A slicing apparatus for slicing food articles includes a food article loading apparatus with a lift tray assembly for moving food articles from a staging position to an elevated position at a beginning of a food article feed path, a food article feed apparatus disposed over the food article loading apparatus having an upper conveyor assembly with an independently driven endless conveyor belt used in cooperation with a food article gripper for moving the food articles along the food article feed path, a food article stop gate that forms part of the food article feed path and opens to drop food article end portions, and a slicing station at an end of the food article feed path with a knife for slicing the food articles.

A mandolin slicer includes a blade assembly suitable for making spiral cut slices, including a frame having a pair of opposing frame sidewalls and a downwardly extending lower support, a slicing ramp positioned at a first end of the mandolin slicer and between the pair of frame sidewalls, a runout plate positioned at a second end of the mandolin slicer and between the pair of frame sidewalls, and a blade assembly positioned between the pair of frame sidewalls.

The invention relates to a coating cutting tool for frozen confection comprising a frame defining a product void for receiving a product at least partly coated, a set of side knives comprising at least two knife mounted on the frame opposite of the product the void, wherein the knives are rotatable arranged on the frame such that they can be rotated into a product coating cutting position for cutting the coating on the side of the product and out of such a position to a non-engaging position to allow the product to be moved passed the knives, and an end knife for cutting the coating on the end of the frozen confection. The invention also relates to a method for cutting a coating on a frozen confection.

The invention relates to a system having a conveying apparatus for moving portions that each comprise at least one slice cut off from a food product, in particular by means of a slicing apparatus, in particular by means of a high-speed slicer; having at least one packaging apparatus for packaging the portions; and having at least one transfer device for transferring the portions from the conveying apparatus to the packaging apparatus, wherein the conveying apparatus comprises a plurality of individually movable transport movers for the transport of portions, a path system for the transport movers in which the transport movers are movable along at least one predefined path in a transport direction, and a control device for controlling the movements of the transport movers in the path system, wherein the transport movers each comprise at least one rotor cooperating with the path system and at least one carrier for portions attached to the rotor; and wherein the transfer device is configured to form a single-line or multi-line format set from a plurality of portions of different transport movers and to transfer the format set as a whole to the packaging apparatus.

A cutting head for a centrifugal cutting apparatus includes a rim structure; and a plurality of cutting stations which are mounted onto the rim structure, each of said cutting stations comprising a cutting element for cutting food products at a leading end of the cutting station and a product sliding surface between the leading end and a trailing end of the cutting station. The cutting stations are assembled adjacent one another onto the rim structure in such a way that a gap is present between each pair of adjacent cutting stations through which a product slice exits the cutting head upon being cut by one of the cutting elements. The product sliding surface has a first wall curvature on a front part and deviates from the first wall curvature on a rear part.

A food processing system includes a food processor wherein an initial operation of said food processor is configured to cut a food item in a first, generally vertical direction and a later operation of said food processor is configured to cut said food item in a second direction. The second direction is distinct from the vertical direction.

A blade assembly includes a blade support frame, and a plurality of V-shaped blades removably fastened to the blade support frame. The blade support frame has a food flow path extending downstream, and a plurality of blade mounts distributed around the food flow path. Each V-shaped blade has a first end portion connected to one of the blade mounts, a second end portion connected to another of the blade mounts, and an intermediate portion extending from the first end portion to the second end portion into the food flow path. At the first and second end portions of each V-shaped blade, a respective one of the blade mounts overlies both the upstream edge and the downstream edge of the V-shaped blade to inhibit the V-shaped blade from rotating when impacted by food.

A slicing machine for cutting slices of a food product includes a machine housing including a circular blade configured to rotate in a cutting plane, a stop plate configured to be move, by an adjustment device, perpendicular to the cutting plane, a carriage mounted such that it is movable parallel to the cutting plane, and a machine status display for displaying an actual status of the slicing machine.

A rotatable blade with a front side and a back side, for use in a slicing machine, includes a curved peripheral edge formed as a cutting edge defining a blade plane. On the back side of the blade, the cutting edge is adjoined by a first surface which is inclined obliquely to the blade plane, extends radially inwards and is at an acute cutting angle to the blade plane. A second surface of the blade follows the first surface radially inwards on the back side of the blade, and the blade has a same thickness over an entire radial extension of the second surface.

A method monitors a slicing machine, which has a circular knife driven by an electric knife motor. The method includes: sensing a knife motor current or a temporal profile of the knife motor current from the electric knife motor; determining measurement data based on the knife motor current or the temporal profile of the knife motor current; and determining a current cutting characteristic value based on the measurement data. The measurement data includes a load-dependent or load-independent current component. The cutting characteristic value includes a soiling, wear, or knife sharpness characteristic value, the soiling and wear characteristic values being derived from the load-independent current component, and the knife sharpness characteristic value being derived from the load-dependent current component.