EP2329931B1 - Device for cutting a food product - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for slicing food products, in particular a high-performance slicer, with the features according to the preamble of claim 1.

An apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 is made DE 42 14 264 A1 known. A circular blade can be tilted for height adjustment.

Devices are generally known which serve to slice food products such as sausage, meat and cheese at high speed. Typical cutting speeds are between several hundred to several thousand cuts per minute. Modern high-performance slicers differ, inter alia, in the design of the cutting blade and in the manner of the rotary drive for the cutting blade. So-called sickle or spiral blades rotate about a rotation axis, whereby this rotation axis itself does not perform any additional movement. In order to enable the product to be advanced beyond the cutting plane, that is to say the removal of product slices at all, these knives are designed in such a way that, for a certain rotation angle range during one revolution, they clear the way for advancing the product. Such a temporary release would not be possible with exclusively rotating circular knives. In slicers with circular knives, it is therefore provided to let the rotating circular blade additionally rotate in a planetary manner about a further axis spaced from the axis of rotation, in order during the Slicing the necessary release to advance the product. Which blade type or type of drive is to be preferred depends on the respective application. In general, it can be said that higher cutting speeds can be achieved with only rotating sickle knives, whereas rotating and additionally planetary rotating circular knives can be used more universally without sacrificing cutting quality.

The above-mentioned high cutting speeds make it necessary - and this applies regardless of the type of knife and the type of drive - that, with a portionwise slicing of products, so-called empty cuts are made in which the knife continues to move, i. performs his cutting motion, but not in the product, but "in the void" cuts, so temporarily no slices are separated from the product and these "cutting breaks" can be used to a formed with the previously separated slices portion, such as a stack of discs or shingles arranged discs to be transported away. The time passing between two consecutively separated slices does not suffice for a proper cutting performance or cutting speed for a proper removal of the slice portions. The length of these "cutting breaks" and the number of idle cuts per "cutting break" depend on the particular application.

A problem known in practice in connection with the performance of blanks is that, in most cases, it is not enough to simply stop the supply of the product temporarily to prevent the separation of slices. In the case of products with a soft texture, it happens regularly that, after the product feed has stopped, relaxation effects occur, as a result of which leading end of the product beyond the cutting plane and thus enters the effective range of the cutting blade. The result is an undesirable separation of so-called product snippets or product chips. Such a chip formation can also occur in the case of products of solid consistency, in which case the abovementioned relaxation effects do not occur, namely when the products are continuously fed during the slicing operation.

The phenomena described above are well known to the person skilled in the art, which is why this will not be discussed in detail.

Measures are already known from the prior art, which serve to avoid a Schnitzelbildung when performing blanks. For this example, on EP 0 289 765 A1 . DE 42 14 264 A1 . EP 1 046 476 A2 . DE 101 147 348 A1 and DE 154 952 directed.

Accordingly, it has already been proposed not only to interrupt the product supply for the performance of blanks, but also to withdraw the product, if appropriate together with the product support. This approach reaches its limits, in particular, when the cutting speeds and / or the masses to be moved become too large, because then it can no longer be ensured that the front end of the product can be withdrawn sufficiently quickly. As an alternative to retracting the product, it has also been proposed to move the cutting blade away from the front end of the product. Both solutions have the consequence that between the front end of the product and the cutting blade a sufficiently large distance is produced, which reliably prevents a Schnitzelbildung. The required blade stroke is only a few millimeters, but must be in a very short time on the order of a few hundredths of a second.

The prior art proposes various ways to make this distance by a displacement of the knife. In general, it should be noted that a movement of the entire cutting head has exactly the disadvantage that also in the alternative - namely the retraction of the product - is that a comparatively large mass must be moved. Although a movement of only the knife together with the drive shaft has the advantage of a lower mass to be moved, but means a significant design effort, since an object must be moved along an axis that simultaneously rotates at high speed about this axis. For this purpose, very specific problems in connection with the storage of the knife or the knife shaft to solve, which means no fundamental problems, but nevertheless is complex and expensive.

In addition, not all of the concepts proposed in the prior art for moving the knife can be readily implemented for all knife types or drive types common in connection with slicers. While the above-mentioned sickle or spiral blades rotate only about one axis, but this axis does not additionally performs a recirculation, concepts for axial movement of the knife despite the above-mentioned storage problem in practice can be realized with reasonable effort. Slicers with rotating and planetary rotating circular knives provide the skilled person, however, against previously unresolved problems, as with reasonable design effort, a displacement of only the knife or the blade shaft can be accomplished.

The object of the invention is to provide a feasible with reasonable design cost possibility to produce at a slicer of the type mentioned, in particular a high-performance slicer, a distance between the cutting blade and front end product by a displacement of the cutting blade, thereby avoiding the formation of chips should be possible in the implementation of blank sections.

The solution of this object is achieved by the features of claim 1.

According to the invention, the cutting blade for performing blank cuts is pivotable such that the distance between the cutting blade and a reference plane which is parallel to the cutting plane or coincides with the cutting plane, changed while the cutting blade remains aligned parallel to the cutting plane.

In addition to blank sections, another additional function can be performed. The term "additional function" is to be understood as meaning a function that does not exclusively relate to the actual slicing function, that is to say the rotational movement of the cutting blade. The additional function is in particular the setting of the cutting gap, which will be discussed in more detail below. The additional function can also be a height adjustment or adjustment of the immersion depth of the cutting blade, in particular with respect to the product (s) to be sliced or the product support. The pivoting of the cutting blade is thus carried out when the additional function is to be performed, this additional function - depending on their nature - in rotating or rotating cutting blade and / or in a stationary cutting blade is feasible.

The pivotable mounting according to the invention has the advantage that the forces required for pivoting can be kept relatively low. Furthermore, the pivot bearing has the advantage that no sliding or sliding bearings are required, as they are required in a purely translational, for example axial, adjustment.

The inventive design of the pivotable mounting such that the cutting blade remains aligned parallel to the cutting plane, has, inter alia, the advantage that the mobility of the cutting blade can also be used for such functions in which a non-parallel orientation of the cutting blade relative to the cutting plane, so for example a tilting of the cutting blade during the adjustment, can not be accepted. While it is irrelevant for the performance of blank cuts, which orientation the cutting blade takes with respect to the cutting plane, as long as a sufficiently large distance between the cutting blade and the front product end is present, it is imperative when adjusting the cutting blade for the purpose of cutting gap adjustment that the cutting blade is aligned in any position parallel to the cutting plane, since the cutting blade must meet the actual cutting function in each position.

In one embodiment of the invention, it is provided that a cutting head comprising the cutting blade and pivotable as a whole is provided. This development of the invention has the advantage, inter alia, that a bearing required for a rotation of the cutting blade is not affected by the adjusting movement. For practical implementation of the invention, it is therefore not necessary to develop special cutting heads, since the invention in conjunction with conventional Cutting heads can be used, which allow no adjustment movement of the cutting head as a whole no adjustment movement of the knife or the blade shaft.

Another advantage of this embodiment of the invention is that it is independent of the blade type and the way of driving the blade. Both a sickle knife cutting head, in which the cutting blade only rotates, and a circular blade cutting head, in which the circular blade rotates and in addition rotates planetary, can be pivoted in the manner according to the invention as a whole.

The term "cutting head" is to be understood broadly insofar as the size or the circumference of the unit which can be pivoted as a whole is not fixed, In particular, depending on the specific embodiment of the slicing apparatus, a drive motor which is responsible for the rotary drive of the cutting blade can either belong to the cutting head and thus The drive means between the stationary drive motor on the one hand and the cutting blade or knife shaft on the other hand can in this case be designed so that they allow the pivoting movement so-called knife head, which may include in particular the cutting blade including holder and gear, or comprise the cutter head and a so-called cutter head housing, which surrounds the cutter head at least partially and that for the rotary drive of the cutting blade may include care drive motor, the latter is not mandatory.

In this context, it should be borne in mind that it is relevant for the practice-relevant situations in which an adjustment of the cutting blade is required or desired, a maximum adjustment of not more than 5 to 10 mm is sufficient, in many cases, the maximum adjustment paths are even less than 5 mm. In particular, it is sufficient for the implementation of schnitzel free empty cuts when between the cutting blade and the front end of the product a distance of a few millimeters is produced. This also applies to the cutting gap setting, since in most cases a maximum gap size of a few millimeters need not be exceeded or may not be exceeded at all.

Also components other than the mentioned drive motor, which have to do in particular in the broadest sense with drive, mounting and / or storage of the cutting blade, insofar do not belong to the cutting head, as they take place at the take place for performing a blank and optionally at least one additional function pivoting movement do not participate. Furthermore, in addition to the drive motor, further components, which in the broadest sense have to do with drive, mounting and / or mounting of the cutting blade, participate in the pivoting movement.

In practice, for example, the unit to be pivoted as a whole may have a weight of 50 to 100 kg. However, due to the pivotable mounting according to the invention, this mass does not pose a problem that would not be solvable with reasonable design effort, since the forces to be applied can be kept relatively low with a corresponding relative arrangement of pivot bearing and pivot drive, in particular by utilizing long lever arms Without having to make the pivot drive itself unnecessarily complicated.

If, in the following, a pivoting of the cutting blade is mentioned, then should - unless otherwise mentioned - including the possibility of pivoting a cutting blade comprehensive cutting head to be understood as a whole.

According to a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, at least one parallelogram guide, at least one parallelogram guide and / or at least one four-bar lever is provided for pivoting the cutting blade, which is preferably articulated on the cutting blade or on a cutting head or its holder or holder and on a base is.

As a result, pivoting of the cutting blade with an unchanged alignment of the cutting blade with respect to the cutting plane can be realized in a structurally relatively simple manner.

In a further embodiment of the invention may be provided for pivoting the cutting blade at least a pair of links and / or levers, which are articulated on the one hand on the cutting blade or on a cutting head and on the other hand on a base.

By base is here a part of the slicing to understand relative to which the pivoting movement of the cutting blade, although it is not mandatory, but in most practical cases nevertheless provided that the base is stationary with respect to the environment, so even none as well always performs movement relative to the environment.

The parallelogram guide, the parallelogram link or the four-bar linkage can be designed such that their relevant elements, in particular handlebar and / or lever, each having the same length. Alternatively or additionally, the articulation points of the elements or links and / or levers can be selected such that the respectively desired movement of the cutting blade results. Furthermore, the lengths and / or the articulation points of the links and / or levers may be designed to be variable, in order - depending on the selected setting or set configuration - to be able to realize different movements of the cutting blade during pivoting.

According to another possible embodiment of the invention, the cutting blade is pivotally suspended. In particular, the suspension can take place on a base belonging to the slicing device, wherein the base itself can be fixed with respect to the environment.

A further embodiment of the invention provides that a pivot drive is provided for the cutting blade. In particular, it may be provided that this rotary actuator, which serves to pivot the cutting blade for performing a blank and optionally at least one additional function, is provided in addition to a rotary drive of the cutting blade, which ensures the movement of the cutting blade in the cutting plane, ie for the rotation and / or rotation of the cutting blade is responsible. For the actual cutting on the one hand and the pivoting of the cutting blade on the other hand then each own drive is provided. However, it is also possible according to the invention to derive the pivot drive by suitable means from a rotary drive of the cutting blade. These means are then designed in particular such that the cutting blade rotates continuously, the pivoting of the cutting blade is performed only when needed, that is, when for Carrying out a blank and possibly at least one additional function pivoting of the cutting blade is required.

The pivoting drive for pivoting the cutting blade may be designed to act on the cutting blade along an effective at least substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane line of action. This makes it possible to design the pivot drive structurally particularly simple. It may, for example, serve as a simple piston / cylinder arrangement as a pivot drive. If the pivoting of the cutting blade is connected to a stroke, ie a movement component of the cutting blade in the cutting plane, then the coupling between the rotary drive and the cutting blade can be designed such that a relative movement between the rotary drive and the cutting blade taking place in the cutting plane is permitted without this Swiveling the cutting blade by means of the pivot drive to affect.

It is also possible to store the pivot drive movable. A relative movement between the pivot drive and the cutting blade, in particular in the sense of a game between pivot drive and cutting blade, can be avoided in this way.

It is further proposed according to a further aspect of the invention that an adjusting device for the cutting blade is provided, with which the cutting blade is movable in an adjustment direction, wherein the blade axis and / or center axis of the cutting blade is inclined during cutting relative to the horizontal, and wherein the Adjustment of the cutting blade obliquely to the blade axis and / or center axis of the cutting blade runs.

This aspect is disclosed and claimed both in combination with the subject matters disclosed in the claims and as an independent aspect.

Thus, the cutting blade may thus be pivotable so that effectively, i. when turning off at the beginning and end of the adjustment, results in a direction of inclination extending obliquely to the blade axis and / or center axis of the cutting blade. The adjustment movement of the cutting blade does not have to be a linear movement, but the pivotable mounting of the cutting blade can also be designed such that a linear adjustment movement of the cutting blade results,

This further aspect of the invention means a departure from the prior art documented retracted concept of the art, the adjustment of the cutting blade must be parallel to the axis of rotation of the cutting blade, in the terminology used here parallel to the blade axis and / or center axis. Due to the approach of moving the cutting blade obliquely to its axis of rotation, the portion of the weight to be overcome can be reduced or - as in a preferred embodiment with a horizontally extending adjustment direction - reduced to zero. This thus allows a weight-neutral knife adjustment, in which in the case of a horizontal adjustment movement from the point of view of the adjustment only the inertial mass of the unit to be moved plays a role.

This not only achieves the advantage of a lower power requirement on the adjusting device, but also achieves further advantages:

If, according to the prior art, the blade is displaced parallel to its axis of rotation, then the adjustment path is identical to the change in distance between knife and front product end or between knife and cutting edge achieved by the adjustment, since the axis of rotation of the knife and the product feed direction are parallel. If, on the other hand, the adjustment direction is oblique to the axis of rotation of the blade, then the blade has to travel a greater distance compared to the prior art in order to effect the same change in distance. This increase in the adjustment is actually an advantage, since - as already explained - the adjustment here in question are small anyway, namely only a few millimeters to a maximum of a few centimeters, which is fundamentally problematic in terms of design and operation of the adjustment. The accuracy of positioning movements is namely the more difficult to ensure, the shorter the adjustment is. Especially the knife movements required on high-performance slicers require the highest degree of precision, so that correspondingly high demands are placed on the drive technology, especially since only extremely short times are available for the positioning movements, as also explained in the introductory part. As long as the required adjustment is not too large overall, thus each - from the perspective of the adjustment - resulting increase in the adjustment is a relief insofar as the required precision of the adjustment can be easily realized or even made possible.

To illustrate these relationships, it should be mentioned by way of example that in the case of a spindle drive for the blade movement, as he, for example, from DE 101 47 348 A1 it is known for the adjusting movement taking place parallel to the axis of rotation of the knife, the spindle performs only about half a revolution, which in relation to the drive technology used is already an optimization for turning the spindle. In practice it has been found that this results in problems associated with the lubrication of the spindle, which would not be the case if the spindle could perform at least one complete revolution, for example in an oil bath.

Also, in view of this fact becomes clear that an increase in the adjustment can provide unexpected additional benefits, for example, by using a spindle drive for the adjustment the required spindle lubrication is simplified.

Furthermore, it can generally be said that this aspect of the invention enables a higher control quality for the drives, since there are more uniform load conditions and larger adjustment paths.

As already mentioned above, according to a possible embodiment of this aspect, it can be provided that the adjustment direction of the cutting blade extends at least approximately horizontally. The "weight fraction" of the knife during adjustment is thus reduced to zero, i. The adjustment does not need to "raise" the knife.

The knife axis and / or the central axis of the cutting blade can extend at least approximately parallel to the product feed direction.

The adjusting device for the cutting blade may comprise a linear drive, for example a spindle drive or a piston-cylinder arrangement. Alternatively, the adjusting device for the cutting blade may comprise an eccentric drive.

The angle of inclination between the knife axis and / or center axis of the cutting blade and the horizontal during slicing may be in the range of 30 ° to 50 ° and in particular at least approximately 40 °.

Furthermore, it can be provided that a knife holder, to which the cutting blade is interchangeably attachable, is movable in the adjustment direction.

Furthermore, it can be provided that a knife holder to which the cutting blade is interchangeably attachable, in the adjustment relative to at least one pivot bearing for the movement of the cutting blade about the blade axis and / or about the central axis and / or relative to a base part, over which the Knife holder is attachable to a support fixed to the frame, is movable.

In one possible embodiment, a knife head as a whole in the adjustment direction is movable for adjusting the knife. The cutter head in particular comprises a knife holder on which the cutting blade is interchangeably mounted, and at least one pivot bearing for the movement of the cutting blade about the knife axis and / or about the central axis. By the movement of the cutter head as a whole there is no relative movement in the adjustment between the knife holder and the pivot bearing. This means a simplification in terms of design.

A particular advantage of a movement of the cutter head as a whole is that the cutter head can be both a sickle cutter head for a sickle knife rotating about the knife axis and a circular knife head for a circular knife rotating about the knife axis and rotating around the central axis. As Whatever the adjusting device is configured concretely, this means that the respective adjustment principle is applicable to both a sickle blade and a circular blade.

It can be provided with respect to the adjustment direction stationary carrier, for example, a component of a stationary frame of the slicing or can be attached to the frame, relative to which the cutter head is movable as a whole in the adjustment direction. This carrier can be universally designed so that it can be exchanged between a sickle cutter head and a circular blade head. This can be converted into a circular blade slicer in a particularly simple manner, a sickle knife slicer, and vice versa.

Furthermore, between the cutter head and the carrier or between a knife holder to which the cutting blade is exchangeably attachable, and at least one pivot bearing for the movement of the cutting blade around the blade axis and / or about the central axis a sliding or sliding bearing can be provided.

The carrier may be arranged on or in a cutting head housing.

The carrier for the cutter head can be universally designed such that it is possible to change between a sickle cutter head and a circular cutter head.

It can be provided a cutter head, which is associated with a rotary drive.

The rotary drive can be arranged fixed to the frame or be able to compensate for the adjustment of the cutting blade compensating movement.

Furthermore, the rotary drive can be arranged together with the cutter head on or in a frame-fixed cutting head housing.

The rotary drive can interact with the knife head which carries out the adjusting movement as a whole or with a part of the knife head, in particular a knife holder, which carries out the adjusting movement, in particular via at least one drive belt.

Furthermore, it is provided in particular that the cutting blade in the adjustment direction in addition to the implementation of blank sections, the e.g. be performed at a portion-wise slicing and / or in the context of a height or immersion depth adjustment, for performing at least one additional function is movable, in particular for cutting gap setting.

As already mentioned, the term "additional function" is to be understood as meaning a function which does not relate exclusively to the actual slicing function, that is to say the rotational movement or orbital movement of the cutting blade. The additional function is in particular the setting of the cutting gap, which will be discussed in more detail below. The additional function can also be a height adjustment or adjustment of the depth of immersion of the cutting blade, in particular with respect to the product or products to be sliced or the product support, more precisely the avoidance of chips during the height or immersion depth adjustment performed blank cuts. The adjusting movement of the Knife thus takes place when needed, if the additional function is to be performed, this additional function - depending on their nature - with rotating or rotating cutting blade and / or with a stationary cutting blade is feasible.

Furthermore, it can be provided that the cutting blade is movable in the adjustment direction in such a way that the distance between the cutting blade and a reference plane which runs parallel to a cutting plane defined by the cutting edge of the cutting blade changes.

In this connection it should be mentioned that for most of the situations which are relevant in practice, in which adjustment of the cutting blade is required or desired, a maximum displacement of not more than 5 to 10 mm is sufficient, in many cases the maximum necessary Adjustment paths are even smaller than 5 mm. In particular, it is sufficient for the implementation of schnitzel free empty cuts when between the cutting blade and the front end of the product a distance of a few millimeters is produced. This also applies to the cutting gap setting, since in most cases a maximum gap size of a few millimeters need not be exceeded or may not be exceeded at all.

In the cutting gap setting, the gap between the cutting blade - more precisely, the cutting plane defined by the blade of the blade - and a cutting edge is set to a predetermined level. The cutting edge, also referred to as a counter knife, interacts with the cutting blade when separating slices from the product. The cutting edge forms, in particular, the end of the product support which is at the front in the product feed direction. Cutting edges come in practice in many forms. Even relatively complex arrangements, which are provided, for example, as so-called cuffs or shell molds with circumferentially open or closed feedthroughs for the products to be sliced to optimally fix the front end of the product to increase the quality of cutting, are often referred to simply as "cutting edge" in practice ,

Depending on the product to be sliced and possibly on other conditions, it is necessary for optimum cutting quality to set the distance between the cutting blade and the cutting edge, measured in the product feed direction, ie perpendicular to the cutting plane, to a certain level. The axial position of the cutting plane is not exactly defined insofar as the plane defined by the cutting edge, on the one hand, and the plane defined by the cutting blade, more precisely by the knife edge, likewise do not coincide. However, this is unproblematic insofar as, for example, the plane defined by the cutting edge can be used as a reference plane when a reference in the axial direction, ie in the product feed direction, is required or desired.

Another advantage of the invention, which is also important in this context, is that it is possible for the cutting blade to maintain its orientation relative to the product feed direction, ie in particular for the cutting plane to run perpendicular to the product feed direction in each knife position. Thus, the mobility of the cutting blade for such functions - such as the above-described cutting gap setting - be used in which a non-parallel alignment of the cutting blade relative to the original cutting plane, so for example, a tilting of the cutting blade during the adjustment, can not be accepted. While it For the implementation of blank sections is in principle irrelevant, which orientation the cutting blade with respect to the product feed direction, as long as a sufficiently large distance between the cutting blade and the front product end is present, it is clearly necessary for an adjustment of the cutting blade for the purpose of cutting gap adjustment that the cutting blade in each position is aligned with the cutting plane perpendicular to the product feed direction, since the cutting blade must fulfill the actual cutting function in each position.

The invention also relates to a use of a device of the type described. Type for performing blanks when portioning food products and / or at height or immersion depth adjustment.

In doing so, to temporarily interrupt the separation of slices from the product, the cutting blade may be pivoted away from the front product end and swung back out of the product after one or more slices have been made to resume slicing of the product. In this case, the device is thus not only used for slicing the products, but during the slicing of a product if necessary to carry out one or more idle cuts, in order to allow in this way, in particular a portion-wise slicing with an orderly removal of each formed portions. Of course, the interruption of the separation of slices from the product may occur several times during the slicing of a product, as with a portionwise slicing of the product the number of "slicing phases" corresponds to the number of slice portions formed from the product.

According to an embodiment of this use, the idle cuts are carried out while the product feed is stopped.

Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a device of the type described for cutting gap adjustment, wherein the gap between the cutting blade and a cutting edge is adjusted to a predetermined level by pivoting the cutting blade. The cutting edge, also referred to as counter knife, cooperates with the cutting knife when separating slices from the product. The cutting edge forms, in particular, the end of the product support which is at the front in the product feed direction. Cutting edges occur in practice in many embodiments. Even relatively complex arrangements, which are provided, for example, as so-called cuffs or shell molds with circumferentially open or closed feedthroughs for the products to be sliced to optimally fix the front end of the product to increase the quality of cutting, are often referred to simply as "cutting edge" in practice ,

Depending on the product to be sliced and possibly on other conditions, it is necessary for optimum cutting quality to set the distance between the cutting blade and the cutting edge, measured in the product feed direction, ie perpendicular to the cutting plane, to a certain level. The axial position of the cutting plane is not exactly defined insofar as the plane defined by the cutting edge, on the one hand, and the plane defined by the cutting blade, more precisely by the knife edge, on the other hand, do not coincide. However, this is unproblematic insofar as, for example, the plane defined by the cutting edge is used as the reference plane can be, if a reference in the axial direction, ie in the product feed direction, needed or desired.

In one possible implementation of this use, the cutting gap adjustment can be performed with the cutting blade stationary. Alternatively, it is also possible to carry out the cutting gap adjustment in the cutting plane moving cutting blade, which is also referred to as "dynamic cutting gap adjustment" and offers advantages over a "static" cutting gap setting with stationary cutting blade advantages, which will also not be discussed here.

The invention further relates to a method for slicing food products, in particular by means of the device described, in which at least one product is fed to a cutting plane by means of a product feed, in which at least one cutting blade, in particular rotating and / or slicing, separates the product from the product circulating, moving, and the cutting blade is pivoted for performing blank cuts such that the distance between the cutting blade and a reference plane which is parallel to the cutting plane or coincides with the cutting plane changed, while the cutting blade remains aligned parallel to the cutting plane.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are also set forth in the dependent claims, the description and the drawings.

Fig. 1a - 1c

schematisch eine erfindungsgemäße Aufschneidevorrichtung mit in unterschiedlichen Schwenkstellungen befindlichem Schneidmesser,

Fig. 2

schematisch eine erfindungsgemäße Aufschneidevorrichtung gemäß einer weiteren Ausführungsform,

Fig. 3

schematisch eine erfindungsgemäße Aufschneidevorrichtung gemäß einer weiteren Ausführungsform,

Fig. 4

eine schematische Darstellung des Funktionsprinzips eines Slicers mit axial verstellbarem Schneidmesser gemäß dem Stand der Technik,

Fig. 5

eine schematische Seitenansicht eines nicht zur Erfindung gehörenden Slicers mit horizontal verstellbarem Messerkopf,

Fig. 6

schematisch eine Seitenansicht einer möglichen konkreten Ausgestaltung eines Schneidkopfes eines nicht zur Erfindung gehörenden Slicers,

Fig. 7

einen vergrößert dargestellten Ausschnitt von Fig. 6 bei in der Schneidposition befindlichem Messer, und

Fig. 8

eine Darstellung entsprechend Fig. 7 mit in einer ausgerückten Position befindlichem Schneidmesser.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1a - 1c

FIG. 2 schematically shows a slicing device according to the invention with cutting blade located in different pivoting positions, FIG.

Fig. 2

1 schematically shows a slicing device according to the invention according to a further embodiment,

Fig. 3

1 schematically shows a slicing device according to the invention according to a further embodiment,

Fig. 4

a schematic representation of the operating principle of a slicer with axially adjustable cutting blade according to the prior art,

Fig. 5

a schematic side view of a not belonging to the invention Slicers with horizontally adjustable cutter head,

Fig. 6

1 is a schematic side view of a possible concrete embodiment of a cutting head of a slicer not belonging to the invention;

Fig. 7

an enlarged section of Fig. 6 when in the cutting position befindlichem knife, and

Fig. 8

a representation accordingly Fig. 7 with cutting blade in a disengaged position.

Hereinafter, different reference numerals are also used for those parts and terms that actually correspond to each other.

The embodiments explained below can either be combined with each other or realized separately.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1a to 1c a cutting head 21 comprising a cutting blade 17 as a whole is pivotably mounted on a base 43 of the slicer not shown here completely.

The cutting blade 17 is a sickle or spiral blade, which can be driven by a rotary drive, not shown, for rotation about a rotation axis 18. Alternatively, the pivotal mounting can also be provided for a circular blade head, the blade rotates and also rotates planetary.

For pivotable mounting of the cutting head 21 a comprehensive in this embodiment, two pairs of handlebar parallelogram is provided. From the product feed direction F (see. Fig. 1c ) front and rear link pair only one link 25 and 27 is shown.

The pivot axes 33 to 39 of the links 25, 27 on the base 43 and the cutting head 21 are in parallel, each perpendicular to a reference plane 19 extending plane. The links 25, 27 also have the same length. The orientation or position of the cutting blade 17 in the room thus does not change upon pivoting, as the comparison of Fig. 1a to 1c shows one another. In each pivot position, the cutting blade 17 is aligned parallel to the reference plane 19.

Alternatively, the links or link pairs 25, 27 may be of different lengths and / or the pivot axes 33 to 39 or articulation points lie in non-perpendicular to the reference plane 19 extending planes. In this case too, an alignment of the cutting blade 17 parallel to the reference plane 19 during pivoting can nevertheless be realized. The length of the link or link pairs 25, 27 and / or the position of the pivot axes 33 to 39 may or may also be made adjustable in order to specifically specify different movements of the cutting blade 17 during pivoting in this way.

A pivoting movement of the cutting head 21 effecting pivot drive is in the Fig. 1a to 1c not shown.

The mentioned reference plane 19 is defined by the end of a product support 13 forming cutting edge 23 in terms of their axial position, ie their position with respect to the product feed F. In addition, the reference plane 19 is perpendicular to the product feed. The axis of rotation 18 of the cutting blade 17 is perpendicular to the product feed direction and thus parallel to the product feed F.

Due to the parallelogram, which can also be referred to as parallelogram or four-bar linkage, the axis of rotation 18 is aligned in each pivot position of the cutting blade 17 parallel to the product feed F.

Due to the inventive pivotal mounting of the cutting blade 17 and the cutting blade 17 comprehensive cutting head 21 an axially movable mounting of the cutting blade 17 is not required, ie it is not necessary to move the cutting blade 17. Special sliding or sliding bearing means such as plain bearing bushes are therefore not necessary in connection with the invention. According to the desired change in the distance between Cutting knife 17 and reference plane 19 exclusively by a pivoting or by one or more rotational movements.

The movement that the cutting head 21 performs during pivoting is a superposition of two pivoting movements or individual pivoting movements: When the cutting head 21 is pivoted, it is pivoted about the pivot axis 33 relative to the base 43 by means of the front link pair 25. On the other hand, the cutting head 21 is pivoted about the other pivot axis 35 of the front link pair 25. In response to the pivoting movement about the pivot axis 33, the pivoting of the cutting head 21 about the pivot axis 35 is guided by the rear arm pair 27 such that the position of the rotation axis 18 and the cutting blade 17 in Room does not change. Consequently, the cutting blade 17 always remains parallel to the reference plane 19 and thus aligned with the cutting plane during pivoting.

This effect of the parallelogram link according to the invention can be described analogously starting from the rear link pair 27: the cutting head 21 is pivoted as a whole about the pivot axis 37 relative to the base 43 and simultaneously guided in the front link pair 25 manner about the other pivot axis 39 of the rear link pair 27.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1a to 1c the cutting head 21 is suspended pivotably on the base 43. The "lowest" position of the cutting head 21 shows Fig. 1a in which the links 25, 27 extend parallel to the reference plane 19. When pivoting in one or the other direction, the cutting head 21 thus moves along the relevant branch of a U-shaped path, whereby the cutting head 21 and so that the cutting blade 17 also slightly raised, that is, parallel to the reference plane 19, is moved.

However, this pivotal blade stroke is completely unproblematic in practice and in particular for the cutting quality, because it is in this context - as already mentioned above - to take into account that the axial, ie measured in Produktzuführrichtung F, adjustment of the cutting blade 17, by the pivoting the cutting head 21 is effected, is only in the order of millimeters.

As already explained in the introductory part, the pivoting of the cutting head 21 and the resulting axial offset of the cutting blade 17 can serve different purposes, in particular for performing blank cuts and for cutting gap adjustment.

Merely for the sake of an illustrative explanation, the illustrations in Fig. 1a to 1c chosen such that Fig. 1a and 1b purely by way of example show two possible cutting gap settings. In Fig. 1a the gap between the cutting edge 23 and the cutting blade 17 is relatively large (and here actually disproportionately large), while in Fig. 1b the plane defined by the knife edge of the cutting blade 17 and the plane 19 defined by the cutting edge 23 coincide and thus a cutting gap of zero is set. In practice, both with a zero set cutting gap according to Fig. 1b be cut, in particular in conjunction with a dynamic cutting gap setting, as well as a non-zero cutting gap between cutting edge 23 and cutting blade 17 during cutting available.

Out Fig. 1a It can be seen that, as already explained above, the definition of a cutting plane is only possible exactly if one considers the cutting plane defined either by the blade of the blade 17 or by the cutting edge 23, as long as the respective planes do not coincide.

Fig. 1c illustrates a situation during the slicing of a product 15 in which idle cuts are being performed. The product feed 11 acting on the rear product end, which can be driven during the slicing in the product feed direction F in order to supply the product 15 to the cutting blade 17, is deactivated in this situation. In addition, the cutting head 21 has been pivoted so far by means of a pivot drive, not shown, that a sufficiently large distance between the present at the cutting edge 23 front end of the product 57 on the one hand and the cutting blade 17 on the other hand, in this situation, the separation of chips from the product 15th by the continue to rotate about the axis 18 cutting blade 17 in this situation safely.

Once the slice portion (not shown) previously formed by separating slices from the product 15 is removed, to resume slicing of the product 15, the cutting head 21 is pivoted back so that the cutting knife 17 returns to its original cutting position, for example according to the position Fig. 1a , the position according to Fig. 1b or an intermediate position.

At the in Fig. 2 schematically illustrated embodiment, the parallelogram 25, 27 does not engage directly on the cutting head 21, but on a carrier 55, which is connected to the cutting head 21. The cutting head 21 is located between an upper portion of the carrier 55, which is connected to a base 43 of the slicer via the parallelogram link, and a lower portion, on which a pivot drive 45 engages, which is also supported on the base 43. The pivot drive 45 is, for example, a piston / cylinder arrangement, which - as indicated by the double arrow in Fig. 2 indicated - is capable of acting on the carrier 55 along a line of action, which is parallel to the axis of rotation 18 of the cutting blade 17 and thus perpendicular to the cutting plane.

In this case, the pivot drive 45 is coupled to the carrier 55 such that, firstly, a movement of the carrier 55 in both directions is possible, the carrier 55 together with the cutting head 21 so both "pushed" and "pulled" can be, and on the other by the pivoting of the carrier 55 also taking place stroke can be taken perpendicular to the axis of rotation 18 (for example, by a slot guide), without requiring a corresponding stroke movement of the pivot drive 45 would be required. Alternatively, the pivot drive 45 may be movably mounted in order to follow the movement of the cutting head 21 and thus avoid a game between pivot drive 45 and cutting head 21.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of another slicing device according to the invention along the axis of rotation 18 of the cutting blade, not shown here. The cutting head 21 comprises a knife holder 53 to which the cutting blade can be interchangeably attached. A rotary drive 47 not belonging to the cutting head 21 in this embodiment is capable of rotating the blade holder 53 about the axis 18 by means of a drive belt 49.

The cutting head 21, in this embodiment, but not the rotary drive 47, is pivotally suspended from a base 43, again via a parallelogram, of which only a pair of arms 25, 29 is shown, the handlebar about pivot axes 31, 33 at the base 43 and about pivot axes 35, 41 are hinged to the cutting head 21.

Both the pivotal movement of the cutting head 21 and the thereby adjusting stroke of the cutting head 21 perpendicular to the axis of rotation 18 can be easily absorbed by the drive belt 49, without affecting the rotational drive of the knife holder 53.

Basically, it is different from the concept of Fig. 3 erfmdungsgemäß also possible to integrate the rotary drive 47 in a pivotable as a whole cutting head.

As in Fig. 3 indicated by the four juxtaposed on the product support 13 products 15, several products 15 can be cut simultaneously with the slicer according to the invention, with only a single cutting blade.

Fig. 4 shows in a schematic side view of a known from the prior art high-performance slicer, which serves to sliced food products 127, such as meat, sausage, ham or cheese, in slices. During the cutting process, the product 127 rests on a product support 137 and is moved by means of a product feed 113 along a product feed direction F1 in the direction of a cutting plane S1. The product feed direction F1 is perpendicular to the cutting plane S 1. As mentioned in the introduction, are also Such slicers are known in which the angle between the product feed direction and cutting plane of 90 ° is different. Of the product feeder 131 are in Fig. 4 only the already mentioned product support 137 and a so-called product holder 125 shown, which engages with claws or grippers in the rear end of the product 127 and driven by unillustrated drive means in and against the product feed direction F1, as indicated by the double arrow.

The cutting plane S 1 is defined by the cutting edge of a cutting blade 111, which during the cutting operation cooperates with a cutting edge 131, also referred to as a counter blade, which forms the front end of the product support 137. In practice, the cutting edge is usually a separate, replaceable component, e.g. made of plastic or steel, which is not shown here for reasons of simplicity.

As mentioned in the introductory part, the cutting blade 111 may be a so-called circular blade, which rotates planetary about both a central axis and rotates about its own knife axis. Alternatively, the cutting blade 111 may be a so-called sickle or spiral blade, which does not rotate planetary, but only rotates about the blade axis A1. The drive for the cutting blade 111 is in Fig. 4 not shown.

In order to establish a distance between the knife 111 and the front end of the product 127 within the scope of a blank cut and optionally an additional function of the slicer, an adjusting device, not shown, is provided, which is designed to move the cutting knife 111. As indicated by the double arrow in Fig. 4 indicated, it is known from the prior art, the cutting blade parallel to it Rotation axis (knife axis) A1 to move. For this purpose, the cutting blade 111 can be mounted displaceably parallel to the axis of rotation A 1. In connection with the execution of blank sections 111 (in Fig. 4 indicated by a dashed line), ie at spaced from the front product end knife 111, a Schnitzel or Schnipselbildung safely avoided.

With a portionwise slicing of the product 127, as shown in FIG Fig. 4 is shown, the separated product slices 133 portions 135, which in Fig. 4 are shown as a disk stack. Once a portion 135 is completed, this portion 135 is transported away in a direction T1. So that sufficient time is available for the removal of the finished slice portions 135, the above-mentioned empty cuts are carried out until the beginning of the formation of the next portion 135, for which on the one hand the product feed (also the product holder 125) referred to as product feed is stopped and on the other hand the cutting knife 111 by means of said adjusting in the in Fig. 4 dashed position shown is moved.

Fig. 5 schematically shows a slicer in a side view. The product feeder 113 is shown in the position in which the product 127 is cut open. For loading with a new product, the product feeder 113 can be pivoted into an at least approximately horizontal position. In the illustrated cutting position, however, the product feed 113 and thus the product feed direction F1 is inclined relative to the horizontal, namely by an angle α1, which is for example about 40 °. Since, in this example, the product feed direction F1 and thus the plane defined by the product support 137 runs parallel to the knife axis A 1 (which, however, as already explained above) mentioned - is not mandatory), here the inclination angle α1 between the horizontal H1 and the level of the product support 137 is located.

During slicing, the product support 137 thus constitutes an inclined plane for the product 127. The advancing movement of the product 127 is thereby aided by the gravitational attraction. Of greater importance, however, that due to the inclination of the product feeder 113, the front end product is not - as it would be the case with a horizontal product - vertically oriented, so that due to the inclination of the front product end, the filing of the separated product slices 133 - here on a removal conveyor 145 - improved or even a useful product storage is enabled.

The slicing of food products 127 with respect to the horizontal H 1 inclined product feed 113 is well known in the art. Virtually all high-performance slicers work with such an oblique product feeder 113.

While in slicers known from the prior art, the cutting blade 111 - as shown in FIG Fig. 4 - Is moved parallel to the knife axis A1, for example, to achieve a distance between the cutting blade 111 and the front product end to carry out blanking, is in the illustrated example of Fig. 4 a horizontal adjustment movement of the cutting blade 111 is provided, as indicated by the adjusting direction V 1 hinting, horizontally extending double arrow.

While the cutting position of the knife 111, in which the cutting plane S 1 and a reference plane defined by the cutting edge 131 coincide with solid lines, is shown in FIG Fig. 5 indicated with dashed lines the disengaged position of the blade 111. In this case, it is not the knife 111 or a knife holder alone that is adjusted, but rather the cutter head 119, which is only schematically indicated here, as a whole. The adjustment movement of the knife 111 or of the knife head 119 ultimately takes place relative to a stationary frame or frame 123 of the slicer.

While the construction and the adjustment of a cutter head 119 based on Fig. 7 and 8th is explained gives Fig. 6 an overview of a possible slicer. The knife head 119 is a sickle cutter head, ie the cutting knife 111 is a sickle knife, which performs a self-rotating movement about the knife axis A1 and does not additionally rotate planetary. The in the Fig. 6 . 7 . 8th illustrated embodiments do not fall under the claims 1-12.

The knife 111 is replaceably mounted on a here designated as blade holder 117, which is also referred to as a blade holder, rotor or blade shaft. The possible designation as a knife shaft is also chosen because it is in the embodiment shown here in the knife holder 117 to that component of the cutter head 119, which is directly - namely with a drive belt 143 - offset by the rotary drive 139 of the slicer in rotation.

The knife head 119, which can be moved back and forth as a whole in the adjustment direction V1, furthermore comprises a base part 149 which does not rotate. Between the blade holder 117 and the base part 149 rolling bearings 121 are arranged.

About sliding or sliding bearing 122, the base part 149 and thus the cutter head 119 in the adjustment V1, ie horizontally, and thus obliquely to the knife axis A1 and the product feed direction F1 relative to a carrier 124 slidably.

The here approximately S- or Z-shaped having carrier 124 is fixedly connected to a wall 147 which is part of a cutting head housing 141, which with respect to the adjustment direction V1 on a stationary frame or frame 123 (see. Fig. 5 ) is attached. An adjustability of the cutting head housing 141 as a whole in directions that lie in the cutting plane S 1, relative to the product support 137 are also possible.

A cover or hood, which is connected to the cutting head housing 141 and at least partially surrounds the cutting blade during the cutting operation, is also provided in the Fig. 6 to 8 but not shown.

An adjusting device for the cutter head 119, which comprises a spindle drive with a spindle 151 and a spindle nut 153, is supported on the cutting head housing 141, wherein alternatively also a support of the spindle drive (or in general any adjusting drive for the cutting blade 111 or the Knife head 119) may be provided on the carrier 124.

An unillustrated drive motor is designed to turn the spindle nut 153 firmly connected in the adjustment direction V1 to the cutting head housing 141 on request about a rotation axis D 1 of the spindle drive. As a result, depending on the direction of rotation of the spindle nut 153, the spindle 151 moves in Fig. 6 to the left or to the right. The front, in Fig. 6 left end of the spindle 151 is fixedly connected to the base part 149 and thus the cutter head 119 with respect to the adjustment direction V1. The activation of the spindle drive thus ensures - depending on the direction of rotation of the spindle nut 153 - for a movement of the cutting blade 111 from the front end of the product 127 or from the cutting edge 131 away or on the front product end or the cutting edge 131.

While Fig. 7 the cutting position, in which the cutting plane S 1 defined by the knife 111 coincides with a reference plane defined by the cutting edge 131, is located in Fig. 8 the knife 111 in a disengaged position.

Since the adjustment movement of the cutter head 119 and thus of the knife 111 takes place in the horizontal direction and thus obliquely to the product feed direction F1, the distance 155 measured in the product feed direction F1 is 155 (FIG. Fig. 8 ) between the front end of the product and the plane defined by the knife edge smaller than the distance traveled by the cutter head 119 in the adjustment direction V 1 path, ie smaller than the resulting by the adjustment gap 157 between the fixed to the cutting head housing 141 (see. Fig. 6 ) and the base member 149.

While in the Fig. 6 to 8 the cutter head 119 is adjusted as a whole, it is in principle also possible to move only the knife holder 117 in the horizontal adjustment direction V1, relative to the other components of the cutter head 119, in particular relative to the pivot bearing required for the rotating knife holder 117. In a - as given here - non-zero angle between the adjustment direction V 1 of the rotating knife holder 117 and the axis of rotation A1 of the pivot bearing movement of only the knife holder relative to their own pivot bearing no trivial design task which, however, is solvable for the skilled person when this task is asked.

In a further alternative, instead of the illustrated sickle blade head 119, a circular blade head may also be provided and adjusted in the horizontal direction V. In particular, these different cutter heads, on the one hand, and the carrier 124, relative to which the adjusting movement takes place in the adjustment direction V1, on the other hand, can be in the form of a universal, coordinated interface or coupling device, so that a single cutting head housing 141 with adjusting device, e.g. with spindle drive 151, 153, both with a sickle cutter head and with a circular blade head can be coupled. When tuning the different cutter heads also with regard to the required rotary drive then the same rotary drive for the different cutter heads can then be used.

With regard to in Fig. 6 shown drive belt 143 for the rotational drive of the knife holder 117 to the blade axis A1 is still to mention that additional measures that have not been mentioned, may be provided to the deflection or elongation of the drive belt 143, the adjustment of the cutter head 119 and so that the directly from the drive belt 143 rotationally driven knife holder 117 occurs in the adjustment direction V1, at least partially compensate. One measure for this may be to move the rotary drive motor of the rotary drive 139 in adjusted to the adjustment of the blade head 119 manner when adjusting the blade head 119 in such a way that at least to some extent the effects of the cutter head adjustment on the drive belt 143 are compensated ,

The effect of the belt elongation or deflection can also be at least largely eliminated by a suitable orientation of the cutter head. For this purpose, the cutter head can be installed so that its longitudinal axis does not coincide with the axis of rotation, but is mounted tilted relative to this by a certain angle. It may turn out that the adjustment direction is not exactly horizontal but oblique to the horizontal.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

11

product feed

13

product support

15

product

17

cutting blade

18

Rotation axis of the knife

19

reference plane

21

cutting head

23

cutting edge

25

handlebars

27

handlebars

29

handlebars

31

swivel axis

33

swivel axis

35

swivel axis

37

swivel axis

39

swivel axis

41

swivel axis

43

Base

45

Rotary actuator

47

rotary drive

49

drive belts

51

casing

53

knife holder

55

carrier

57

front end of product

F

product feed

111

cutting blade

113

product feed

115

adjustment

117

knife holder

119

cutter head

121

pivot bearing

122

Sliding or sliding bearing

123

frame

124

frame-fixed carrier

125

product holder

127

product

131

cutting edge

133

product slice

135

slice serving

137

product support

139

rotary drive

141

Cutting head housing

143

drive belts

145

removal belt

147

wall

149

base

151

spindle

153

spindle nut

155

distance

157

gap

F1

A1 knife axis Product feed direction

S1

cutting plane

T1

removal direction

V1

adjustment

H1

horizontal

D1

Rotary axis of the spindle drive

α1

tilt angle

Claims (12)

1. An apparatus for slicing food products, in particular a high-performance slicer, comprising
   a product feed (11, 13) which is configured to feed at least one product (15) to a cutting plane in which at least one cutting blade (17) moves, in particular in a rotating and or orbiting manner, for cutting slices from the product (15),
   wherein the cutting blade (17) is pivotably mounted,
   characterized in that
   the cutting blade (17) is pivotable for carrying out blank cuts such that the spacing between the cutting blade (17) and a reference plane (19) which extends in parallel with the cutting plane or which coincides with the cutting plane is changed and in this respect the cutting blade (17) remains aligned in parallel with the cutting plane.
2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1,
   characterized in that
   the pivot movement of the cutting blade (17) takes place about at least two axes and/or is a superposition of at least two pivot movements.
3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2,
   characterized in that
   a cutting head (21) including a cutting blade (17) and pivotable as a whole is provided.
4. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   at least one parallelogram guide and/or at least one four-bar lever is/are provided for pivoting the cutting blade (17).
5. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   at least one pair of guiding parts and/or levers (25-29) is provided for pivoting the cutting blade (17) which are each pivotally connected to the cutting blade (17), on the one hand, and to a base (43), on the other hand.
6. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   the cutting blade (17) is pivotably suspended, in particular at a base (43).
7. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   a pivot drive (45) is provided for the cutting blade (17).
8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 7,
   characterized in that
   the pivot drive (45) is configured for pivoting the cutting blade (17) to act on the cutting blade (17) along a line of action extending at least substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane.
9. Use of an apparatus in accordance with any one of the claims 1 to 8 for setting a cutting gap,
   wherein the gap between the cutting blade (17) and a cutting edge (23) is set to a preset dimension by pivoting the cutting blade (17).
10. Use in accordance with claim 191,
    characterized in that
    the cutting gap setting is carried out with a stationary cutting blade (17).
11. Use in accordance with claim 9,
    characterized in that
    the cutting gap setting is carried out with a cutting blade (17) moving in the cutting plane.
12. A method of slicing food products, in particular by means of an apparatus in accordance with any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein at least one product (15) is fed by means of a product feed (11, 13) to a cutting plane in which at least one cutting blade (17) is moved, in particular in a rotating and/or orbiting manner, for cutting slices from the product (15),
    characterized in that
    the cutting blade (17) is pivoted for carrying out blank cuts such that the spacing between the cutting blade (17) and a reference plane (19) which extends in parallel with the cutting plane or which coincides with the cutting plane is changed and in this respect the cutting blade (17) remains aligned in parallel with the cutting plane.

Images