EP1106312B1 - Food cutting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The cube-cutting and slicing machine has an insertion shaft (2) for the foodstuffs. The cutting device has a grating cutter and a rotary slicing cutter (7S). The internal cross section of the insertion shaft can be altered by altering the position of at least one of its long walls (10S). The output cross section of the insertion shaft can be enlarged via the effective cutting cross section in grating cutting mode.

Description

The invention relates to a machine for cutting foodstuffs into slices, strips or cubes with an inserting chute for the material to be cut which can be advanced therein by means of a feed device in the direction of a cutting device extending over an exit cross section of the inserting chute, which has a gate knife and a rotating cutting knife, wherein the inner cross section of the insertion tray is changeable by changing the position of at least one of its longitudinal walls.

Such a machine is known for example from DE 44 44 506 C1. A vertical longitudinal wall of the insertion tray, referred to as a magazine, is displaceable in the transverse direction of the magazine by means of a pre-pressing punch in order to achieve a pre-compaction of the material to be cut after it has been introduced into the insertion tray. The opposite vertical longitudinal wall is detachable from a bottom part of the insertion and can be removed from the machine as a whole. The same applies to the other longitudinal wall displaceable with the press-on punch, so that the machine, after removal of a separating slide serving as an upper longitudinal wall and the two opposite longitudinal walls, i. After a resolution of the insertion, it is very easy and thorough to clean, which makes compliance with strict hygiene regulations much easier.

A fundamental problem of such machines with Gattermessern is the fact that they have smaller dimensions of the gate cross section and thus also the outlet cross section of the insertion, which do not allow, after removal of the gate, for example, chops, roulades or steaks in a satisfactory manner in slices to cut. This is especially true for dicing machines, which have a gate cross-section of about 100 mm square, as they are typically used in craft shops of the butcher industry and meet the requirements there on the cutting performance in dicing perfectly.

An enlargement of the gate cross-section in order to be able to slice larger pieces of a strand material after removal of the gates is uneconomical. The construction cost of a gate cutter increases namely disproportionately with the enlargement of the gate cross section. Such large gate trimmers therefore can not be one for the artisanal Users are offered economic price, especially since their dicing performance would be unnecessarily large.

The state of the art further includes gate cutting machines, in which the inner cross section of the insertion can be reduced by means of a Reduzierils in the form of, for example, another longitudinal wall. Such a reduction is appropriate if, for example, due to a smaller Gutsstrangs in its cross-sectional dimensions only a part of the entire gate cross-section should be used. In order to ensure a good lateral guidance of the Gutsstrangs and to prevent kinking under the feed pressure in such cases, as complete as possible lateral conditioning of Gutsstrangs on the longitudinal walls of the insertion is desirable. Corresponding to the cross-sectional shape and size of the Gutsstrangs to be cut can also be used in the spaces between the Gattermessern in the areas closure elements that would not be affected anyway by the Gutsstrangs just to be cut. Due to the large number of possible cross-sectional shapes, a correspondingly large number of reducing elements and filling elements is required.

The invention has for its object to provide a cost-effectively producible dicing machine with a relatively small gate cross-section, with which also cutting materials such as chops, roulades or steaks can be easily cut into slices.

Starting from a machine of the type described above, this object is achieved in that the outlet cross-section of the insertion shaft can be increased beyond an effective in gate cutting operation cutting cross section.

While in the machine known from DE 44 44 506 C1, although the inside width of the insertion shaft, ie its inner cross section, is variable, this does not apply to its outlet cross section, which coincides immutable with the cross section of the gate blade device. Therefore, it is also not helpful in this machine according to the prior art to insert into the insertion in its expanded state a larger piece of cutting material, since this can not be promoted by the relatively smaller outlet opening of the shaft in relation to this.

The invention makes use of the knowledge that, depending on the type of cutting task to be solved, one works on the same machine with differently sized cross-sections of both the loading tray itself and its outlet opening. While in the well-known gate cutting machines by adapting to the cross-sections of smaller Gutstränge is possible by reducing the shaft cross section and, it is not possible from a machine with a small gate cross-section, this for disc shaving large-volume products such as chops, roulades or steaks use. In particular, the possibility according to the invention of increasing the outlet cross section beyond the gate cross section is indispensable, in order to have both an economically producible dicing device and the possibility of cutting off slices in a piece of snow whose cross sectional dimensions exceed those of the gate knife device.

With the machine according to the invention can thus be produced at a temporarily small cross-section of the insertion tray and then existing outlet opening in a cost effective way sliced or cube slices. By changing the position of a longitudinal wall and simultaneously increasing the outlet cross-section of the same internal cross-section of the insertion shaft, large-volume items to be cut can be picked up by the same machine and conveyed to the cutting device with which the discs can then be cut. The gate blade device is removed before enlarging the inside cross section and the outlet cross section of the insertion shaft.

Preferably, the outlet cross-section and the inner cross-section of the insertion are enlarged to the same extent.

An embodiment of the invention is that a longitudinal wall of the insertion tray of the machine removable and another longitudinal wall in a different position with the machine is connectable. With such a construction, two or more can be defined Realize internal and outlet cross sections. In general, even two different cross sections should be sufficient for selection, as it is not harmful in the slicing operation if the shaft cross section is not completely filled with the Gutsstrang to be cut.

A development of the machine according to the invention is that an L-shaped Reduzierteil is removable from a front wall of the machine, the L-legs define with their inner edges a small outlet cross-section of the insertion and with their outer edges a large outlet cross-section. While the large discharge section for the slicing operation is available after removal of the reducing part, in the dicing operation with built-in reduction part, it is precluded from reaching the area of the cutting knife from the product delivery side.

The conversion from gate cutting to slicing operation is considerably simplified if the reducing part and a longitudinal wall of the insertion shaft form a structural unit. At the same time this increases the stability of the machine in gate cutting operation.

Furthermore, it is also proposed according to the invention that a longitudinal wall is provided with at least one end-side groove, into which engages a web connected to a machine housing. This makes it possible that the thus formed, for example vertiakl aligned longitudinal walls are inserted or removed by simply pushing in from above or pulling up, the positive connection on the type of tongue and groove principle is characterized by the tool-free mounting option and good cleaning properties ,

If a longitudinal wall has a longitudinally extending slot for insertion of a separating slide, which cooperates with a counter-blade in the form of a recess in an opposite longitudinal wall, can be on the one hand good filling of the insertion and on the other hand ensure a reliable pressure build-up when advancing the cutting material in gate cutting.

The invention further ausgestaltend is provided that an area above the recess, can be filled with a cover that the surface of the longitudinal wall formed thereby extends in a single plane. In this way, even in the slicing operation of the machine despite the effective in dicing operation return a rectangular shaft cross-section is achieved.

Advantageously, an upper side of the cover element forms a guide surface for a horizontally displaceable loading cover, which as a safety-relevant component prevents unintentional engagement in the insertion shaft when the cutting device is running.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the cutting blade is rotatable about at least one further axis of rotation which is parallel to the axis of rotation effective in the gate cutting operation and is arranged at a distance therefrom.

Typical for gate cutting machines is the arrangement of the axis of rotation on a diagonal through the corner points of the generally square cutting cross section of the gate device. This arrangement of the axis of rotation results firstly from the extension of the respective gate drives in the direction of an imaginary extension of the gate blade, so that an approximately cross-shaped area with the gate cross section in the center is not available for driving the cutting blade available. Furthermore, the arrangement of the axis of rotation of the cutting blade on a diagonal through a square gate cross-section is therefore particularly favorable, because then the side acting on the gate blade pressure load is evenly distributed to the two mutually perpendicular groups of gate knives.

In slicing operation, however, such an arrangement of the axis of rotation of the cutting blade is unfavorable, since a very large component of the radial feed rate does not lead to a pressing of the cutting material strand on the support surface, but to a lateral displacement thereof or even to a lifting of the support surface.

With the possibility of a displacement of the axis of rotation of the cutting blade, this can for example be arranged in an area in which a knife gate is in the gate cutting operation, so that the cutting conditions can also be optimized for the slicing operation.

If the further axis of rotation extends above a plane defined by the bottom plate of the insertion tray, a very large proportion of the radial component of the speed vector acts in a direction perpendicular to the bottom plate and thus leads to a secure fixation of the Gutsstrangs during the cutting process.

If the cutting knife can be fastened on the drive shaft of a knife gate, the position of the rotary axis of the cutting knife can also be considerably improved in the slice cutting operation with comparatively simple means. The axis of rotation of the cutting blade can namely be arranged in this case so that the radially acting component of the cutting speed vector leads to a much greater proportion to a contact pressure of the Gutstrangs to the bottom of the insertion. In addition, the displacement of the axis of rotation of the cutting blade leads to a reduction of the required installation space of the machine. On the construction and production of a second drive shaft specifically only for the cutting knife can be omitted, which has a very favorable effect on the cost.

Furthermore, an embodiment of the machine is still in that the drive shaft of a knife gate, on which the cutting knife is attachable, the main drive shaft of the machine is driven by the drive shafts of the cutting blade and the other knife gate. This is advantageous because in slicing operation for cutting slices from a large Gutsstrang a comparatively high drive torque is required, while the cutting of cubes in the gate cutting operation due to the smaller outlet cross section lower loads.

A development of the invention also consists in that on the front wall of the machine a cutting frame can be fastened, whose passage opening has a cross section which is aligned with an enlarged outlet cross section of the insertion and its front wall facing away from the end face immediately adjacent to the cutting plane of the cutting blade.

The cutting frame thus bridges the gap between the machine front wall and the cutting blade in the slicing operation, which results from the removal of the knife guards. Since the back in the conveying direction horizontal edge acts on the front side of the cutting frame as a counter-cutting edge for the cutting blade, a very high cutting quality can be achieved even in slicing operation.

In order to avoid dropping off cut slices in the slice cutting operation, it is proposed to provide a knife box door with a removal chute whose inlet cross section is aligned with the outlet cross section of the cutting frame. Advantageously, the removal shaft of the knife box door can be removed without tools.

Figur 1

eine Vorderansicht einer Maschine im Würfelschneidbetrieb

Figur 1a

eine Vorderansicht eines Reduzierteils

Figur 1b

eine Vorderansicht eines Trennschiebers

Figur 2

eine Seitenansicht der Maschine gemäß Figur 1

Figur 2a

eine Seitenansicht einer Vorschubplatte

Figur 2b

eine Seitenansicht eines Schneidgatters

Figur 3

eine Draufsicht auf die Maschine gemäß Figur 1

Figur 4

einen vergrößerten Ausschnitt der Vorderansicht gemäß Figur 1

Figur 5

wie Figur 1, jedoch im Scheibenschneidbetrieb

Figur 5a

eine Vorderansicht einer Längswand

Figur 5b

eine Vorderansicht eines Abdeckelements

Figur 5c

eine Vorderansicht eines Beschickungsdeckels

Figur 6

wie Figur 2, jedoch im Scheibenschneidbetrieb

Figur 6a

wie Figur 2a, jedoch im Scheibenschneidbetrieb

Figur 6b

einen Längsschnitt durch einen Schneidrahmen

Figur 7

wie Figur 3, jedoch im Scheibenschneidbetrieb

Figur 8

wie Figur 4, jedoch im Scheibenschneidbetrieb

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment of a cutting machine, which is shown in the drawing. It shows:

FIG. 1

a front view of a machine in dicing operation

FIG. 1a

a front view of a reducer

FIG. 1b

a front view of a gate valve

FIG. 2

a side view of the machine according to Figure 1

FIG. 2a

a side view of a feed plate

FIG. 2b

a side view of a cutting gate

FIG. 3

a top view of the machine according to Figure 1

FIG. 4

an enlarged detail of the front view of Figure 1

FIG. 5

like Figure 1, but in the slicing operation

FIG. 5a

a front view of a longitudinal wall

FIG. 5b

a front view of a cover

FIG. 5c

a front view of a loading lid

FIG. 6

like Figure 2, but in the slicing operation

FIG. 6a

like Figure 2a, but in the slicing operation

FIG. 6b

a longitudinal section through a cutting frame

FIG. 7

like Figure 3, but in the slicing operation

FIG. 8

like Figure 4, but in the slicing operation

A machine 1 for cutting food, such as sausage, meat, cheese, vegetables or the like. In slices, strips or cubes has an insertion tray 2 for the food to be cut. Within this insertion tray 2, the material to be cut by means of a feed device, of which only a force transmission element 3 is visible, which is linearly displaceable along the line 4 shown in dashed lines, in the longitudinal direction of the insertion can be conveyed. The transmission support element 3 can be non-positively coupled with two differently shaped feed plates, one of which is used in dicing operation and the other in the slicing operation of the machine 1.

While the machine 1 is shown in dicing operation in FIGS. 1 to 4, FIGS. 4 to 8 show the machine 1 in a state for the slicing operation.

In the dicing operation, a cutting device consists of two knife gates 5h and 5v, which are known in their construction from the prior art and can be driven in an oscillating manner in horizontal or vertical direction by means of a respective gate shaft 6h and 6v. In the dicing operation, the cutting device further comprises a cutting blade 7G downstream of the knife guards, with which the strips emerging from the second knife gate 5h in the conveying direction are divided into cubes. The cutting knife 7G rotates in the dicing operation around the axis of rotation D located on a diagonal through two end points of the outlet cross section.

In both the dicing and the slicing operation, the insertion shaft 2 is bounded below by a bottom plate 8 and towards the gate shaft 6h by a side plate 9, both of which are inseparably connected to the machine 1.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the insertion shaft 2 is delimited on the side opposite the side plate 9 by a vertically oriented longitudinal wall 10G, which in the lower region is of a triangular-shaped metal profile 11u and in the upper region by a metal profile 11o is formed. The upper boundary of the insertion tray 2 forms a horizontally displaceable separating slide 12G whose front edge cooperates with a recess 13 in the side plate 9.

As can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, the separator 12G is defined by a horizontal slot 14 in the longitudinal wall 10G, i. between the sheet metal profiles 11u and 11o, from the outside inserted.

The cross section of the feed tray 2 shown in FIG. 2a is adapted to the cross section of the loading tray 2 in the gate cutting operation, with which the material to be cut can be fed onto the cutting device in the longitudinal direction of the loading tray 2.

Both sheet metal profiles 11u and 11o are connected at the front end to an L-shaped reducing part 16 shown in FIG. 1a, which is oriented at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the insertion shaft 2 and extends in the plane of a front wall 17 of the machine 1. As a safety-relevant component, the reducing part 16 prevents access to the cutting device in regions above the separating slide 12G and laterally next to the cross-section of the insertion shaft 2.

The assembly formed from the sheet metal profiles 11o and 11u and the Reduzierteil 16 can be removed in the vertical direction of the machine. In the installed state, a positive connection with the machine 1 is given due to frontally attached thereto grooves, which engage with correspondingly formed webs on the front wall 17 and an intermediate wall 18.

In order to change the machine 1 from the dicing operation to the slicing operation, the isolation gate 12G is pulled out, and the assembly of the reduction section 16 and the sheet metal profiles 11o and 11u are removed in the vertical direction. Then, a longitudinal wall 10S, which is also equipped with end-side grooves for engagement with the housing-side webs, inserted vertically from above. In addition, in the region of the recess 13, a cover member 19 is used, whose the insertion tray 2 facing surface is aligned with the lower portion of the side plate 9. The gate shaft 6h facing longitudinal wall of the insertion tray 2 is thus within a single plane.

The upper end of the insertion tray 2 forms a feed lid 20, which is shown in isolation in Figure 5c. FIGS. 5a and 5b show the longitudinal wall 10S and the cover part 19 in a separate illustration.

As can be seen in particular Figures 5 and 8, both the inner cross-section and the outlet cross section of the removal shaft 2 in the slice cutting operation is substantially increased, and almost quadrupled. While the cross-sectional dimension in the dicing operation is approximately 96 mm × 96 mm, this dimension increases to 180 mm × 180 mm in the slicing operation. This also cuts chops, roulades or steaks easily.

In the conversion of the machine 1 is also still the small feed plate 15G in the dicing operation to replace the enlarged cross-section of the insertion slot feed plate 15S, which is provided with a fork-like holding device 21 for Gutsstrang (see Figures 5, 6a, 7).

Furthermore, the cutting knife 7G and the knife gates 5h and 5v are to be removed. Instead of the knife gates 5h and 5v, the cutting frame 22 shown in Figure 6b is placed in alignment with the outlet cross section of the insertion tray 2, wherein the attachment of the cutting frame 22 with the same fastening elements 23 takes place with which the gate frame in dice cutting operation.

In the slice cutting operation, instead of the cutting blade 7G, a cutting blade 7S is used, which is fixed on the gate shaft 6h and thus rotates about the rotation axis D '. The axis of rotation of the cutting blade 7S is thus offset upwards in comparison to the dicing operation, which prevents the material to be cut off obliquely to the left above from the base plate 8 of the insertion tray 2. The cutting frame 22 has such a depth that the cutting blade 7S with a very small distance past the end face 22S of the cutting frame 22, so that the front edge 24 acts as a counter-blade and ensures a good cutting result.

The conversion of the machine 1 from one to the other mode takes only a few minutes to complete. Due to the tool-free disassembly of the longitudinal walls 10S and 10G forming components, the machine 1 can be very easy to clean in the area of the insertion tray 2, so that even the highest hygiene requirements can be met.

Claims (15)

1. A machine (1) for cutting foodstuff into slices, strips or cubes, comprising an insertion shaft (2) for the foodstuff which can be moved forward by means of a feeding device in the direction towards a cutting device which extends over an output cross section of the insertion shaft (2) and comprises grating knives and a rotating severing knife (7G, 7S), with the inside cross section of the insertion shaft (2) being adjustable by changing the position of at least one of its longitudinal walls (10G, 10S), characterized in that the output cross section of the insertion shaft (2) can be enlarged beyond a cutting cross section effective in grating cutting operation.
2. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the output cross section and the inside cross section can be enlarged to a similar extent.
3. A machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that one longitudinal wall (10G, 10S) of the insertion shaft (2) can be removed from the machine (1) and can be joined in another longitudinal wall (10S, 10G) in another position of the machine (1).
4. A machine according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that an L-shaped reducing part (16) can be removed from a front wall (17) of the machine (1), with the L-legs defining with their inside edges a small output cross section of the insertion shaft (2) and with their outside edges a large output cross section.
5. A machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the reducing part (16) and one longitudinal wall (10G) of the insertion shaft (2) form a modular unit.
6. A machine according to one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that one longitudinal wall (10S, 10G) is joined with at least one groove on the face side, into which engages a web joined with the machine housing.
7. A machine according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a longitudinal wall (10G) comprises a slot (14) extending in the longitudinal direction for inserting a severing slide (12G) which cooperates with a counter-blade in the form of an offset (13) in an opposite longitudinal wall.
8. A machine according to claim 7, characterized in that a region above the offset (13) can be covered with a cover element (19) in such a way that the surface of the thus formed longitudinal wall extends in a single plane.
9. A machine according to claim 8, characterized in that an upper side of the cover element (19) forms a guide surface for a horizontally displaceable feed cover (20).
10. A machine according to one of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the severing knife (7G, 7S) is rotatable about at least one further rotational axis (D') which extends parallel to the rotational axis (D) which is effective in grating cutting operation, and is arranged at a distance from the same.
11. A machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the further rotational axis (D') extends above a plane defined by the floor plate (8) of the insertion shaft (2).
12. A machine according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the severing knife (7S) can be fastened to the drive shaft (6h) of a knife grating (5h).
13. A machine according to one of the claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the drive shaft (6h) of a knife grating (5h), to which the severing knife (7S) can be fastened, is the main drive shaft of the machine (1) by which the drive shafts (25, 6V) of the severing knife (7G) in cube cutting operation and of the other knife grating (5v) can be driven.
14. A machine according to one of the claims 1 to 13, characterized in that a cutting frame (22) is fastened to the front wall (17) of the machine whose pass-through opening has a cross section which is in alignment with an enlarged output cross section of the insertion shaft (2) and whose face surface (23) averted from the front wall (17) extends directly adjacent to the cutting plane of the severing knife (7S).
15. A machine according to one of the claims 1 to 14, characterized in that a knife box door is provided with a withdrawal shaft whose input cross section is in alignment with the output cross section of the cutting frame.

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