very short time 10.

Thereby, the knife in the lifted position is not in an inactive position, but rather already in a precisely defined cutting thickness setting, in which it becomes effective at the beginning of a removal, ie. with this cutting thickness setting, the knife enters the product from which the blade is to be removed. The elevated cutting thickness setting is abruptly reduced by transferring the knife to the operating position. Thereby, a force is activated in dependence on the increased transport roller drive force and causes the blade's return to the operating position. During the return of the knife from the elevated cutting thickness setting to the operating position, the egg 25 is already in the product from which it is difficult to be removed, whereby the egg describes when the transfer to the operating position a very steep decreasing movement path.

Advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention as well as preferred embodiments 30 of an apparatus for practicing the method according to the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, the only figure of which illustrates the principle of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus.

The cutting machine shown in the drawing has 5

DK 160968B

a knife holder 1 with a replaceable knife 2, the eggs of which are in the region of the Upper providing a toothed or grooved transport roller 3.

This transport roller 3 can run in the direction indicated by arrow 5, being pulled by a motor 4 via a drive chain 5.

The knife holder 1 has, at the sides, support surfaces which, in the resting position, abut against corresponding ring surfaces on the transport roller. The knife holder 1 is pressed against the support surfaces of the transport roller 3 by means of a clamping piece 6 which grips the knife holder at its rear end. The clamping piece 6 is loaded by an eccentric clamping device 7. If the knife holder 1 is to be removed from the machine, the clamping device 15 7 of the clamping device 15 7 is pivoted by a corresponding arm, so that the biasing of the clamping piece 6 is removed.

On the opposite side, the knife holder 1 is extended with arms lying at the sides of a feed table 23, whose end portions 8 cooperate with 20 holders 9, which can swing as indicated by the double arrow and are under a certain spring bias. In addition, the respective end portions 8 support steering means 10, which are fixedly connected by means of a through shaft 12 to an adjustment arm 11. Any oscillation 25 of this adjustment arm will consequently cause a corresponding oscillation of the control means 10 and thus a lifting or lowering of the knife carrier 1. .

The various parts are shown in the starting position or the zero position in which the end portions 8, as a result of the pressure from the down holders 9, abut against the planar sides of the control means 10.

The shown design and mounting or support of the knife holder 1 causes the control means 10, depending on the instantaneous thickness setting, to cause a parallel displacement or parallel movement of the knife holder and thus also of the knife 2.

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The adjustment of the control means 10 and thus also the adjustment of the knife 2's eggs takes place by means of a pivotally mounted eccentric 13, against which the adjusting arm 11 is held in abutment 5 by means of a spring spring 14 during operation of the apparatus. A change in the position of the eccentric 13 results in a corresponding oscillation. of the adjusting arm 11 and thus also an adjustment of the control means 10 against which the knife carrier 1 has contact.

10 The adjustment to the cutting position is also done by means of the control means 10, but independently of the thickness adjustment eccentric 13.

The adjusting position is adjusted by means of a drive cylinder 15 which, on the one hand, 15 is held in a bearing 16 and on the other hand through a connecting lock 17, grips the adjustment arm 11. When operating this drive cylinder 15, which can be done, for example, via a solenoid valve, the arm 11 can be pivoted a certain angle about the shaft 12 in the clockwise direction of rotation 20, whereby the knife carrier 1 is lifted by the control means 10. The magnitude of this pivot or lifting of the knife carrier 1 can be precisely determined in advance by means of one in the drawing. shown, or by means of a guided walk for the drive cylinder.

For example, if the knife 2 is to be set to about 0.2-0.3 mm during normal operation, for example, for the cutting position, a size of 3-4 mm can be selected. However, these are only exemplary statements without 30 restrictive character. On the contrary, it can be pointed out that the construction according to the invention provides great freedom with regard to the choice of cutting position, which must also be seen in the context of the return of the knife 2 from the cutting position to the normal operating position, at which the thickness control depends on the blade.

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The switching from the cutting position to the normal operating position takes place depending on the tension in the traction chain part 5 from the transport roller 3 to the drive motor 4. The relevant chain part 5, which is under 5 at idle, is held under a certain bias by means of a gear 20 mounted on it. one arm of a rotatable two-arm lever 18, the other arm of which is loaded by a spring 22 holding the cog against the chain. In the drawing, the two-arm weight 10 bar 18 is shown mounted at a pin or shaft 19 located approximately in the middle, but this is not a necessary condition. The lever of one lever 18 * cooperates with a switch 21, which can preferably be switched between two defined positions and which controls the operation of the drive cylinder 15.

The traction chain member 5 occupies the position, which is not tightly tensioned in the drawing, when the apparatus is stationary or idle.

When the appliance is put into operation, the tension in the traction chain part 5 will not change substantially as long as idle and the lever 18 together with the switch 21 and the drive cylinder 15 cause the adjusting arm 11 to pivot to the desired cutting position and consequently not longer have systems against the eccentric 13 which determine the thickness setting during normal operation. With the knife in the cutting position thus given, a product from which to be severely cut, either manually or by means of a conveyor, can be brought forward against the egg on the desired blade 2 which is lifted, which will consequently penetrate into the fat layer instead. to bump into the tough one.

Shortly after the insertion of the knife into the fat layer, the tension in the tension chain part 5 is suddenly increased, since the transport roller 3 requires a substantially higher traction force than during idling. This traction is provided by the motor 4, which is simultaneously there

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8, the pull chain portion 5 tightens and thus causes a pivot of the gear 20 engaging the chain 20, which in turn causes the actuator 21 to actuate via the two-arm bar 18, thereby relieving the drive cylinder 15 so that the adjusting arm 11 of the spring 14 is brought into contact with the thickness adjustment eccentric 13. A further consequence of this is that the knife holder 1 and thus the knife 2 now follow the control means 10. The new position of the control means 10, 10, predetermined by the eccentric 13, gives the setting desired during operation. .

When the treated product has passed through the machine and thereby has been completely freed from severe, the tension in the tension chain part 15 5 is immediately reduced, so that the drive cylinder 15 is activated via the two-armed lever 18 and the switch 21, and the knife holder thus goes back in immediately. the cutting position and is ready to process the next item.

In connection with the explained method of operation of the apparatus according to the invention, the particular design of the mounting, biasing and support of the knife holder 1 by means of the clamping piece 6 and the down holders 9 is of particular advantage, but the principle of the method according to the invention can also be utilized by 25 existing machines or appliances with a tilted blade holder.

Particular utility advantages of the apparatus according to the invention are that not only the thickness adjustment but also the cutting adjustment can be done steplessly, that only the very simple device technical measures are required to realize the cutting adjustment and that even failing cutting adjustment will not hinder the normal cutting function. In practice, it has also already been found that by the principle explained, an impeccable cut can be obtained so that no need is needed.

Claims (10)

25 PATENT REQUIREMENTS A method of controlling the knife position prior to and during cutting in a machine for cutting heavy or skin from meat or similar goods by means of a movable bearing and spring-biased knife in relation to a driven transport roller, the knife below the idle of the machine is brought to a cutting position compared to the adjustable operating position, and upon the occurrence of a resistance force in the transport roller drive is returned to the operating position, characterized in that the lifted position of the knife in idle is selected corresponding to an operating DK 160968B but increased cutting thickness setting, that the product from which heavy or skin is to be cut is guided towards the egg in its lifted cutting position, and that the moment the knife enters the product, the increase in the transport roller driving force is utilized to release a force which guides the knife into the elevated cutting thickness setting ng intervenes in the product from which sever or skin is to be cut back to its operating position. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the return of the knife from the cutting position to the instantaneous operating position is dependent on the pull in a chain running between a drive motor and the transport roller or a similar transmission element. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the knife is transmitted to and held in the cutting position by external force and that its return to the operating position takes place automatically by canceling the relevant force. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the return of the knife from the cutting position to the operating position takes place with an adjustable delay relative to the time at which the motor driving force is increased by a certain size. Apparatus for carrying out the method according to one or more of the preceding claims and having a knife (2) held in a knife holder (1) extending over the width of a driven transport roller (3) and having its egg lying mainly in level with the top of this roller, and a clamping device (6,7) for pushing the knife holder (1) in the direction of the transport roller (3) and a mechanism (13) 35 cooperating with the knife holder for thickness adjustment, characterized by an on the knife holder (1) engaging, controllable adjuster DK 160968B (10,11) which, during the unloaded run of the transport roller (3), supports the knife holder (1) on the supply side and holds it in a cutting position and which, depending on the increase in the driving force for the transport roller (3) ), which is necessary when the article from which severe or skin is to be cut runs against the knife (2), is released from the knife holder (1), so that it then supports the thickness adjustment mechanism (10,11), where the knife the ladder (1) at its end (8) facing the feed side bears on a pivotal and eccentrically mounted guide (10) with an adjustable working position corresponding to the instant thickness setting, and an adjustable position corresponding to the cutting position as well, and that the rotation of the control means (10) between these two positions is controlled depending on the tension of a traction chain part (5) between a drive motor (4) and the transport roller (3). Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that a switchable, pneumatic or electric actuator (15), which can be switched between two operating positions (15), is controlled by a sensor (20) cooperating with the pulling chain part (5). ). Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the pivotally mounted control means (10) is fixedly connected to an adjusting arm (11), to which an adjustable stop (13) is attached for determining the instantaneous thickness adjustment, which is actuated by the switch (15) to bring the guide (10) into the free-running position corresponding to the cutting position. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the adjusting arm (11) is pre-loaded by means of a spring (14) against the stop (13) for determining the thickness setting and that the switch (15) is constituted by a piston electric tear cylinder unit which is arranged to raise the adjusting arm (11) an adjustable piece from the stop DK 160968 B (13) against the action of the bias spring (14), when the pull chain member (5) is at least substantially slack. Apparatus according to one or more of claims 6-8, characterized in that the sensor (20) is constituted by a sprocket engaging the tow bar (5) carried 5 by one arm of a pivotally mounted, two-arm lever (18) / wherein the free end of the second arm is connected to a spring (22) for pushing the sprocket against the chain and the two-arm bar (18) is adapted to actuate a pneumatic or electric switch (21) -10 tric path controls the adjusting lever (15) of the adjusting arm (11). Apparatus according to one or more of claims 5-9, characterized in that the end of the knife holder (1) facing the insertion side (8) is loaded by a holding bracket (9) which is under tension.