Methods and equipment suitable for slicing products into lattice-type slices or chips. The methods and equipment utilize a knife assembly that includes a corrugated knife, a knife holder, and a clamp. A leading edge of the knife holder is defined by fingers and notches therebetween, and the fingers of the knife holder engage valleys in a first surface of the corrugated knife. The clamp is mated with a second surface of the corrugated knife and secures the corrugated knife to the knife holder. The clamp has a leading edge defined by fingers and notches therebetween. The fingers of the clamp engage valleys on the second surface of the corrugated knife, such that the fingers of the clamp are interdigitated with the fingers of the knife holder.

A cartridge adapted to secure reciprocating bread slicer blades including a rectangular frame having a planar surface, the frame having a plurality of pairs of opposed holders, each pair of the opposed holders adapted to releasably secure opposed ends of a corresponding bread slicer blade. The frame is adapted to secure a plurality of aligned bread slicer blades defining a plane offset from the frame planar surface. The frame is adapted to selectively maintain each of the plurality of aligned bread slicer blades in tension.

A cartridge adapted to secure reciprocating bread slicer blades including a rectangular frame having a planar surface, the frame having a plurality of pairs of opposed holders, each pair of the opposed holders adapted to releasably secure opposed ends of a corresponding bread slicer blade. The frame is adapted to secure a plurality of aligned bread slicer blades defining a plane offset from the frame planar surface. The frame is adapted to selectively maintain each of the plurality of aligned bread slicer blades in tension.

A blade mounting and removal tool, and system, for safely removing a blade from a food product slicer.

A rotary tool ejection technology utilizing air to eject contents from the dies of a rotary cylinder. The dies include orifices positioned therein. The orifices are assembled with porous material. The orifices are capable of receiving air from an internal chamber and delivering it to the outer surface of a rotary cylinder. Air is supplied to the internal chamber by an internal shaft. The internal shaft contains a channel in fluid communication with outlets extending radially outward from the channel to locations on the outer surface of the shaft. The shaft is optionally assembled with a manifold having a conduit. The conduit is positioned for intermittent alignment with the orifices in the rotary cylinder as the rotary cylinder rotates relative to the manifold.

The invention relates to steel-rule cutting dies having a die block with at least one kerf configured to receive a corresponding steel-rule intended to be partially inserted into the kerf. The die block also has at least one element having magnetic properties, such as for instance a magnet, located or embedded in proximity to each kerf for providing a magnetic field that retains the steel-rule when the steel-rule is received into the corresponding kerf. The presence of the magnetic element(s) in proximity to the kerf(s) allows maintaining the corresponding rule(s) in position within its kerf even if the kerf is cut “loosely”. The corresponding rule may be quickly and easily inserted and accurately maintained even if the die block expand or retract under atmospheric variations. Among other advantages, the invention allows better stability of the cutting-die, faster leveling on press, and increased the number of re-knifing and longer run-time.

A system for moving a cutting device gantry or similar structure on a material processing machine can include a mounting structure configured to be operably coupled to the gantry and a drive assembly movably coupled to the mounting structure. The drive assembly can be configured to move the mounting structure and the gantry in a first direction relative to a gantry guide shaft of the material processing machine. The drive assembly can also be movable relative to the mounting structure in a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction. In some embodiments, the system includes one or more guide wheels rotatably coupled to the mounting structure. Each of the guide wheels can include an annular outer portion having curvature configured to complimentarily engage the gantry guide shaft. The annular outer portion can be resiliently deformable and configured to conform to the gantry guide shaft during movement of thereon.

A hollow board cutting apparatus includes a machine bed unit, a driving unit, and a cutting unit. The driving unit includes a pair of upper sprockets rotatably disposed on the machine bed unit, a pair of lower sprockets rotatably disposed on the machine bed unit, a motor coupled to one of the lower sprockets for directly driving rotation of the one of the lower sprockets, a first drive chain trained on the upper and lower sprockets, and a second drive chain trained on the lower sprockets. The cutting unit includes an upper positioning seat coupled co-movably to the first drive chain, a lower positioning seat coupled co-movably to the second drive chain, and at least one cutting blade secured between the upper and lower positioning seats.

A blade and assembly provides for a blade that has a front beveled cutting edge and at least two recesses defined within the back, or non-cutting edge, of the blade. A substantially cylindrical cavity or bore extends inwardly into the blade from each recess, the bores being defined in planes that are parallel to the top and bottom surfaces of the blade. A plurality of “T-shaped” legs is provided, each leg having a cross bar or “foot” that is secured at one end of a rod. In the preferred embodiment, three such legs are used, although the present invention is not limited to that number. The rod of each leg is used for insertion into a blade bore. Means for fixing the position of the rod within the blade bore is also provided. This allows the blade to be properly positioned within the holder thereby compensating for blade wear.

A method and an apparatus are provided to measure a gap between a first and second roll. Moreover, a method and an apparatus are provided to correct the gap to a target distance with a closed loop system. Also, a method and an apparatus are implemented to detect the wear for each roll by using a non-contacting measuring device.