FOOD ITEM CUTTING SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract

A cutting system and method for cutting food items includes an in-feed conveyor having an in-feed conveyor surface and an out-feed conveyor having an out-feed conveyor surface. The in-feed and the out-feed conveyors are arranged in an end-to-end arrangement. The system has a cutting knife defining a cutting plane within which it moves as it performs a cut. The cutting plane is defined between the ends of the in-feed and the out-feed conveyors. The cutting system has an out-feed hold down device with a surface facing the out-feed conveyor surface and being arranged in relation to the out-feed conveyor surface such that it is able to apply a pressure onto a portion of a food item resting on the out-feed conveyor surface while it is being cut by the cutting knife.

Claims

1.-29. (canceled)

30. A cutting system for cutting food items, the cutting system comprising: an in-feed conveyor comprising an in-feed conveyor surface; an out-feed conveyor comprising an out-feed conveyor surface, the in-feed and the out-feed conveyors being arranged in an end-to-end arrangement; and a cutting knife defining a cutting plane within which it moves as it performs a cut, the cutting plane being defined between the ends of the in-feed and the out-feed conveyors, wherein the cutting system further comprises an out-feed hold down device comprising a surface facing the out-feed conveyor surface and being arranged in relation to the out-feed conveyor surface such that it is able to apply a pressure in a direction of the conveyor surface of the out-feed conveyor onto a portion of a food item resting on the out-feed conveyor surface while it is being cut by the cutting knife.

31. The cutting system according to claim 30, further comprising an in-feed hold down device comprising a surface facing the in-feed conveyor surface and being arranged in relation to the in-feed conveyor surface such that it is able to apply a pressure onto a portion of a food item resting on the in-feed conveyor surface while being cut by the cutting knife.

32. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein the in-feed hold down device and/or the out-feed hold down device comprises a motorised height adjustment mechanism.

33. The cutting system according to claim 32, wherein the motorised height adjustment mechanism is arranged so that the height can be adjusted while a distance, such as a smallest distance, between the out-feed hold down device and/or the in-feed hold down device, and the cutting plane, remains substantially constant, such as constant.

34. The cutting system according to claim 30, further comprising a scanner arranged to scan food items upstream of the cutting plane of cutting knife.

35. The cutting system according to claim 32, wherein the cutting system further comprises a control unit configured to receive data from the scanner, compute a contour on the basis of the received data, and control the height of the in-feed hold down device and/or the out-feed hold down device on the basis of the computed contour.

36. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein the cutting system comprises a controller configured to control the cutting knife to perform a cut, and further to control a conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor, and/or a conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor so that the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor, such as in a downstream direction away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife, is larger than the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor, such as in a downstream direction towards the cutting plane of the cutting knife, after the cutting knife has performed a cut, such as immediately after the cutting knife has performed a cut and/or between the cutting knife performs two consecutive cuts.

37. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein the cutting system comprises a controller configured to control: the cutting knife to perform a cut, and further to control the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor, and/or the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor so that after the cutting knife has performed a cut, such as immediately after the cutting knife has performed a cut and/or between the cutting knife performs two consecutive cuts, a distance between adjacent food items initially on either side of the cutting knife is increased.

38. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein the cutting system comprises a controller configured to control at least the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor and control the cutting knife to perform a cut, and further to accelerate the conveyor surface of the out-feed conveyor away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife as the cutting knife performs a cut.

39. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein the cutting system comprises a controller configured to control at least the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor and control the cutting knife to perform a cut, and further to accelerate the conveyor surface of the out-feed conveyor away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife after the cutting knife has performed a cut, such as immediately after the cutting knife has performed a cut and/or between the cutting knife performs two consecutive cuts.

40. The cutting system according to claim 36, wherein the out-feed hold down device comprises a conveyor having a conveyor surface facing the out-feed conveyor surface, and wherein the controller is further configured to accelerate the conveyor surface of the out-feed hold down device away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife as the cutting knife performs a cut.

41. The cutting system according to claim 36, wherein the out-feed hold down device comprises a conveyor means having a surface facing the out-feed conveyor surface, and wherein the controller is further configured to accelerate the surface of the out-feed hold down device away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife after the cutting knife has performed a cut, such as immediately after the cutting knife has performed a cut and/or between the cutting knife performs two consecutive cuts.

42. The cutting system according to claim 36, wherein the controller is configured to accelerate the conveyor of the out-feed hold down device at a higher rate than the out-feed conveyor.

43. The cutting system according to claim 36, wherein the controller is further configured to control the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor, and to keep the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor constant while the out-feed conveyor is accelerated.

44. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein the surface of the in-feed hold down device and/or the surface of the out-feed hold down device is flexible to allow it to adapt at least partially to a contour of a food item.

45. The cutting system according to claim 30, wherein a part of the out-feed hold down device, such as a part of each of the out-feed hold down device and the in-feed hold down device which is closest to the conveying surface vertically below and/or closest to the cutting plane, is arranged so as to be displaced, such as displaced at least 1 mm or 2 mm or 5 mm or 10 mm, in a direction orthogonal to said conveying surface and away therefrom by the food items, such as wherein a force applied by the food items for said displacement is equal to or less than 100 Newton, such as equal to or less than 10 Newton, such as equal to or less than 1 Newton, such as so as to be displaced at least 10 mm for an applied force of equal to or less than 100 Newton.

46. The cutting system according to claim 30, further comprising a turning apparatus configured to receive and turn incoming food items, such as incoming food items which have been cut by the cutting knife, while being conveyed by a conveyor means, where a longitudinal axis of the incoming food items forms a first angle in relation to a conveying direction of the incoming food items, said turning apparatus comprising: a first turner device configured to engage with a front most food item of said incoming food items, and a first moving mechanism connected to the first turner device configured to adjust an angular position of the first turner device while engaging with the front most food item, such that the longitudinal axis of the front most food item forms a second angle in relation to the conveying direction of the food items when released by the first turner device.

47. A method of cutting a food item by use of a cutting system, the cutting system comprising: a cutting knife; an in-feed conveyor comprising an in-feed conveyor surface; an out-feed conveyor comprising an out-feed conveyor surface, the in-feed and the out-feed conveyors being arranged in an end-to-end arrangement; and an out-feed hold down device, the method comprising the steps of: conveying a food item on the conveyor surface of the in-feed conveyor; the food item engaging the conveyor surface of the out-feed conveyor; the out-feed hold down device pressing the food item against the conveyor surface of the out-feed conveyor; and the cutting knife cutting the food item in a cutting plane, while the food item is at least being pressed against the out-feed conveyor.

48. The method of cutting according to claim 47, wherein the cutting system further comprises an in-feed hold down device, and wherein the method comprises the step of: the cutting knife cutting the food item in a cutting plane, while the food item is simultaneously being pressed against the in-feed conveyor and being pressed against the out-feed conveyor.

49. The method according to claim 47, further comprising the step of: controlling the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor, and/or the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor so that the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor, such as in a downstream direction away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife, is larger than the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor, such as in a downstream direction towards the cutting plane of the cutting knife, after the cutting knife has performed a cut, such as immediately after the cutting knife has performed a cut and/or between the cutting knife performs two consecutive cuts.

50. The method according to claim 47, further comprising the step of: controlling the conveying speed of the out-feed conveyor, and/or the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor so that after the cutting knife has performed a cut, such as immediately after the cutting knife has performed a cut and/or between the cutting knife performs two consecutive cuts, a distance between adjacent food items initially on either side of the cutting knife is increased.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0068] Embodiments of the invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0069] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodied cutting system; and

[0070] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodied cutting system.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows a processing line provided with first cutting system, a turning apparatus and a second cutting system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0072] The embodiment of FIG. 1 is a cutting system 1 for cutting food items 3. In the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, a food item 3 is supported by the in-feed conveying surface 5 of an in-feed conveyor 7 and the out-feed conveying surface 9 of an out-feed conveyor 11. The conveying direction of the in-feed conveyor 7 is indicated by the arrow 8 and the conveying direction of the out-feed conveyor 11 is indicated by the arrow 12. In the depicted situation, the food item 3 is being cut by a cutting knife 13. The cutting knife 13 cuts in a cutting plane indicated by the arrow 15. The cutting plane extends in between the ends of the in- and out-feed conveyors 7,11 and is perpendicular to the first and second planes defined by the conveyor surfaces 5,9 of the in- and out-feed conveyors 7,11 in the vicinity of the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13. Previous to the situation depicted in FIG. 1, the food item 3 at one point engaged the conveying surface 9 of the out-feed conveyor 11 after having been supported by the in-feed conveyor 7 only. The conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor 7 and the out-feed conveyor 11 was the same at the time the food item 3 engaged the out-feed conveying surface 9 of the out-feed conveyor 11. This minimised the risk of the food item 3 being unevenly stretched.

[0073] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the food item 3 is pressed against the out-feed conveyor surface 9 by an out-feed hold down device 17 while the food item 3 is being cut. This helps immobilising the food item relative to the out-feed conveying surface 9, while the food-item is being cut. It further helps immobilising the cut food item portion 19 relative to the out-feed conveying surface 9, after it has been cut form the food item 3.

[0074] The out-feed hold down device 17 in FIG. 1 comprises a conveyor 21 having a conveyor surface 23 facing the out-feed conveyor surface 9. This allows for individual control of the conveying speed of the opposing conveyor surfaces 9,23 engaging the food item 3 or cut food item portion 19. The conveying direction of the conveyor 21 of the out-feed hold down device is indicated by the arrow 22. Also in FIG. 1, the conveyor surfaces 9,23 of the out-feed conveyor 7 and the out-feed hold down device 17 are parallel in the vicinity of the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13 for optimising the contact area between the food item 3 or cut food item portion 19, and the conveyor surfaces 9,23. Also, the conveying surface 9 of the out-feed conveyor 11 is perpendicular to the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13 in the vicinity thereof allowing for well-defined cuts by the cutting knife 13.

[0075] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the cutting system 1 comprises a control unit (not shown) configured to control the in-feed conveyor 7 to convey the food item 3 at a first speed, control the out-feed conveyor 11 to convey the food item 3 at a second speed, and control the cutting knife 13 to simultaneously perform a cut while moving at a third speed. In one embodiment, the third speed is at least 10 times larger than both of the first speed and the second speed. Accordingly, the food item 3 is moving while it is being cut by the cutting knife 13. This allows for improved efficiency of the cutting system 1, as the in- and out-feed conveyors 7,11 are conveying the food item 3 while it is being cut. The in- and out-feed conveyors 7,11 may not even have to slow down for the cut to be performed, as the cutting knife 13 moves at a much higher speed than the in- and out-feed conveyors 7,11 when it cuts the food item 3.

[0076] The control system of the cutting system 1 of FIG. 1 is further configured to accelerate the conveyor surface 9 of the out-feed conveyor 11 away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13 as the cutting knife 13 performs a cut. This creates a distance between the cut food item portion 19 and the food item 3 it has been cut from, as well as from the cutting knife 13. The controller is configured to accelerate the conveyor surface 23 of the out-feed hold down device 17 away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13 as the cutting knife 13 performs a cut. This allows more effective acceleration and for different rates of acceleration of the opposing conveyor surfaces 9,23 for achieving tilting/rotation of the cut food item portion 19. The conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor 7 is kept constant by the controller, also while the cutting knife 13 cuts the food item 3.

[0077] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional sketch of an embodiment of a cutting system similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1 except that the embodiment of FIG. 2 comprises an in-feed hold down device 25. The in-feed hold down device 25 comprises a conveyor 27 having a conveyor surface 29 facing the in-feed conveyor surface 5. The conveying direction of the conveyor 27 of the in-feed hold down device 25 is indicated by the arrow 28. The conveyor 27 is controlled to move the conveying surface 29 at the same speed as the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor 7. This ensures that the opposing surfaced 5,29 engaging the food item 3 on the in-feed side of the cutting knife 13 moves in a synchronised manner to avoid dislocation of the food item 3 as it is being cut.

[0078] The control systems of the cutting systems 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2 are further configured to receive data from a scanner (not shown) arranged upstream of the in-feed conveyor 7, compute a contour on the basis of the received data, and control the height of the out-feed hold down device 17 on the basis of the computed contour. The height is adjusted by moving the entire out-feed hold down device 17 up or down as illustrated by the arrow 31. This height adjustment can be carried out without changing a distance between the out-feed hold down device 17 and the cutting plane indicated by the arrow 15. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, also the height of the in-feed hold down device 25 is adjusted on the basis of the computed contour by moving it up or down as indicated by the arrow 33. Accordingly, the height of the out-feed hold down device 17, and possibly also the in-feed hold down device 25, is adjusted to follow the contour of the food item 3 or cut food item portion 19 is it passes respective hold down device 17,25.

[0079] The following is an example of a sequence of cutting a food item 3 into cut food item portions 19 by use of an embodied method and cutting system 1. First the food item 3 is conveyed on the conveying surface 5 of the in-feed conveyor 7. In the system of FIG. 2, the food item 3 then engages the in-feed hold down device 25 pressing it against the in-feed conveyor 7. The conveying speed of the conveyor 27 of the in-feed hold down device 25 is equal to the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor 7 (such as the velocity components in a conveying direction of each of the velocities of the in-feed conveyor and the in-feed hold down device are equal) and the height of the in-feed hold down device 25 is adjusted to follow the contour of the food item 3 on the basis of a contour computed from a previous scan.

[0080] The food item 3 is then conveyed onto the conveying surface 9 of the out-feed conveyor 11 and engages the conveyor surface 23 of the out-feed hold down device 17. At this stage, the conveying speed of the conveyor 23 of the out-feed hold down device 17 is equal to the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor 7 and the out-feed conveyor 11. Also, the height of the out-feed hold down device 17 is adjusted to follow the contour of the food item 3 on the basis of a previous scan. The food item 3 is accordingly suspended between the in-feed and out-feed conveyor 9,11 and thereby also in the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13.

[0081] The food item 3 is then cut by the cutting knife 13 while being in contact with each of the in-feed conveyor 7, the in-feed hold down device 25, the out-feed conveyor 11 and the out-feed hold down device 17. Just after the cutting knife has cut the food item 3 to form the cut food item portion 19, the out-feed conveyor 11 and the conveyor 21 of the out-feed hold down device 17 accelerates the cut food item portion 19 away from the cutting plane of the cutting knife 13. This acceleration creates a distance between the cut food item portion 19 and the food item 3, as the food item 3 is being conveyed by the in-feed conveyor at constant speed at this stage.

[0082] The out-feed conveyor 11 and the conveyor 21 of the out-feed hold down device 17 then decelerate to match the conveying speed of the in-feed conveyor 7 before the food item 3 engages the out-feed conveyor 11 and the out-feed hold down device 17. The sequence is then repeated.

[0083] As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting system 303 as described herein may be incorporated into a food item processing line or system 300, the system 300 is further provided with a turning apparatus 100 and a second cutting system 340. The system is illustrated by cutting a food item into strips, which afterwards are cut into cubes. Other types of cuts may be performed in such a food item processing line 300. The cutting system 303 may also be a stand-alone system performing one or more cuts in a food item.

[0084] FIG. 3 does not illustrate the hold-down device, which may be incorporated in the first cutting system 303 and or into the second cutting system 340.

[0085] In the system 300, incoming food items 334 are provided to a first cutting system 303, and conveyed by a first infeed conveying means 335 in a conveying direction 313. A first sensing means 330 scans the food items 334 on the infeed conveying means 335 and provides data describing the food items 334 to a controlling means, such as a computing unit 331, configured for controlling a first cutting means 333. The first cutting means 333 may be controlled to cut the food items 334 into food item strips 301. The food item strips 301 may have a longitudinal axis forming a first angle relative to the conveying direction.

[0086] In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the first cutting means 333 may be positioned to cut the food items 334 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction 313, such as by rotation 332 of a blade through a gap defined by the first infeed conveying means 335 and a second infeed conveying means 336. The second infeed conveying means may be arranged to convey the resulting food item strips 301 in the conveying direction 313 to a turning apparatus 100.

[0087] The turning apparatus 100 is arranged to adjust the angular positioning of the food item strips 301, for example such that the longitudinal axis of the food item strips is adjusted from a first angle relative to the conveying direction 313 to a second angle relative to the conveying direction 313. In the embodiment according to FIG. 3, the turning apparatus 100 further moves the food item strips 301 from the second infeed conveying means 336 to an outfeed conveying means 320, 321 of the second cutting apparatus comprising the cutting means 340.

[0088] A second sensing means 337 scans the food item strips 301 on the outfeed conveying means 320, 321 and provides data describing the food item strips 301 to a controlling means, such as a computing unit 338, configured for controlling a cutting means 340. The cutting means 340 may be controlled to cut the food item strips 301 into food item cubes 342.

[0089] In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the cutting means 340 may be positioned to cut the food items, such as food item strips 301 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction 313 by rotation 339, 341 of a blade at a gap (not shown) defined by the outfeed conveying means 320, 321.