EP2241419B1 - Food Slicer - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device, in particular a high-performance slicer, for slicing a food product according to a selected cutting program with a process control and a plurality of components which can be mounted in or on the device depending on the selected cutting program.

Such devices are known in principle. In order to achieve higher cutting performance and better cutting results, these devices are becoming increasingly complex and therefore more difficult to adjust and operate. The complexity of the devices is faced with the operators, which is increasingly less able to cope with the requirements of the devices.

DE 200 11 472 U1 discloses a food cutting device with a replaceable cutting blade and a removable Gattermesserrahmen, each of which is provided with a queryable data carrier, which may be formed, for example, as batteryless ROM memory chip or encoded pill and which are inductively readable. The data of the data carriers are each interrogated by an associated read head, which is arranged at a certain distance. The read heads are connected to the process controller, by means of which it can be determined from the detected codings whether the two components have been mounted in accordance with the selected cutting program, wherein the starting of the cutting blade can only be continued if the data carrier contains the predetermined desired value.

The invention has for its object to provide a device for slicing a food product, which is easier to use and excludes a faulty operation as much as possible.

To solve this problem, a device having the features of claim 1 is provided.

The device according to the invention is characterized in particular in that a plurality of selectable cutting programs are stored in a process control of the device, that the device comprises different machine equipment, each with a plurality of interchangeable machine components, which are to be mounted depending on the cutting program, depending on the selected cutting program in or on the device mountable components each have a component uniquely identifying, stored in an associated with the component RFID chip coding, and that a centrally arranged on the device reading device comprehensive detecting means for detecting the coding of a mounted component is provided with which the process control is connected, by means of which it can be determined from the detected coding, whether the component has been mounted in accordance with the selected cutting program.

Cutting various food products typically requires different machine equipment, which the operator of the cutting machine has to assemble according to the application. For example, different cutting blades, cutting edges, product holders, product retainers, and / or other product-leading or product-contacting components may be mounted. This represents a potential source of error especially with a larger number of interchangeable components, since it is not always ensured that the equipment or components required for the respective application are mounted in or on the cutting machine.

The invention is therefore based on the general idea to identify the individual components by an individual coding and to provide automatic detection of the respective component coding by a centrally located on the device reader so that the operator of the cutting machine can be warned if he mounted a component or mounted which is not intended to carry out the selected cutting program.

By means of the coding, which can be a binary coding, for example, the component number of the respective component can be transferred to the process control. The component numbers determined in this way are compared with the required component numbers stored in connection with the selected cutting program. In the event of a deviation of an actually determined component number from a component number expected by the cutting program, a visual and / or audible error message may be output so that the machine operator reacts and remedies the error, i. can assemble the correct component.

In addition to the detection means, a position detection means connected to the process control can be provided, by means of which the position and / or setting of at least one adjustable component, which may be one of the mountable components or another component, can be detected , In this way, it can be checked if the component is in a through the selected cutting program is predetermined position and / or setting. If this is not the case, then an error message can be output to the operator of the cutting machine, so that it can correct the position and / or adjustment of the component accordingly. Alternatively or additionally, the cutting machine may be designed such that a correct setting of the component predetermined by the selected cutting program is automatically carried out, taking into account the actual setting detected by the position or setting detection means. In both cases, the attitude detection means contributes to further simplification of operation and further avoidance of erroneous operations of the cutting machine.

An even easier operation of the cutting machine or even better avoidance of incorrect operation can be achieved by additionally taking into account automatically the nature of the food product to be sliced.

For this purpose, a product measuring device connected to the process control can be provided for determining cutting process-relevant properties of the food product to be sliced. This makes it possible for the process controller to automatically modify predetermined cutting parameters given by the cutting program, in particular positions and / or settings of the components which can be mounted in or on the device, depending on the product properties determined in order to optimize the cutting process.

For example, food products that are fed to the machine can be measured in terms of their outer dimensions to the cutting machine automatically depending on the determined Optimal adjustment of product dimensions. The measurement of the food product can take place, for example, by means of a scanner, a light barrier, a camera system and / or a balance. Depending on the measurement result, it may be necessary to adjust the cutting position in order to achieve an optimum cutting and depositing result.

Before or during the cutting process, e.g. the product temperature can be determined, for example by means of an infrared thermometer or by means of a thermometer arranged in a product holder. This makes it possible to automatically adjust the cutting machine as a function of the determined product temperature so that an optimal cutting and depositing result is guaranteed.

As an alternative or in addition to the product measuring device, a process result monitoring device connected to the process controller can also be provided for monitoring the cutting process result. The sliced product slices can be detected, for example, by a camera system. By a suitable evaluation of the recorded images, defects can be detected. If, for example, the shelf is wavy or fold over product slices again and again, these are errors that can either be compensated by changing machine settings or displayed by appropriate error messages, because under certain circumstances too high a product temperature leads to errors that can no longer be corrected.

The device according to the invention can be equipped either with only one position detection means, only one product measuring device or only one process result monitoring device or combinations thereof.

The invention further relates to a method for slicing a food product, which can be carried out in particular with the aid of the device discussed above and with the achievement of corresponding advantages.

The invention will be described purely by way of example with reference to an advantageous embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The single figure shows a schematic representation of an apparatus according to the invention for slicing a food product.

The device shown in the figure is e.g. a high performance slicer 10 for slicing a food product 12, such as e.g. Sausage, cheese or the like.

The cutting machine 10 comprises in known manner a plurality of product-leading or product-contacting interchangeable and / or adjustable machine components, of which the cutting blade 14, the cutting edge 16, the product holder 18 and the product blank holder 20 are exemplified.

The cutting machine 10 further has a process controller 22, in which at least one cutting program is stored, according to which the food product 12 is to be cut open. Typically, the process controller 22 includes a plurality of cutting programs under which an operator of the cutting machine 10 may select depending on the type of food product 12 to be sliced and / or the desired slicing result.

The cutting programs each contain information about the machine equipment 24 to be used for the desired cutting process, i. the machine components 14-20 to be mounted for the desired cutting process, as well as information about the desired positions and / or desired settings of these machine components 14-20.

As shown in the figure, the machine equipment 24 may vary from cutting program to cutting program. For example, for slicing a first food product 12, first machine equipment 24 may be provided with a first cutting blade 14, a first cutting edge 16, a first product holder 18, a first product hold-down 20, and corresponding first desired settings while slicing a first food product 12 second food product 12 'may require second machine equipment 24' having a second cutting blade, a second cutting edge 16 ', a second product holder 18', a second product depressor 20 ', and corresponding second desired settings. Accordingly, a third cutting program for slicing a third food product 12 "may include third machine equipment 24" having a third cutting blade 14 ", a third cutting edge 16", a third product holder 18 ", a third product suppressor 20", and corresponding third desired positions Provide settings.

In operation, the operator of the cutting machine selects a suitable cutting program depending on the food product 12 to be sliced and / or depending on the desired cutting result. In accordance with the specifications of the selected cutting program, the operator configures the cutting machine 10 by mounting or adjusting the required machine components 14-20.

The replaceable and to be mounted by the operator according to the cutting program machine components 14-20 are each provided with an individual coding, which allows a clear identification of the machine components. In the present exemplary embodiment, the codings are provided by RFID chips which are attached to or embedded in the machine components 14-20.

The cutting machine 10 has a detection means 26 coupled to the process control 22, by means of which the codes of the mounted machine components 14-20 can be determined. The detection means 26 is a reading device arranged centrally on the cutting machine.

In order to determine whether the operator has mounted the correct machine components 14-20, ie those specified by the selected cutting program, the codes detected by the detection means 26 are compared with the codes stored in connection with the cutting program. If the process control unit 22 determines a deviation between the codes detected by the detection means 26 and the codes belonging to the selected cutting program, the process controller 22 issues a corresponding warning to the operator via an acoustic and / or optical output device 28, so that the latter can erroneously assemble Machine component can replace with a correct machine component. In this way, incorrect operation of the cutting machine 10 can be avoided.

In addition to the detection means 26, the cutting machine 10 may have a position detection means 30 connected to the process control 22, with the aid of which it is possible to determine whether an adjustable machine component has been set correctly in accordance with the specifications of the selected cutting program. The adjustable machine component may be one of the machine components 14-20 to be mounted or another machine component that is not to be replaced.

If a comparison of the setting of a machine component determined by the position or setting detection means 30 with the setting predetermined by the selected cutting program results in a deviation from the actual and desired values, then the process controller 22 also transmits a corresponding visual and / or audible warning signal the output means 28 to the operator so that it can correct the setting of the relevant machine component to the value specified by the cutting program value. Thus, the attitude detection means 30 also contributes to avoiding erroneous operations of the cutting machine 10.

As can be seen from the figure, the cutting machine 10 comprises a product measuring device 34 upstream of the actual cutting unit 32, which is passed through by the food product 12 to be sliced on its way to the cutting unit 32. The product measuring device 34 is used to determine cutting process-relevant product properties of the food product 12 and can, for example, have a scanner, eg laser scanner, and / or a light barrier in order to determine the cross-section and / or the length of the food product 12. Furthermore, a thermometer, for example a Infrared thermometer, be provided for determining the temperature of the food product 12.

The data determined by the process measuring device 34 are transmitted to the process controller 22, in which it is checked whether the determined actual product properties differ significantly from the product properties expected according to the selected cutting program.

If this is the case, given by the cutting program predetermined cutting parameters to maintain a desired cutting result may be adjusted or modified accordingly. If, however, the deviations of the product properties of the food product 12 to be sliced from the product properties expected by the slicing program are so serious that the slicing program can not respond thereto by adapting the slicing parameters, the process controller 22 causes the processing process to be aborted.

As the figure further shows, the cutting unit 32 is downstream of a process result monitoring device 36 connected to the process control 22, which serves to monitor the result of the slicing process. The monitoring device 36 may be a camera system, wherein an evaluation of the images recorded by the camera system takes place either in the monitoring device 36 itself or in the process controller 22 connected thereto, which serves to detect errors.

If, for example, the filing of the separated product slices is wavy or repeatedly unfolds folded product slices, these are Errors that can be corrected by the process controller 22 under certain circumstances by changing corresponding cutting parameters or machine settings. Otherwise, the errors can be displayed by the corresponding error message via the output means 28 and / or lead to a termination of the processing process, for example, if too high a product temperature leads to no longer correctable errors.

As a result, both the identifiable by the detection means 26 encodings interchangeable machine components 14-20, as well as the position or setting detection means 30, the product measuring device 34 and the process result monitoring device 36 so that incorrect operation of the cutting machine 10 are largely excluded and the Cutting machine 10 can respond to product-related errors and disruptions as independent as possible.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

cutting machine

12

Food product

14

cutting blade

16

cutting edge

18

product holder

20

Product-down device

22

process control

24

machinery equipment

26

detection means

28

output means

30

Attitude detection means

32

cutting unit

34

Product measurement device

36

Process result monitoring device

Claims (11)

1. An apparatus (10), in particular a high-performance slicer, for slicing a food product (12) in accordance with a cutting program selected from a plurality of cutting programs stored in a process control (22) of the apparatus (10),
   wherein the apparatus (10) includes different machine equipment (24) with a respective plurality of exchangeable machine components (14-20) which are each to be assembled in dependence on the cutting program, and
   wherein the components (14-20) each have a code unambiguously identifying the component, and
   wherein the code is stored in an RFID chip connected to the component (14-20), and
   a detection means (26) for the detection of the codes of the components (14-20) installed in or at the apparatus (10) is provided which includes a reading device arranged centrally at the apparatus (10) and is connected to the process control (22) by means of which it can be determined from the detected codes whether the components (14-20) were installed in a match with the selected cutting program.
2. An apparatus (10) in accordance with claim 1,
   characterised in that
   the code is a binary code and in particular contains information on the component number of the component (14-20).
3. An apparatus (10) in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
   the components include different kinds of cutting blades (14), cutting edges (16), product holders (18) and/or product holding-down devices (20).
4. An apparatus (10) in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   a position or setting detection means (30) connected to the process control (22) is provided for detecting the position and/or setting of at least one adjustable component (14-20).
5. An apparatus (10) in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterised in that
   a product measurement device (34) connected to the process control (22) is provided for the determination of product properties of the food product (12) relevant to the cutting process.
6. An apparatus (10) in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterised in that
   a process result monitoring device (36), in particular a camera system, connected to the process control (22), is provided for the monitoring of the cutting process result.
7. An apparatus (10) in accordance with claim 5 or claim 6,
   characterised in that
   cutting parameters predefined by the cutting program, in particular positions and/or settings of the components (14-20) which can be installed in or at the apparatus (10), can be automatically modified by the process control (22) in dependence on the determined product properties relevant to the cutting process and/or in dependence on the monitored cutting process result.
8. An apparatus (10) in accordance with claim 5,
   characterised in that
   the product measurement device (34) includes a scanner, a light barrier, a camera system, scales and/or a thermometer, e.g. an infrared thermometer.
9. An apparatus (10) in accordance with claim 5,
   characterised in that
   the product properties include the cross-section, length, weight and/or temperature of the product (12).
10. An apparatus (10) in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
    characterised in that
    an output means (28) is provided to display an error message when an installed component (14-20) is not provided for use with the selected cutting program, when a component (14-20) is not located in a position matching the cutting program and/or does not have a setting matching the cutting program, when a determined product property does not match a product property expected by the cutting program and/or when a monitored process result does not match a process result expected by the cutting program.
11. A method of slicing a food product (12) in accordance with a selected cutting program by means of an apparatus (10), in particular in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, which includes a process control (22) having a plurality of cutting programs stored therein and which includes different machine equipment (24) each having a plurality of exchangeable machine components (14-20) which are to be installed and set in dependence on the cutting program and which each have a code unambiguously identifying the component and stored in an RFID chip connected to the component (14-20), in which method
    a cutting program is selected;
    a piece of machine equipment (24) is installed in dependence on the selected cutting program; and
    the codes of the components (14-20) installed in or at the apparatus (10) are detected by means of a detection means (26) which includes a reading device arranged centrally at the apparatus (10) and it is determined from the detected codes whether the components (14-20) were installed in a match with the selected cutting program.

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