A food slicing system includes a hub fixedly secured to a drive shaft and configured to rotate with the drive shaft. The hub has a central pilot projection coaxial with the drive shaft, and flat, blade contacting surface surrounding the pilot projection. A counterweight is eccentrically mounted to the hub and rotatable between a first position and an second position relative to the hub. Wherein when the counterweight is in a first position, the counterweight is in axial alignment with pilot projection, and permits the blade to be attached to or removed from the hub via movement of the blade in the axial direction. When the counterweight is in the second position, the counterweight is eccentric to the pilot projection and is offset from the axis of rotation, to provide a predetermined amount of weight offset from the axis of rotation to counterbalance the weight of the blade.

A food product slicing apparatus is provided for slicing food products into slices. A frame mounts a drive assembly, a lower feed roller, a shear bar and a slicing blade. The drive assembly moves the food products onto the lower feed roller. The food product passes over the lower feed roller and through the shear bar for slicing by the slicing blade. At least one upper feed roller is mounted on the shear bar and is adjustable in position relative to the lower feed roller.

A food slicing system having a main frame includes a blade reciprocating assembly, which further includes a support frame, a rotating cutting blade mounted to the support frame, a motor mounted on the support frame, and a support shaft operatively coupled to the main frame at opposite ends thereof. The support shaft is coupled to an upper portion of the support frame and is configured to support the support frame and permit pivotal movement of the support frame. A drive shaft is operatively coupled to the main frame and is rotationally driven by an actuator. A plurality of linkage elements are configured to operatively couple the drive shaft to a lower portion of the support frame, where the linkage elements reciprocally move the blade reciprocating assembly between a slicing position and a clearance position, and where the support frame pivots about the support shaft during the reciprocal movement.

A food product slicing apparatus for slicing food products into slices is provided. A frame mounts a drive assembly which is configured to move the food products relative to the frame, a side strapping assembly which side straps a side of the food product, and a slicing blade configured to slice the food products into slices. The side strapping assembly is mounted to the frame proximate to the drive assembly. The side strapping assembly includes a releasable clamp which couples a blade of the side strapping assembly to the frame. The clamp can be released without the use of tools.

A food slicing includes a forward conveyor assembly located proximal to the blade assembly and a rearward conveyor assembly configured to transport the food product to the forward conveyor assembly. The rearward conveyor assembly is located immediately upstream from the forward conveyor assembly and gap is formed laterally between the forward conveyor assembly and the rearward conveyor assembly, in the longitudinal direction. An upper scanner unit proximal the gap scans an upper surface of the food product while a lower scanner unit located below the forward and rearward conveyor assemblies scans a lower surface of the food product as the food product passes across the gap, to obtain contour information of the lower surface of the food product.

A drive assembly for a food product slicing apparatus is provided which slices food products into slices. The drive assembly is mounted on a frame of the food product slicing apparatus and includes lower and upper conveyor assemblies coupled to the frame which move food products relative to the frame. The upper conveyor assembly is configured to move upward and downward relative to an upper plane defined by the lower conveyor assembly, and is further configured to pivot relative to the lower conveyor assembly to firmly grip the food products as they pass therebetween.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a blade. In some embodiments, the blade is configured to produce 50% to 99.9% less residual dust than a comparative blade when the blade is used to cut at least one foam board, where the comparative blade is identical to the blade, except that the comparative blade does not comprise any notches. Methods of using and making the blade and systems that include the blade are also described.

A utility chain for cutting ductile materials includes a plurality of cutting links. Each of the cutting links includes a sintered cutting segment, a first side plate, and a second side plate. Each of the sintered cutting segments includes abrading particles embedded in a bonding matrix. The utility chain further includes a plurality of drive links, each of which is connected to a cutting link, and a plurality of connectors, each of which maintains the attachment of a cutting link to a drive link.

A system for cutting a wet green ceramic article which includes a power device to generate power and a transmission assembly including an input and an output. The input is operably coupled to the power device such that power is transferred through the transmission assembly from the input to the output. The system also includes a cutting tool holder that holds a cutting tool. The cutting tool holder is coupled to the output and pivotally coupled to a pivot point. The output of the transmission assembly pivots the cutting tool holder about the pivot point as the cutting tool reciprocates in a cutting motion between a first position and a second position.

A device, method, and computer readable medium are provided for transitioning risk analysis. The method includes providing a first risk assessment, and providing a second risk analysis program that generates risk assessments based on a transformation model configured to convert risk based on (1) a first reference rate, and (2) one or more risk functions for one or more first instruments, into risk based on a second reference rate. The method includes generating a second risk assessment with the second risk analysis program, based on the first risk assessment and one or more target instruments that incorporate risk based on the second reference rate, the one or more target instruments being associated with a product or service.