Device for slicing food products

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for slicing food products, in particular a high-performance slicer, comprising a rotor shaft which rotates about a rotational axis during operation and which can be adjusted in an axial manner, in particular in order to carry out blank cuts and/or to adjust cutting gaps; a rotor which is driven by the rotor shaft; a cutting blade which is supported by the rotor, in particular a circular blade which rotates about the rotational axis in a planetary manner and additionally rotates relative to the rotor about a blade axis that runs parallel to the rotational axis in an offset manner; and a rotary drive for the rotor shaft.

Claims

1. An apparatus for slicing food products, comprising a rotor shaft which rotates about an axis of rotation and which is axially adjustable in operation; a rotor driven by the rotor shaft; a cutting blade, which is supported by the rotor, which revolves about the axis of rotation in a planetary motion and which additionally rotates relative to the rotor about a blade axis extending offset in parallel with the axis of rotation; a rotary drive for the rotor shaft; a rotational drive for the cutting blade comprising a rotationally driven or fixed-position drive shaft arranged coaxially with respect to the rotor shaft and by which a blade shaft of the cutting blade can be driven, the drive shaft extending through the rotor shaft formed as a hollow shaft to be in a shaft-in-shaft arrangement, the drive shaft extending into the rotor and cooperating with the blade shaft within the rotor, both the rotor shaft and the drive shaft at least partly axially adjustable; an axial drive engaging the rotor shaft and providing a common axial adjustment of the rotor shaft and the drive shaft; and a stationary feature comprising at least one of a housing, a housing wall, a frame part and a rack part, the shaft-in-shaft arrangement extending through an opening of the stationary feature, the shaft-in-shaft arrangement axially movable relative to the stationary feature, a combined axial and rotary bearing for the rotor shaft, the rotor shaft being rotatably and axially adjustable relative to said bearing, wherein said bearing comprises a fixed-position hub or is associated with a fixed-position hub, and wherein said hub is fixedly formed by the stationary feature or is fixedly supported by the stationary feature.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotor shaft is axially adjustable in operation for the carrying out of blank cuts or for the setting of a cutting gap.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotor has a rotary bearing for the cutting blade, with the rotary bearing being arranged in an axial direction at the level of a combined axial and rotary bearing for the rotor shaft.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotor shaft is led through the stationary feature at whose one side the rotary drive is arranged and at whose other side the rotor is arranged.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rotor is spaced apart from the stationary feature in the axial direction.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rotational drive for the cutting blade is derived from the rotational movement of the rotor.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rotational drive for the cutting blade is decoupled from the rotor shaft.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rotational drive for the cutting blade comprises a blade shaft which is integrated into the rotor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least two balance masses are provided for compensating an imbalance of the rotor caused by the cutting blade, with the at least two balance masses all being arranged at a side of the cutting blade disposed opposite a dismantling side of the cutting blade.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a first balance mass and a second balance mass are arranged at different sides of the stationary feature.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a first balance mass and the imbalance of the rotor act in opposite radial directions, whereas a second balance mass acts at least approximately in the same radial direction as the imbalance of the rotor.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a first balance mass is integrated into the rotor or is formed by the rotor.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a first balance mass is arranged in the axial direction at the level of a combined axial and rotary bearing for the rotor shaft or of a rotary bearing for the cutting blade integrated into the rotor.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a second balance mass is integrated into the rotary drive of the rotor shaft or is formed by the rotary drive.

Description

(1) The invention will be described in the following by way of example with reference to the drawing. There are shown:

(2) FIGS. 1 to 7 different views of a part of a slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention in accordance with an embodiment;

(3) FIG. 8 a sectional side view of a part of a slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention in accordance with a further embodiment; and

(4) FIG. 9 a sectional side view of a part of a slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention in accordance with a further embodiment.

(5) FIG. 1 shows, in a sectional side view, a part of a slicing apparatus (slicer) also called a blade head or a cutting head for slicing food products, in particular sausage, ham or cheese.

(6) A hub 23 is fastened to a housing or to a fixed-position housing wall 31. A combined axial and rotary bearing 21 for a rotor shaft 13 is arranged in the interior of the hub 23 and the rotor shaft defines an axis of rotation 11 of the slicer. The rotor shaft 13 is thus supported within the hub 23 rotatable about the axis of rotation 11 and axially adjustable in the direction of the axis of rotation 11. An axial drive 71, not shown in any more detail, which engages at the rear end of the rotor shaft 13 is provided for the axial adjustment of the rotor shaft 13, which is indicated by double arrows.

(7) A rotary drive 33 for the rotor shaft 13 is located in a region disposed behind the housing wall 31. The rotary drive 33 comprises a drive pulley 51 which is provided with an outer toothed arrangement, which is attached in the rear region of the rotor shaft 13 and which cooperates with a toothed drive belt 53 which is driven by a drive motor (not shown) to set the rotor shaft 13 into rotation about the axis of rotation 11.

(8) A rotor 15 is fastened to the front end of the rotor shaft 13 disposed outside the housing wall 31. The rotor 15 radially spaced apart from the axis of rotation 11 includes a rotary bearing 25 for a blade shaft 35 which defines a blade axis 19 extending in parallel with the axis of rotation 11. The front end of the blade shaft 35 disposed outside the rotor 15 is formed as a blade mount to which a cutting blade 17 formed as a circular blade is releasably fastened.

(9) The end of the blade shaft 35 projecting to the rear is formed as a toothed wheel 29 which forms a rotor-side part of a rotational drive for the blade shaft 35 and thus for the cutting blade 17.

(10) A fixed-position sprocket which is supported by the fixed-position hub 23 or which is fastened to the housing wall 31 serves as a stationary part 27 of this rotational drive.

(11) The ring-shaped sprocket 27 arranged concentrically with respect to the axis of rotation 11 is provided with an inner toothed arrangement which cooperates with the outer toothed arrangement of the toothed wheel 29 of the blade shaft 35.

(12) With a rotating rotor shaft 13 and thus with a rotor 15 rotating about the axis of rotation 11, the blade shaft 35 and thus the cutting blade 17 revolve about the rotor shaft 13 in a planetary motion. In this respect the toothed wheel 29 of the blade shaft 35 rolls off at the inner toothed arrangement of the sprocket 27, whereby the blade shaft 35 and thus the cutting blade 17 are set into rotation relative to the rotor 15 about the blade axis 19.

(13) In a slicing operation, the cutting blade 17 consequently carries out a revolving movement in a planetary motion about the axis of rotation 11 and additionally carries out a rotation about the blade axis 19 defined by the blade shaft 35.

(14) The eccentric arrangement of the cutting blade 17 with respect to the axis of rotation 11 of the rotor shaft 13 results in an imbalance UM of the rotor 15. In accordance with the balancing concept explained in the introductory part, this imbalance UM is compensated by a counterweight which comprises two balance masses 47, 49. A first balance mass 47 is formed by the rotor 15. The first balance mass 47 generates an imbalance U1 which at least approximately opposes the imbalance UM in the radial direction. The second balance mass 49 is formed by the drive pulley 51 and acts at least approximately in the same radial direction as the imbalance UM (cf. also FIG. 5).

(15) The lengths and directions of the vectors UM, U1 and U2 in FIGS. 1 and 5 are only to be understood as illustrations and should not represent any concrete, absolute or relative values.

(16) The rotating total system is statically and dynamically balanced in all planes by this geometric arrangement of the balance masses.

(17) The slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention consequently has a design which is simple, compact and extremely advantageous under hygienic aspects. The housing wall 31 separates the drive region from the cutting region. The hub 23 which, together with the combined axial and rotary bearing 21, supports the rotor shaft 13 extending through the housing wall 31 together with the rotor 15 and the cutting blade 17 in a rotatable and axially movable manner is located in front of the housing wall 31 and is thus outwardly open. This allows a hygienically flawless cleaning of the cutting region. A seal 55 seals the axial and rotary bearing 21 with respect to the environment.

(18) The axial nesting of the components disposed outside the housing wall 31 provides an extremely compact design with a small axial construction length: The rear region of the hub 23 disposed at the housing wall 31 is within the sprocket 27 into which the blade shaft 35 with the toothed wheel 29 axially engages. The hub 23 itself and the rotor 15 likewise axially engage into one another. The rotary bearing 25 for the cutting blade 17 is axially at the level of the front region of the hub 23 and at the level of the axial and rotary bearing 21.

(19) The rotor shaft 13 together with the rotor 15 and the cutting blade 17 as well as the blade shaft 35 and the toothed wheel 29 are adjusted in the axial direction, for example, for the carrying out of blank cuts and/or for the setting of a cutting gap. The rotational drive for the cutting blade 17 formed by the fixed-position sprocket 27 and by the toothed wheel 29 of the blade shaft 35 allows such an axial adjustment movement, while maintaining the rotational drive by the cooperation of the sprocket 27 and the toothed wheel 29.

(20) This design of the rotational drive furthermore permits the rotor 15 together with the cutting blade 17 and the blade shaft 35 to be able to be simply removed, i.e. drawn off in the axial direction, by releasing the screw connection between the rotor 15 and the front end of the rotor shaft 13.

(21) The remaining basic design of the hub 23, the stationary sprocket 27 and the rotor shaft 13 together with the rotary drive 33 with the balance mass 49 can hereby additionally serve as a drive for a blade mount (not shown) supporting a scythe-like blade. As explained in the introductory part, a universal slicer is provided by this basic design which is capable of both a scythe-like blade operation with only a scythe-like blade rotating about the axis of rotation 11 and, corresponding to the representation in FIG. 1, of a circular blade operation with a circular blade revolving about the axis of rotation 11 in a planetary motion and additionally carrying out a rotation about the blade axis 19.

(22) The imbalance U1 of the balance mass 47 in the rotor 15 and the imbalance UM of the rotor 15 caused by the cutting blade 17 are coordinated with one another and with the imbalance U2 of the balance mass 49 integrated into the rotary drive 33. Like the rotor 15, the blade mount (not shown) supporting the scythe-like blade is likewise provided with a balance mass in scythe-like blade operation, said balance mass being coordinated with the respective imbalance of the scythe-like blade such that, in cooperation with the imbalance U2 of the balance mass 49 integrated into the rotary drive 33, a rotating total system balanced, both statically and dynamically, in all planes is in turn present.

(23) The imbalance U1 of the rotor 15 is disposed substantially closer to the cutting plane 61 defined by the cutting blade 17 than the imbalance U2 of the rotary drive 33. The imbalance U1 of the rotor 15 is additionally disposed relatively far to the outside radially. This geometric arrangement of the balance masses 47, 49 thus makes it possible to use relatively small balance masses.

(24) FIG. 2 shows the slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention without the housing wall 31 and without the cutting blade 17. The particular compactness of the components grouped both radially and axially around the fixed-position hub 23 can again be recognized.

(25) The side view of FIG. 3, in which the housing wall 31 is in turn not shown, in particular shows the open design of the components disposed in the cutting region, said design being advantageous under hygienic aspects. The rotary bearing for the blade shaft 35 projecting to the rear into the sprocket 27 is provided with a housing 63.

(26) The design of the rotor 15 which deviates to an extreme extent from a rotationally symmetrical shape or from a circular outer contour can in particular be seen from the plan view of FIG. 4 (cf. also FIGS. 5 and 7). The first balance mass 47, which has comparatively large dimensions, is diametrically opposite the rotary bearing for the cutting blade 17 of which the housing 63 is in turn shown here and which has relatively small dimensions.

(27) FIG. 5 in particular shows the very top-heavy design of the rotor 17 having a relatively heavy section which is formed by the first balance mass 47 and which is connected via a comparatively light central section to a diametrically opposite section to which the rotary bearing for the blade shaft of the cutting blade 17 is attached, with the housing 63 of the rotary bearing in turn being shown.

(28) FIGS. 6 and 7 show front views with (FIG. 6) and without (FIG. 7) the cutting blade 17. The anchor-like shape of the rotor 15 can in particular be seen in FIG. 7. The inner toothed arrangement of the stationary sprocket 27 is additionally shown.

(29) FIGS. 8 and 9 each show a further embodiment of a slicing apparatus in accordance with the invention in which a fixed-position axle 39 (FIG. 8) or a rotationally driven drive shaft 40 (FIG. 9) is provided for the rotational drive of the circular blade 17.

(30) In both embodiments, the rotor shaft 13 for the rotor 15 is formed as a hollow shaft which supports a drive pulley 51 at a rear region which is able to be set into rotation about the axis of rotation 11 via a drive belt 53 by means of a motor not shown.

(31) The axle 39 or the shaft 40 extends through the hollow shaft 13 and into the rotor 15.

(32) In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the axle 39 supports a toothed belt wheel 41 which is likewise fixed with respect to rotation and at which a toothed belt 43 rolls off with a rotating rotor 15, said toothed belt 43 cooperating with a toothed arrangement 45 formed at the blade shaft 35 supporting the circular blade 17. The revolving movement in a planetary motion of the blade shaft 35 due to the rotational movement of the rotor 15 relative to the fixed-position toothed belt wheel 41 is consequently used to set the blade shaft 35 and thus the circular blade 17 into rotation relative to the rotor 15 about the blade axis 19.

(33) The rotor 15 is formed in two parts for receiving the toothed belt wheel 41. This also applies to the embodiment of FIG. 9. In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the hub 23 is located together with the combined axial and rotary bearing 21 for the rotor shaft 13 formed as a hollow shaft within a housing, i.e. it is not outwardly open. The hub 23 is fastened to a wall 31 of the housing.

(34) At its rear end, the rotor shaft 13 is provided with a pivot section 65 for an axial drive 71 which is again only indicated and which serves to axially adjust the rotor shaft 13 together with the rotor 15 and the circular blade 17. This is again indicated by double arrows.

(35) The fixed-position axle 39 is not axially adjustable as a whole, but is rather telescopic so that the front section of the axle 39 supporting the toothed belt wheel 41 can be axially adjusted together with the rotor shaft 13 in order in particular to carry out blank cuts or to perform a cutting gap setting.

(36) In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the hub 23 is formed by a fixed-position housing wall 31, with the hub 23 alternatively being able to be formed as a separate component which is fastened to the housing wall 31.

(37) The drive shaft 40 extending through the rotor shaft 13 formed as a hollow shaft is provided with a toothed belt wheel 67 at its rear end and can be set into rotation via a toothed belt 69 by a separate drive motor, not shown, independently of the rotary drive 33 for the rotor shaft 13.

(38) The transfer of the rotational movement of the drive shaft 40 to the blade shaft 35 takes place within the rotor 15 via a toothed belt 43 which cooperates with a toothed arrangement 45 of the blade shaft 35 and with a toothed belt wheel 41 of the drive shaft 40. Alternatively, a common drive motor having an intermediate transmission by which the belts 54 and 69 can be driven can be provided for the rotor shaft 13 and for the drive shaft 40.

(39) A common axial adjustment of the rotor shaft 13 and of the drive shaft 40 takes place by an axial drive 71 which is in turn not shown in any more detail and which engages at a pivot section 65 of the rotor shaft 13.

(40) The balancing concept explained above in the introductory part and in conjunction with the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 7 is also realized in the embodiments in accordance with FIGS. 8 and 9: The rotor 15 is respectively provided with a first balance mass 47, whereas a second balance mass 49 is respectively integrated into the drive pulley 51 of the rotary drive 33 for the rotor shaft 13 which is formed as a hollow shaft here.

(41) It applies to all embodiments shown that the belt drives for the rotor shafts 15 or for the drive shaft 40 do not stand in the way of the axial adjustment movement since only relatively short axial displacement paths are necessary in this respect and the drive belts 53, 69 can consequently be deflected accordingly.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

(42) 11 axis of rotation 13 rotor shaft 15 rotor 17 cutting blade 19 blade axis 21 axial and rotary bearing for the rotor shaft 13 23 hub 25 rotary bearing for the cutting blade 17 27 stationary part of the rotational drive, sprocket 29 rotor-side part of the rotational drive, toothed wheel of the blade shaft 35 31 fixed-position rack part or frame part, housing wall, housing 33 rotary drive 35 blade shaft 39 fixed-position axle 40 drive shaft 41 toothed belt wheel of the fixed-position axle 39 or of the drive shaft 40 43 toothed belt 45 toothed arrangement of the blade shaft 35 47 first balance mass 49 second balance mass 51 drive pulley/hub of the rotary drive 33 83 drive belt of the rotary drive 33 55 seal 61 cutting plane 93 housing 65 pivot section for the axial drive 71 67 toothed belt wheel 69 toothed belt 71 axial drive UM imbalance of the rotor 15 U1 imbalance of the first balance mass 47 U2 imbalance of the second balance mass 49