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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
SLICING APPARATUS
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/1991/007097
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A chute attachment for a slicing apparatus comprises a tiltable platform (10) hinged to a baseplate (12) to be mounted on the apparatus. The platform (10) has a plurality of endless chain conveyors (16) each having a series of outstanding spikes (18) therealong. The spikes (18) of each conveyor (16) extend through a corresponding slot (20) in the platform (10) to serve as a lower securement for an article of food (22) placed thereon and, when driven, to progress it towards a cutting blade (24) of said slicing apparatus. A plurality of resiliently biased fingers (26) are positioned above the platform (10) to provide an upper biasing against the article (22) and hold the article (22) in its lower securement. The conveyors (16) are driven by a spring-loaded lever system to be integrated into a thickness setting mechanism of said apparatus.

Inventors:
BEASANT ROBERT (GB)
MCKNIGHT DAVID ERIC (GB)
Application Number:
PCT/GB1990/001754
Publication Date:
May 30, 1991
Filing Date:
November 14, 1990
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
BEASANT ROBERT (GB)
MCKNIGHT DAVID ERIC (GB)
International Classes:
B26D7/06; (IPC1-7): A22C25/18; B26D7/06
Foreign References:
FR2285965A11976-04-23
EP0107056A21984-05-02
DE3838520A11990-05-17
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Claims:
CLAIM :
1. A chute attachment for a slicing apparatus comprising a tiltable platform hinged to a baseplate to be mounted on the apparatus, the platform having a plurality of endless conveyors each having a series of outstanding spikes therealong, the spikes of each conveyor extending through a corresponding slot in the platform to serve as a lower securement for an article of food placed thereon and, when driven, to progress it towards a cutting blade of said slicing apparatus, a plurality of resiliently biased fingers being positioned above the platform to provide an upper biasing against the article and hold the article in its lower securement, and the conveyors being driven by a spring loaded lever system to be integrated into a slice thickness setting mechanism of said apparatus.
2. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 1 , wherein the platforir. has a lengthadjustable support, the lengthadjustment being in predetermined increments with the lengthadjustable parts of the support being securable in one or other of said incremental adjustments.
3. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the support is hinged to allow the platform to be moved between an inuse position and an outofuse position, in which latter position, the platform can be replenished with a further article for slicing and thereafter be returned exactly to the previous setting relative to the cutting blade of the apparatus.
4. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the conveyors are arranged in a parallel relationship to each other and are entrained around two spaced shafts, the lower of which, when the platfrom is inclined, is driven.
5. A chute as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the conveyors are of chains.
6. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 4, wherein one end of the lower shaft has a first lever having a unidirectional clutch.
7. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 5 or 6, wherein a corresponding number of sprocket wheels are mounted around the lower shaft, each wheel to engage the chains of a respective conveyor.
8. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 6 or 7, wherein a first rod is connected to the first lever at an upper end, and its lower end is contained inside an upper tubular extension of a second rod and acted upon by a spring within the tubular extension.
9. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 8, wherein a lower end of the second rod is connected to one end of a second lever fast with a third shaft whose other end is fashioned as a pinion wheel having its teeth meshing with teeth of a rack.
10. A chute attachment as claimed in Claim 9, wherein movement of the rack, causing consequential movement of the pinion and third shaft, the second lever, the first and second rods, the first lever, the lower shaft and indexing forwardly the conveyors a predetermined amount, is caused by a movable stop on the slicing apparatus striking an end of the rack remote from the pinion wheel, the rack being spring biased to a return position.
11. A chute attachment for a slicing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Description:
SLICING APPARATUS.

This invention relates to a slicing apparatus, and more particularly to a chute attachment for mounting to a conventional slicing apparatus to enable, for example smoked or otherwise treated fish such as trout or salmon to be sliced in a manner giving a greater depth of slice than the depth of a side of the fish from which it is being cut, and to give slices having a consistent thickness.

Heretofore, chutes for slicing fish have been proposed, each comprising a platform on which the article of food, ie. a side of a fish, to be sliced is placed, the platform then being tiltable relative to a cutting blade of the slicing apparatus to enable wide slices to be cut at an angle to the body of the side of fish. Previous designs of chute have incorporated a telescopic platform support which reguired, to obtain a similar thickness of slice, careful resetting after each occasion in which the platform had been lowered to insert a new side of fish, to allow for cleaning of the platform and/or cutting blade of the slicing apparatus and its vicinity, or to allow access to sharpen the cutting blade. This requirement to reset after each lowering is time-consuming and therefore disadvantageous. Some of these designs incorporated a

feeding mechanism in the form of a plurality of parallel endless chain conveyors having at intervals along their lengths outstanding spikes to extend through slots in the platform and being intended to pierce and enter the side of fish to be cut and on forward movement of the conveyors to advance the side of fish towards the cutting blade. The conveyors are driven through a linkage integrated into a drive mechanism of the slicing apparatus. When the angle of the platform is changed to cope with, for example, a different thickness of side of fish, the degree of movement of the side of fish down the platform can be excessive and cause jamming and subsequent distortion in the cut slices which is disadvantageous resulting in unsalable slices of fish at a premium rate, additional labour in unjamming the side of fish, and the down time in the slicing apparatus not being used.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages. Accordingly, the present invention is a chute attachment for a slicing apparatus comprising a tiltable platform hinged to a baseplate to be mounted on the apparatus, the platform having a plurality of endless conveyors each having a series of outstanding spikes therealong, the spikes of each conveyor extending through a corresponding slot in the platform to serve as

a lower securement for an article of food placed thereon and, when driven, to progress it towards a cutting blade of said slicing apparatus, a plurality of resiliently biased fingers being positioned above the platform to provide an upper biasing against the article and hold the article in its lower securement, and the conveyors being driven by a spring-loaded lever system to be integrated into a thickness setting mechanism of said apparatus. Preferably, the platform has a length-adjustable support, the length-adjustment being in predetermined increments with the length-adjustable parts of the support being securable in one or other of said incremental adjustments. Preferably also, the support is hinged to allow the platform to be moved between an in-use position and an out-of-use position, in which latter position, the platform can be replenished with a further article for slicing and thereafter be returned exactly to the previous setting relative to the cutting blade of the apparatus.

Preferably further, the conveyors are arranged in a parallel relationship to each other and are entrained around two spaced shafts, the lower of which, when the platfrom is inclined, is driven. The conveyors are preferably of chains. One end of the lower shaft desirably has a first lever having a uni-directional

clutch. A corresponding number of sprocket wheels are mounted around the lower shaft, each wheel to engage the chains of a respective conveyor. A first rod is preferably connected to the first lever at an upper end and its lower end is contained inside an upper tubular extension of a second rod and acted upon by a spring within the tubular extension. A lower end of the second rod is desirably connected to one end of a second lever fast with a third shaft whose other end is fashioned as a pinion wheel having its teeth meshing with teeth of a rack. Movement of the rack, causing consequential movement of the pinion and third shaft, the second lever, the first and second rods, the first lever, the lower shaft and indexing forwardly the conveyors a predetermined amount, is desirably caused by a movable stop on the slicing apparatus striking an end of the rack remote from the pinion wheel, the rack being spring biased to a return position.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 shows a side view of a chute attachment according to the present invention with a platform and a support shown in two different positions, one in broken line, and with a cutting blade of a slicing apparatus being shown;

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the chute attachment with the support shown in an extended position (full line) and in a collapsed position (broken line);

Fig. 3 shows a side view of a lever system to operate a plurality of endless conveyors; and

Fig. 4 shows a front view of the lever system and parts of a thickness setting mechanism of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, a chute attachment for a slicing apparatus comprises a tiltable platform 10 hinged at 12 to a baseplate 14 to be mounted on the apparatus. A length-adjustable support 8 extends between the platform 10 as shown and the baseplate 14, the length-adjustment being in predetermined increments with the length-adjustable parts of the support 8 being securable in one or other of said incremental adjustments. The support 8 is a three part strut. Part 8A is hinged to part 8B and part 8C is in a length- adjustable relationship with part 8B. In Fig. 1 , parts 8B and 8C are in their extended position as shown in full line and in their retracted position as shown in broken line. By altering the length of parts 8B and 8C, the angle of the platform 10 to the baseplate 14 can be changed. The form of clamping between parts 8B and 8C may be fastenings through a series of holes provided in the parts 8B and &C, by a clamp on one part indenting in a series of knotches provided in the other part or by any other suitable means. The support 8 is hinged to

allow the platform 10 to be moved between an in-use position and an out-of-use position. Fig. 2 shows the support 8 in the collapsed out-of-use position (broken line) and this position allows the platform 10 to be moved clear of a cutting blade 24 of the apparatus to allow for cleaning and/or resharpening of the blade 24 and to allow the platform 10 to be replenished with a further side of fish 22 and thereafter be returned exactly to the previous setting relative to the cutting blade of the apparatus .

The platform 10 has a plurality of endless chain conveyors 16 (Figs. 3 and 4) arranged in a parallel relationship to each other. Each of the conveyors 16 has a series of outstanding spikes 18 at intervals therealong. The spikes 18 of each conveyor 16 extends through a corresponding slot 20 in the platform 10 to serve as a lower securement for an article of food ie. a side of fish 22 placed thereon.

A plurality of resiliently biased fingers 26, ie. of spring metal, are positioned above the platform 10 arranged in two rows as shown to provide an upper biasing against the side of fish 22 when placed on the platform 10 and hold the side in its lower securement.

The conveyors 16, when driven, progress in indexed movements the side of fish 22 towards the cutting blade 24 of said slicing apparatus. The driving movement is by

a spring-loaded lever system (as shown in Figs. 3 and 4) to be integrated into a thickness setting mechanism of said apparatus. A block 28 is secured to the rear of the platform 10 and carries two spaced shafts, the lower of which, when the platform is inclined, is driven. The lower shaft is designated 30. The conveyors 16 are entrained around the two shafts. A corresponding number of sprocket wheels 58 are mounted around the lower shaft 30, each wheel to engage the chains of a respective conveyor 16. On one end of shaft 30, a first lever 32 is provided at one end of which is mounted a uni-directional drive clutch 34. A first rod 36 is attached to the first lever 32 by a fastening through a spherical bearing. The lower end of rod 36 is contained inside an upper tubular extension 38 of a second rod 40 and acted upon by spring 42 within the tubular extension 38. The lower end of rod 40 is attached to one end of a second lever 44 by a fastening through a spherical bearing. Lever 44 is fast with a third shaft 46 whose other end is fashioned as a pinion wheel 60 with its gear teeth 48 to engage with teeth on a rack 50 which is returned after each slice is cut by spring 52. A movable stop 54 strikes an end of rack 50 remote from the pinion wheel at the end of each return stroke of a carriage of the slicing apparatus.

In operation from rest, the complete assembly moves in direction of arrow Α' when the rack 50 is

struck by the stop 54 causing consequential movement of the pinion wheel 60 and third shaft 46, the second lever 44, the first and second rods 36, 40, the first lever 32, the lower shaft 30 and indexing forwardly the conveyors 16 a predetermined amount whereby the side of fish 22 is sliced by the cutting blade 24 and on the return stroke, under the influence of spring 52 in the direction of arrow 'B 1 , the rack 50 strikes the movable stop 54 causing again the movement of the connected elements as shown by arrows 'C, 'D', 'E' thus feeding the side of fish 22 against a gauge plate 56. The clutch 34 drives the shaft 30 to move the conveyors 16 forwardly and allows the lever 32 to move in a reverse rotation without causing the shaft 30 to move in the reverse direction.

If the movement is not exactly correct for the angle of the platform. Spring 42 will be compressed and no cumulative compression or jamming can occur.

On the slicing apparatus, the movable stop 54 is set by a same mechanism of the apparatus as controls the gauge plate 56.