WO2014142694A1

WO2014142694A1 - Meat cube cutting machine and method

Info

Publication number: WO2014142694A1
Application number: PCT/RO2014/000002
Authority: WO
Inventors: Petru TOMPEA
Original assignee: Tompea Petru
Priority date: 2013-03-12
Filing date: 2014-01-09
Publication date: 2014-09-18
Also published as: RO129769A2; RO129769B1

Abstract

As we can see in fig.2, the machine uses a new cutting method with lamellar cutters (19) mounted in grids (12), (13) and (15) which slide in bearings (16) and (17) mounted in perpendicular planes on the fixed chamber (14) as follows: meat is fed into the feeding chamber (2) through orifice (4), cover (5) is placed and meat is pushed by means of device (6) equipped with the arresting mechanisms (8) between the cutters swinging in two perpendicular directions, left-right and up-down, thus resulting meat baguettes which are then introduced in the fixed chamber (14), wherefrom they are pushed by means of device (9), equipped arresting mechanism (11) between the cutters that swing up and down thus obtaining the meat cubes. The driving takes place in a single spot by the eccentric spindle (20) via the conic reducer (21) driven by the power engine (22).

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

MEAT CUBE CUTTING MACHINE AND METHOD

The invention refers to methods and jmachines for thejsutting of materials in pieces of pre-established sizes and forms. More precisely, the invention refers to a simple chopping machine for food products, especially of fresh or frozen meat into cubes of pre-established sizes and adjustable by a new chopping method.

At present there are numerous types of food cutting machines in diverse shapes and sizes, but these are adequate only for vegetables and fruits. In some of them, the product is usually introduced between circular disks and chopped first of all in slices, then it is reintroduce and chopped into stripes and finally it is reintroduced again and chopped into cubes or baguettes. In other machines, the cutters are positioned in a network in which the products are pressed and then cut-off. But all of these do not prove efficient when cutting fresh meat as it is soft and sticky.

For example, Milan's US005342236A presents a meat cutting machine which uses rotary cutting disks, the meat being cut into slices at a first pass, then the slices are cut into stripes at a second pass, and the stripes are cut into cubes at a third pass. A progress may be seen in Robert's EP0363220B1 where the machine presented is mudi more complicated but it mainly relies on the same cutting method with disks, first into slices, secondly into stripes and finally into cubes. Its disadvantage consists in the lack of uniformity in terms of size of the pieces resulted due to the non-uniform texture of meat which makes unsteady the feeding with stripes of the cutting disk, thus resulting pieces of different sizes. Moreover, the adjustment of the cutting shapes and sizes is difficult and limited. It is known that in the food industry hygiene is essential and the abovementioned machine is hard to disassemble in order to be adequately cleaned.

The objective of this invention is to design a simple machine that may cut fresh meat into uniform cubes with cutting sizes easily modifiable, easy and fast to disassemble for cleaning and which may be used both in the kitchen and in canteens, restaurants or butcher shops. This machine should also be used to cut meat into slices and baguettes of different sizes as well as for cutting sausages, vegetables, fruits and cheese in various forms and sizes. W

As a matter of fact the invention also relies on a new cutting method as well by using lamella-type cutters which perform swinging motions imitating the movement of the normal knife. The cutters (having a pre-established distance between them depending on the sized desired for cutting) are mounted on grids provided with tighteners arranged in two parallel planes perpendicular on a third one so that the cutter grids may swing in three different directions. Apart from the new cutting method, the way in which the cutter grids are driven is ingeniously made as all three grids which are in different planes are driven by a simple eccentric spindle. As we can see in fig.2, meat is fed into the feeding chamber (2) through orifice (4), cover (5) is pushed and meat is pushed by means of device (6) (equipped with releases (7) so as to penetrate through the cutters) and by the right-left swinging of the cutter grid (12) and up-and-down of the cutter grid (13) they chop meat into baguettes with square section which then enter chamber (14), wherefrom they are pushed by means of device (9) (equipped with releases (10) so as to penetrate through the cutters) and cut into cubes by the cutter grid (15) which swings up and down. Devices (6) and (9) are provided with arresting mechanisms (8) and (11)₅ respectively. Cutters (19) are fastened to the grids by screws (18). The cutter grids slide in the bearings (16) and (17), respectively. The swinging motion of the cutter grid is performed from a single spot by the eccentric spindle (20) driven by means of the conic reducer (21) by the power engine (22). The entire assembly is mounted on the base plate (1) by means of holders (3). To cut the meat into slices, it is introduced directly in chamber (14) and pushed by device (9), and for cutting meat into baguettes the cutter grid (15) is dismounted. One may make a series of combinations by mounting the cutters irregularly thus resulting different forms and sizes of the chopped products. The profile of the feeding chamber may be changed to vary productivity. We mention that other foodstuffs may be cut as well such as sausages, vegetables, fruits, Gheese, etc.

The main advantages of the invention are the use of a new and more efficient cutting method ensuring the cutting into pieces of precise sizes, pre-established and adjustable, where the meat feeding rate does not influence the quality of cutting or the shape and size of the resulted pieces; the machine may also be used to cut other foodstuffs such as sausages, vegetables, fruits and cheese etc.; it offers the possibility to mount cutters irregularly or the fast use of some backup cutter grids with adequate pushing devices thus obtaining following these combinations food products in different shapes and sizes; the machine may be easily and rapidly disassembled for cleaning; it is simple, reliable and easy to maintain; it may be made with low costs and it is adequate for large repetitive manufacturing. The fneat cube cutting machine may be made in various models and sizes depending on the field of application, such as households, canteens and restaurants or industry.

We present below a prototype with manual operation of the pushing devices in relation with the isometric views presented in figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

- fig.l, fully equipped cutting machine;

- fig.2, machine without cover and pushing devices;

- fig.3, bearing with two cutter grids placed perpendicularly; -fig.4, bearing with one cutter grid;

-fig.5, feeding chambers with holders;

-fig.6, driving and transmission.

As we can see in fig.2, the feeding chamber (2) is mounted on the base plate (1) by means of sliding holder (3), which allows sliding on the base plate provided with sliding cover (5) being fixed with a single screw for easy disassembly. According to fig.5, fixed chamber (14) with holders (25) is also mounted on the base plate. Chambers are made from square pipe and have releases (27) and (28) which allow them to penetrate through the cutters.

In fig.3 we present the bearing (16) through which rods (23) of cutter grids (12) and (13) slide placed in two parallel planes, with right-left and up-and-down swinging motion. Lamellar cutters (19) are mounted with bolts and tightened with screws (18). In fig. 4, we may see the bearing with a single cutter grid and bolts (24) for cutter fixing. The two bearings are mounted at the end of the feeding chamber (2), and at the end of the fixed chamber (14), pursuant to fig. 2 and they are locked with the locking rods (26), fig.5. According to fig.2, the pushing devices (6) and (9) with releases (7) and (10), respectively and the arresting mechanisms (8) and (11) also belong to the assembly.

The swinging motions of cutters in the three directions take place as we may see in fig, 6 by the eccentric spindle (20), driven via the conic reducer (21) by the power engine (22), which is fastened by holders (31) to the holders of the fixed chamber. The eccentric spindle rotates with 200 rev/min. in bearing (29) mounted on the holders of the fixed chamber and it has silicon bushes (30) mounted on the eccentric for protection purposes. The protection cover (32) of the equipment is mounted on top₄ according to fig.l, The components are made from materials accepted in the food industry. The meat cube cutting machine may be manufactured in diverse models and sizes: small with manually-driven pushing devices for use in the household, medium with manually-driven or mechanically-driven pushing devices for use in canteens and restaurants or big with an adequate processing capacity by adapting the automatic feeding system and the mechanical or hydraulic pushing devices with correlated and programmed movements.

Claims

1. Meat cube cutting machine with lamellar cutters characterized by the fact that it is made of two rectangular perpendicular chambers (2) and (14) where pushers (6) and (9) slide; the lamellar cutter grids (12), (13), (15)_» which swing in bearings (16), (17), mounted on the rectangular chamber (14), with rods (26) driven by the eccentric spindle (20), by means of the reducer (21), by the electric engine (22).

2. Pursuant to claim 1, machine characterized by the fact that pushers (6) and (9) are equipped with arresting mechanisms (8) and (11) and releases (7) and (10), respectively so as to enter between the cutters.

3. Method for cutting meat into cubes characterized by the fact that we take meat and introduce it through orifice (4) into the rectangular chamber (2), we close cover (5), pusher (6) pushes the meat in the cutters of grid (12), which swings from right to left, and cutters of grid (13), which swings up and down, cutting meat in square section stripes which go into the rectangular chamber (14), wherefrom they are pushed by pusher (9) in the cutters of grid (15), which swings up and down, and stripes and cut into cubes.