GB364879A - Improved packing and slicing machine for comestibles - Google Patents

Abstract

364,879. Cutting fish &c. ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES CO., 111, John Street, New York, U.S.A.-(Assignees of Taylor, H. F. ; 111, John Street, New York, U.S.A.) Jan. 31, 1931, No. 3150. Convention date, Feb. 1, 1930. [Class 5 (i).] A machine for producing steaks from fish fillets or other soft comestibles comprises a number of screws 16 arranged circularly, Fig. 7, to form a trough-like space 20 into which the fish pieces are placed, the screws acting to compact the mass and feed it through an aperture 25 where it is wrapped spirally by a ribbon supplied from a reel 72 which is rotated planetarily around the issuing mass. The wrapped mass is then moved by an endless conveyer 96 towards a rotary knife 118 having a cutting edge in the form of a helical spiral, the knife cutting the mass into steaks. The screws 16 are interconnected by gear wheels so that they rotate alternately in opposite directions necessitating alternate screws being of opposite pitch. The threads are rounded at the tops and bottoms and the spaces between them are filled by strips 26. The conveyer 96 is tensioned by a screw-adjusted roller 103, and is driven by bevel gearing 110, 111 from the shaft 43. The knife is driven by bevel gearing 137, 134 from the same shaft, the gearing, shafting and supporting brackets being adjustable to permit the necessary repositioning of the knife when the effective diameter of the knife becomes smaller owing to grinding. The knife 118 is sprung into position on a helical support 115 and is secured thereto by screws. The wrapped mass is guided towards the knife by side strips 113 and is supported at the cutting position by a troughlike member having a groove which receives the knife edge at its largest diameter. To prevent lubricants from contaminating the food, bearing surfaces may be of lignum vitµ or other material not requiring lubricant.