GB674294A - Improvements relating to confection cutting machines - Google Patents

Abstract

674,294. Cutting confectionery. BAKER PERKINS, Ltd. July 7, 1950 [Aug. 1, 1949], No. 17006/50. Class 87(ii) Several lengths of confectionery on a conveyer belt passing over a vertically adjustable roller 88, Fig. 2, are cut into 'bars by' a vertically reciprocating knife 76. Oppositely rotating rollers 108, 110. Fig. 4, clean the knife. The rollers are swung laterally to cause the knife to move with the conveyer. Material cleaned from the knife is removed from the rollers by textile scrapers 162, 164, from which it passes to longitudinally removable trays 168, 170. The knife is supported on four rods 68, 70 slidably carried in bosses 64, 66 which are freely mounted on a driven shaft 30. The knife is normally held above the conveyer by springs 78 and is moved downwardly by cams 80 keyed on the shaft 30. The shaft 30 is driven in timed relation with the conveyer. The knife is vertically adjusted by set screws 78a. Springs 134 force the roller 108 against the knife. In a modification, see Fig. 13, (not shown), 184 each roller is spring-pressed against the knife. The rollers are supported in plates 100, 102 mounted to swing about a shaft 24. To move the rollers, and thus the knife, laterally with and at the same speed as the conveyer, the plates 100, 102 are swung about the shaft 24 by cams 112, 114, Fig. 2, keyed to the shaft 50 and connected to the plates. The rollers are driven from the :shaft 30 by chains 144, 154. To facilitate cleaning, the whole of the cutting mechanism may be .swung upwardly, by rotating the shaft 34 by means of a handwheel 192. When the mechanism is in the raised position the driven gear 40 of the shaft 30 is automatically disengaged from the driving gear. In order to lock the mechanism in its lowered operative position, a rod 194 is moved by a handle 212 to cause pins 200, 202 on the rod to fasten the plates 36, 38, carrying theshaft 30, to the frame 20, 22 of the machine. The locking rod is held in either its advanced or retarded position by spring-pressed balls, Fig 12, (not shown). 'To prevent material from baking on the knife due to heat generated by friction, the rollers are lubricated by oil or water which flows from a tank 174, Fig. 4, through several drip pipes 182 on to the rollers. In a modification, see Figs. 14 to 19, (not shown), the knife 264, Fig. 17, is mounted on a frame 262 depending from a crosshead 256 supported above the conveyer belt 234 by a frame 240. The knife is reciprocated vertically by eccentrics which are connected to the crosshead 256 by connecting rods 274 and arms 272. The knife is moved laterally, by reciprocating the frame 240 by means of the eccentrics, see Fig. 14 (not shown). The distance the knife moves laterally, and thus the length of the bar cut, is controlled by an adjustable connection in the drive between the eccentrics and the frame 240. Spring-urged - cleaning rollers 298, 300 are carried in brackets 302 pivotally fastened to frame members 252, 254. The rollers are driven by chains 310, 324, which are maintained taut during reciprocation of the knife by spring-urged rollers 338. Material is removed from the rollers by scrapers and collected in pans, Figs. 18 and 19, (not shown).