EP2324973B1 - Cube dicer - Google Patents

Abstract

The dicer has a rotary indexing table (1) rotatable around a vertical axis (1') and comprising recesses (2a-2f) arranged at same angle in a circle in a circumferential direction. Bases (3b) of the respective recesses are closed in feed-, grouting-, longitudinal cutting- and crosscutting positions (12-15) of the recesses, and are removed only in an ejection position (16) of the recesses. A controller (20) is provided for temporal coordinated control of the table and grouting-, longitudinal cutting-, crosscutting- and ejection plungers (4-7). An independent claim is also included for a method for operating a cube dicer.

Description

I. Field of application

The invention relates to a dicer.

II. Technical background

Especially in the meat industry, the problem often is to produce cubes from a grown piece of meat, all of which should be the same size, at least in one viewing direction.

The starting point for dicing is usually a slice of meat. The directly cut large slices of meat obtainable from large pieces of meat are preferably used for other uses such as chips. For cutting cubes for goulash or shashlik etc., on the other hand, the smallest possible pieces of meat, often only fist-sized pieces of meat, are used. So that then the achievable discs are not too small, the first separated from the piece of meat, thick meat slices are still unfolded by means of a so-called butterfly cut and doubled in size. A generic dicer is known from the patent FR-A-2 659 044 ,

Regardless of this, all the more marginal pieces and small parts remain as remnants that are not cubic and can not be sold as cubes and reduce the yield, the smaller the slice of meat was.

Another problem is the lids and lobes of large pieces of meat, from which after separation z. B. the rind sometimes still a cube layer can be cut out, which then, however, requires a lot of manual time, which can also be minimized by coarse fragmentation and in a machine dicer cutters.

III. Presentation of the invention a) Technical task

It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a largely automated dicer, which is constructed in a simple and cost-effective manner despite minimization of the residues and small portions and enables a high throughput.

b) Solution of the task

This object is solved by the features of claims 1 and 12. Advantageous embodiments will be apparent from the dependent claims.

The basic idea of the invention is to produce a relatively small, non-rectangular slice of meat before cutting into cubes - with cuts parallel to the mutually perpendicular outer edges of the rectangular recess in which the slice of meat is present - by pressing against the bottom of the recess in a rectangular shape, and thereby the rectangular cross-section of the recess to fill it completely with meat so that only whole cubes, rectangular in plan, can be cut out of it.

The term cube is geometrically not quite correct in this context, because by pressing the meat slice against the ground changes the thickness of the meat slice, so that the thickness may no longer exactly corresponds to the edge length of the cube viewed in the plan, but what the subsequent use z. B. on skewers or goulash is of minor importance.

To ensure that only complete, ie rectangular in plan, cube, it is also important that the pressing of the meat slice against the ground not only before cutting done, but possibly also during cutting.

In this case, the cutting in the two directions of extension of the rectangular recess, ie in each case parallel to the edges, preferably carried out sequentially, because in each case plate-shaped, parallel spaced juxtaposed knife for each of the two cutting directions can be used separately, the easier to manufacture and sharpen are as crosswise arranged knives.

For this reason, the step of longitudinal cutting is performed separately from the step of cross-cutting, the order is not matter.

So that even during the cutting operations the pressing pressure is applied to the meat, each of the cutting punches consists of a top part and a bottom part, which are movable relative to one another. In this case, the rear end of the parallel standing knives is received in the upper part, while the lower part has corresponding passage slots for the blades and otherwise closed flat at the front end face is and thus as a press ram against the meat, in the recess suitable, can be pressed.

Between the upper part and the lower part are force elements, such as compression springs or pneumatic cylinders, arranged so that when applying the upper part in the direction of meat first, the lower part - from which the knives still do not project towards meat - comes as a press ram in contact with the top of the meat slice and with increasing pressure on the upper part of the cutting punch only after overcoming the resistance of the force elements between the upper part and lower part of the upper part is pushed against the lower part and penetrate the knife after penetrating the lower part in the meat slice and cut them.

To ensure complete cutting, there are grooves in both the bottom of the recess and in the side walls which receive the lateral edges and the leading edge of the blades.

In an analogous manner, the Verpresstempel of a shell and a lower part and arranged therebetween force elements is constructed, so that also determines the hardness of these force elements between the upper part and lower part of the contact pressure of the lower part against the meat.

After cutting, the finished cut cubes are ejected at the ejection position of an ejection punch down after previously the bottom of the recess was folded away in this ejection position, for which the bottom is pivotally mounted on an edge of the recess in the bottom of the rotary indexing table.

So that stick meat cubes on the folded down bottom, can preferably in the bottom of the ejector an additional, z. B. actuated with a pneumatic cylinder, slide can be arranged, the after folding down the soil in the vertically hanging position along the length of the hanging soil along strips.

• Einlegen einer Fleischscheibe, meist von Hand, in eine Ausnehmung,
• Verpressen der Fleischscheibe in der Ausnehmung in eine in der Aufsicht rechteckige Form mittels eines mit großer Kraft gegen den Boden der Ausnehmung bewegten Verpressstempels,
• Schneiden der rechteckig verpressten Fleischscheibe in einer ersten Richtung, und
• Schneiden der rechteckig verpressten Fleischscheibe in der zweiten Querrichtung, sowie
• Auswerfen der Würfel aus der Ausnehmung durch den entfernten Boden nach unten

zeitlich nacheinander an den einzelnen Positionen eines Rundschalttisches durchgeführt, in dem über den Umfang verteilt mit jeweils gleichem Winkelabstand die jeweils gleich großen rechteckigen Ausnehmungen angeordnet sind.To ensure a continuous workflow, the individual work steps, ie

• Inserting a slice of meat, usually by hand, in a recess,
• Pressing the slice of meat in the recess into a rectangular shape in plan view by means of a grooving punch moving with great force against the bottom of the recess;
• Cutting the rectangular pressed meat slice in a first direction, and
• Cutting the rectangular pressed meat slice in the second transverse direction, as well
• Eject the cube from the recess down through the removed floor

chronologically successively performed at the individual positions of a rotary indexing table, in which distributed over the circumference with the same angular distance in each case the same size rectangular recesses are arranged.

In contrast, compression punches, longitudinal cutting punches, cross-cutting punches and ejector are stationary over the respective working positions of the rotary indexing table, and preferably operated by a common drive, such as a mechanical toggle drive, and a controller, in addition to this punch drive and the rotary drive of the rotary table and possibly also controls the opening movement of the floors, controlled.

c) embodiments

Fig. 1:

den gesamten Würfelschneider,

Fig. 2:

den Rundschalttisch in vergrößerter Darstellung,

Fig. 3:

einen Längsschnitt durch einen Schneidstempel und

Fig. 4:

eine vergrößerte Darstellung einer der Ausnehmungen.

Embodiments according to the invention are described in more detail below by way of example. Show it:

Fig. 1:

the whole dicer,

Fig. 2:

the rotary indexing table in an enlarged view,

3:

a longitudinal section through a cutting punch and

4:

an enlarged view of one of the recesses.

FIG. 1 shows that the dicer has a side view approximately C-shaped housing 24, in the recess of the rotary indexing table 1 in the form of a horizontally lying, in the top view round disc about a vertical axis 1 'is rotatably mounted and thereby more than the Half of its base in the rear area on the housing 24 is supported, and projects with the front about 1/3 of its surface forward over the housing 24 in the direction of the front standing operator 23.

The rotary indexing table 1 is positioned approximately at the working height of the front standing operator 23, wherein the rotary drive of the rotary indexing table 1 is arranged in the lower part of the housing 24, while from the upper part of the housing 24, the stamping rods 26 protrude down against the rotary indexing table 1 and in whose direction is movable, at the lower free ends depending on the workstation is a specifically designed stamp.

In FIG. 1 is shown between the operator 23 and the dicer a first box 22 a, which serves the operator 23 as a supply for the meat slices to be inserted into the dicer. On the right side of the housing 24, a further box 22b is shown below the rotary indexing table 1, in which the cut cube of the rotary indexing table. 1 can automatically fall over an inclined chute 25 in the box 22b positioned underneath.

It goes without saying that in place of the boxes 22 a, b also on and delivering off conveyor belts or other conveyors can be arranged.

• Daraus wird ersichtlich, dass über den Umfang des Rundschalttisches 1 gleichmäßig verteilt in dessen Oberseite sechs Ausnehmungen 2 a-f vorhanden sind, die jeweils rechteckig sind, die gleiche Größe besitzen und radial die gleiche Ausrichtung besitzen. Zum leichteren Einführen sowohl des zu schneidenden Fleisches als auch der Stempel sind die oberen Einlaufkanten gerundet.

The function of the dicer is better based on the enlarged view, especially the rotary indexing table 1 on the basis of FIG. 2 clear:

• It can be seen that six recesses 2 af are uniformly distributed over the circumference of the rotary indexing table 1, which are each rectangular, have the same size and radially have the same orientation. For easier insertion of both the meat to be cut and the punch, the upper leading edges are rounded.

The two front, the operator 23 facing recesses 2 a, b thereby represent a double existing insertion position 12 in this case, and are accordingly open on the top, so without befindlichem punch.

From this insertion position 12 of the rotary indexing table 1 rotates in this case in a clockwise direction, first in a Verpressposition 13 in which the lying in the recess 2c meat slice of a lowered from above grout 4 with a predetermined force against the bottom of the recess 2c is pressed, and thus considered to a uniform thickness and at the same time in the plan view, the meat slice is widened so that it completely fills the rectangular base of the recess 2 c.

Subsequently, the grooving punch 4 is moved out of the depression upwards again, and the rotary indexing table 1 is driven further by one switching position into the longitudinal cutting position 14, and after the longitudinal cutting into the transverse cutting position 15.

In these two cutting positions 14,15 lowers - after the rotary indexing table 1 no longer rotates - each a cutting punch, in the first case of the longitudinal cutting die 5 and in the second case of the cross-cutting punch 6, in the respective recess 2d, e and cuts each with several parallel adjacent knives 19 which extend in the first case in the longitudinal direction in the second case in the transverse direction of the respective recess 2 d and 2 e, the meat slice lying in the recess completely up to the bottom of the recess.

For this purpose are - as best in FIG. 4 to recognize - both in the side edges of the recess and in the top of the bottom of the recess grooves 9, 9 'arranged.

The grooves 9 in the bottom serve to penetrate the front edges of the knives 19, the grooves 9 'for guiding the side edges of the knives 19th

This ensures that the meat slice is completely severed.

The FIG. 3 shows in a longitudinal section the structure in this case of the cross-cutting punch 6, which has only three knives 19 in this embodiment, in contrast to the longitudinal cutting punch 5, which has four juxtaposed vertically extending knife 19.

Each cutting punch consists of an upper part 17 and a movable opposite the lower part 18. Between the two compression springs 11 are arranged in the corners of the rectangular basic shape, so that during printing by means of the piston rod 26 reaching downwards against the upper part 17, an approximation of the upper part 17 to the lower part 18 takes place only when the springs 11 are compressed.

In the upper part 17, the vertically standing knives 19 are fixed with their upper, rear ends and protrude in the in FIG. 3 illustrated idle state with its sharply ground, lower front edge in the passage slots 21 of the lower part 18 inside.

The lower part 18 further has a circumferential shoulder 27 in its lower end face, so that the narrower, downwardly projecting part fits exactly into the recess 2a ... and the shoulder 27 on the upper side next to the recess 2a ... on the Could support rotary indexing table 1.

However, this is rarely the case, because the force of the compression springs 11 is chosen so that when pressing the cutting punch 5, 6, the meat in the recess 2a .. the lower part 18 when it rests against the meat with a defined pressing force comes to a standstill before the shoulder 27 rests on the rotary indexing table 1.

Upon further impingement of the upper part 17 by means of the punch rod 26, the lower part 18 comes to a standstill, and the knife 18 located on the upper part 18 increasingly penetrate the passage slots 21 of the lower part 18 and subsequently also the pieces of meat underneath until they are in the grooves 9 of the bottom 3a , b ... come to a stop, and that the piece of meat is completely severed.

After retracting the stamp, the rotary indexing table 1 rotates again by one position, and the sliced meat to dice is now in the ejection position 16, in which it is ejected after standstill of the indexing table 1 by means of a discharge punch 7 down from the recess 2 f because in this ejection position 16 of the ground the recess located there z. B. 2 f .. automatically opens, so that the meat cubes fall on the inclined chute 25 below and from there into a z. B. box 22b slide.

For this purpose, the floor with the best in FIG. 4 recognizable joints along the radially inner lower edge of each recess on the rotary indexing table 1 pivotally mounted.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

Rotary table

1'

axis

2a, b, ...

recess

3a, b, ...

ground

4

Verpressstempel

5

Longitudinal cutting punch

6

Cross-cutting punch

7

ejection punch

8th

substructure

9, 9 '

groove

10

switching direction

11

compression spring

12

loading position

13

Verpressposition

14

Slitting position

15

Cross-cutting position

16

ejecting position

17

top

18

lower part

19

knife

20

control

21

Through slot

22a, b

box

23

operator

24

casing

25

oblique slide

26

Sternpelstange

27

shoulder

Claims (15)

1. A cube dicer comprising:

   - a circular index table rotatable about a vertical axis (1'), wherein the circular index table includes recesses (2a, b) offset by uniform angular amounts arranged on at least a first circle in circumferential direction, wherein the recesses have identical sizes, are open in outward direction and are rectangular in top view and include removable bases (3a, b),

   - wherein above the particular positions of the recesses (2a, b) in switching direction (10) the following are arranged in sequence after the at least one insertion position (12)

   - a compressing position (13) with a compression die (4) that is insertable from above into the recess (2a,...),

   - a longitudinal cutting position (14) with a longitudinal cutting die (5) that is insertable from above into the recess,

   - a transversal cutting position (15) with a transversal cutting die (6) insertable from above into the recess, and

   - an ejection position (16) with an ejector die (7) insertable from above into the recess,

   wherein the bases (3a,...) of the recesses (2a,...) are closed in the insertion position (12) up to including the transversal cutting position (15) and the base is only removed in the ejection position (16); and

   - a control (20) for time coordinated controlling the circular index table (1) and the particular dies (4) through (7).
2. The cube dicer according to claim 1, wherein the bases (3a, b) of the recesses (2a, b) are bases (3a, b,...) that are configured to be folded open in downward direction.
3. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the circular index table (1) is supported through a solid foundation (8) at its bottom side in all positions besides the ejection position (16), wherein the foundation keeps the bases (3a, b) in a closed position with respect to the recess (2a, b).
4. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the bases (3a, b) include grooves (9) in their top sides in longitudinal direction and in transversal direction for inserting the blades (19) of the longitudinal cutting die (5) or the transversal cutting die (6).
5. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein vertically extending grooves (9') for supporting the blade (19) of the longitudinal cutting die (5) or the transversal cutting die (6) are provided in the side wails of the recesses (2a, b).
6. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the longitudinal cutting die (5) and the transversal cutting die (6) respectively include an upper portion (17) at which the blades (19) are fixated with their upper ends and a lower portion (18) which includes pass-through slots (21) for vertical pass-through of the vertically aligned blades (19) of the upper portion (17) and fits into the recess (2a, b).
7. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the compression die (4), the longitudinal cutting die (5) and the transversal cutting die (6) respectively include an upper portion (17) and a lower portion (18) between which compression springs (11) are arranged so that the lower portions (17) respectively press against a meat with a maximum force which is determined by the hardness of the compression springs (11).
8. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the insertion position (12) is provided twice at the circular index table (1).
9. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the circular cutting table (1) includes a second circle with recesses that is concentric to the first circle, wherein the recesses are arranged at the same radial positions but have a different size than the recesses (2a,...) on the first circle.
10. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the ejector die (7) at its face oriented towards the meat includes a slide that is in particular actuated pneumatically, wherein the slide moves downward over the entire length of the downward hanging base (3a...) during ejecting.
11. The cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the dies (4 - 7) are loadable mechanically or pneumatically and in particular through a common drive.
12. A method for operating a cube dicer according to one of the preceding claims,

    - wherein a meat slice is inserted into a rectangular recess (2a,...),

    - wherein a pressure is imparted in the recess (2a,...) that is strong enough against the base (3a,...) of the recess (2a,...) so that the meat slice completely fills the rectangular recess (2a,...) in a plane of the meat slice,

    - wherein after compressing, in particular directly after compressing the meat slice that is brought into the rectangular shape is cut in longitudinal and transversal direction in the recess (2a,...), in particular cut into cubes in longitudinal direction and in transversal direction one after the other, and

    - wherein the cubes are ejected in downward direction from the recess (2a).
13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the meat slice is also pressed against the base (3a,...) when cutting in longitudinal direction and/or transversal direction.
14. The method according to one of the preceding method claims, wherein during cutting with blades (19) passing over the diameter of the recess (2a,...), the blades (19) are larger than the diameter of the recess (2a,...) and thus of the meat slice in this direction and thus the blades (19) protrude in both directions beyond the recess (2a,...).
15. The method according to one of the preceding method claims, wherein the particular process steps are performed in time sequence at the positions (13 - 16) of a circular index table (1), plus a preceding insertion, in particular manual insertion of the meat slices into the recesses (2a,...).

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