An elastic self-positioning pre-dicing device and method, the device includes a V-shaped self-positioning device, a cutter and a separation device; the V-shaped self-positioning device includes first and second elastic conveying faces which form a V-shaped conveying space, and materials are kept in a vertical state when arriving at a bottom end between the two elastic conveying faces with the conveying of the faces; the cutter is arranged at the bottom end between the two faces to cut the materials in half along a long axis; and the separation device is arranged at the lower part of the cutter and configured to convey the materials cut in half to next stage respectively. This overcomes the defects of low efficiency in manual dicing of seed potatoes and waste of seed potatoes. The half-cut seed potatoes will be conveyed to next intelligent dice identification station to ensure high utilization of seed potato production.

A cutting assembly for mixtures for food use which is adapted for functional connection to a dispensing apparatus of at least one continuous element constituted by a mixture for food use, and which is provided with at least one cutter facing toward the exit of the dispensing apparatus.

A cutting assembly includes a fixed frame which is rigidly coupled, and proximate, to the dispensing apparatus, at least one motorized automatic follower mechanism, supporting the at least one cutter and coupled to the frame, and a control and management unit controlled by the dispensing apparatus and designed to control the at least one actuator of the at least one motorized automatic follower mechanism.

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 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.

In order to be able to reduce the number of required drive units in a multi-track slicing machine, in particular a multi-track slicer, for slicing a plurality of calibers simultaneously into slices, according to the invention second driven product guides for the, in particular all, tracks can only be driven together and have a freewheel unit acting in the feeding direction of the calibers.

The present invention relates to the field of automated food preparation. Specifically, the present invention is a system and method for processing sub style sandwich breads and sandwiches.

The grinding unit includes at least one grinding wheel adapted to rotate around a respective rotation axis, and a thrust actuator adapted to push the grinding wheel against a cutting edge of a disc-shaped cutting blade. A load cell is also provided for detecting an axial thrust exerted on the grinding wheel.

A system and methods are provided for removal of undesired portions of a fruit or vegetable, such as removal of calyxes from strawberries before they are flash frozen. An automated process for high-throughput fruit or vegetable calyx removal includes a loading system, an identification system, and a removal system. The loading system is configured to transport the fruit or vegetable through the automated process. The loading system may also orient the fruits or vegetables along an axis of the fruit and or align the fruit or vegetables in a desired pattern, orientation, and/or arrangement. The identification system is configured to locate the calyx and determines calyx position data and an optimal cutting path for individual fruit. The removal system uses data received from the identification system to separate the calyx from the fruit or vegetable.

Systems and methods are provided for inspecting a structure. One embodiment is a method for inspecting a structure. The method includes advancing a structure along a track in a process direction, aligning a Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) station at the track with an edge of the structure that was trimmed upstream of the cleaning station, imaging the edge via the Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) station, characterizing the edge based on the imaging, and advancing the structure further in the process direction via the track.

In order that in a portioning belt unit with only two deflecting drums, the rear one of which serves as a drive drum and requires a large wrap angle, the rear end of the upper run of the portioning belt does not become increasingly more declined towards the rear until it reaches the vertical, in accordance with the curvature of the upper side of this drive drum, a smaller rearmost deflecting drum is provided, and the upper run is held bent between the foremost and rearmost deflecting drums with an approximately horizontal front section and an obliquely rearwardly sloping rear section by correspondingly supporting the upper run by a belt support plate or a center deflecting drum.