GB2194431A - Halving apparatus and process - Google Patents
Halving apparatus and process Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2194431A GB2194431A GB08715326A GB8715326A GB2194431A GB 2194431 A GB2194431 A GB 2194431A GB 08715326 A GB08715326 A GB 08715326A GB 8715326 A GB8715326 A GB 8715326A GB 2194431 A GB2194431 A GB 2194431A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- feed
- belts
- cutting
- cutting blades
- blades
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
- A23N—MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR TREATING HARVESTED FRUIT, VEGETABLES OR FLOWER BULBS IN BULK, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PEELING VEGETABLES OR FRUIT IN BULK; APPARATUS FOR PREPARING ANIMAL FEEDING- STUFFS
- A23N15/00—Machines or apparatus for other treatment of fruits or vegetables for human purposes; Machines or apparatus for topping or skinning flower bulbs
- A23N15/08—Devices for topping or skinning onions or flower bulbs
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
- B26D—CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING
- B26D1/00—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor
- B26D1/01—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work
- B26D1/12—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work having a cutting member moving about an axis
- B26D1/14—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work having a cutting member moving about an axis with a circular cutting member, e.g. disc cutter
- B26D1/24—Cutting through work characterised by the nature or movement of the cutting member or particular materials not otherwise provided for; Apparatus or machines therefor; Cutting members therefor involving a cutting member which does not travel with the work having a cutting member moving about an axis with a circular cutting member, e.g. disc cutter coacting with another disc cutter
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
- B26D—CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING
- B26D3/00—Cutting work characterised by the nature of the cut made; Apparatus therefor
- B26D3/30—Halving devices, e.g. for halving buns
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
- B26D—CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING
- B26D7/00—Details of apparatus for cutting, cutting-out, stamping-out, punching, perforating, or severing by means other than cutting
- B26D7/01—Means for holding or positioning work
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
- B26D—CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING
- B26D7/00—Details of apparatus for cutting, cutting-out, stamping-out, punching, perforating, or severing by means other than cutting
- B26D7/06—Arrangements for feeding or delivering work of other than sheet, web, or filamentary form
- B26D7/0625—Arrangements for feeding or delivering work of other than sheet, web, or filamentary form by endless conveyors, e.g. belts
Landscapes
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Forests & Forestry (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Food Science & Technology (AREA)
- Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
- Apparatuses For Bulk Treatment Of Fruits And Vegetables And Apparatuses For Preparing Feeds (AREA)
Abstract
An apparatus for aligning objects and for then cutting them into two segments comprises: two laterally spaced feed conveyor belts 23 mounted so as to be capable of feeding objects 28a placed thereon into the vicinity of a pair of cutting blades 22, two guide belts 26 mounted above the feed belts and capable of motion in the same general direction as the feed belts, the two cutting blades each being mounted for rotation in a vertical plane between the feed and guide belts, the arrangement of feed and guide belts in the vicinity of the cutting blades being substantially symmetrical about a vertical plane passing midway between the feed belts, and the cutting blades being mounted so as to exercise their cutting action during the operation of the apparatus substantially in the said vertical plane of symmetry. The apparatus may be used to halve plant bulbs before they are fed to a bulb segmenting machines. <IMAGE>
Description
SPECIFICATION
Halving apparatus and process
The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting objects, especially plant bulbs substantially into halves and to a process using the apparatus.
There are at present various machines capable of cutting objects such as food and plant tissue into two or more segments eg for the purposes of propagation. It is however a pre-requisite of some of these for example the machine described in UKPA 8611791 that if plant bulbs are being segmented then they must be cut as to include one and preferable two specific portions of the plant bulb.
It is vital to the propagative capabilities of individual bulb segments no matter what their size that each segment should contain a region from the base or stem of the bulb from which region the new (adventitious) bulbs grow. As a matter of efficiency, so as to produce as many segments from one plant bulb as possible it is also preferable that a cutting axis also runs through or substantially close to the apex of the bulb to be segmented so that the segments produced are of equal or substantially equal size.
Some bulb-segmenting machines, eg that described in UKPA 8611791 are fed by bulbs which have been previously halved or substantially halved, ie cut into two segments with a cut passing as close as possible along the axis referred to above.
To achieve cutting of bulbs etc into two equal or substantially equal halves, with a cut passing through an axis as described above, it is necessary to align the bulbs etc prior to halving. Some such aligning and/or centering devices are known, eg as described in UKPA 2010077A which uses a number of radially arranged feed belts to centre approximately cylindrical food articles prior to cutting into a number of segments. A centering device of this type would probably not be suitable for objects the shape of plant bulbs.
Consequently there is a requirement for an apparatus which is capable of cutting objects such as plant bulbs and plant tissues of a similar shape substantially into halves in a fast and efficient manner.
According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for aligning objects and for then cutting them into two segments which comprises:
two feed conveyer belts mounted so as to
be capable of feeding objects placed ther
eon into the vicinity of a pair of cutting
blades,
two guide belts mounted above the feed
belts and capable of motion in the same
general direction as the feed belts,
the two cutting blades each being mounted
for rotation in a vertical plane between the
feed and guide belts,
the arrangement of feed and guide belts in
the vicinity of the cutting blades being sub
stantially symmetrical about a vertical plane
passing midway between the feed belts,
and the cutting blades being mounted so as
to exercise their cutting action during the
operation of the apparatus substantially in
the said vertical plane of symmetry.
The feed and guide belts are preferably made of a soft but resilient material with a high coefficient of friction such as rubber or plastics, and are preferably circular in cross section. Objects are carried thereon by resting the object on both belts with the central portion of the object fitting into the space between the belts, but without any possibility of the object falling through the gap between them.
The feed belts preferably run on guides, such as rails or pulley wheels, over substantially the whole length over which they carry the objects, to prevent excessive lateral movement of the objects.
The guide belts may be present for the whole length of the feed belts over which the latter carry the objects or alternatively over only the length close to the cutting blades.
They should at least be present in the immediate vicinity of the blades so as to align the objects whilst they are being cut. Although resilient there is less necessity for guides, but the degree of resilience should be such that there is as little likelihood as possible of the objects losing their alignment during cutting.
The guide belts are preferably angled downward toward the cutting blades so that they gradually engage with the objects to be aligned and cut as the objects move along the feed belts. Their horizontal spacing is determined by the shape and size of the objects to be cut, and may conviently be the same as that of the feed belts. Their vertical spacing from the feed belt is similarly determined by the shape and size of the objects to be cut.
At least the feed belts must be driven, and the guide belts may be freely rotating or preferably are also driven. The direction of the drive guide belts in this latter case must of course be such as to convey the objects in the same direction as the feed belts.
The two cutting blades are preferably circular discs with circumferential cutting edges.
They preferably rotate in opposite directions to each other and in directions which cause objects on the feed belts to be drawn into their cutting field. They are preferably made of metal eg steel.
The blades are mounted so as to exercise their cutting action substantially in a vertical plane. The blades are therefore mounted on either side of the vertical plane of symmetry with their cutting edges overlapping in the horizontal plane and as close together as possible without contact. The overlap may be up
to one-third of the disc diameter and if the
thickness of the discs decreases in the radial
direction they may be mounted coplanar whilst
maintaining overlap.
It is also preferred that one of the cutting
blades makes contact with the object to be
cut before the other, so that the object to be
cut is drawin into the cutting field of the
blades.
The contrarotating and overlapping discs
give a better cutting and shearing action than
unidirectional edge to edge blades and this
means throughput of materials can be fast and
the halved materials have cleanly cut edges.
The contrarotating and overlapping blades can
as a result of the improved shearing action
over the conventional unidirectional edge to
edge blade and other systems be operated at
lower speeds for the same diameter of disc if
this is necessary.
The dimensions and operating speed of
such an apparatus will depend upon the
shape, size and nature of the objects to be
cut, in a preferred form of the apparatus the
spacings of the feed and guide belts may be
made variable, by for example lockable bosses
on drive wheels or pulley wheels over which
the feed and guide belts travel, and by similar
bosses on the cutting blades. Cutting blades about 180mm in diameter have been found
suitable for cutting most plant bulbs, with a
rotation speed of around 600 rpm providing a
suitable velocity of the cutting edges, which
speed is of course related to the blade dia
meter. An edge overlap of about 2mm on
such blades has been found suitable.
In use, objects such as plant bulbs to be
cut about a pre-defined plane are placed onto
the moving feed belts so that the plane
passes between the feed belts and between
the guide belts or between the projection of
the line of the guide belts. As the objects
travel along the feed belts they come into
contact with the guide belts, which girdle
them into a position such that the plane is
vertical or substantially vertical and if the
guide belts are angled downward they gradu
ally grip the objects at the same time so as to
hold them firmly in alignment as they reach
the vertically mounted cutting blades.
It will be appreciated from the use of resili
ent materials for the belts, and from the often
irregular shape of eg plant bulbs that the pro
cess of halving achieved by the apparatus will
not be geometrically precise, hence the term
"substantially" has been used with reference
to directions etc. The degree of accuracy
achieved is however entirely satisfactory for
cutting bulbs and for use of the apparatus as
a feeder for the halved bulbs used in the seg
menting apparatus described in UKPA
8611791.
Various additional refinements may be pre
sent on an apparatus according to the inven
tion. For example a plate, with a slot through which the lower cutting blade passes may be
mounted below the feed belts to prevent cut
objects from falling away. In some cases the
resilient nature of the belts may prevent the cut objects from separating into segments, so a deflector, eg prongs may be used to force them apart. If the gap between the feed belts widens after the cutting blades, then these separated segments may then be caused to fall through the bottom of the machine into a suitable collector.
The apparatus of the invention may be used for cutting a wide range of plant bulbs, and is particularly suitable for cutting the bulbs, corms rhizomes and stem tubers as appropriate of plants such as Daffodils, Narcissi, Iris,
Crocus, Snowdrop, Bluebells and Lily of the
Valley etc.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided a process for cutting objects using an apparatus as described herein.
The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows a cross section of a typical plant bulb
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cutting apparatus and belt system
Figure 3 is a sectional view throng A-A of the apparatus of Fig. 2.
Referring to Fig. 1 a typical plant bulb consists of condensed shoots and leaves (not shown) one or more lateral buds (11) and a very short stem (12) at the base of the bulb.
Shown is a possible cutting axis which runs through the stem (12) or base of the bulb and through the bulb apex (13) which is preferable.
Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 these show generally an apparatus for halving bulbs.
Two disc-shaped steel blades (21) with circumferential cutting edges (22) are mounted on axles (not shown) for drive by an electric motor (not shown) and gearing arrangement (not shown). The blades (21) are positioned substantially in a vertical plane with their cutting edges (22) overlapping and ail but in contact.
The blades (21) are mounted with their plane midway between a pair of feed belts (23), mounted horizontally and capable of being driven by an electric motor (not shown) acting through pulleys (24). Along their upper run (23A) the feed belts (23) run through guides (25) (omitted from Fig. 2 for clarity).
Above the feed belts (23) are mounted guide belts (26) driven by an electric motor (not shown) acting through pulleys (27). The guide belts (26) slope downwards towards the cutting blades (21). The guide belts (26) extend for only a portion of the upper run (23A) of the feed belts.
A bulb (28) has been placed on the upper run of the feed belts (23A) with the plane (14) passing between the feed belts (23A) and the guide belts (26). When the bulb (28) reaches the position (28A) the lower run (26A) of the guide belts engage with the bulb (28A) guide it into a position in which the plane (14) of the bulb is substantially coplanar with the plane of the blades (21), and hold it in that position until it engages with the blades (21) and is cut into two segments of substantially equal size (not shown).
These segments are prevented from falling away by means of a plate (29) mounted be iow the upper run (23A) of the guide belts, in which there is a slot (210) through which passes the blade (21). These two segments are then separated by deflector prongs (not shown) and collected.
Claims (18)
1. An apparatus for aligning objects and for then cutting them into two segments which comprises:
two feed conveyer belts mounted so as to
be capable of feeding objects placed ther
eon into the vicinity of a pair of cutting
blades,
two guide belts mounted above the feed
belts and capable of motion in the same
general direction as the feed belts, the two
cutting blades each being mounted for rota
tion in a vertical plane between the feed
and guide belts, the arrangement of feed
and guide belts in the vicinity of the cutting
blades substantially symmetrical about a
vertical plane passing midway between the
feed belts, and the cutting blades being
mounted so as to exercise their cutting ac
tion during the operation of the apparatus
substantially in the said vertical plane of
symmetry.
2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the feed and guide belts are made of a soft but resiliant material with a high coefficient of friction.
3. An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein either or both of the feed and guide belts are circular in cross section.
4. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the feed belts run on guides.
5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the guides are rails or pulley wheels.
6. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the feed belts diverge from one another past the cutting blades so that cut objects fall between the feed belts.
7. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the guide belts are angled downwards towards the cutting blades
8. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the feed and/or guide belts are driven.
9. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the spacing of the feed and guide belts is variable.
10. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the two cutting blades are circular discs with circumferential cutting edges.
11. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the discs rotate in opposite directions to each other.
12. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the blades are made of metal.
13. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the blades exercise their cutting action substantially in a vertical plane.
14. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein one of the cutting blades makes contact with the object to be cut before the other.
15. An apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 14 wherein the cutting blades have a diameter of about 180 mm.
16. An apparatus according to anyone of claims 10 to 15 wherein the speed of blade is around 600 revolutions per minute.
17. An apparatus according to any one of claims 10-16 wherein the edges of the blades overlap by about 2 mm.
18. An apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying figures and drawings.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB868616066A GB8616066D0 (en) | 1986-07-01 | 1986-07-01 | Halving apparatus |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
GB8715326D0 GB8715326D0 (en) | 1987-08-05 |
GB2194431A true GB2194431A (en) | 1988-03-09 |
Family
ID=10600387
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB868616066A Pending GB8616066D0 (en) | 1986-07-01 | 1986-07-01 | Halving apparatus |
GB08715326A Withdrawn GB2194431A (en) | 1986-07-01 | 1987-06-30 | Halving apparatus and process |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB868616066A Pending GB8616066D0 (en) | 1986-07-01 | 1986-07-01 | Halving apparatus |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
GB (2) | GB8616066D0 (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO1996008349A1 (en) * | 1994-09-13 | 1996-03-21 | Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. | Device for separating fluid packages |
EP1179290A2 (en) * | 2000-07-26 | 2002-02-13 | Kamal Daas | Device and method for aligning lettuce and vegetable plants, planting device for lettuce and vegetable plants and system and method for harvesting and aligning of lettuce and vegetable plants |
CN103128777A (en) * | 2011-11-22 | 2013-06-05 | 株式会社三川 | Betel nut chopping device |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN108393943B (en) * | 2018-06-07 | 2024-06-07 | 合肥聚马工程技术有限公司 | Slicing machine |
Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2010077A (en) * | 1977-12-15 | 1979-06-27 | Magnuson Eng Inc | Centering device for feeding articles to a food slicer |
GB2013481A (en) * | 1978-02-02 | 1979-08-15 | Backus Sormac | Method and Device for Cutting Elongated, Tapering Agricultural Product |
GB2133277A (en) * | 1982-12-24 | 1984-07-25 | Japan Tobacco & Salt Public | Cutting apparatus |
-
1986
- 1986-07-01 GB GB868616066A patent/GB8616066D0/en active Pending
-
1987
- 1987-06-30 GB GB08715326A patent/GB2194431A/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2010077A (en) * | 1977-12-15 | 1979-06-27 | Magnuson Eng Inc | Centering device for feeding articles to a food slicer |
GB2013481A (en) * | 1978-02-02 | 1979-08-15 | Backus Sormac | Method and Device for Cutting Elongated, Tapering Agricultural Product |
GB2133277A (en) * | 1982-12-24 | 1984-07-25 | Japan Tobacco & Salt Public | Cutting apparatus |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO1996008349A1 (en) * | 1994-09-13 | 1996-03-21 | Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. | Device for separating fluid packages |
EP1179290A2 (en) * | 2000-07-26 | 2002-02-13 | Kamal Daas | Device and method for aligning lettuce and vegetable plants, planting device for lettuce and vegetable plants and system and method for harvesting and aligning of lettuce and vegetable plants |
EP1179290A3 (en) * | 2000-07-26 | 2003-08-27 | Kamal Daas | Device and method for aligning lettuce and vegetable plants, planting device for lettuce and vegetable plants and system and method for harvesting and aligning of lettuce and vegetable plants |
CN103128777A (en) * | 2011-11-22 | 2013-06-05 | 株式会社三川 | Betel nut chopping device |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB8715326D0 (en) | 1987-08-05 |
GB8616066D0 (en) | 1986-08-06 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |