A cutting system and method for cutting food items includes an in-feed conveyor having an in-feed conveyor surface and an out-feed conveyor having an out-feed conveyor surface. The in-feed and the out-feed conveyors are arranged in an end-to-end arrangement. The system has a cutting knife defining a cutting plane within which it moves as it performs a cut. The cutting plane is defined between the ends of the in-feed and the out-feed conveyors. The cutting system has an out-feed hold down device with a surface facing the out-feed conveyor surface and being arranged in relation to the out-feed conveyor surface such that it is able to apply a pressure onto a portion of a food item resting on the out-feed conveyor surface while it is being cut by the cutting knife.

In a method of aligning an upper and a lower changeable tool (2, 10, 18) in a device for processing, e.g., sheets of paper, provision is made that with the aid of at least one digital camera (50, 51), the upper changeable tool (2) is aligned with a sheet that has been moved in and the lower changeable tool (18) is aligned relative to the upper changeable tool (2) after the sheet has been moved out.

This disclosure describes techniques for automatically controlling the operation of a slitter (40) to convert a web (20) of material into smaller slit rolls (64, 66, 68). A slitter director (60) may automatically control the operation of a slitter (40) for defect removal, web splicing, and/or slit roll rejection based on continually registering previously-generated anomaly data (62) with physical locations of the web (20).

When manufacturing a plurality of strip members by cutting a belt-like member along a length direction thereof, the belt-like member having embedded therein a plurality of reinforcement cords arranged parallel to each other, and a weft thread that intersects the reinforcement cords, a captured image showing images of at least the reinforcement cords in a cross section of one end of the belt-like member in the length direction is used to detect the position of the image of each of the reinforcement cords (RC). The number of the actual reinforcement cord (RC) to which each of the images of the reinforcement cords (RC) corresponds is determined on the basis of an interval between the images of the detected adjacent reinforcement cords (RC) in the image and an average cord interval, and a cutting position (Xa) is set.

The technology as disclosed herein includes a method and apparatus for deboning a meat item, and more particular for deboning a poultry item including performing an initial shoulder cut for removing boneless breast meat from the poultry carcass or frame. The method and apparatus disclosed and claimed herein is a combination of a robotic arm including an ultrasonic knife implement and a vision system for varying the cut path based on the shape and size of the poultry item. The combination as claimed including the ultrasonic knife can perform a meat cut while penetrating the meat with less force than the typical penetration that occurs when using a traditional knife.

A machine for forming packing templates includes a infeed mechanism that can feed multiple feeds of sheet material into the machine without repositioning the infeed mechanism or forming creases or bends in the sheet material. The machine also includes a separation and cutting systems with one or more cutting tables and biased knives that cut the sheet material packaging templates. The machine also includes creasing roller(s) that forms creases in the sheet material. The machine also includes a system for reducing or eliminating the impact of irregularities in the sheet material.

Systems for providing efficient manufacturing of paper, sheet, and/or box products of varying size and structure, often with pre-applied print (“pre-print”), are provided herein. Efficient customer ordering/tracking, job aggregation, print imposition, corrugator planning, and tracking and adjustments throughout the manufacturing process are contemplated. A reel editor is configured to edit the roll based on waste and/or errors that occurred during various manufacturing processes (e.g., during printing). A control plan defining what is on each roll of printed web product may be updated after editing. Depending on the configuration, the reel editor may be integrated with various manufacturing components. The reel editor may be configured to determine if there is enough waste on the roll to even making editing worthwhile, such as based on desired quality of the images, customer requirements, different price points, among other possible factors.

A system 10 may be used to carry out methods for portioning substantially uniform food products 12 into a series of intentionally created unique variations of one or more predetermined reference shapes to resemble naturally occurring food product shapes. The method includes scanning the uniform food product and generating digital data based on the results of the scanning. This data is used to generate a series of unique variations of one or more predetermined reference shapes based on one or more specified physical parameters for the unique variation shapes. Cutting paths are generated for cutting the substantially uniform food product 12 into the digitally generated unique variation shapes 44. A control system 30 controls the operation of a cutting apparatus 22 cut the substantially uniform food product 12 along the generated cutting paths thereby portioning the substantially uniform food product into unique variations of naturally occurring food product shapes.

Embodiments provide a pre-cut infeed system for a machine center, such as an edger. A pre-cut infeed system may include an infeed, one or more saws arranged along the infeed, and a scanner optimizer system. The scanner optimizer system may scan a workpiece and determine whether greater value can be obtained from the workpiece by cutting the workpiece transversely into two or more pieces upstream of the machine center. If so, the workpiece may be cut transversely by the saw(s) positioned along the infeed, and the cut pieces may be fed sequentially into the machine center.

In various embodiments, a dynamically directed workpiece positioning system may include a transport, a sensor positioned to detect a workpiece on the transport, a cutting member positioned along or downstream of the transport, and a computer system. The sensor may scan the workpiece as the workpiece is moved relative to the transport by a human operator or a positioning device. Based on the scan data, the computer system may generate commands to guide the human operator or positioning device in moving the workpiece to a desired position corresponding to a cut solution for the workpiece. Optionally, the computer system may cause the cutting member to be repositioned while the workpiece is being moved relative to the transport. Once the workpiece is in the desired position, the transport may be used to move the workpiece toward the cutting member. Corresponding methods and apparatuses are also disclosed.