IL124215A - Apparatus for cutting integral pieces of food products in three dimensions, particularly for fruits or vegetables and method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for cutting an integral piece (13) particularly for fruit or vegetable into smaller separate pieces, said apparatus comprising: a first cutting unit (1) capable of preliminary slicing the integral piece into sliced sections, said unit being provided with (a) a transporting means (3) adapted to advance the piece to be cut towards the working area; (b) a feeding means (18) adapted to advance the piece within the working area; (c) a fixation means capable to hold steadily the piece fed into the working area; (d) a first cutting unit provided with a slicing blade, said blade being connectable 659 כ" א באייר התשס" ד - May 12, 2004 to a frame, said blade being slanted with respect to the plane of the working area; (e) a first driving means (21) capable to impart linear motion to said slicing blade so as to approach the integral piece and to slice thereof into sections, said driving means being capable to accelerate the said motion after the integral piece is approached so as to slice effectively from the outside periphery thereof towards the center portion thereof; means for discharging the sliced sections from the working area and for directing them to a second cutting unit (2) capable of cutting the sliced sections into a plurality of smaller pieces, said second cutting unit being provided with a working table (7) adapted to receive the sliced sections discharged from the first cutting unit so as to expose them to a cutting action, said table being rotatable and indexable so as to expose said sections successively to cutting action along at least two non-parallel cutting directions; second driving means capable to rotate said working table and successively to index thereof in positions, enabling cutting action in at least two non- parallel cutting directions; a second cutting unit having a plurality of parallel cutting knives residing within a base frame, said base frame being mounted above the working table with the possibility to approach the sliced sections and to effect the cutting action by the plurality of said knives along a cutting direction; third driving means capable to impart to the base frame linear motion with respect to said table, so as to effect multiple cutting action of said sliced sections produced by the plurality of said knives; and control means for programmed operation of the apparatus. 660 כ" א באייר התשס" ד - May 12, 2004

Description

Ίτητ] JTPJI Π ΓΓΤΪ7 πϋΊϋη ητη τηιιτ] An apparatus for cutting an integral piece of food products in three dimensions , particularly for fruits or vegetables and method using the same. 2 Background of the invention The next generation of food treatment apparatus encompasses high tech utensils in order to facilitate the preparation of food, to save expensive time and extra labour. A desired slice geometry of eggplant, potato, apple or other food products, cutting thereof without comminution, may be obtained by virtue of the present invention. The user of the processing center is required interactively to enter selected mode of cutting and 3 dimensions of the products to be cut. The data is stored in apparatus memory for automatic program execution. The present invention, which intends to overcome traditional methods of preparation associated with food handling and time wasting will result in fast, fresh and tasty food. Fast food, saturated with canned goods, constitutes a significant part of our every day food menu. This type of food has an advantage due to its simple preparation process, which is cheap and time saving. However, esthetic shape and fresh aroma of the food product are missing. The proposed apparatus saves extended preparation time, caused by manual cutting of food products and involving plates, knives, trays and other accessories that will remain nostalgic memories. After the cut process is terminated, pressing of a button will effect liquid or powdered seasoning executed automatically, for example by virtue of a seasoning center as per Israeli patent IL122104.

Significant profit for restaurants can be achieved, where clients can obtain their favourite tasty salad. The variety of products which a restaurant would be able to offer its clients, by virtue of the present invention, will be significantly superior to what is available at present. Sanitary processing of vegetables and fruits will be made possible by the present process, thus avoiding human involvement.

We do not know similar food centers for food preparation.

Of those known in the art, food centers are capable of performing only a minor part of the various activities and operations which are possible with the apparatus of the present invention: • Those known in the art devices usually comprise a cabinet provided with a rotary blade suitable for slicing of 2 or 3 products. The sliced food pieces are obtained without the possibility to predetermine shape and size. Sometimes the cut products are split into unesthetic shapes. At the end of the cutting process, the products have to be removed and placed in a separate container for seasoning and mixing. It is impossible to prepare a fruit salad (due to total squashing of the fruits) or get a potato chips with desired shape and size.

• There are known also manually operated devices for different activities: special slice cutter, potato sheer, etc. Furthermore there is also the electrical food processor or mixer with different attachments enabling convienent mixing.

However, this processor has significant disadvantages in comparison to the proposed invention: 1. The known food processor comprises a working metal disk provided with a groove above its knife. Applying pressure on the food product to be cut against the disk will cause a slice cut depending on the width of the groove. For a longer or narrower width of slice, the user has to open the food processor housing and to replace the working disk. Therefore the cutting possibilities are limited according to the number of available disks.

The size of a slice is also limited by the narrow entry to the cutting device, thus precluding the possibility to slice an entire egg, eggplant, etc. The narrow entry also causes damage to the food product (partial cut), and thus an unesthetic appearance. The above activity encompasses immense additional manual work and environmental disturbances (kitchen utensils and cleaning).

In the known in the art devices there is no possibility to obtain a predetermined length or height of a slice cut, neither the possibility for obtaining potato chips with a predetermined and uniform size. Salad products cut by a known food processor are mainly split in random and non-uniform shapes. The traditional food processor causes comminution of the food products, associated with a total disruption of the normal structure. There is no possibility of a uniform cut. The known food processor can process a product only when it is manually pressed by a plastic pusher against the cutting means. There is no possibility for automatic feeding of various food products within the cutting zone without human intervention.

The traditional food processor cannot be programmed for a plurality of processing activities, either associated with one product or various products. Cutting of cabbage into thin slices needs a dedicated slicing disk which differs from that required for cutting eggplant into slices, thus additional time consuming operation is required for replacing the disk.

Another disadvantage of the known processor is associated with the lack of possibility of connecting a manual food processor to an automatic computerized seasoning center, as per my Israeli patent IL122104. Therefore, additional labour and time is required for adding taste to food. 3 Description of drawings Fig. la shows a general view of the processing center, including its main components. Fig. lb shows a side view of the center shown in fig. la.

Fig.2 shows a schematic top view of the slicing unit including an entry, holding pistons, slice cutter and slice width adjusting means.

Fig.3 shows a top view of the slicing unit residing on a table including the entry conveyor and holding pistons, slice cutter, slice width adjuster and an opening for transferring the cut slice to the next process station.

Fig.4a shows a general view of the slicing unit including all its components.

Fig.4b shows a schematic view of the transferring means of a cut slice, refered to the second cutting unit.

Fig.5 shows an additional general view of the apparatus.

Fig.6 shows an isometric side view of the horizontal and vertical slice cutter when the cutting head is at the end of the cut process.

Fig.7 shows another view of the cutter presented in fig.5.

Fig.8a, 8b show a side view of the slice cutter when the cutting head is lifted from the rotary working table and when it approaches it.

Fig.9a shows an upper view of the rotary working table.

Fig.9b shows a side view of the rotary working table including the table's fixture, different plates and driving motor.

Fig.10 shows an isometrical view of the rotary working table.

Fig.11 shows a side view of horizontal and vertical slice cutter including rotary working table, cutting head and holding fixture.

Fig.12 shows a detailed side view of the cutting head and rotary working table including a means for fixation of the cutting knife during the cutting process.

Fig.13 shows the cutting head attached to a sliding fixture, movable by a motor. Fig.14 shows in detail the cutting head including knives, motor and various adjusting and transmission means.

Fig.15 shows the cutting head when all knives are concatenated at the frame's center, so as to provide for a minimum uniform distance between adjacent knives.

Fig.16 shows a top view of the cutting head when all knives are distributed in a frame for a maximum uniform distance between adjacent knives.

Fig.17 is an enlarged view of detail B shown in fig.16.

Fig.18 shows a detailed view of a knife assembeled on the displacement screws.

Fig.19 is an isometric view of the cutting head including the elastic tabular element. Fig.20 is an additional isometric view of the processing center including horizontal and vertical cutter system.

Fig.21 shows a block diagram of the electric control system.

Fig.22 shows a flow chart describing the 3D cut process.

Fig.23 shows a flow chart describing the user interface facility.

Fig.24 shows a first or second multicutting process.

Fig.25 shows a flow chart describing the slicing of a food product. 4 Detailed description of the preferred embodiments Fig. la shows the 3D food product cutter with all its main components: The slice cutter unit 1 for conveying, holding, cutting and passing a cut food product slice to the horizontal and vertical cutting unit 2.

The slice cutter part 1 consists of an entry product conveyer 3, a slice cutter 4 and a slice width adjuster 5. The user may adjust, as an apriori set of cutting, parameters which are similar or dissimilar to the products to be cut. This option may cause similar cuts for all products without limitation on products quantity at the food center's entry. The present invention is not limited to the food products. The apparatus also can be used for cutting other materials, including super conductive materials or various soft materials.

The horizontal and vertical cutting unit 2 consists of a cutting head, a working rotary table,slice supply means and final slice cut storage means. The sliced product 13 falls through an opening 12 on a shelf for further transfer to the rotary working cutting table 7, where a first horizontal cut is obtained through multicut operation of the cutting head 6, then the rotary working table is rotated 90 degrees for a second multicut of the cutting head, so obtaining a complete 3D product cut.

The cut product's pieces are then transferred to the output container 14, where automatic seasoning may be obtained, for example, by a seasoning center as described in my previous Israeli patent IL122104.

A flow chart diagram for 3D cut is given in fig.22, where slice cut, horizontal cut and vertical cut are described by a block diagram process. With respect to the flow chart of fig.22, a food product conveyed to the entry of the feeder (shown in fig.la,2) is sliced by a cutting blade, after several setup preparations. The slice is then supplied to a working rotary table, where a first multicut is obtained by a cutting head provided with a plurality of knives. Ending the first multicut leads to a new slice cut and to a 90 degree rotation of the working table. A second multicut is then performed. The 3D cut product is removed from the working table into the output container leading to a new cutting cycle. It should be understood that the given flow chart represents a short summary of the 3D process involving various software routines and hardware activity not given in detail in the flow chart of fig.22.

Separate and independent control is provided for 3D cutting mode. The cut parameters are defined by a human operator, based on his knowledge and taste experience. Detailed operating parameters are maintained in a suitable memory means and can be polled by a computing device during operation of the apparatus. The apparatus is incorporated with various sensors, microswitches, or other means, required for use in feedback control process for controlling the apparatus within its functioning. The electrical control is in general presented in a flow chart diagram shown in FIG.21, where the motorized means are close loop controlled for high valued performance and robustness.

With respect to fig. la, the apparatus is equipped with sensors or other measurement .means 8 .at different places (most of them not drawn, however the skilled in the art perso should know how properly to choose them and to incorporate in the apparatus of the present invention) for alarm, limit switch and performance sensing and measuring. The sensory information is transmitted to the computing means 9 through the control and electronic circuits 10. Control means are used to apply the computed parameters to the motor through suitable motor drivers (not shown). A friendly user interface 11 may be used for an automatic cut program or manual operation for applying 3D, cut parameters. A user interface flow chart is given in fig.23, where a user may preffer an automatic preprogrammed ready to use program or program 3D cut parameters fcjr an arbitrary product to be cut.

Fig. lb shows the apparatus from fig. la, rotated 90 degrees, for a detailed slice cut of an arbitrary food product 15, where the slice cut unit 1 is keyed to the housing 16 which departs between the slice cut unit 1 and the horizontal and vertical cutting unit 2.

With respect to fig.2 a user locates manually different food products in compartments 17 residing on the entry conveyer 3.

The processing center comprises a user entry product conveyer 3 for passing and. locating the food products and a product feeder 18 means for holding and supplying the food product to the slice cutting unit 4 as shown in the schematic view of fig.2 and in an upper view of the apparatus in Fig.3.

The conveyer is provided with compartments 17 for conveying the food product to an entry of a cutting plane, where the product is prepared for slice cutting by fixation means. The sliced food product is passed through the opening 12 (fig.3) and is pushed to the rotary cutting table 7 by the dynamic slice product remover 19 as seen in fig.la,4b- The conveyer conveys every product to the entry of the feeder where a pushing piston 20 advances the product to the feeding table 26 (fig.5) where a slice cut is obtained by slice cutter 4 provided with a slicing blade.

The slice cutter comprices a slice cutting device and a dynamic slice width adjuster 5 which defines the width of the sliced cut as seen in fig.la,4a.

The slice cutting device consists of a motor's assembly and a slice cutting blade attached to the motor's assembly through a transmission unit. With respect to fig.4a, the slice motor's assembly consists of a motor 21 fixed in a housing of the slice cutter 22 and a suitable rotating screw (not shown) which in turn conveys a bracket. A slice cutting blade 24 is mounted on the bracket. The screw is attached to the motor's shaft at one end and to a housing at the opposite end, so converting the rotary movement to linear displacement of the bracket. Placing the blade at an inclined angle relative to the working plane 26 (fig.5) causes a cutting action analoque to a human's hand cut, controlled by the computerized means 9. Accelerated penetration into the product and a reversed constant motion of the blade may be obtained through the computerized means in addition to limit switch and performance sensory for controlled activity. The dynamic slice width adjuster includes a motor's assembly assembled in a bracket and a stopper 23.

The motor's assembly includes a motor 65 fixed in a housing 66 and a suitable rotating s. screw which in turn conveys the stopper 23. The screw (not shown) is attached to the motor's shaft at one end and to the stopper at the opposite end, so converting the rotary movement to linear movement of the stopper. The stopper 23 pushes against the food product, so defining the width of the slice. Fig.5 shows the cutting blade 24 ready to penetrate the food product hold by fixation means 27 and tauched by a flexible material 28. A side view of the horizontal and vertical cutting unit 2 is seen at the lower part of the figure 5.

Fig.4,5 show the entry product conveyer 3 which is operated by a motor 25 provided with a suitable screw, (not shown), for transmitting the rotary movement to a linear displacement of a nut, (not shown), mounted on the conveyer. This arrangement enables conveying of the food products, located in compartments 17, which are ended by a separating wall 67, to feeder's entry for next process step.

The entry product feeder include: a pneumatic pushing piston 20, the feeding tabje 26 and a fixation means 27.

In order to fix the food product rigidly it is pushed against a dynamic stopper 23 by the the pushing piston 20 during slice cut process. Additional fixations means 27 presses the food product against the feeder's table so as to prevent eventual movement during the slice cut activity. Those fixation means are coated with a coating consisting of a flexible material 28 such as gum to provide stable holding shapeless food product. Fig.25 shows a process of slicing the food product using the described fixation means. The slice cutter works in various modes of operation, defined by the computing device, causing different cutting activities like accelerated penetration of the blade through the cutting process or at an arbitrary invariant velocity, so contributing to a higher cut performance.

The given process enables cutting through different food products or other nonfood materials defined by relative high viscosity. Fig.4b shows a shelf 33, where the dynamic product remover 19, pushes the slice to the working rotary table 7.

With respect to fig.6, 7, the second cutting unit 2 for horizontal and vertical cutting comprises partially a fixture 32, a housing 16 (which is preferrably common to the cutter unit 1 and unit 2), a rotary working table 7 and a cutting head 6. Slice supply means and cut product storage means are shown in fig.4b. The fixture 32 serves for holding and conveying the cutting head 6 and consists of a leading screw 35 (seen in fig 8a,b) driven by a motor 31 which is attached to the fixture. The screw 35 transforms rotary movement of motor's shaft to linear movement of an adaptor 29 for moving knives holder frame with respect to the rotary working table 7.

The cutting head 6 is keyed to an adaptor 29 moving along 2 parallel slides 30, from opposite sides, so enabling controlled motion of the cutting head as seen in figure 6. The adaptor 29 for moving the knive's holder frame with respect to the rotary working table 7 moves along an inclined trajectory beginning from a higher point relative to the work table 7 and ending at the working table, as can be seen in fig.8a,8b. This motion of the cutting head is similar to a human's hand cutting move. The move of the cutting head shown in fig.8a,8b emphasises spatial relationship between the cutting head 6 and the rotary working table 7.

The rotary working table as shown in fig.9a,9b consists of a removable cut surface 41, an upper working plate 40, a perforated intermediate plate 39, a lower intermediate plate 38, table's fixture 37, a driving wheel 42, a driven wheel 43, sensory (not shown) and a motor 34. The removable cut surface 41 is replaced after a number of cutting activities. It is preferably made of rough material like teflon, poly thy lene or polyamide. Fig.10 shows the rough removable cut surface 41 placed on the upper working plate 40 which is keyed to the perforated intermediate plate 39 with perforations for suction of air. The upper working plate 40 is teflon made, and is tightened to the perforated intermediate plate 39. The perforated intermediate plate is a plain surface located upon the intermediate plate 38 which is connected to the fixture table 37. The rotary working table is comprised of a fixture 37 for holding table's components and an attached toothed driven wheel 43 as shown in fig.10.

The rotary motion is effected by a motor 34 which rotates the working table, A driving wheel 42 is attached to the end of motor's shaft for transmitting torque to the toothed driven wheel 43.

The rotary working table motor's torque is transmitted via a toothed driving wheel 42 located on its shaft to the toothed driven wheel 43 for a preprogrammed angle of rotation of the sliced product 13 for changing from horizontal to vertical cut.

For convienence, the given rotary work table is assembled in order to operate as a vacuum table when needed, being connected to a source of vacuum. Air holes 44 are placed in the perforated intermediate plate 39, upper working plate 40 and removable cut surface 41 in order to firmly hold the product on the table for better cutting. Fig.11 shows a side view of the rotary working table, the cutting head with the plurality of cutting knives 45 touching the working table together with fixture 32 for holding and conveying the cutting head 6. A source of vacuum is connected to the intermediate plate 38 at its center. The air system is activated for some cutting tasks. The motor 34 is controlled by the computing device and transmits torque via the toothed transmission means attached to its shaft so rotating the driven table. The motor may turn the table 90 degrees for vertical or horizontal cut and in addition, by virtue of sensory (not shown), cause various product cutting shapes.

According to an arbitrary rotating angle, varying between 0 and 90 degrees, different shapes of food could be obtained via the computing means. Fig.12 shows the cutting head approaching the rotary table with the knives 45 located parallel to the table and a tabular element 36 located between a shoulder 48 and the rear part of the knife for fixation of the knife during cut process. Further details will be given later in this section. The cutting head as shown in fig.13, comprises a plurality of knives 45 fixed within a base frame 46, cutting head motor 47, transmission means, springs and sensors. A horizontal and vertical cut process is established via the cutting head 6 that performs a double cut activity, referring to a first cut for a horizontal penetration of the slice, then lifting h leaving the slice for a 90 degrees rotation of the working table (the slice is located on) and then performing a second cut for a vertical cut of slice. Ending the vertical cut stage, leads to a lift & leave the cut product by the cutting head.

The achieved cutting process reduces deformation of the individual pieces of food and provides for homogenous cutting action. Accelerating of cutting speeds increases accuracy of cutting. Fixation of the cutting knives by a pressure of air, adapted through a tabular element, is required prior to the cut process in order to prevent any possible lateral movement of the knives during cutting.

With respect to fig.24, the cutting head starts moving from rest and is accelerated untill it reaches a penetrate velocity at the slice surface area. The cutting head is then accelerated to a final velocity (while cutting), for a high valued performance. The end of cut is established by a suitable sensor, causing a stop of the cutting head and a start of an opposite movement (leaves the cut product). The distance between adjacent knives is opened during the lifting of the cutting head out of the cut slice for better cut results.

With respect to fig.14, a symmetrical construction of the cutting head is obtained by a symmetric rear parts of knives, tabular elements 36 and covering shoulders 48 from opposite sides of the knives. The cutting head motor 47 is connected to a toothed wheel 52 for changing the distance between adjacent knives according the instructions of the computing device. The toothed wheel is connected to the motor at one end and cooperates with a displacement screw 54 at the opposite end for transmitting rotary movement thereto. A transmission belt 53 transmits the torque to a similar toothed wheel 52' so as to rotate displacement screw 54'. Similar covering shoulder 48 and tabular element 36 (not shown), are installed above screw 54'.

Fig.15 and Fig.14 show the set of knives at their compressed position (the knives are concentrated in the center area of the frame) and their distributed position (the knives are distributed through the entire frame) accordingly.

A cutting knife 45 has holes made at both its opposite ends for mounting on two displacement screws 54,54' and an elongated rear portion at both its ends for connection with a spring leaf. With respect to fig.16, a displacement screw consists of a left portion of screw 58 and right portion of screw 57 with correspondingly left-hand threads 60 and right-hand threads 59.

The centered border between the left and right parts of the displacement screw (the origin) is not provided with threads. The right 56 and left 55 outermost knives are made with fixed nuts 63 attached to their corresponding holes, so as to move the knives, rectilinearly upon rotation of displacement screws, relative to the circular displacement of the screws.

The knife residing in the middle of the base frame 61 is fixed by both its oposite ends to the screws via a lock-nuts 62,62' and is always fixed, irrespective to an arbitrary position of the plurality of knives, as time function. The remaining knives are assembled to move freely along the displacement screws depending on the opening of the W-shaped spring, adapted to every knife at its oposite sides, as shown in fig.17. Fig.17 is an enlarged view of detail B, designated in fig.16.

The W-spring is connected between any two knives at both sides thereof and is assembled from different types of spring leaf. The W-springs are elastic symmetrical springs, being responsible for transmitting uniform linear displacement of knives. A long spring leaf 49 is connected to a knife via a connector means 51 and at its opposite end to a short spring leaf 50 via connector means 51'. The connection between the spring leaves or between a spring leaf and a knife is made via connector means such as screws or nuts or by other available means, depending for example, on spring's material. The spring elements can be made of metallic or non metalic material and the particular means for connecting between them will be chosen accordingly. The distance between the knives is kept uniform by virtue of their symmetric construction and by virtue of the W-springs.

The force of a spring given by F=-kx, where F represents force, x the displacement and k an elastic constant, must be identical for all the W springs for symmetric displacement. According this formula, the elastic constant k should be a common parameter for all the W springs, leading to symmetrical construction & assembly (by materials with suitable characteristics) for symmetrical controlled displacement of the knives.

Fig.18,19 show an elastic tabular element 36 residing between a shoulder 48 and an upper cover of knives 64' at both sides of the knives. The W springs reside between a lower cover of knives 64, lying on the rear portion of the cutting knives 45 and the upper cover 64'. For cutting of hard products or other materials like some superconductive materials, steady position of the knives is required.

Fixed and steady position of knives when penetrating the product during the cut activity is achieved, for example, by applying a pressure of air through the tabular element, so tighten the working knives without possibility for their lateral movement. The cutting head cuts through the food product until it encounters a stop (not shown) which prevents it from passing through the working table. The horizontal and vertical cut process may be seen in fig.20, where the cutting head is shown as driven by a motor attached to the fixture, for a cutting activity upon the rotary working table.

Continuous on-line sensors determine the system's operation and safety separating of cutting operations. As the horizontal and/or vertical cut is completed, a final product remover 19',(fig.la,4b), mounted for lateral motion along a linear path, preferably moves the cut food products from the rotarry work table to the output container 14. The remover is a pneumatic operated piston as seen in fig.4b.

In output container mixing and seasoning the food products is optionally established. The products can be selectively and manually seasoned irrespective of the automatic activities effected in the apparatus, or they can be seasoned automatically - without any human intervention by adding thereto the seasoning center as per my Israeli patent IL122104.

Legend: . Entry and slice cutter unit . Horizontal and vertical cutting unit . Entry product conveyer . Slice cutter . Slice width adjuster . Cutting head . Rotary working table . Sensor . Computing means . Control and electronic circuits . Operator programmable interface . Opening for transferring cut slice to Ver. & Hor. cut part . Sliced food product . Output container . Food product . Housing . Compartment . Feeder . Dynamic slice product remover to the rotary table • 19' Dynamic cut product remover from rotary table to output container . Pushing piston 1. Motor of slice cutter . Housing of slice cutter . Stopper 24. Slice cutting blade 25. Motor of entry conveyor 26. Feeding table 27. Fixation means 28. Flexible material 29. Adapter for moving knives holder frame with respect to working table 30. Slide 31. Motor for driving the cutting head 32. Fixture holding and conveying cutting head 33. Shelf for pushing the slice to the rotary table 34. Motor of rotary working table 35. Leading screw 36. Elastic tabular element 37. Table fixture 38. Intermediate plate 39. Perforated intermediate plate with perforations for suction of air 40. Upper working plate 41. Removable cut surface 42. Driving wheel 43. Driven wheel 44. Air holes 45. Cutting knives 46. Knives base frame 47. Cutting head motor 48. Shoulder 49. Long spring leaf rt spring leaf ' Leaf spring connection ' Toothed wheel nsmission belt ' Displacement screw t outermost knife ht outermost knife ht portion of screw t portion of screw ht hand thread t hand thread nter knife ' Lock nut t er cover of knives • 64' Upper cover of knives tor of slice width adjuster juster housing arating wall

Claims (12)

Claims:

1. An apparatus for cutting an integral piece particularly for fruit or vegetable into smaller separate pieces, said apparatus comprising: • a first cutting unit capable of preliminary slicing the integral piece into sliced sections, said unit being provided with (a) a transporting means adapted to advance the piece to be cut towards the working area. (b) a feeding means adapted to advance the piece within the working area. (c) a fixation means capable to hold steadily the piece fed into the working area, (d) the first cutting unit provided with a slicing blade, said blade being connectable to a frame, said blade being slanted with respect to the plane of the working area, (e) a first driving means capable to impart linear motion to said slicing blade so as to approach the integral piece and to slice thereof into sections, said driving means being capable to accelerate the said motion after the integral piece is approached so as to slice effectively from the outside periphery thereof towards the center portion thereof, • a means for discharging the sliced sections from the working area and for directing them to • a second cutting unit capable of cutting the sliced sections into plurality of smaller pieces, said second cutting unit being provided with — a working table adapted to receive the sliced sections discharged from the first cutting unit so as to expose them to a cutting action, said table being rotatable and indexable so as to expose said sections successively to cutting action along at least two non parallel cutting directions - a second driving means capable to rotate said working table and successively to index thereof in positions enabling cutting action in at least two non-parallel cutting directions. - the second cutting unit having plurality of parallel cutting knives residing within a base frame, said base frame being mounted above the working table with the possibility to approach the sliced sections and to effect the cutting action by the plurality of said knives along a cutting direction. — a third driving means capable to impart to the base frame linear motion with respect to said table, so as to effect multiple cutting action of said sliced sections produced by the plurality of said knives, • a control means for programmed operation of the apparatus.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said first cutting unit comprises a means for adjusting the width of sliced section and said feeding means comprises a pushing rod driven by a piston, said pushing rod being adapted to advance the sliced piece in the plane of the working area after each slice cut is completed.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2, in which said transporting means comprises a conveyer with secured thereon plurality of compartments adapted to receive therein integral pieces to be sliced, said conveyer being driven by a motor.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said first cutting unit resides above the said second cutting unit.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4, in which said working table is provided with a plurality of perforation, said perforations being connected with a source of vacuum, said vacuum being sufficient for holding the sliced pieces firmly on the table during the cutting action.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said second cutting unit is provided with a means for variation of the distance between the planes of adjacent knives.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which said means for variation of the distance between the planes of adjacent knives comprises a first and a second parallel rods, said rods being mounted in said base frame with possibility for rotation, each of said rods being provided with a screw the direction of which is along the half length of the rod and opposite to the screw direction along the other half length of the rod, and said knives are displaceable along said rods.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7, in which a knife residing in the middle of said base frame is fixed with respect thereto wherein the other knives are divided in two identical groups, the first group being disposed on the right side with respect to the middle of said base frame and the second group being symmetrically disposed on the left side with respect to the middle of said frame, said groups being displaceable along said rods in mutually opposite directions.

9. The apparatus as defined in claims 7, in which said second cutting unit is provided with a motor means for rotation of at least one of said screwed rods and the knives situated at the farthest distance from the middle of said base frame are provided with a first and second nut means cooperating correspondingly with the first and second screwed rod, said nut means being suitable to convert rotational motion of said rods into linear displacement of said knives and the opposite rear portions of all adjacent knives are connected therebetween by a spring element capable to transfer the linear displacement of the knives situated at the farthest distance from the middle of said frame to the rest of knives, said elements being identical in shape and having identical elastic properties so as to enable symmetrical and controllable displacement of the knives.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 9, in which said spring elements comprise flat springs arranged in a W-shaped fashion.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 7, in which said base frame is provided with a fixation means for fixation of the distance between the planes of adjacent knives after this distance has been adjusted, said fixation means comprising an inflatable tubular element connected with a source of pressure.

12. A method for cutting an integral piece of a fruit or vegetable into smaller separate pieces, said method comprising: (a) transporting the integral piece towards a first working area (b) fixation of the integral piece steadily within the first working area (c) slicing the integral piece by a slicing blade capable of displacing progressively from the outside periphery of the piece towards the center portion thereof (d) discharging the sliced sections from the first working area (e) directing the sliced section to a second working area so as to expose thereof to a cutting action performed by a plurality of parallel cutting knives (f) adjusting a distance between the planes of adj cent cutting knives (g) cutting the sliced sections into smaller pieces along a first cutting direction by a plurality of parallel cutting knives capable of approaching the second working area and effecting simultaneous multiple cutting action (h) indexing the second working area in a position in which the sliced sections are exposed to multiple cutting action along a second cutting direction, said second cutting direction being non-parallel to the first cutting direction (i) cutting the sliced sections into smaller pieces along a second cutting direction by a plurality of parallel cutting knives capable of approaching the second working area and effecting simultaneous multiple cutting action The Inventor: Isaac Taitler