Machines for cutting products and impellers suitable for use with the machines. The impellers include a lower plate having a central zone and paddles configured with the lower plate outside of the central zone to direct material to the cutting head. At least a first exit slot is located in the lower plate, intersecting the perimeter of the lower plate, and extending through the lower plate to define a passageway to enable foreign debris at the upper surface to exit the impeller through the passageway.

Clamping assemblies for securing knives to slicing machines, slicing machines equipped therewith, and tools for removing and installing knives on slicing machines. Such a clamping assembly may include a knife holder, a knife supported on a surface of the knife holder, and a clamp that clamps the knife to the knife holder. The clamp has a knife-engaging portion and a base portion. A cam rod applies a clamping load to the clamp to secure the knife to the knife holder. The cam rod has a camming surface that engages the base portion of the clamp when the cam rod is rotated to a clamping position to clamp the knife against the knife holder, and a radial concavity sized to accommodate the base portion of the clamp such that the base portion is loosely received within the radial concavity when the radial concavity faces the clamp in an open position thereof.

A knife holder has a base and a knife support portion extending from the base. The knife support portion includes a distal edge and a knife support surface for supporting a knife. The knife support surface includes a shaped portion and a relieved surface. The shaped portion has a wavy shape and is located adjacent the distal edge. The relieved surface does not have a wavy shape and is located on the knife support surface so that at least part of the shaped portion is between the relieved surface and the distal edge. An abutment surface is between the base and the relieved surface and is defined by the relieved surface.

The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus and related methods (i.e. utilities) for trimming plants, in particular, buds and flowers, to remove unwanted plant material. A typical application would be to process a plant to leave only trimmed buds and flowers for use in potpourri, fragrant sashes, or as a prelude to further processing of essential oils. The utilities enable faster and safer production of plant material than prior plant processing machines. The utilities employ a coaxial drum and cutting element that counter rotate. This coaxial cutting element typically includes a plurality of cutting elements, to create a plurality of cutting interface that shear unwanted plant material form plant material within the drum and then collect this debris though, for example, a vacuum system. The use of the counter-rotating cutting interfaces allows for multiplying the cutting interfaces over prior existing machines.

Knife assemblies for securing knives to slicing machines, slicing machines equipped therewith, and methods of operating knife assemblies for securing knives to and releasing knives from slicing machines. Such a knife assembly includes a knife holder having a knife support surface, a knife supported on the knife support surface, and a clamp having a base portion adjacent a trailing edge of the clamp and a knife-engaging portion adjacent a leading edge of the clamp. The knife assembly applies a clamping load to the clamp to secure the knife to the knife holder. The clamp is prevented from translating relative to the shaped knife in a leading direction of the knife assembly as the clamping load is applied and/or permits removal of the clamp by being translated in the leading direction.

Methods and equipment suitable for slicing products into lattice-type slices or chips. The methods and equipment utilize a knife assembly that includes a corrugated knife, a knife holder, and a clamp. A leading edge of the knife holder is defined by fingers and notches therebetween, and the fingers of the knife holder engage valleys in a first surface of the corrugated knife. The clamp is mated with a second surface of the corrugated knife and secures the corrugated knife to the knife holder. The clamp has a leading edge defined by fingers and notches therebetween. The fingers of the clamp engage valleys on the second surface of the corrugated knife, such that the fingers of the clamp are interdigitated with the fingers of the knife holder.

Knife assemblies and methods therefor that are adapted to be used with a cutting apparatus capable of producing a variety of shaped food products having large amplitudes, for example, sliced, shredded, and strip-cut food products. The knife assembly includes a primary blade having a corrugated shape to produce a large-amplitude food product slice having a periodic shape, and at least one tab blade assembled with or formed from the primary blade to cut a food product slice into strips.

A cutting head for a centrifugal cutting apparatus includes a rim structure; and a plurality of cutting stations which are mounted onto the rim structure, each of said cutting stations comprising a cutting element for cutting food products at a leading end of the cutting station and a product sliding surface between the leading end and a trailing end of the cutting station. The cutting stations are assembled adjacent one another onto the rim structure in such a way that a gap is present between each pair of adjacent cutting stations through which a product slice exits the cutting head upon being cut by one of the cutting elements. The product sliding surface has a first wall curvature on a front part and deviates from the first wall curvature on a rear part.

An apparatus for cutting potato slices, the apparatus comprising an annular-shaped cutting head and a central impeller coaxially mounted for rotation within the cutting head for delivering potatoes radially outwardly toward the cutting head, a plurality of knives serially mounted annularly around the cutting head, and a plurality of orientation elements serially and annularly mounted within the impeller to define a plurality of cutting zones located around the impeller, each cutting zone being between adjacent orientation elements, wherein radially inner parts of adjacent orientation elements are separated in circumferential direction to define between adjacent orientation elements a throat for passage therethrough of a potato in a radially outward direction into the respective cutting zone toward the cutting head, wherein the throat has a width of from 70 to 140 mm.

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.