The invention relates to a feeding apparatus for feeding food products to a slicing unit, having a product support comprising at least one track for the reception of a plurality of products arranged one after another; and at least one product mount which comprises a holder for holding a rear end of a product viewed in a feed direction.

Cutting of a material, such as a textile or film, can damage the material. A tool is provided that utilizes vacuum pressure near a knife edge to increase a result of the cut. The vacuum pressure passes through a base portion of the tool that has a recessed portion effective to distribute vacuum pressure to one or more apertures extending around an insert of a core portion. The one or more apertures align with a void between the knife edge and the insert allowing for the void to transmit the vacuum pressure through the tool to the knife edge. A machine horn may then cut the material at the knife edge and couple the material with another material.

A method is provided for automatically modifying the cutting paths for parts to be cut out from a flexible material by automatically moving a cutter tool along predetermined cutting paths. The cutting paths are associated with each part being defined by a succession of cutting segments forming a polygon. Two cutting segments are identified and belonging to two different parts for cutting out in the material and for which a maximum distance condition between these cutting segments is satisfied. Two cutting segments are verified for being situated facing each other, and that no other cutting segments lie between the two cutting segments. A common cutting path for the two cutting segments is computed, and a common cutting path is connected to the cutting paths of the two parts for cutting out to obtain modified cutting paths for the two parts for cutting out.

A system comprises a tank, a number of actuators, and an index table. The tank is configured to hold a fluid. The tank has a bottom, a number of walls, and an open top end. The number of actuators is configured to move the tank in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the tank. The index table is configured to hold a workpiece above the open top end such that movement of the tank in the direction perpendicular to the bottom of the tank moves the tank towards or away from the workpiece.

A method of processing a food item that includes moving a food item along a direction towards an automated slicer, wherein prior to the food item being sliced by the automated slicer the food item that is being moved has a length, L, as measured along the direction. The method further includes determining a thickness, T, of a slice of the food item to be generated by the automated slicer and slicing the food item that has the length, L, by the automated slicer so that a maximum possible number, N.sub.max, of slices of the food item are generated that have the thickness, T.

A cutting guide having a seam allowance recess and methods of cutting a piece of material with such cutting guide.

A cutting apparatus includes a rotatable holding table having a rectangular holding surface, a cutting unit having a cutting blade mounted to a rotatable spindle, and a sensor unit detecting a tip of the cutting blade entering between a light projection section and a light reception section. The sensor unit has an upper end located to be lower than a lower end of the holding table in a Z direction and is located below the axis of the spindle or an extension region of the axis, and when short sides of the rectangular holding surface are set parallel to a Y direction, an upper side of the sensor unit is opened to allow the cutting blade to enter between the light projection section and the light reception section.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing parts of acetate eyeglass frames from an acetate plate. The plate is designed with length and height dimensions defining a surface area that encompasses the perimeter boundary of the body of the frame part to be manufactured, and with a thickness the value of which is at least equal to the maximum transverse dimensions of the three-dimensional shape of the body of the frame part itself and extends evenly over the entire surface defined by the length and the height of the plate. The method also comprises the step of forming a cut within the surface dimensions of the plate along the perimeter boundary of the body of the eyeglass part to be manufactured, excepting a pair of portions of said boundary, thereby leaving said portions connected to the plate, and the step of forming the three-dimensional shape of the frame part body by removing material from the thickness of the plate. The same method also comprises the step of forming the lens seats, the grooves for receiving lenses within their seats, a nose bridge, bridge arms, and the endpieces for connection to the temples. The invention further relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process and an eyeglass frame so manufactured.

A method of partitioning involves a predetermined layout of parts that are to be cut out from a sheet of flexible material by moving at least one cutter tool along two directions in at least two distinct and determined cutting windows along which the material is advanced in succession. Starting from a predetermined layout of the parts in the material, the method comprises: automatically creating mutually distinct groups of parts by allocating each part to a single group of parts as a function of its geometrical position, each group of parts being associated, for cutting out, with a single cutter tool and with a single cutting window; and applying spacings between the various groups of parts.

Devices and methods for processing animal or human tissue are provided. The devices may include a vacuum surface to secure the tissue in place and an apparatus for removing fat or other material from the tissue. The apparatus can include one or more blades and/or a fluid jet system.