US2073860A - Pusher plate - Google Patents

Description

March 16, 1937. V KE 2,73,86

PUSHER PLATE Filed 001:. 20, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR WILHELMUS ADRIANUS VAN BERKEL ATTYS.

March 16, 1937. w. A. VAN BERKEL PUSHER PLATE Filed Oct. 20, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

FIG. 3.

INVENTOR= FIG. 5.

WILHELMUS ADRIANUS VAN BERKEL Patented Mar. 16, 1937 UNITED STTES PATENT "OFFICE PUSHER. PLATE Wilhelmus Adrianus van Berkel, Clarens, Switzerlaml, assignor to U. S..Slicing Machine.Company,La Forte, Ind., a. corporation of Indiana :Applicationctober 20, 1933, Serial No. 694,378 In Great Britain November 4, 1932 11 Claims.

: latter being manually or spring.pressed toward the cuttingplane of the knife and. gauge plate.

In slicing machines of this type generally speakingit: is desiiable to have as narrow a slicingmaohine as possible inorder that the thermore, most substances which are sliced in :delicatessen stores and the like are not extremely "long and therefore the widthof the slicingmachine ordinarily does not: have to be very great.

15 Sometimes, however, itbecomes necessary to, slice Llongen sulostancesand the narrowslicing machinesare :not equipped tohandle the same, atz:least with apositivefeed,as the pusher plates which are usedgenerally have a travel whch 20:doesnotexceedthewidth of the substance supzporting tab1e.

.Thepreseht invention, thereforey.has for one of tsobjects the provisionoffeeding means ;for feeding. substances which are longer than 1.25 .the1normal permitted feed for the pusher plate.

.Another object of this invention is to provide a pusherplate whch is positively guided and. whichcan, if desired, be usedtolfeed a substance which is longer than the width of the .30 slicing machine table in.the direction of feed of the substance. The pusher plate is so m0unted -was to1permitthelong substance to be fed toward "the cutting planeof the knfe with the pusher plate at the rearend. of the substance until the 5 substance has had some slices out therefromsufficient to make the substance materially shorter than orignally, after whch theposition of the xpusher plate is changed with respect to its mounting so that the remaining part of the substance is fed the Same asthe ordinary short piece of substance which is sliced on machines of this character.

"A still"further object of this invention is to :;provide a positvefeed for a pusher plate along -a plurality of sirnilar paths of substantially the same extent lout varying wth respect to the substance supporting tabie or carriage.

Anotherobject of this invention is to provide an adjustabie pusher plate orwork feeding membe1 vwhich.is adjustable relative to its eeding means in a direction towarclancl away irom the "cutting"plane of the knife, and indeperidently of the feeding mo-vement of the feedingmeans. :This isto enable one to slice long substances saswell .as short substances on a slicing machine table which is designed primarily to accommo date on.ly short substances.

"Another object" of this invention is to provide a feeding means for feeding the substance comprising eithera power or manually fed member 5 having a limited path of travel to whch a feedng member such as a clamp or pusher plate may be connectecl at difierent positions with respect thereto in a direction perpendicular of the cutting plane of the knife, or in the direction of feedof the substance.

-Another object of this invention is to provide a feeding means whch emb0clies an actuating member and a substance engaging member adapted tube secured thereto in any one of a plurality of relative positions spaced from each other in the direction of feeding movement whereby substances of greater length may be sliced by the slicing machine.

Other objects of this invention will appear hereinafter as the description of this invention proceeds, the novel eatures, arrangements, and combinations being clearly set forth in the specification and. claims.

In the drawings:

Figijl is a side elevational view of a slicing machine embodying my invention;

Fig 2 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows 22; of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 illustrates a modfied form of my invention;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertica1 cross-sectional view through a modified slicing machine table embodying my inirention Fig. '7 is a view looking in the direction 11 eratinghandle I'| fox reciprocating the carriage along the guiderods l4 and I5. A gauge plate l8 having the operative face thereof substantially in the cuttng plane of the knife is adjusted to various clesired positions parallel to the cutting plane of the knife by means of an actuating knoh |9 in a manner which is well known in the art to which this invention pertains.

The substance is mounted on the supporting surface 20 of the carriage which is formed as a V-shaped trough, the sdes of which both extend upwardly but in opposite directions away from a horizontal plane as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. Mounted on the substance supporting carriage I3 beneath the supportng surface 20 are a pair of guide rods 2! on which a hearing 22 sldes. 'Ihe hearing member 22 has a portion extencling to the right of the carriage as viewed. in Figs. 1 and 2, and this part of the hearing member carries the uprights 23 which guide a pusher plate support 24 for movement in an upward direction.

As is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the support 24 has a pivot 25 on which a plate 26 is pivotecl This plate carries a substance pusher plate 21 having prongs 28 extending outwardly fro1n opposite sides thereof with additional prongs 29 extencling from the upper and lower edges thereof as is clearly illustrated in Figs. 1

and 3. This pusher plate 21 is secured rgidly to the plate 26 and moves therewth. 'I'he pusher plate 2. carries a rearwardly extending pin 30 which is adapted to engage limiting stops 3! on the support 24 so that the same can he moved to either the full line position or dotted line position and held. by gravity in ether of said positions with the pin 30 aganst one or the other of the stops M. A simple manual movement of the pusher plate 21 hrings the pusher plate into eitner position which may be desred.

Since the pusher plate is provided. with prongs 28 on the opposite sdes thereof and on the upper and lower edges thereof, the pusher plate will always have prongs disposed toward the out ting plane of the knife and toward the substance supporting surface 20, no matter which of its positions it occupies. Intermediate positions for the plate 2! may he provided f desired.

Surrounding one of the guide rods 2! is a coled spring 32 which ahuts at one end thereof against the hearing 33 for the guide rod and at the other end against the hearing member 22. As the spring expancls, the hearing member 22 and. consequently the pusher plate 21 is moved toward the cutting plane of the knife to maintain the forward edge of the substance against the gauge plate |8 which latter gauges the thickness of the slice to he formeel.

When the pusher plate is in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, it lies closely adjacent the cutting plane of the knife with the prongs 28 almost in the cutting plane of the knife while When the pusher plate is in the full line position shown in that figure, the prongs on the operative face thereof lie farther from the cutting plane of the knife although the position of the support 24 is unchanged. Therefore, When the substance to he sliced is long, the pusher plate is moved to the position shown hy full lines in Fig. 3 S0 as to have a greater dstance hetween the operative face thereof and the cutting plane of the knife. The hearing member 22 is moved away from the cutting plane of the knife against the action of the spring 32 as ar as possible, and the substance placed hetween the pusher plate 21 and. the gauge plate. The pusher plate is then released and the plate acts to feed the substance in the usual manner. When the support 24 has been moved toward the cutting plane of the knife as fa1 as possible with the pusher plate in the full line position shown in Fig. 3, the hearing member 22 is again retracted against the action of the spring 32 and the pusher plate 21 moved to the dotted line position with respect to the support 24. This hrings the other face of the pusher plate opposite the end of the substance which is now quite short, and the spring 32 will feed the substance until the ends of the prongs 28 are substantially in the cutting plane of the knife but just slightly spaced therefrom. 'Iherefore, it will be seen that with a pusher plate constructed as set forth herein, a longer substance may he sliced than is permitted hy the normal travel of the hearing member 22. 'Iherefore, if the travel of the hearing member 22 is made maximum for the width of the slicing machine carriage in a direction perpendicular to the cutting plane of the knife, one can get the benefit of a still longer travel of the hearing member by adjusting the position of the pusher plate 21 in the manner which has been set forth.

In addition to utilizing the pusher plate 21 solely as a pusher plate arranged behind the substance, one can use the same for a top clamp by sliding the support 24 upwardly along the uprights 23 and hrnging the support clownwardly to press the prong 29 into the substance, the feeding then taking place in the usual marmer, or the same can be used for feeding substances toward the cutting plane of the knife by engagement with the top thereof merely by a pivotng movement of the plate 21 into engagement with the top side of the substance without moving the support 24 along the uprights.

As has already been ponted out, the full line position of the pusher plate shown in Fig. 3 is used for the longer substances. These substances sometimes hang over the edge of the substance carriage, and this overhangi.ng portion tends to increase the frictional resistance to the advance of the substance toward the cutting plane of the knife. This is particularly true of thin substances, such as bacon. However, the prongs which engage a slab of bacon or the like, are situated below the pivot 25. 'I'herefore, as the substance is advanced. toward the cutting plane of the knife hy the pusher plate, there is a tendency for the pusher plate, due to the reactionary pressure of the bacon aganst the plate, to rotate in a counterclockwise direction from the position indicated in Fig. 3 hy full line. This lifts the bacon slightly, and reduces the frotional contact hetween the lower side of the slab of bacon and. the substance supporting carriage, |6. There is a suflicient amount of the bacon in contact with the substance supporting carriage |6 near the cutting plane of the knife to resist any substantial amount of lateral shifting movement of the same during the slicing operation.

With a shorter substance however, there is less weght on the substance carriage, and consequently the amount of friction which resists lateral shifting movement of the substance during slicing of the same is reduced. However with the pusher plate in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, the reactionary pressure is such as to tend to force the pusher plate in a counter-clockwise direction, and. if the pin 36 is not in engagement with the stop 3l, the reactionary pressure will tand to force the bacon down against the supporting surface of the substance carriage. Or the bacon can he held in greater frictional engagement with the substance supporting carriage by having the prongs 29 engage the upper side of the slab of bacon with the pusher plate tilted at a slight =angle tothe vertical. Thus, when the overhang of the suhstance tends to increasezthe friction'al "resistance to the a;dvance of the si1hstance; the same may"be reduce'dand also whenthe fritional 5resistance to thelateral shifting of the suhstance is lessened' due to the shorter suhstanee, this resistance can be increased in the manner set forth. "This use of my invention is-not limited solely =to substances such as slahsof bacon; f or= due to the fact that hearing 24 can slide along =rcidi 23,

the pivot 2 5 can always= he placed at a position ahove the upper=sicleof the suhstance. With the pivot 25 ahove the upper side of the suhstance;or the"portion of the suhstance contactedhy the pusher-plate, theaforesad result willoccur.

prongs4fl on the said facethereotandwprongs 4l on the lower edge thereof. A. IOCKIIgDII Z is pressed by a spring 43 towardthesupport 34"and is adapted to enter openings 44 :or 45depending "upon whether the links and pushersplate occupy the full ordotted linecposition respetztively. With this construction,zit wll he notedithat prongs are necessary "onlyon the forwardface of the t=pusher plate and. at thelower*edgthereof since thepusherplatemoves fromonepositio-n -to the other .through positions allof whi'ch are parallel to each other, thus maintaining the same: operativefaceof thepusher platefacingthewcutting plane of theknife at alltimes; IIGdVCG oper- 35ates in the manner set forth inconnectionwvith the form of the invention shown-imEigs. 1.to 3 inolusive.

In Figs:6 '7 and 81 haveillustrated amodfication of myinvention which issomewhat similar 40 to that disclosedinFigs. land2hutin thismodification the hearing memher-:-4B --which.corresponds to the hearing member 122 in lg2has"an extension 41 secured thereto extending toward the operators side -of theslicing machine tahle 45- 48 rather than toward the side ;away from the operator. This extension 41 hasa reducedneck portion 48 and anelongated portion 49. outsideof the casting 50 to which there is.securedin a mannerwhich I will descrhe, .a pusherplate5l 50 having suhstance engaging prongs 52 thereon.

56 threaded into suitahle openings in ..the por- -tion 49 of the.hracket 41. There are. preferably three or more 'threaded openings5 in the portion49 spaced.equal distancesfrom each other so that the threaded thumhscrews 56 may.be

- putinto any adjacent pair of openings. L"Bythis arrangement the threa;ded thumb screws5fimay be placed indiferentpairs of ppenings: so1that -the hracket 54 is located at different positions with. respect to the hearing member4'l inthe -direction of feed. of the hearings4'l;wherehythe path of travel of the pusher platernay"bevared although the extent of its travel when connected to thehracket54remainsthesame. Thus if the thumh screws 56.in' Eig. 7 wereplaced in thetwo threaded openings at theright instead of thetwo threa;dedopeningsat the left shown in that figure; itisohousthat= a longer piece of suhstance may he fecl thanwhen it occupies the position shown in Fig. '7. This is for the same purpose as has been explained. in connecton with' Figs. 1-l inclusive of the drawings. Instead of having slots acnd thumh screws as shown in Fig. 7, I could provide a longitudinal slot in the lower edge of the hracket 54 with a thumb screw or thumb screwsextending therethrough into the portion 49. With such an arrangement it would only be -necessary to loosen"the thumb screwsand. slide the hracket alongthe porton 49 and then tighten the thumb screws again in order to secure adjustment of the hracket54, and consequently of the pusher plate-5I.

"'I'he hearing portion 53 on the pusher plate 5! is pivoted to the hracket '54 at 58 so as to have pivotal movement-for the same purpose as the pivotalmovement of the pusher plate in Figs. 1 and2. 'I'he pivotal movement of the pusher plate is limited hy the stops 59 andill, the latter limit "ing the movement of the pusher plate and. locating the facse there-f parallel to the cutting plane when the prongs are facing the cutting planeanol the former limiting theposition of the pusher plate in aparallel position to that shown in Fig. 7

With the prongs extending away from the cutting plane of theknife.

"0hviously those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains may make various 'changes in the pa'rticular constructionand arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of this invent0n and therefore I do not wish to he limited except as hereinafter set forth in the ap pended claims.

'Having thus ully descfihed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to ohtain hy'Letters Patent is:

1. In a slcing machine, the comhinaton with a 'slicingknife, of a suhstancesupport movahle relative to said;slicing knife, uprights on said suhstancesupport,a hearing memher for supporting said. uprights and. slidable along said sup- "port ina direction toward and from the eutting plane of said knife, a pusher plate support slidable upwardly along said uprights, a pusher plate, anextension on said pusher plate having pivotal connection with said pusher plate support at a pointspacecl from the operative portions of said.

pusher plate, whereby upon pivotal movement of said. pusher plate, the same is swung to positions whichare spaced suhstantially different amounts away from the cutting plane of said knife while said hearing member occupies the same position with respect to the cutting plane, and suhstance engaging prongs on opposite faces of said pusher plate wherehy when said pusher plate is pivoted to its different positions and different fases thereof are facing the cutting plane of said knife, the

portio n which is facing said cutting plane Will have=suhstanceengaging prongs thereon.

2. A slicing machine comprisingza suhstance -support-a bearingmemher slidahl along said supp0rta pusher platehaving suhstantiallyparallel faces-with outwardly projecting prongs extenoling away from each ether, an extension for saidpusher plate having pivotal oonnection wth -said hearing memher eccentrc to the fases of said-pusher plate hut substantially parallel to the fases thereof, whereby upon pivotal move ment of said pusher plate ahout said pimtal con "neetion through suhstantally degrees, the faces thereof are caused to face in opposite direc tionsto these directions inwhich they originally faced, and position locating means for locating said pusher plate in either of said positions t which the same may he moved.

3. In a slicing machine, the comhination with a suhstance support, of a slicing knife, means for moving said suhstance support and. slicing knife relative to each other, a hearing memher slidahle along said support in a direction toward the cutting plane of said knife, a pair of links pivotally connected to said hearing memher, a pusher plate, pivotal connections hetween said pusher plate and. the opp0site ende of said links, said pivotal connections extending in a direction transversely to the path of movement of said hearing memher, wherehy upon angular movement of said links about their pivotal connections with said hearing memher, the pusher plate is moved to successive positions suhstantially parallel with its original postion hut at different distances from the cutting plane of said knife.

4. In a slicing machine, the combination with a suhstance support, of a slicing knife, means for moving said suhstance support and slicing knife relative to each other, a hearing memher slidahle along said support in a direction toward the cutting plane of said knife, a pair of links pivotally connectecl to said hearing memher, a pusher plate, pivotal connections hetween said pusher plate and. the opposite ends of said links, said pivotalconnections extending in a direction transversely to the path of movement of said hearing memher, wherehy upon angular movement of said links about their pivotal connections with said hearing memher, the pusher plate is moved to successive positions suhstantially parallel with its original position hut at different distances from the cutting plane of said knife, and means maintaining said pusher plate in a plurality of selectecl positions to which the same can he moved.

5. In a slicing machine, the comhinaton with a suhstance support, of a slicing knife, means or moving said suhstance support and slicing knife relative to each other, a hearing memher slidahle along said support in a direction toward the cutting plane of said knfe,a pair of links pivotally connected to said hearing memher, a pusher plate, pivotal connections hetween said pusher plate and the opposite ends of said. links, said pivotal connections extending in a direction transversely to the path of movement of said hearing memher, wherehy upon angular movement of said links about their pivotal connections with said hearing memher, the pusher plate is moved to sucoessive positions substantially parallel with its original position hut at different distances from the cutting plane of said knife, and means maintaining said pusher plate in a plurality of selected positions to which the same can he movecl, said means comprising a locking pin for locking the position of said links with respect to said hearing memher.

6. In a slicing machine, the comhination with a suhstance support, of a slicing knife, means for moving said suhstance support and slicing knife relative to each other, a hearing memher slidable along said support in a direotion toward the cutting plane of said knife, a pair of links pivotally connected. to said hearing memher, a pusher plate, pivotal connections hetween said pusher plate and the opposite ends of said links, said pivotal connections extending in a direction transversely to the path of movement of said hearing memher, wherehy upon angular movement of said links about their pivotal connections with said hearing memher, the pusher plate is moved to successive positions suhstantially ;parallel with its original position hut at different distances from the cutting plane of said knife, and. means maintaining said pusher plate in a plurality of selected positions to which the same can he moved, said means comprising a locking pin on one of said links yieldngly urged toward said hearing member and adapted to enter selectecl openings formeel in said hearing memher.

7. In a slicing machine, the comhination with a suhstance support, of a slicing knife, means for moving said knife and support relative to each other, a pusher plate, a hearing memher for supporting said pusher plate and having a limited path of travel with respect to said suhstance support in a direction toward and from the cutting plane of said knife, and an operative connection hetween said pusher plate and said hearing memher adjustable to vary the position of the hearing member and pusher plate relatively to each other in a direction toward and from the cutting plane of said knife, whereby said pusher plate may he moved to limiting positions adjacent to and. remote. from the cutting plane of said knfe which are spacecl from each other a distance which is suhstantially greater than the permitteol travel of said hearing memher and while positively connected to said hearing memher for movement therewith, said pusher plate in moving from one postion to another position with respect to said hearing memher moving through successive intermediate positions all of which are parallel to each other.

8. In a slicing machine having a gauge plate and. a rotary knife, a pusher plate adapted to push suhstance toward the gauge plate and toward the cutting plane of the knife, spring means for giving limited movement to the pusher plate toward the gauge plate and said plane, said pusher plate heing pivotally mounted on an axis parallel to the cutting plane of the knife wherehy the pusher plate may he pivoted on its axis to bring another side of the pusher plate into position for engagement with the suhstance, thereby having opposing surfaces of the pusher plate capahle of engagement with the end of the suhstance to accommodate both short and long suhstances, said pusher plate also having engaging means on its upper and. lower surfaces to engage the suhstance regardless in which direction the opposing faces of the pusher plate are positioned.

9. In a slicing machine, a knife and a gauge plate parallel to the plane of the knife, a carriage reciprocahle past the gauge plate and knife, an upstanding memher on said carriage, a pusher plate having at least tvvo parallel suhstance engaging surfaces, a memher extending at right angles to hoth suhstance engaging surfaces and pivoted to said upstanding memher at a point displaced from the parallel suhstance engaging surfaces whereby the pusher plate rnay he swung on its pivot in a vertical plane and move the same farther from or closer to the cutting plane to accommodate long as well as short pieces of suhstance.

10. In a slicing machine, a knife and a gauge plate parallel to the plane of the knife, a carrage reciprocable past the gauge plate and knife, a pusher plate and. means mounting the pusher plate so that it can he swung into two positions, one nearer the knife plane and generally parallel thereto, and. the other further from the knife plane and. generally parallel thereto, said means comprisng a member attached to the pusher plate adjacent an edge thereof, upright means positioned on said carriage, pivutal means olset from the plane of the pusher plate and connecting said member te said. upright means, sad member, upright means and pivotal means being positoned out of obstructing relationshp wlth the material being fed when the pusher plate is in ether of its two operative posti0ns.

11. In a slicing machine, a knfe and a gauge plate parallel to the plane of the knife, a carriage recprocable past the gauge plate and knife, a pusher plate and means mountng the pusher plate so that it can be swung through an are of 180 degrees and rgdly held in ether of two posltlons, one nearer the knfe plane and generally parallel thereto, and the other further from the knfe plane and. generally parallel thereto, said means comprising a member attached to the pusher plate adjacent an edge thereof, upright means positioned. on sad. carriage, pivotal means offset from the plane of the pusher plate and connecting said member te saicl upright means, sad member, uprght means and pivotal means beng postioned. nut of obstructing relationship with the materal being fed when the pusher plate is in either of its two operatve positions.

WILHELMUS ADRIANUS VAN BERKEL.

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