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.

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.

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 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.

Machines for cutting products and impellers therefor. Such an impeller is adapted to be coaxially mounted within a cutting head for rotation therein. The impeller includes a lower plate having a paddle that directs material placed on the lower plate in a radially outward direction of the impeller when the impeller is rotated. A recess in the lower plate is continuous between upper and lower surfaces of the lower plate and contiguous with the perimeter of the lower plate to define a passageway to enable debris at the upper surface to exit the impeller therethrough. A chute is located at an outer radial extent of the paddle and defines a first opening adjacent the paddle, a second opening adjacent the recess, and a passageway within the chute and between the first and second openings through which the debris passes before exiting the impeller through the passageway of the recess.

A food cutter induces an operating frame, a push-pull mechanism and an elastic connecting piece. A mounting cavity and a feeding hole are formed in the operating frame; and the push-pull mechanism is mounted in the mounting cavity and connected with the operating frame in a sliding manner. The push-pull mechanism includes a push-pull rack, a stationary knife and a movable knife; the stationary knife is fixedly mounted on the push-pull rack; the movable knife is detachably mounted on the push-pull rack and positioned below the stationary knife; and a discharging hole is formed in the push-pull rack and communicated with the feeding hole and the mounting cavity. One end of the elastic connecting piece is fixedly connected with the operating frame, and the other end is fixedly connected with the push-pull rack.

The present invention relates to a portioning machine for dividing a strand-like product into individual portions and a method of controlling such portioning machine. The portioning machine includes a magazine turret attachment for receiving the strand-like product, a pressing unit for pressure-compacting the strand-like product at least in its longitudinal direction, and a portioning and cutting device for portioning and separating individual portions from the strand-like product. The magazine turret attachment has a base segment and a turret segment which have chute portions oriented coaxially with respect to one another for forming at least one reception chute for the strand-like product and which are rotatable about a common axis for positioning the reception chute in a cutting position; and wherein the pressing unit for pressure-compacting the strand-like product has at least one pressure ram and a counter-pressure element. The counter-pressure element is a slide element arranged between the base segment and the turret segment of the magazine turret attachment and is reversibly movable in a direction at least approximately perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the magazine turret attachment between a release position and a closure position for unblocking or closing the reception chute placed in the cutting position.

The present invention relates to a magazine turret attachment for a portioning machine for dividing a strand-like product into individual portions and a portioning machine having such a magazine turret attachment. The magazine turret attachment includes a turret base rotatable about a rotation axis which has at least one chute extending through the turret base and the chute axis of which extends at least approximately parallel to the rotation axis of the turret base; and at least one first chute module which may be reversibly arranged on the turret base in the area of the first chute and which is provided with only one chute extending through said first chute module and the chute axis of which extends coaxially to the chute axis of the first chute of the turret base and the cross-section of which corresponds at least approximately to the cross-section of the at least one chute of the turret base in order to form a first reception chute for a strand-like product.