EP2435220B1 - Apparatus and method for slicing food - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for slicing food products.

Various food cutting devices are known in the art. For example, so-called high performance slicers are used to prepare food products, e.g. Meat, sausage or cheese, cut open with high cutting speed. In an effort to further increase cutting performance, such devices may include a product feeder adapted to feed a plurality of product loaves or product bars - hereinafter simply: products - side by side in parallel to a common cutting blade which moves in a cutting plane perpendicular to Product conveying direction runs. In this way it is possible to use a single cutting device - with a correspondingly large knife - for simultaneous cutting of several products.

Such a high-performance slicer with independent product feeds for two products to be conveyed in parallel and thus simultaneously sliced is in the European patent specification EP 0713 753 B1 described. With this slicer, each product to be sliced is pushed in the direction of the knife by means of its own driven gripping claw, which acts on the rear end of the product. The gripping claws each have their own drive and are accordingly fully independent of each other drivable with different feed speeds, so that it is possible, the thickness of the separated product slices for the conveyed products by means of the individual product feed drives independently during the slicing change.

Slicers with independent product feed drives for two simultaneously sliced products are also off US 3,605,837 and US 3,927,319 known. Each product is thereby clamped during cutting between two opposed endless belt conveyors, which are vertically oriented and can both hold the product and deliver it to a cutting plane at a variable feed rate. Each pair of endless belt conveyors provided for each product has its own drive for product feeding, with the drives being completely independent of each other so that the product feed rates of the products to be sliced can be varied independently.

From the WO 02/30635 A1 is a slicer with conveyor known, which have a common drive. The product feed rates of the individual products are controlled by independent auxiliary drives whose additional movements are superimposed on the main movement. This document is considered to be the closest prior art.

The problem with these known devices, especially the relatively high cost, which is necessary for providing a plurality of independent drives including the associated control devices.

It is therefore an object of the invention to simplify the simultaneous slicing of several parallel promoted food products, wherein for each product, the thickness of the separated product slices should be individually variable.

The object is achieved on the one hand by a device having the features of claim 1.

The device according to the invention has a product feed which comprises a plurality of conveyors arranged parallel to one another, which are jointly drivable to simultaneously supply a plurality of products, each of which is assigned to one of the conveyors, a cutting plane in which at least one cutting blade, in particular rotating and / or rotating, moves. The conveyors have a common drive and each comprise a gear unit whose gear ratio is variable to individually change the individual conveying speed of the conveyor.

According to the invention, therefore, not every one of the conveyors is equipped with its own independent drive, but a common drive is provided for all conveyors. In order to change the single conveying speed on demand, each conveyor device is assigned its own gear unit with a variable transmission ratio, wherein the individual conveying speed can advantageously be influenced via the transmission ratio. In this way, in particular, the design and manufacturing costs for a slicer of the generic type can be considerably reduced, since in practice it is simpler and cheaper to provide several gear units instead of a plurality of independent drives.

Of particular advantage is the ability to form the gear units relatively simple and in particular with relatively low transmission range. In fact, according to the invention, it has been recognized that, in the case of cutting devices of the generic type, in practice mostly products that are generally identical with respect to their external shape are to be cut open, which only vary in their cross section to a relatively small extent. Thus, to produce either individual slices of product or portions of product slices of equal weight, the products can be conveyed at substantially the same rate with only relatively minor adjustments to the exact one Compliance with the given disc or portion weight are required. These adjustments are not only relatively small for each product itself, but are also of the same order of magnitude for all the products to be sliced simultaneously. This circumstance exploits the invention.

The transmission unit can be connected according to an embodiment between the common drive and the associated conveyor so as to allow an individually adjustable single conveying speed for each conveyor at a jointly provided for all conveyors drive. The gear unit forms in this embodiment, a separate component from the common drive and the corresponding conveyor.

According to an alternative embodiment, the gear unit is integrated in the conveyor. This means that the gear unit is not a separate component, but forms part of the conveyor itself. In such a configuration, an additional component is not required.

Preferably, the transmission ratios of the gear units are each continuously variable to ensure an exact adaptation of the respective individual conveying speed to the current conditions or respective requirements.

According to a further embodiment, the gear units each have a primary shaft driven by the common drive, a secondary shaft through which the conveyor is drivable, and a transmission for transmitting rotary motion from the primary shaft to the secondary shaft according to a variable gear ratio. ever After application, a single primary shaft common to all gear units may be provided, or a separate primary shaft may be provided as the input shaft for each gear unit, with the common drive being drivingly coupled to each of the individual primary shafts. The secondary shafts as output elements of the gear units ultimately transmit the drive torque provided by the drive to the conveyors. Gearboxes with variable, in particular continuously variable, transmission ratio are known, for example, in the prior art in various designs.

Preferably, each gear unit is associated with an adjusting device, which is designed to change the transmission ratio of the transmission and thus the individual conveying speed of the conveyor individually. The adjustment devices for the transmission units can be designed in different ways depending on the transmission type. Due to the adjustment devices, it is possible to control the individual conveying speed of each conveyor within the range of the translation. Apart from the individual change of the individual conveying speeds, a common change of all individual conveying speeds can be brought about by a control of the common drive.

According to one embodiment, the transmission ratio of the transmission unit during the slicing operation with the conveyor running is variable for each conveyor. The adjustment of the single conveying speed can thus be done "on-line" so to speak, without a delay or interruption of the continuous cutting operation would be necessary. In particular, products with a longitudinally variable cross-sectional shape can thus be cut while maintaining a uniform slice or portion weight, which requires constant adjustment of the single conveying speed during slicing.

According to one embodiment of the invention, each gear unit comprises a belt with two runs extending between a primary shaft and a secondary shaft. For each gear unit, the running diameter of the primary shaft and / or the secondary shaft in the region of the belt may be individually variable, so as to change the rotational speed of the secondary shaft in relation to the rotational speed of the primary shaft.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the running lengths of the belt in the two Trumen be changed while maintaining the total running length for each gear unit. By such a targeted change in the run lengths of the belt in the Trumen while maintaining the total run length, so for example by a run length magnification in the upper strand with a corresponding reduction in Lauflängeverringerung in Untertrum, despite constant rotational speed of the primary shaft, the speed of the secondary shaft can be varied temporarily. Characterized in that the rotational speed of the secondary shaft is variable, the individual conveying speed can be changed individually for each conveyor while keeping constant the speed of the primary shaft. A run length influencing can be accomplished for example by means of a dancer roll arrangement.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the conveyors are each formed as a belt conveyor with an endless belt belt serving as a product support for a product to be sliced. Each belt conveyor may comprise an input pulley, a pulley and an endless belt around the input pulley and the pulley, the input pulley being connected to an output member of the transmission unit rotatably coupled. By changing the rotational speed of the output element of the transmission unit, a change in the web speed of the circulating belt belt of the belt conveyor is effected directly.

Each band belt may be associated with an upper band belt, which is designed to act on the upper side of the product, wherein, in particular, each upper band belt can be driven and synchronized with its band belt serving as a product support. The product is then conveyed jointly by the lower belt and the upper belt, as in the aforementioned prior art. Each upper belt may be drivable and synchronized with its product belt belt. Alternatively, the upper belt strap itself may be formed without drive and only freely running, so that the upper belt unit has a hold-down function, whereby a particularly reliable product positioning, -halterung or -führung is achieved during the slicing. The product to be sliced is so to speak clamped between two circumferential, opposite belt straps and promoted in this way.

On the other hand, the problem is solved by a method having the features of claim 13.

In the method according to the invention, a plurality of products are simultaneously fed to a cutting plane by means of a product feed, which comprises a plurality of conveying devices arranged parallel to one another, in which at least one cutting blade, in particular rotating and / or rotating, moves. The conveyors are driven in common by means of a common drive via a gear unit, which is connected between the common drive and the associated conveyor. For each conveyor is the transmission ratio of the gear unit individually changed as needed to individually adjust the thickness of product slices to be separated for each product.

According to one embodiment, the transmission units each comprise a primary shaft, a transmission and a secondary shaft, wherein each conveyor is driven by the common drive via the associated secondary shaft of the transmission unit.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the transmission ratio of the gear unit is changed depending on the contour of the product for each conveyor, wherein preferably the contour of the product is determined with a device integrated in the detection device.

Fig. 1A

zeigt eine Schneidvorrichtung gemäß einer ersten Ausführungsform der Erfindung in einer Prinzipdarstellung.

Fig. 1B

zeigt ein Beispiel für eine Schneidvorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1A in einer detaillierteren Darstellung.

Fig. 2A

zeigt eine Schneidvorrichtung gemäß einer zweiten Ausführungsform der Erfindung in einer Prinzipdarstellung.

Fig. 2B

zeigt ein Beispiel für eine Schneidvorrichtung gemäß Fig. 2A in einer detaillierteren Darstellung.

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

Fig. 1A

shows a cutting device according to a first embodiment of the invention in a schematic representation.

Fig. 1B

shows an example of a cutting device according to Fig. 1A in a more detailed presentation.

Fig. 2A

shows a cutting device according to a second embodiment of the invention in a schematic representation.

Fig. 2B

shows an example of a cutting device according to Fig. 2A in a more detailed presentation.

In Fig. 1A and 1B a cutting device according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown. The cutting device comprises a product feeder 11 with a plurality of conveyor devices 13 arranged next to one another and oriented parallel to one another, only one of which is shown in the figures. The conveyors 13 are each formed as a belt conveyor with an input roller 20, a roller 22 and an endless belt 60 serving as a product support for a product 17 to be sliced. For example, the endless belt 60 may be a flat timing belt. The rollers 22 are arranged near a cutting plane S.

By driving the input rollers 20, the products 17 resting on the belt conveyors 13 are fed simultaneously and parallel to one another along a product conveying direction F of the cutting plane S.

In the cutting plane S, a cutting blade 23 rotates planetary, wherein alternatively, a non-planetary rotating, but only rotating cutting blade, in particular a sickle knife, can be used. The cutting blade 23 cuts through all delivered products 17 at a constant cutting frequency, so that the product slices separated from the products 17 are the thicker the greater the individual conveying speed of the respective belt conveyor 13 is at the moment.

A common drive 24 is provided for all belt conveyors 13, eg an electric motor with associated output shaft, which provides a drive torque for each of the belt conveyors 13. Furthermore, in each case between the drive 24 and the associated belt conveyor 13, a transmission unit 14 is shown only schematically shown. The transmission unit 14 has a continuously variable transmission ratio and is therefore able to adjust the single conveying speed of each belt conveyor 13.

With reference to Fig. 1B An embodiment of the transmission unit 14 will be described in more detail. The gear unit 14 comprises a primary shaft 19, a secondary shaft 21 and a gear 16, by means of which a rotational movement from the primary shaft 19 to the secondary shaft 21 is transferable. The gear unit 14 is designed as a belt drive with a circumferential around the primary shaft 19 and the secondary shaft 21 belt 15. Each belt drive 14 has an upper run 30 and a lower run 32, which respectively extend between the primary shaft 19 and the secondary shaft 21. The belt drives 14 are driven by the primary shaft 19, which is common to all belt drives 14 and which with the in Fig. 1B not shown drive 24 is drivingly coupled. Alternatively, each belt conveyor 13 may have a separate primary shaft 19, which - possibly via further transmission elements - is drivingly coupled to the common drive 24. The secondary shaft 21 is in turn drivingly connected to the input roller 20 of the associated belt conveyor 13 in connection. Thus, the drive 24 via the belt drive 14 drives each of the belt conveyors 13 at a predetermined rotational speed.

Each belt drive 14 is associated with an adjustment device 25, which comprises a arranged on the upper strand 30 upper deflection device 35 for the belt 15 and a arranged on Untertrum 32 lower deflection device 37 for the belt 15. Each of the deflecting devices 35, 37 comprises a first deflecting roller 40, a dancer roller 42 and a second deflecting roller 44 around which the belt 15 rotates. While the deflection rollers 40, 44 are stationary, the two dancer rollers 42 are mounted on a common support 46, which by means of an adjusting device 48 at right angles to the product conveying direction F relative to the primary shaft 19 is displaceable.

The baffles 35, 37 each define a loop 50, 52 for the belt 15, thereby increasing the overall run length of the belt 15 from a straight-through configuration. With a displacement of the carrier 46 in Fig. 1B upward, the running length of the belt 15 increases in the upper run 30, while the run length of the belt 15 in the lower run 32 is reduced by the same amount. The total running length of the belt 15 remains constant. However, during the upward movement of the carrier 46, the upper loop 50 receives an additional belt portion, so that the belt portion running onto the secondary shaft 21 per unit time is shorter than the belt portion extending from the primary shaft 19. Accordingly, during the upward displacement of the carrier 46, the rotational speed of the secondary shaft 21 and thus also the individual conveying speed of the corresponding belt conveyor 13 decreases. Analogously, an increase in the rotational speed of the secondary shaft 21 and thus the single conveying speed of the belt conveyor 13 during a downward displacement of the carrier results.

The belt drive 14 thus forms a continuously variable intermediate gear between the common drive 24 and the belt conveyor 13. By driving the adjusting devices 48 and a corresponding linear displacement of the carrier 46, the individual conveying speed of each belt conveyor 13 can be either accelerated or decelerated. Since each belt conveyor 13 is assigned its own adjusting device 25, the individual conveying speeds can be varied individually. The variation in the embodiment shown is limited to the period of movement of the carrier 46. For applications that are relevant in practice, such a dynamic adaptation of the individual conveying speeds sufficient to ensure the desired consistency of the slice or portion weight for each of the products 17 to be sliced simultaneously. Instead of a dynamic adjustment but could also be provided for a permanent adjustment. For this purpose, the gear unit 14 may be formed, for example, as a cone-ring gear or V-belt transmission with relatively movable conical disks. Alternatively or additionally, gear offset drives or link chain drives can also be integrated in the gear unit 14.

In the FIGS. 2A and 2B a further embodiment of a cutting device according to the invention is shown. In this embodiment, each gear unit 14 is according to Fig. 2A integrated in the belt conveyor 13. How out Fig. 2B As can be seen, the adjusting device 25 is included with the upper deflecting device 35 and the lower deflecting device 37 directly into the belt conveyor 13, ie the belt 60 runs around the guide rollers 40, 44 and the dancer rollers 42 to. In an upward displacement of the carrier 46 by means of the adjusting device 48, the web speed of the belt strap 60 is reduced, the reduction to the portion of the upper run 30 between the upper deflector 35 and the roller 22 and the portion of the lower run 32 between the roller 22 and the lower Deflection device 37 and limited to the period of upward movement of the carrier 46. In an analogous manner, an increase in the web speed of the belt 60 results during a downward movement of the carrier 46. Since the web speed of the belt 60 ultimately represents the single conveying speed of the belt conveyor 13, the adjusting device 25 forms a continuously variable transmission 16 integrated in the belt conveyor 13.

Due to the fact that according to the invention the individual conveying speeds of the belt conveyors 13 are individually adjustable, the thicknesses of the separated ones can be adjusted Product slices for each belt conveyor 13 are adjusted individually, without therefore a separate drive 24 would be provided for each belt conveyor 13. The cost and the cost of providing the product feeder 11 according to the invention and thus of the entire slicer can thus be reduced. In particular, despite the product cross-sectional areas varying in the product longitudinal direction, a constant slice or portion weight can be ensured for all products 17 fed at the same time.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

11

product feed

13

belt conveyors

14

Gear unit, belt drive

15

belt

16

transmission

17

product

19

primary shaft

20

input roller

21

secondary shaft

22

caster

23

cutting blade

24

drive

25

adjustment

30

obertrum

32

strand

35

upper deflection

37

lower deflection

40

first pulley

42

dancer roll

44

second deflection roller

46

carrier

48

locking device

50

upper loop

52

lower loop

60

lap belt

S

cutting plane

F

Product conveying direction

Claims (15)

1. An apparatus for slicing food products, in particular a high-performance slicer, comprising
   a product feed (11) which comprises a plurality of conveying devices (13) arranged in parallel next to one another which can be driven together in order simultaneously to feed a plurality of products (17), with a respective one of the conveying devices (13) being associated with each of one of said plurality of products, to a cutting plane (S) in which at least one cutting blade (23) moves, in particular in a rotating and/or revolving manner,
   wherein the conveying devices (13) have a common drive (24) characterized in that
   the conveying devices comprise a respective transmission unit (14) whose transmission ratio is variable to individually vary the individual conveying speed of the conveying devices (13).
2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1,
   characterized in that
   the transmission unit (14) is connected between the common drive (24) and the associated conveying device (13).
3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 or 2,
   characterized in that
   the transmission unit (14) is integrated into the conveying device (13).
4. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   the transmission ratios of the transmission units (14) are in each case steplessly variable.
5. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   the transmission units (14) each have a primary shaft (19) drivable by the common drive (24), a secondary shaft (21) by which the conveying device (13) is drivable and a transmission (16) for transmitting a rotary movement from the primary shaft (19) to the secondary shaft (21) in accordance with a variable transmission ratio.
6. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   an adjustment apparatus (25) is associated with each transmission unit (14) and is designed to individually vary the transmission ratio of the transmission (16) and thus the individual conveying speed of the conveying devices (13).
7. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   the transmission ratio of the transmission unit (14) is variable for each conveying device (13) during the slicing operation with a running conveying device (13).
8. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that
   each transmission unit (14) comprises a belt (15) having two runs (30, 32) extending between a primary shaft (19) and a secondary shaft (21).
9. An apparatus in accordance with claim 8,
   characterized in that
   the barrel diameter of the primary shaft (19) and/or of the secondary shaft (21) is individually variable for each transmission unit (14) in the region of the belt (15).
10. An apparatus in accordance with claim 8 or claim 9,
    characterized in that
    the barrel lengths of the belt (15) in the two runs (30, 32) are variable for each transmission unit (14) while maintaining the total barrel length.
11. An apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims,
    characterized in that
    the conveying devices (13) are each designed as belt conveyors having a continuous belt band (60) serving as a product support for a product (17) to be sliced.
12. An apparatus in accordance with claim 11,
    characterized in that
    an upper belt band which is designed to act on the upper side of the product (17) is associated with each belt band (60), with in particular each upper belt band being able to be driven and synchronized with its belt band (60) serving as a product support.
13. A method for slicing food products, in particular by means of an apparatus in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein

    - a plurality of products (17) are supplied simultaneously by means of a product feed (11), which comprises a plurality of conveying devices (13) arranged next to one another, to a cutting plane (S) in which at least one cutting blade (23) moves, in particular in a rotating and/or revolving manner;

    - the conveying devices (13) are each driven together by means of a common drive (24) via a respective transmission unit (14) which is connected between the common drive (24) and the associated conveying device (13); and

    - the transmission ratio of the transmission unit (14) is individually varied as required for each conveying device (13) to individually set the thickness of product slices to be cut off for each product (17).
14. A method in accordance with claim 13,
    characterized in that
    the transmission units (14) each comprise a primary shaft (19), a transmission (16) and a secondary shaft (21), with each conveying device (13) being driven by the common drive (24) via the associated secondary shaft (21) of the transmission unit (14).
15. A method in accordance with claim 13 or claim 14,
    characterized in that
    the transmission ratio of the transmission unit (14) for each conveying device (13) is varied in dependence on the contour of the product (17), with the contour of the product (17) preferably being determined using a detection device integrated into the apparatus.

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