EP0289765B1 - Circular cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

The circular cutter is characterised in that a product feeding carriage (3), in which work guide (4), advancing mechanism (5) and work-holding means (6) are integrated, can be switched by means of an actuating unit (7) between an operating position and a withdrawn position and it is thus possible to guide a product up to the immediate vicinity of the cutting knife (9). Switching between operating position and withdrawn position can also be achieved by corresponding displacement of the cutting plane. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a circular slicing machine for slicing food products, in particular sausage, ham, bacon, meat, cheese and the like, with a base frame, on which, in particular, adjustable, a cutting head having a drive unit with a planetary circular circular knife and a product feed unit with a sliced product support surface Cutting material guide, cutting material holding means and feed device are arranged.

Circular cutting machines of this type are known from DE-A-3 018 446 and are used to cut large quantities of food products into slices at the highest possible speed, wherein the cut products can be shingled or further processed, in particular packaged.

A disadvantage of the known machines is, above all, that perfect cuts can only be achieved if the product to be cut has a certain consistency, in particular achieved by cooling, and that in the case of working with empty cuts, a disruptively high level, which has an unfavorable effect on economy Proportion of chip formation occurs.

The object of the invention is to provide a circular cutting machine of the type specified in the introduction in such a way that flawless cuts can be achieved with a fast cutting sequence even if the material to be cut has an unfavorable consistency according to conventional criteria, in particular is not or only slightly cooled, and that the occurrence of disturbing chips can be prevented.

This object is achieved according to the invention essentially in that the relative position between at least the cutting material support surface and the cutting material holding means and the knife cutting plane can be changed, in particular for a short time, by means of a controllable actuating unit via a predefinable retraction stroke.

These measures make it possible to guide and support the product to be sliced perfectly right up to immediately adjacent to the cutting plane, this result being achieved either by shifting the cutting plane relative to the product guide or by shifting the product guide relative to the cutting plane. It is also possible to provide a stationary product guide section immediately adjacent to the cutting plane, to arrange a pivotable slide between this guide section and the rest of the guide and to control the remaining cutting material guide via the actuating unit so that the slide area passes over this cutting material guide when the slide is pivoted away, and thus a coherent product management is created again.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the product feed unit consists of an outer frame mounted on the base frame and a slide which is displaceably guided on the outer frame, that feed device, cutting material guide and cutting material holding means are integrated in the slide and that a controllable actuation unit is integrated between the outer frame and the slide is provided for generating a predetermined relative stroke between the outer frame and the carriage.

By separating the product feed unit into an outer frame mounted on the base frame and a slide carrying all functional units, which is slidably guided on the outer frame and can be displaced relative to the outer frame in a defined manner by means of an actuating unit, it is possible to cut the knife-side end of the slide and thus the Bring the guide for the product to be sliced in the immediate vicinity of the circular knife rotating around the planet and around its own axis and in this way ensure that the product to be sliced is guided properly up to the cutting plane and thus enables flawless cuts that are largely independent of the product consistency. In practice, there are no problems in guiding the material to be cut by means of the actuating unit to the knife immediately after the machine is switched on, for example to a minimum distance of about 1 mm. This is equivalent to the fact that it is possible by the measure according to the invention to drive over the space which is required in such circular cutting machines for a slide arranged in front of the circular knife by means of the material to be cut, so that it is always immediately when this slide is pivoted away is, the cutting material guide can be brought directly to the circular knife.

At least the knife-side end of the cutting material guide can be made of plastic, so that in the event of the circular knife running out of line, damage or destruction of this knife is avoided if the knife should hit the cutting material guide or should grind on it.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the circular cutting machine according to the invention, an actuator for displacing the articulation point of the actuation unit is provided between the carriage and the articulation of the actuation unit on the carriage. That Stellor gan preferably consists of a cylinder-piston arrangement, the stroke of which affects the slide is only a fraction of the stroke of the actuating unit and which can be controlled independently of this actuating unit. The cylinder-piston arrangement forming the actuating element expediently engages via a lever on an eccentric axis on which the actuation unit and a slide-fixed connecting part are articulated, the slide being moved relative to the actuation unit or to the outer frame by the lever adjustment.

In this way it is achieved that when the actuator is actuated, the slide is pulled back slightly, for example by about 1 mm, i.e. is removed from the circular knife so that the knife can make one or more empty cuts until this retraction movement is reversed. Simultaneously with the retraction movement caused by the actuator, the feed for the product to be cut is stopped.

This minimal retraction movement of the carriage while the feed is at a standstill ensures that the formation of chips which is extremely disruptive in known cutting machines is avoided. While in known circular cutting machines for carrying out empty cuts, only the feed is stopped and the material to be cut, which is under a certain pre-tension, relaxes, enters the cutting plane and chips are formed, the small return stroke of the slide in the subject matter of the invention ensures that the material to be cut open in spite of the relaxation effect also occurring here, it does not get into the cutting plane and thus there is no formation of chips.

Avoiding the formation of chips when making empty cuts is important not only with regard to the economy of the slicing process, but also because the targeted use of empty cuts enables a significantly higher overall cutting speed. In the event of an increase in the cutting speed without the use of empty cuts, the belt provided for removing the cut products must run increasingly faster, with the individual disks on the removal belt slipping relative to one another or even flying off the belt at a relatively early stage of this speed increase. Particularly critical situations arise quickly when cutting in portions, since in this case jerky intermediate accelerations of the belt are required between the individual portions. If, however, empty cuts are switched on, the overall belt run is significantly more uniform, even at a significantly higher cutting speed. A prerequisite for being able to work in practice with the empty cuts required for optimal tape running is, however, again the avoidance of the annoying chip formation, and for this reason the measures preventing this chip formation according to the present invention are of particular importance.

If empty cuts are carried out, in many cases the first slice cut after the empty cuts will have a slightly greater thickness than the desired thickness, because the relaxation effect already mentioned has an effect. A corresponding weight compensation can take place via the control program of the machine, for which purpose it can be provided, for example, to use only about 90% of the target feed for the first cut after empty cuts and to use a feed of 110% for the next cut. An equalization of the successively cut slices can thus be done without difficulty using the corresponding control program.

Correspondingly, a certain initial piece thickness can also be specified via the machine control, in which case, on the one hand, a good cut surface is created for the further cutting processes and, on the other hand, a defined cut piece is created which can be sold separately.

It is also advantageous for products whose cross-section changes over the length, such as in the case of ham, the respective stop is to be adjusted laterally to ensure the best possible overall guidance of the product during the entire cutting process. For this purpose, a stop that automatically presses down via a spring is preferably used, which can cooperate with a toothed catch bar, which can be released after the cutting process has ended, in order to return the stop to its starting position.

Further advantageous features of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing, the only figure of which is a highly schematic side view for explaining the principle of operation of the invention.

On a box-shaped base frame 1, in which in particular the entire electronic control system can be accommodated, an outer frame 2 is provided, in accordance with the double arrow indicated, in which a slide 3 is displaceably mounted.

The carriage 3 has a cutting material guide 4, which is arranged by a motor 11 by means of a ball screw, preferably designed as a ball screw driven feed device 5 is displaceable, namely perpendicular to a cutting plane, in which a planetary and driven around its own axis circular knife 9 moves.

The circular knife 9 is located in a cutting head to which at least one drive 8 is assigned.

For grasping and also for fixing the material to be cut, cut material holding means 6 are also mounted in the slide 3, which can consist, for example, of pneumatically actuated grippers.

Between the carriage 3 and the circular knife 9 there is a slide 10 which has a protective and stop function. This slider 10 is pivoted or carried away after the loading and after switching on the machine, whereupon the circular knife 9 is accessible.

The carriage 3, which carries all the elements required for the product supply and holder, can be adjusted between an advanced and a retracted position by means of an actuating unit 7.

The actuating unit 7, which preferably consists of a pneumatic cylinder-piston arrangement, is arranged between the outer frame 2 and the slide 3. The cylinder-piston arrangement acts on a slide-fast connecting part 15, in accordance with a preferred embodiment variant via a fork-shaped connecting member which is penetrated by an axis defining a pivot point 13.

If the slide 3 is moved into its operating position by the actuating unit 7 after the machine has been switched on, the space required for the slide 10 is moved over and the cut material guide is brought into the immediate vicinity of the knife 9. In this way it is achieved that the material to be cut, which is preferably applied from above by means of a hold-down device, is guided into the immediate vicinity of the knife, which has the consequence that even with products which are in themselves designed to make cuts have unsuitable consistency, can be cut perfectly into slices.

Between the slide 3 and the articulation point 13 of the actuating unit 7, an actuator 12, preferably also consisting of a pneumatic cylinder-piston arrangement, is connected, which acts via a lever 14 on the axis coupling the actuating unit 7 to the carriage-fixed connecting part 15. This axis is designed as an eccentric axis, so that pivoting of the lever 14 leads to a displacement of the articulation point 13 and thus to a slight displacement of the slide 3.

By actuating the actuator 12 it is thus possible to move the slide 3 and thus all the elements integrated in this slide over a short stroke, e.g. a stroke of about 1 mm, away from the circular knife 9 and towards the circular knife 9. This minimal stroke, which can be carried out within very short times, enables flawless, i.e. make empty cuts that do not lead to chips. If an empty cut is requested by the program, a return stroke of the slide 3 is carried out simultaneously with the stopping of the feed device 5 by means of the actuator 12, so that even relaxed material to be cut cannot reach the cutting plane.

This slide movement, which can be carried out for a very short time and with little effort due to the eccentric ratio, for the purpose of enabling chip-free empty cuts, also has the consequence that the number of the desired empty cuts can be freely specified, since the resulting relaxation effect of the product to be sliced is not so great, that, for example, during the first two empty cuts, there is no formation of chips, but in the subsequent empty cuts the product to be cut can reach the cutting plane due to relaxation.

Due to the free choice of the respective empty cuts to be provided, it is possible to even out the running of the belt, which is provided for the removal of the cut slices, in the respectively desired and necessary manner, so that individual slices sliding on the conveyor belt can be worked at a high cutting speed without problems can.

REFERENCE SIGN LIST

• 1 base frame
• 2 outer frames
• 3 sledges
• 4 cutting material guide
• 5 feed device
• 6 cutting material holding means
• 7 operating unit
• 8 drive motor
• 9 circular knives
• 10 sliders
• 11 engine
• 12 actuator
• 13 articulation point
• 14 levers
• 15 connecting part

Claims (10)

1. A circular cutting machine for cutting up food products, in particular sausage, ham, bacon, meat, cheese and the like, comprising a basic frame (1) on which are arranged, in particular with adjustable inclination, a cutting head having a drive unit (8) and a circular knife (9) which rotates in planetary manner, and also a product supply unit with a guide (4) for the product to be cut, said guide having a supporting surface for the product to be cut, with means (6) for holding the product to be cut and with a feed means (5), characterised in that the relative position between at least the supporting surface as well as the means for holding the product to be cut and the cutting plane of the knife can be changed over a predeterminable retraction stroke by means of a controllable actuating unit (7, 12), in particular for a short period of time.

2. A circular cutting machine in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the product supply unit comprises an outer frame (2) which is journalled on the basic frame (1) and a carriage (3) which is displaceably guided on the outer frame (2); in that the feed means (5), the guide (4) for the material to be cut and the means (6) for holding the material to be cut are integrated into the carriage (3); and in that a controllable actuating unit (7), in particular in the form of a piston-in-cylinder arrangement for generating a predeterminable relative stroke between the outer frame (2) and the carriage (3), is provided between the outer frame (2) and the carriage (3).

3. A circular cutting machine in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a slider (10) is provided in front of the rotating circular knife (9) and is capable of being switched over between a blocking position and a release position; and in that the knife-side end of the guide (4) provided on the carriage (3) for the material to be cut is disposed at the end of the advance stroke of the carriage (3) executed by means of the actuating unit (7) within the path of movement of the slider (10) and directly adjacent the circular knife (9), whereas it has a distance in the region from 15 to 40 mm, and in particular a distance of approximately 30 mm from the circular knife (9) at the end of the retraction stroke of the carriage (3).

4. A circular cutting machine in accordance with one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that a positioning member (12) is provided between the carriage (3) and the carriage side hinge (13) for the actuating unit (7) for displacing the hinge point for the actuating unit (7).

5. A circular cutting machine in accordance with claim 4, characterised in that the positioning member (12) comprises a piston-in-cylinder arrangement which displaces the carriage over a stroke which only amounts to a fraction of the stroke of the actuating unit (7), with the piston-in-cylinder unit being controllable independently of this actuating unit (7).

6. A circular cutting machine in accordance with claim 4 or claim 5, characterised in that the stroke effected by means of the positioning member (12) amounts to approximately 1 mm and each retraction stroke effected by means of the positioning member (12) when the feed unit is stationary corresponds to at least one empty cut.

7. A circular cutting machine in accordance with one or more of the claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the piston-in-cylinder arrangement forming the positioning member (12) acts via a lever (14) on an eccentric axle on which the actuating unit (7) and a connecting part (15) fixed relative to the carriage are hinged, with the carriage (3) being moved relative to the actuating unit (7), or relative to the outer frame (2), by the lever adjustment.

8. A circular cutting machine in accordance with one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the actuating unit (7) and the spindle drive for the feed unit (5) are simultaneously activated in order to form initial cut pieces of the material to be cut.

9. A circular cutting machine in accordance with one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that a hold-down clamp which acts on the particular material to be cut and acts as a kind of brake and at least one device for lateral follow-up movement of an abutment are provided on the carriage (3).

10. A circular cutting machine in accordance with claim 9, characterised in that the abutment is capable of follow-up adjustment via a spring force.

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