GB1365223A - Dispensing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1365223 Cheese-cutters KRAFTCO CORP 24 May 1972 [28 June 1971] 24486/72 Heading A4C [Also in Division B8] Slices of cheese are dispensed from respective upstream and downstream cheese slicing machines (13), (11), Fig.1 (not shown) on to a conveyer belt 15, the output of the machines being controlled so that an unbroken sequence of slices is fed to a wrapping maching (21) despite alternate stoppage of the machines for the purpose of reloading each machine with cheese block 23 to be sliced. Cheese block feeding mechanism. In each machine the cheese block 23 is supported on a rollerway 25. It is positioned laterally against a side plate 51 by an opposite clamping side plate 53 normally urged into engagement with the side of the block 23 by the action of a cylinder 85 Fig.3. The leading end of the block is held down by a bar 35 loaded by a spring 37 (shown in diagrammatic "exploded" relation, but in normal position in dot-dash lines, in Fig.3). The trailing face 39 of the block is engaged by a suction head 41 carried by a feed carriage 55. The latter is slidable on support rods 59, 59 (one only, visible in Fig.2), under the action of a feed screw (not shown) driven by a motor 61. A safety stop 29, has to be retractable, by a cylinder 89 before the leading end of the block 23 can be engaged by the cutter 31. When the latter has cut down to a predetermined distance from the trailing end of the block, split halves of a nut engaging the feed screw are separated, and the carriage 55 is retracted by the action of a counterweight 62. Reject slice assembly. The first three slices cut from the block 23 have to be rejected because of their uneven shape resulting from the rounded corners of the block. This is effected by a mechanism 115 Figs.2 and 4 a tray 117 of which is projected by a cylinder 147 to catch the first three slices. The tray 117 is then retracted to a broken line sloping position Fig.4, which allows the reject slices to fall into a bin (not shown) and leaves a space free for subsequent slices to fall on to the conveyer 15. The slicing mechanism. This comprises a rotary blade 31 which has a rotation about its own axis produced by a motor 107, and an orbital rotation produced by a motor 107. Sequence control of the two machines. The motors and cylinders described above, of the two machines, are controlled by a logic circuit (163) Fig.5 (not shown) forming part of a sequence control 17 Fig.7. The latter includes a resettable counter 157 which counts the available spaces (a series of these A-K are shown in dot-dash lines in Fig.7) as they pass a sensor 19. The sensor is activated by the passage past it, of slice-separating flights 20 most clearly seen in Fig.1 (not shown). Operation. A sequence start switch commences normal operation (after the machines have been loaded, with cheese blocks 23, clamps 43 and 53 have been applied, and vacuum has been switched on) and starts the feed of the downstream machine. After three slices are fed to waste, further slices are fed in sequence to the belt 15 until a proximity limit switch 67 senses the approach of the rounded 'heel' end of the block 23. The upstream feed is then started, but the downstream machine continues running so as to allow for the three wasted first slices of the upstream machine, and the need to fill the seven vacant positions C-I Fig.7 between the outputs of the two machines. Similarly, when the heel of the block 23 of the upstream machine is sensed, start of the downstream machine is deferred until the last slice delivered by the upstream machine reaches space K. Each machine has a timer (87) (87a) which delays the lowering of the safety stop 29 until the heel of the block 23 has had time to be removed from the path of the blade 31.