GB2091144A

GB2091144A - A blade grinder

Info

Publication number: GB2091144A
Application number: GB8101421A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Danepak Ltd
Current assignee: Danepak Ltd
Priority date: 1981-01-16
Filing date: 1981-01-16
Publication date: 1982-07-28

Abstract

Slicing machines particularly for foodstuffs have a rotating blade 1 and in order to keep the cutting edge of said blade sharp without removing the blade from the machine an elongated frame 4 is provided with a nut at one end for securing the frame to means associated with the central axis for rotating the blade and with means 6,..9 at the other end of said frame for securing the frame to a housing member 2 for the blade. A slide 10 is mounted on the frame and carries rotatable means 15 for grinding of the blade edge. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A blade grinder This invention is for apparatus for the grinding of the cutting blade of a slicing machine.

The machines to which the apparatus of the present invention is particularly concerned are slicing machines which comprise a frame and a rotating cutting blade. The cutting blade has a peripheral cutting edge which is in spiral form with a segmental gap. The blade continuously rotates and the article, particularly foodstuff to be sliced is continuously advanced to the cutting edge. When the foodstuff enters the gap in the cutting edge of the blade the slice is started to be cut and further advancement of the foodstuff results in it being cut as the blade is rotated.

It will be appreciated that the sharpening of such cutting edges is complicated in that the edges does not describe a circle being in the form of a spiral, that the blades are relatively heavy and that constantly to be removing such blades from a machine and applying them to preformed grinding machines for grinding the edge blade would involve a substantial down time of the machine.

It is desirable therefore to provide means for sharpening the blade edges in situ without having to remove the blade member from the machine.

Accordingly, the present invention provides apparatus for grinding the cutting blade of a rotating slicing machine supported in a frame housing, characterised by the provision of an elongated frame, a slide movable along said frame, a nut rotatably mounted in said frame adjacent one end thereof for engaging temporarily to secure the frame to the axis of rotation of said cutting blade to be ground, means adjacent the other end of said frame for securing said frame to a housing member for the blade and means for rotating a grinding wheel mounted on said slide.

With the present invention the elongated frame is secured at one end to the axis about which the blade is rotated and a handle is secured to the nut which enables the blade to be rotated and carefully adjusted in any position by said handle. On the slide which moves relative to the frame is a bearing for a shaft. At one end of the shaft is a grinding wheel so that by rotation of the shaft with suitable means at the other end the grinding wheel may be applied to the edge of the blade to grind it to the desired edge or form thereof.

The bearing is adapted to move axially so as to adjust the extent of the grinding wheel in contact with the blade and a hand power tool may be provided for engagement with the shaft to provide rotation of the grinding wheel.

The slide may be adjusted in any position along the length of the said frame so that the grinding wheel may be accurately positioned relative to any part of the blade.

In order that the invention may be better understood reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a general schematic view of a cutting blade of a slicing machine having apparatus for the grinding of said blade attached thereto; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed view of the grinding wheel and its housing; and Figure 4 is a part-sectional view of a nut for securing to the blade to be ground.

Figure 1 illustrates a slicing machine of the kind for which the apparatus of this invention is concerned.

The machine comprises a table 30 mounting a motor 37 driving a shaft 33 through gearing in a housing 32. Shaft 33 rotates a cutting blade 1 having a segmented gap 36. The blade is mounted at the end of the shaft 33 which extends through a backing plate 2. A foodstuff such as a side of bacon 34 is advanced by a ram 35 to the blade 1 where it is sliced and deposited as a shingle on to a take away conveyor 31 for weighing and packing. A blade grinder comprises an elongated frame 4 secured at one end by a nut 26 to the axis of rotation of the blade 1 (Figure 2). The nut 6 has a handle 16 as hereinafter described in more detail with reference to Figure 4.At the other end of the frame 4 is a spring plate 6 which carries a bolt 7 in a slide and at the end of the bolt 7 is a bifurcated member 8 having screws 9 for engagement of the member 8 with the backing plate 2 and by operation of the screws 9 the member 8 and hence the spring 6 may be secured relative to the backing plate 2 and thus the frame 4 is secured relative to the cutting blade 1.

The elongate frame 4 carries a slide 10 which has rotatable wheels 11 for engagement with a vertical surface 5 and to move over the horizontal surface 12 of frame 4 to form a slide engaging track.

The slide 10 has a housing 14 pivotally mounted therein. The housing 14 includes a bearing 21 for a rotatable shaft 19 at the one end of which is mounted a grinding wheel 15. The bearing 21 may be adjusted axially relative to the housing 14 by release of the cranked screw 18 which extends through the housing and contacts the ribbed outer surface of the bearing. Thus the housing may pivot relative to slide 10 about an axis normal to the axis of shaft 19. The bearing may be moved in the axial direction of shaft 19 relative to housing 14 and the slide is able to move along the length of frame 4.

A hand power tool 13 may be applied to the shaft 19 to provide rotation of the grinding wheel 15.

The nut 26 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 25 formed adjacent to the end of the elongated frame 4.

The nut 26 has external screw threads 24 for engagement with internal screw threads 23 formed on an axial member 22 which is coaxial with the shaft 33. A boss 3 holds the cutting blade 1 onto said shaft 33. A handle 16 includes a stub shaft 28 and extends along the central axis of the nut 26 and is secured thereto by a pair of screw threaded nuts 29a and 29b, thus securing the handle 16 to the nut 26.

In use the protective and safety housing for the cutting blade is removed so as to expose the cutting blade in the manner similar to that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The nut 26 is then screwed on to the interior screw threads 23 of the axial member 22 and the bifurcated member 8 secured to the backing plate 2 to locate the elongated frame in a substantially horizontal position as seen in Figures 1 and 2.

The axial extension of the grinding wheel 15 is then adjusted by movement of the screw 18 and at the same time the slide 10 is moved along the tracks formed by the vertical portion 5 and the horizontal part 12 of the elongated frame 4 until the cutting blade is correctly positioned adjacent to the cutting edge of the blade 1. A power tool then is secured to the shaft 19 is switched on so that the grinding wheel rotates to grind the edge of the cutting blade 1 as desired.

As the grinding continues, the handle 16 is rotated, thus rotating and presenting to the grinding wheel different portions of the cutting edge of the blade 1 and the slide 10 may be moved along the elongated frame in order to grind the correct profile on to the cutting blade 1. Thus the necessary movements for obtaining correct grinding of the cutting edge of the blade 1 are provided by the axial movement of the grinding wheel 15 (adjusted by the screw 18) the sliding movement of the slide 10 relative to the elongate frame 4, and the pivotal movement of the housing 14 relative to slide 10 to vary the angle at which the cutting blade 1 is ground.

It is thought that the present invention provides relatively simple apparatus which enables the cutting edge of a cutting blade of a rotary slicing machine to be accurately ground.

Claims

1. Apparatus for grinding the cutting blade of a rotating slicing machine supported in a frame housing characterised bythe provision of an elongated frame, a slide movable along said frame, a nut rotatably mounted in said frame adjacent one end thereof for engaging temporarily to secure the frame to the axis of rotation of said cutting blade to be ground, means adjacent the other end of said frame for securing said frame to a housing member for the blade and means for rotating a grinding wheel mounted on said slide.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 in which said nut may be rotated by a handle which enables the blade to be ground to be rotated.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterised by the provision that the means for rotating the grinding wheel on said blade include a shaft rotatable about a housing secured to said slide and means for securing at one end of said shaft said grinding wheel and at the other end means for rotating said shaft.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3 characterised by the provision of means for axially moving said shaft relative to said slide to move the grinding wheel towards and away from said blade.

5. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims in which said slide is adapted to move along said elongated frame.

6. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims characterised by the provision of means for securing said frame to the housing member includes a member having a slot which engages in a backing plate of said housing member.

7. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims in which the rotatable nut is provided with external screw threads for engagement with internal screw threads formed on a nut coaxial with the axis of the blade to be ground.