Machines and methods suitable for performing cutting operations on products to yield a reduced-size product, for example, slicing and strip-cutting elongate food products. Such a method includes simultaneously delivering products to annular-shaped cavities of a rotating impeller. The products are simultaneously delivered with a feed unit that has a feed chute extension that protrudes into an interior of the impeller. The feed chute extension defines feed chutes that are aligned with the annular-shaped cavities of the impeller and direct the products to circumferential series of pockets within the annular-shaped cavities. The products are held within the pockets by centrifugal force as the products are carried past a slicing knife to form a first longitudinal cut through each of the products during a rotation of the impeller and to produce therefrom a substantially longitudinally sliced product.

The invention concerns a device and a method for guiding a blade at a cutting end face of a guide tube by means of magnetic force in order to bring a cutting spacing between the blade and the cutting end face as close as possible. The magnetic force may be applied to the blade only towards the end of a cutting process of a slice, i.e. near a blade outlet side of a guide tube cross-section of the guide tube.

A loading apparatus for loading food products onto and/or into a slicing apparatus, in particular a high-speed slicer, comprises at least one magazine unit that includes a conveying means that endlessly circulates along a running direction. The conveying means is configured to lift the products to a transferring height at which the products can be transferred to the slicing apparatus and includes several product support surfaces, the product support surfaces being oriented essentially perpendicular to the running direction and positioned subsequently along the running direction with a space between each other. At least one product is loadable onto a respective product support surface for lifting the product to the transferring height.

The invention described herein is directed to an inline spiral cutting food processor that includes a motor that rotates an upper positioned disc with a blade assembly by means of a belt or gear assembly or mechanism. The entrance and exit chute are fixed and positioned in-line with the axis of rotation of the blade supporting disc member. The entrance chute is positioned above the cutting disc, and the exit opening (or chute) is below. During operation a food item is pushed down the entrance chute as the blade rotates and cuts it. Cut food falls down through the opening or exit chute into a storage container or jar. The food cutting assembly is configured to generate spiral or helical food from vegetables.

A spiralizing device that cuts vegetables into elongated strands. The spiralizing device includes a base that connects to a kitchen utensil, and a cutting blade for contacting the cutting the vegetables. The spiralizing device is an accessory that connects to and receives power from the kitchen utensil.

A conical self-positioning limit feeding device and method. The conical self-positioning limit feeding device has bearing pot, empty circle in the center of bearing pot, U-shaped slide way formed between outer circle and inner circle, rotating evacuation cone and limit feeding rod arranged in the bearing pot and rotate in the same direction, and the speed of the rotating evacuation cone is greater than that of the limit feeding rod; materials are placed in the bearing pot, the evacuation cone rotates, and the materials rotate in the U-shaped slide way of the bearing pot by the torque generated by the friction between rotating evacuation cone and materials, till the long axes of the materials are tangent to the radius of the rotating evacuation cone; the limit feeding rod rotates and pushes materials to exit at equal intervals, thereby achieving the arrangement of the materials in the direction of long axis.

A food product cutting system can include a food product carrier for carrying food product circumferentially around an axis of rotation, where the food product carrier includes food cutters each having a knife and a corresponding pusher. Each knife is for receiving and engaging with food product, and each pusher is slidably coupled with a knife and movable for pushing food product out of engagement with the food cutter. The food product cutting system can also include a track oriented generally circularly with respect to the food product carrier. The track can be arranged at varying radial distances from the axis of rotation and coupled with followers. Each follower can be connected to a corresponding pusher. In operation, food product moved into the knife of a food cutter and carried around the axis of rotation is incrementally pushed out of engagement with the food cutter by the corresponding pusher.

An apparatus for cutting slices from a food product includes a vertical housing defining a barrel that receives an elongated food product. A rotatable blade apparatus is disposed beneath the lower end of the housing and has a planar guide with a slot. A first blade is mounted to the top surface of the guide with a sharp blade edge adjacent the slot and facing radially outwardly. Drive means rotates the rotatable blade apparatus into the food product to form slices. A substrate is disposed beneath the rotatable blade apparatus for receiving slices formed by the rotatable blade apparatus. The substrate may be a pizza crust and the food product may be a pepperoni stick.

A food product cutting system can include a food product carrier for carrying food product circumferentially around an axis of rotation, where the food product carrier includes food cutters each having a knife and a corresponding pusher. Each knife is for receiving and engaging with food product, and each pusher is slidably coupled with a knife and movable for pushing food product out of engagement with the food cutter. The food product cutting system can also include a track oriented generally circularly with respect to the food product carrier. The track can be arranged at varying radial distances from the axis of rotation and coupled with followers. Each follower can be connected to a corresponding pusher. In operation, food product moved into the knife of a food cutter and carried around the axis of rotation is incrementally pushed out of engagement with the food cutter by the corresponding pusher.

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.