In order to reliably detect, without supplying electric current or any other type of energy to a gripper, whether a rear end of a product caliber is in a grippable position close to a gripper base body and/or gripper claws are extended into the product caliber, i.e., are activated, a signal transmitter may be moved into an activated position via a purely mechanical operative connection between a sensing element, which detects the approach of the product caliber to the gripper base body in a contacting manner, which position can be detected by a sensor arranged far behind the gripper at a base frame of the machine.

A bread slicer includes an controller configured to cause claws to reach into an end-face securing portion, which is elongated in the direction of a connecting axis, of a loaf introduced into a feed chute, cause the loaf to be transported into a receiving chute over a blade gap, and cause a slicing blade to travel into the blade gap multiple times automatically during the transportation in order to cut off one slice from the loaf each time, and the slicing blade then moving fully back out of the blade gap again in order to allow each cut-off slice to be transported onward into the receiving chute and to allow the rest of the unsliced loaf to be transported onward over the blade gap. The receiving chute is above the feed chute. The connecting axis between the feed and receiving chute is vertically inclined by at least 30°.

A food product forming machine is configured to slice food product into slices. A main frame mounts a load assembly which receives food product and moves the food product through an opening in the main frame, a feed assembly downstream of the load assembly which moves food product through the main frame, and a slicing assembly downstream of the feed assembly which slices the food product into slices. In a first embodiment, the load assembly is at a rear end of the main frame, and in a second embodiment, the load assembly is at a side of the main frame. The load assembly is pivotally mounted to the main frame.

The invention relates to a gripper for use in a slicing machine, in particular a high-performance slicing machine, said gripper being joined to the food product using an integral bonding process.

In order to be able to implement a plurality of gripper functions acting independently of one another in a slicing machine without requiring a separate drive unit for each gripper function, a switching unit displaceable along an axial shifting distance is provided. Upon displacement of the switching unit along a first partial distance of a plurality of partial distances of the shifting distance, a caliber contact element is actuated in such a way that a caliber is pushed away from a caliber gripper, and upon shifting of the switching unit along a second partial distance, gripper claws of the caliber gripper are actuated in such a way that they are moved into an engagement position, in which they engage with the caliber, or into a release position, in which they release the caliber.

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.

The invention relates to a coating cutting tool for frozen confection comprising a frame defining a product void for receiving a product at least partly coated, a set of side knives comprising at least two knife mounted on the frame opposite of the product the void, wherein the knives are rotatable arranged on the frame such that they can be rotated into a product coating cutting position for cutting the coating on the side of the product and out of such a position to a non-engaging position to allow the product to be moved passed the knives, and an end knife for cutting the coating on the end of the frozen confection. The invention also relates to a method for cutting a coating on a frozen confection.

It is a system for processing produce comprising a plurality of freestanding pucks for carrying items of produce, each puck comprising a base and a spike extending from the base, the spike configured to pierce an item of produce and hold the item in a substantially fixed position relative to the base.

The invention relates to a method for the simultaneous multiple track cutting of several food products, in which the products are cut by means of a common cutting apparatus, in particular a high performance slicer, which has at least one cutting blade which rotates about a blade axis in a cutting plane and/or revolves about a central axis in a planetary motion manner and to which the products are supplied in multiple tracks, and in which blank cuts are carried out in at least a passive track and/or in which the supply of the respective product is suspended at least at times, while the respective product is sliced in at least one other active track.

As a fast and compact slide drive for a gripper slide, a traversing unit such as a traversing traction element unit is provided.