A slicing apparatus for slicing food articles includes a food article loading apparatus with a lift tray assembly for moving food articles from a staging position to an elevated position at a beginning of a food article feed path, a food article feed apparatus disposed over the food article loading apparatus having an upper conveyor assembly with an independently driven endless conveyor belt used in cooperation with a food article gripper for moving the food articles along the food article feed path, a food article stop gate that forms part of the food article feed path and opens to drop food article end portions, and a slicing station at an end of the food article feed path with a knife for slicing the food articles.

In order to maintain required average weight of an entire batch when slicing a loaf into slices and yet avoid underweighting individual slices, different reference weights are selected for critical areas depending on basic shape of the loaf, usually the two ends, than for the remaining area.

In order to avoid underweight of slices when slicing a loaf into slices, thickness adjustments specified for slicing are adjusted depending on different pre-known parameters, from loaf to loaf and/or from slice to slice within one and the same loaf, preferably also across the boundary between two loaves optimized as early as possible so that existing weight conditions with regard to actual weight of the slices are maintained, in particular no more underweight slices are produced and/or the minimum average weight of the slices required for the entire batch is maintained.

A cutting machine with improved log feed channels includes a plurality of feed channels of logs, a blade assembly for cutting logs, and a discharge assembly of final rolls and head and end trims, wherein every feed channel includes a clamp and a plurality of pushers, chain-moved, for feeding the logs in the clamp, wherein every feed channel includes a pair of chains and every pusher is jointly connected to both the chains of the pair of chains, wherein every chain of the pair of chains has a closed-loop extension defined by four pinions, describing an upper feed branch, a descent branch, a lower return branch and an ascent branch of the pusher.

In order to be able to load a forming tube channel, which stands very steeply and is open at a front and top on a longitudinal side, correctly by checking and, if necessary, changing position of a product piece in the forming tube channel, instead of sliding the new product piece from the outside on a support plate to the forming tube channel in the machine and dropping it into the forming tube channel, the entire forming tube channel is moved from a cutting position outward to a loading position, the product piece is inserted there and an entire transfer device in the form of one or more slides is moved back to the cutting position and locked there.

The invention relates to an apparatus for the single-track or multi-track slicing of food products, in particular a high-performance slicer, having a product feed that feeds products to be sliced and disposed on a product support on one track or on multiple tracks in a feed direction to a cutting region in which a cutting blade moves, in particular in a rotating and/or revolving manner, in order to slice the fed products in a cutting plane, which extends perpendicular to the feed direction, at a predefined or predefinable cutting frequency by means of the cutting blade; and having a dividing device that has at least one holder, which is arranged in the region of the cutting plane, for at least one elongated separation element, which extends in a dividing plane extending in parallel with the cutting plane, and a drive for the holder by which the holder can be excited to perform to-and-fro movements perpendicular to the feed direction at a dividing frequency in order to divide the front ends of the products by means of the separation element in parallel with the feed direction so that, in a respective cutting process, a plurality of product parts are cut off from a respective front product end by means of the cutting blade, wherein a control device is provided, and wherein the drive for the holder comprises a drive that can be controlled by means of the control device, in particular a servomotor.

A food product slicing apparatus is configured to slice food products into slices. A load assembly pivotally is mounted on a frame and a food product is positioned thereon. A drive assembly on the frame receives the food product from the load assembly and moves the food product relative to the frame. The load assembly can be positioned in at a first, lowered position relative to the drive assembly, a second, partially raised position relative to the drive assembly and a third, fully raised position relative to the drive assembly. The drive assembly engages the food product when the load assembly is in the third, fully raised position.

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.