MULTI-LANE SLICING MACHINE WITH INDIVIDUALLY POSITIONABLE GRIPPERS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

Abstract

To ensure that, during slicing, a gripper can remain stationary when a log which it is holding has been completely sliced while other grippers move forward for the slicing of the other logs they are holding, a hydraulic cylinder unit is arranged between each gripper and a gripper carriage, which unit is either switched pressureless in a lane of the completely sliced log or is hydraulically connected to the other hydraulic cylinder units in order to allow the displacement of hydraulic medium from the hydraulic cylinder unit of the completely sliced log, which retracts during further slicing, into the other hydraulic cylinder units.

Claims

1. A multi-lane slicing machine for slicing product logs into slices, the multi-lane slicing machine comprising: a base frame; a slicing unit; a feeding unit with a feeding conveyor for feeding the product logs to the slicing unit, the feeding unit having a plurality of lanes and comprising a plurality of grippers, each associated with one of the plurality of lanes, a gripper carriage for carrying the grippers, a carriage guide, wherein the gripper carriage is moveable along the carriage guide in a controlled manner in a feed direction, and a controller for controlling movement of the gripper carriage; a hydraulic cylinder unit for acting in the feed direction between each of the plurality of grippers and the gripper carriage, wherein each hydraulic cylinder unit is mechanically operatively connected to a respective one of the plurality of grippers and to the gripper carriage; a pressure medium connection for each hydraulic cylinder unit, wherein each pressure medium connection has a shut-off valve; and a stationary end-position sensor in a blade-side end area of a movement path of each gripper of the plurality of grippers or of a part of each hydraulic cylinder unit connected to each gripper.

2. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 1, wherein the hydraulic cylinders are operatively connected hydraulically via a connecting line, and each end-position sensor is a mechanical stop for its respective gripper or of the part of the hydraulic cylinder unit connected to the gripper.

3. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 1, wherein corresponding working chambers of the hydraulic cylinder units are hydraulically coupled.

4. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 1, wherein the hydraulic cylinder units are single-acting hydraulic cylinder units, each with only one pressurizable working chamber, which are hydraulically effectively connected via the connecting line, and the working chamber is in each case located at the end of a piston facing away from the gripper.

5. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 4, wherein a spring is present at the end of the piston opposite the working chamber, and the spring is a compression spring supported between the respective piston and the end of the cylinder.

6. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 1, wherein each hydraulic cylinder unit is connected individually or via the common connecting line to a hydraulic pump.

7. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 1, wherein each hydraulic cylinder unit is individually connected to a tank for a pressure medium or to an outlet via a drain line containing a drain valve.

8. The multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of grippers has gripper prongs extendable from a gripper base body and a prong drive for extension, the prong drive is the respective hydraulic cylinder unit, and a respective piston rod is operatively connected to the gripper prongs in such a way that a forward movement of the piston rod in the direction of the gripper base body increasingly extends the gripper prongs out of the gripper base body.

9. A method for controlling product grippers of a multi-lane slicing machine according to claim 8, wherein each gripper of the plurality of grippers is attached to a hydraulic cylinder unit with a closable pressure medium connection, the method comprising: closing the pressure medium connection of each of the hydraulic cylinder units during a slicing operation; opening at least one connection of the working chamber of the hydraulic cylinder unit arranged in the lane of a first log when the first log has been completely sliced; and moving the gripper carriage forward for further slicing of remaining logs while retracting the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder unit in the lane of the completely sliced first log.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein for hydraulically connected pressure medium connections in the case of the completely sliced first log, all pressure medium connections of all hydraulic cylinder units are opened, thereafter, the gripper carriage is moved forward with a shorter travel distance between slicing operations to compensate for an additional extension distance of other hydraulic cylinder units caused by retraction of the hydraulic cylinder unit in the lane of the completely sliced first log, and wherein the gripper carriage for n hydraulic cylinder units and a normal path d between two separating processes is reduced by d:(n?1) corresponding to the thickness of the slices to be separated.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein for hydraulic cylinder units whose working chamber has an additional connection comprising a pressureless connection, in the case of the completely sliced first log, only the additional connection comprising the pressureless connections of the hydraulic cylinder unit, in the lane of the completely sliced first log is open to a defined pressureless surrounding environment comprising a tank or an open outlet, thereafter, the gripper carriage is moved forward between separation processes with an unchanged travel path.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein to grip the logs the hydraulic cylinder units are each subjected to working pressure and their piston rods are extended over a portion of their maximum extension length, until the piston rests against a compression spring in the cylinder, the gripper carriage is moved forward until each of the grippers, one after the other, contacts and grip a log lying in its lane, before slicing begins, the pressure medium connections of the hydraulic cylinders are closed.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein for gripping the logs before closure of the pressure medium connections of the hydraulic cylinder units and after the contacting of the respective log by a gripper base body, the pressure in the hydraulic cylinder is used to extend the gripper prongs of the contacting gripper base body.

14. A slicing machine for slicing product logs into slices, the slicing machine comprising: a slicing unit; a feeding unit with a feeding conveyor for feeding the product logs to the slicing unit, the feeding unit having a plurality of lanes and comprising a plurality of grippers, each associated with one of the plurality of lanes, and a gripper carriage for carrying the grippers; a hydraulic cylinder unit between each of the plurality of grippers and the gripper carriage, wherein each hydraulic cylinder unit is mechanically operatively connected to a respective one of the plurality of grippers and to the gripper carriage; and a position sensor in an area of a movement path of each gripper of the plurality of grippers or of a part of each hydraulic cylinder unit connected to each gripper.

15. The slicing machine according to claim 14, wherein the hydraulic cylinders are operatively connected hydraulically via a connecting line, and each position sensor is a mechanical stop for its respective gripper or of the part of the hydraulic cylinder unit connected to the gripper.

16. The slicing machine according to claim 14, wherein corresponding working chambers of the hydraulic cylinder units are hydraulically coupled.

17. The slicing machine according to claim 14, wherein the hydraulic cylinder units are single-acting hydraulic cylinder units, each with only one pressurizable working chamber, which are hydraulically effectively connected via the connecting line, and the working chamber is in each case located at the end of a piston facing away from the gripper.

18. The slicing machine according to claim 17, wherein a spring is present at the end of the piston opposite the working chamber, and the spring is a compression spring supported between the respective piston and the end of the cylinder.

19. The slicing machine according to claim 14, wherein each hydraulic cylinder unit is connected individually or via the common connecting line to a hydraulic pump.

20. The slicing machine according to claim 14, wherein each hydraulic cylinder unit is individually connected to a tank for a pressure medium or to an outlet via a drain line containing a drain valve.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0072] Embodiments in accordance with the disclosure are described in more detail below by way of example. In the figures:

[0073] FIGS. 1a and 1b: show a slicing machine in the form of a slicer in accordance with the prior art in different perspective views, with feed belt swung up into the slicing position,

[0074] FIG. 2a: shows a simplified side view, as compared to FIG. 1c, of the slicing machine, loaded with a product log,

[0075] FIG. 2b: shows a side view in accordance with FIG. 2a, but with the feed belt swung down into the loading position and the product log sliced except for a log remnant,

[0076] FIG. 3: shows a first embodiment of the disclosure in a plan view of the slicing machine in FIGS. 1a, b, viewed perpendicular to the feed belt swung up into the slicing position,

[0077] FIGS. 4a-f: show different movement states during the gripping of newly inserted logs of different lengths with this first embodiment,

[0078] FIGS. 5a-c: show different movement states when the logs have been completely sliced, which occurs at different times, with this first embodiment,

[0079] FIGS. 6a-f: show different movement states during the gripping of newly inserted logs of different lengths with this second embodiment,

[0080] FIGS. 7a-c: show different movement states when the logs have been completely sliced, which occurs at different times, with this second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0081] FIGS. 1a, 1b show different perspective views of a multi-lane slicer 1 for simultaneously slicing a plurality of product logs K in a respective lanes SP1 to SP4 next to each other and depositing them in shingled portions P each consisting of several slices S with a general direction of travel 10* through the slicer 1 from right to left.

[0082] FIG. 2a showswithout and with the log K inserteda side view of this slicer 1, omitting covers and other parts not relevant to the disclosure, which are attached to the base frame 2 in the same manner as all other units, so that the functional parts, particularly the conveyor belts, can be seen more clearly. The longitudinal direction 10 is the feed direction of the logs K to the slicing unit 7 and thus also the longitudinal direction of the logs K lying in the slicer 1.

[0083] It can be seen that the basic structure of a slicer 1 according to the prior art is that a slicing unit 7 with a blade 3 rotating about a blade axis 3, in this case a sickle blade 3, is fed with a plurality of, in this case four, product logs K lying transversely to the feed direction 10 next to one another on a feed conveyor 4 with spacers 15 of the feed conveyor 4 between them are fed by this feeding unit 20, from the front ends of said logs the rotating blade 3 cuts off a slice S with its cutting edge 3a in each case in one operation, that is to say almost simultaneously.

[0084] For slicing the product logs K, the feed conveyor 4 is in the slicing position shown in FIGS. 1a-2a and is oblique in side view, with a low-lying front end on the slicing side and a high-lying rear end, from which it can be folded down about a pivot axis 20 extending in its width direction, the first transverse direction 11, which is located in the vicinity of the slicing unit 7, into an approximately horizontal loading position as represented in FIG. 2b.

[0085] The rear end of each log K lying in the feeding unit 20 is held in accordance with FIG. 2a in each case by a gripper 14a-d by positive locking with the aid of gripper claws 16. These grippers 14a-14d, which can be activated and deactivated with regard to the position of the gripper claws 16, are fastened to a common gripper carriage 13, which can be moved along a gripper guide 18 in the feed direction 10.

[0086] In this case, both the feed of the gripper slide 13 and of the feed conveyor 4 can be driven in a controlled manner, wherein, however, the actual feed speed of the logs K is effected by a so-called upper and lower product guide 8, 9 which is also driven in a controlled manner and which engages the upper side and lower side of the logs K to be sliced in their front end areas near the cutting unit 7.

[0087] The front ends of the logs K are in each case guided through a product opening 6a-d of a plate-shaped slicing frame 5, wherein the slicing plane 3 extends directly in front of the front, obliquely downward pointing end face of the slicing frame 5, in which the blade 3 rotates with its slicing edge 3a and thus cuts off the protrusion of the logs K from the slicing frame 5 as a slice S. The slicing plane 3 extends perpendicular to the upper run of the feed conveyor 4 and/or is spanned by the two transverse directions 11, 12 to the feed direction 10.

[0088] In this case, the inner circumference of the product openings 6a-d of the cutting edge 3a of the blade 3 serves as a counter-cutting edge.

[0089] Since both product guides 8, 9 can be driven in a controlled manner, particularly independently of one another and/or possibly separately for each lane SP1 to SP4, these determine thecontinuous or clockedfeed speed of the logs K through the slicing frame 5.

[0090] The upper product guide 8 is displaceable in the second transverse direction 12which extends perpendicular to the surface of the upper run of the feed conveyor 4to adapt to the height H of the log K in this direction. In addition, at least one of the product guides 8, 9 can be designed to pivot about one of its deflection rollers in order to be able to change to a limited extent the direction of the run of its guide belt resting against the log K.

[0091] The slices S, which are at an angle in space when they are being separated, drop onto a discharge unit 17 which starts below the cutting frame 5 and extends in the direction of travel 10*, which in this case consists of a plurality of discharge units 17a, b, c arranged one after the other with their upper runs approximately aligned in the direction of travel 10*, of which the first discharge unit 17a in the direction of travel 10 can be designed as a portioning belt 17a and/or one can also be designed as a weighing unit.

[0092] The slices S can hit the discharge unit 17 individually and be spaced apart from one another in the direction of travel 10* or, by appropriate control of the portioning belt 17a of the discharge unit 17whose movement, like those of all moving parts described herein, may be controlled by the controller 1*form shingled or stacked portions P by mostly stepwise forward movement of the portioning belt 17a. In that regard, as one skilled in the art would understand, the controller 1*, as well an any other unit, machine, apparatus, element, sensor, device, component, system, subsystem, arrangement, or the like described herein may individually, collectively, or in any combination comprise appropriate circuitry, such as one or more appropriately programmed processors (e.g. one or more microprocessors including central processing units (CPU)) and associated memory, which may include stored operating system software and/or application software executable by the processor(s) for controlling operation thereof and/or for performing the particular algorithms represented by the various functions and/or operations described herein, including interaction and/or cooperation between any such controller, unit, machine, apparatus, element, sensor, device, component, system, subsystem, arrangement, or the like. One or more of such processors, as well as other circuitry and/or hardware, may be included in a single ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry), or several processors and various circuitry and/or hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a SoC (System-on-a-Chip).

[0093] Below the feed conveyor unit 20 there is usually an approximately horizontally extending residue conveyor 21, which starts with its front end below the cutting frames 5 and directly below or behind the discharge unit 17 and with its upper run thereon transports away dropping residues to the rearby means of the drive of one of the discharge conveyors 17 counter to the direction of travel 10.

[0094] FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the feed unit 20 and the cutting unit 7, as in a four-lane slicing machine four new logs K1 to K4, ideally of equal length, lie next to each other on the individual lanes SP1 to SP4separated by the spacers 15on the upper run of the feed belt 4 and rest with their front end in the feed direction 10 against a stop not shown, for example the blade 3.

[0095] The gripper carriage 13, on which a gripper 14.1-14.4 is fastened above each lane SP1 to SP4, is guided on one side of the feed belt 4 along a gripper guide 18 in the feed direction 10the longitudinal direction 10and can be driven in the feed direction 10 in a controlled manner by means of a carriage drive 22 (shown symbolically).

[0096] Each gripper, e.g. 14.1, is attached to the piston rod of an associated hydraulic cylinder unit 25.1, the piston rod and the piston 25.1B being movable in the feed direction 10 relative to the cylinder 25.1A therein.

[0097] The pistons are shown in the same longitudinal position within the cylinders as the initial position, and therefore the grippers 14.1-14.4 are also in the same longitudinal position, as the piston rods should be the same length.

[0098] These are hydraulic cylinders 25.1-25.4 that can have pressure applied to them only at one end, each with only one working chamber, e.g. 25.1a, between the piston and cylinder on the side of the piston 25.1 B facing away from the gripper 14.1.

[0099] The individual working chambers 25.1a-25.4a each have a pressure medium connection which are connected to one another outside the cylinders via a connecting line 24, so that the working chambers 25.1a-25.4a can be pressurized jointly by a hydraulic pump 29 connected thereto.

[0100] Each of the pressure medium connections 25.1a-25.4a can be closed by means of a shut-off valve 26.1-26.4 which is located between the pressure medium connection and the connecting line 24.

[0101] FIG. 3 thus shows the initial position before the gripping of the individual logs K1 to K4 by the grippers 14.1-14.4, which are not yet in contact with them.

[0102] FIGS. 4a-f show, starting from this starting position, in different functional positions, the gripping of the logs K1-K4, here realistically shown as having not exactly the same length:

[0103] According to FIG. 4a, from the starting position shown in FIG. 3 the carriage 13, with the hydraulic cylinders 25.1-25.4 attached to it, is moved forward in the longitudinal direction 10 until one of the grippers which are in the same longitudinal position reaches the longest log and makes contact. This is the case here in lane SP2.

[0104] Then, as shown in FIG. 4b, this first contacting gripper 14.2 is activated, i.e. its gripper claws 16 are extended into the log K2, gripping it.

[0105] Depending on the design of the claw drive, this may require a slight further extension of the piston rod of the corresponding hydraulic cylinder unitas shown in an enlargement in FIG. 4c for reasons of space:

[0106] When the base body 23 of the corresponding gripper is stationary, for example resting against the log, the piston rod, which has inclined surfaces on its front end that are at an angle to the direction of extension, can retract into the base body 23 or move along it and in doing so move, with its inclined surfaces, the claws 16 of this gripper along a guide, in particular a slide guide, into the extended position engaging in the log.

[0107] At the latest before the carriage 13 continues to move forward as shown in FIG. 4c, the shut-off valves 26.1-26.4 are all opened so that the gripper 14.2, which is already in contact with the log K2, together with the piston rod to which it is attached, remains stationary despite the carriage 13 continuing to move forward, and the corresponding cylinder 25.2A relative to the piston rod 25.2B, and pressure medium is thereby displaced from its working chamber 25.2a via the connecting line 24 into the other working chambers 25.1a, 25.3a, 25.4a.

[0108] For working chambers each having the same cross-section, this meansas shown in FIG. 4bthat when the piston rod of the working cylinder unit 25.2 is retracted by the offset distance V1, the other, in this case three, piston rods are each extended from their cylinders by ? of V1.

[0109] This takes place during the forward movement of the carriage 13, which continues until the second-longest log is contacted by the gripper there, in this case the log K1 in the lane SP1 by the gripper 14.1, as shown in FIG. 4c.

[0110] The gripper claws 16 of this gripper 14.1 are then extended and the log K1 is gripped as shown in FIG. 4d.

[0111] The third-longest log K3 as shown in FIG. 4e and the last, shortest log K4 as shown in FIG. 4f are also gripped in the same sequence after the further forward movement of the carriage 13.

[0112] After this, the shut-off valves 26.1-26.4 are all closed before the simultaneous slicing of the logs K1-K4 begins with further forward travel, step-by-step or continuous, of the carriage 13, as shown in FIG. 4f with the solid arrows.

[0113] FIGS. 5a to 5c show the end of the slicing operation, the logs K1-K4 being completely sliced at different times.

[0114] According to FIG. 5a, the log K4 is the first to be completely sliced, so that the gripper 14.4 holding it rests with its base body 23 against the end position stop 27.4, which is present in all lanes, and cannot be moved forward any further.

[0115] Then, triggered by this, all shut-off valves 26.1-26.4 are opened and the slicing operation continues for the remaining logs K1-K3 while the carriage 13 moves forward, since the gripper 14.4 with log K4 can no longer move forward.

[0116] This takes place until the next log is completely sliced according to FIG. 5b, i.e. the base body 23 of the gripper holding it strikes the end position stop arranged in this lane, which is the case here simultaneously for logs K1 and K3 according to FIG. 5b.

[0117] During this forward movement of the carriage 13, the piston rod in lane SP4 has moved into the cylinder there, while the piston rods in the other lanes SP1 to SP3 have been extended proportionately by ? of this offset distance V1 during the extension of these, as already explained in FIG. 4b.

[0118] This must be taken into account by correspondingly shorter travel distances of the carriage 13 between the separation processes starting from the standstill of the first gripper 14.4 and its fully sliced log K4.

[0119] Now that three grippers 14.1, 14.3, 14.4 are already in contact with their base bodies 23 at the respective end position stops as shown in FIG. 5b, the not yet completely sliced log K2 can be further sliced by continuing to move the gripper carriage 13 forward, with the shut-off valves 26.1-26.4 still open, until it is also in contact with its end position stop 27.2 as shown in FIG. 5c.

[0120] In this case, the piston rods of the stationary grippers 14.1, 14.3, 14.4 move synchronously into their cylinders, whereby the piston rod of the not yet completely sliced log K2 is extended by three times this retraction length, which in turn must be taken into account in the controlled forward movement of the carriage 13 in order to continue to achieve the generally constant desired slice thickness.

[0121] After all logs K1 to K4 have been completely sliced and all base bodies of all grippers are in contact with the respective end position stops, the grippers are deactivated, i.e. their claws 16 are moved out of the logs and in particular these log remnants are discarded, all shut-off valves 26.1-26.4 are moved into the blocking position, and the carriage 13 then moves back into its initial position.

[0122] FIGS. 6a to f showfor reasons of space only, for a three-lane slicing machine, which however is irrelevant for the method according to the disclosurethe gripping of newly inserted logs K1K3 of different lengths.

[0123] This further design of the slicing machine differs from the design described up to now in that each working chamber 25.1a-25.3a can optionally be connected to the hydraulic pump 29 or to a low-pressure chamber with a lower pressure than in the working chamber, in particular to a tank T under ambient pressure or an outflow.

[0124] A restrictor, preferably adjustable, or a pressure holding valve, preferably adjustable, can be provided in the inflow to the tank T in order to maintain a low residual pressure in the working chamber connected thereto even when there is an opening to the tank T.

[0125] In the case shown, the optional closing or connection to hydraulic pump 29 or tank T is realized by a shut-off valve 26.1-26.3 being located on the pressure medium connection of each working chamber 25.1a-25.3a, which now has three connections and three valve positions, i.e. a 3/3 valve in each case.

[0126] On the cylinder side, there is one valve connection on each valve, which is hydraulically connected to the respective working chamber of the hydraulic cylinder; at the end facing away from the cylinder, there are two valve connections, of which the one, here the right-hand one, valve connection, is connected to the hydraulic pump 29 via a corresponding connecting line, which hydraulically couples all the cylinder connections.

[0127] The left-hand valve connection is connected to the pressureless tank T via a different connecting line.

[0128] Instead of this, however, each working chamber 25.1a-25.3a could also have two separate connections, one of which can be connected to the hydraulic pump 29 via a shut-off valve and the other to the low-pressure chamber, in particular the tank T, via a shut-off valve.

[0129] FIG. 6a shows the state in which the gripper carriage 13 with the grippers 14.1-14.3 in the initial positionin which they are in the same longitudinal positionsand valves 26.1-26.3 in the closed position is moved forward in the feed direction 10 until the longest log, in this case K2, is contacted at its rear end by the gripper 14.2 approaching in this lane, and the gripper claws 16 of this gripper 14.2 are activated and are extended into the log K2 and hold it.

[0130] Then, as shown in FIG. 6b, this shut-off valve 26.2here in each case slide valves with three switching positionsis switched, i.e. displaced, so that the working chamber 25.2a of the corresponding hydraulic cylinder 25.2 is connected to the tank T.

[0131] The carriage 13 can then be moved further forwards, wherein in the hydraulic cylinder 25.2 the piston retracts into the cylinder due to the standstill of the gripper 14.2. The carriage 13 continues to move forward until the next-shorter log K1 is contacted by the corresponding gripper 14.1 and is gripped by activating the gripper claws 16 as shown in FIG. 6c.

[0132] Then, according to FIG. 6c, this stop valve 26.1 is also switched to the connection between the working chamber 25.1a and the tank T and then the carriage 13 is moved further forward with all hydraulic cylinders according to FIG. 6d until the gripper 14.3 arranged in the corresponding lane contacts the next-shorter, here the last, log K3 and its gripper 14.3 is activated by extending the gripper claws 16 according to FIG. 6e.

[0133] All shut-off valves 26.1-26.3 are then moved into the closed position, here the middle 5 position of the slide valve, so that the pressure medium connections of all working chambers 25.1a-25.3a are closed and an unchangeable longitudinal distance is fixed between the gripper carriage 3 and the corresponding gripper.

[0134] With this slicing position of the shut-off valves 26.1-26.3, the logs K1 to K3 are then sliced until the first log is completely sliced and the base body 23 of the gripper holding it has reached the corresponding end-position stop.

[0135] This state is shown in FIG. 7a, where the base body 23 15 of the right-hand gripper 14.3 is the first to strike the right-hand end position stop 27.3, because the right log K3 is the first to be completely sliced.

[0136] Then, triggered by this, the right-hand shut-off valve 26.3 switches to flow operation to tank T and, while the carriage 13 moves forward, the slicing operation is continued for the remaining logs K1, K2, because the gripper 14.3 with log K3 can no longer move forward.

[0137] This is the case until the next log K1 has been completely sliced as shown in FIG. 7b, i.e. the base body 23 of the gripper 14.1 holding it makes contact with the end position stop 27.1 in this lane. Then the shut-off valve 26.1 in this lane SP1, which has reached the stop, is also switched to connection to tank T.

[0138] Here the gripper carriage 13 can be moved forward with the same step width as in normal slicing operation, i.e. when no log has yet been completely sliced.

[0139] Now that two grippers 14.1, 14.3 are already in contact with their base bodies 23 at the respective end position stops 27.1, 27.3 as shown in FIG. 7b, the not yet completely sliced log K2 can be further sliced by continuing to move the gripper carriage 13 forward until it is also in contact with its end-position stop 27.2, as shown in FIG. 7c.

[0140] After all logs K1 to K4 have been completely sliced and all base bodies of all grippers are in contact with the respective end-position stops, the grippers are deactivated, i.e. their claws 16 are moved 10 out of the logs K1-K3, and in particular these log remnants are discarded.

[0141] 101411 The gripper carriage 13 is then moved back to its initial position and all shut-off valves 26.1-26.4 are switched to the closed position.

[0142] As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are provided herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.

[0143] While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the disclosure. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0144] 1 Slicing machine, slicer [0145] 1* Controller [0146] 2 Base frame [0147] 3 Blade [0148] 3 Axis of rotation [0149] 3 Blade plane, slicing plane [0150] 3a Slicing edge [0151] 4 Feed conveyor, feed belt [0152] 5 Cutting frame [0153] 6a-d Product opening [0154] 7 Slicing unit [0155] 8.1, 8.2 Upper product guide, upper guide belt [0156] 8a Deflection roller at the cutting frame side [0157] 8b Defection roller oriented away from the cutting frame [0158] 9 Lower product guide, lower guide belt [0159] 9a Deflection roller on through-plate side [0160] 9b Deflection roller oriented away from through-plate [0161] 10 Feed direction, longitudinal direction, axial direction [0162] 10* Longitudinal centre [0163] 10* Direction of passage through machine [0164] 11 1st transverse direction (width slicer) [0165] 12 2nd transverse direction (height-direction of log) [0166] 13, 13a, b Gripper unit, gripper slide [0167] 13.1-13.4 Gripper unit, gripper slide [0168] 14,14a-d Gripper [0169] 15 Spacer [0170] 16 Gripper claw [0171] 17 Discharge unit [0172] 17a, b, c Portioning belt, discharge conveyor [0173] 18a, b Gripper guide [0174] 19 Height sensor [0175] 20 Feeding unit [0176] 21 Residual piece conveyor [0177] 22a, b, c Carriage drive [0178] 23 [0179] 24 Connecting line [0180] 25.1, 25.2 Hydraulic cylinder unit [0181] 25.1P, 25.2p Pressure medium connection [0182] 25.1o, 25.2o Pressureless connection [0183] 25.1A, 25.2A Cylinder [0184] 25.1B, 25.2B Piston [0185] 25.1a, 25.2a Working chamber [0186] 26.1, 26.2 Shut-off valve [0187] 27.1, 27.2 End-position sensor, mechanical stop [0188] 28 Spring [0189] 29 Hydraulic pump [0190] 30 Tank [0191] 31.1, 31.2 Drain line [0192] 32.1, 32.2 Drain valve [0193] 33 Prong drive [0194] 34 Gripper prong [0195] 35 Gripper base body [0196] 36 [0197] K Log, product log [0198] KR Residual piece [0199] S Slice [0200] P Portion [0201] V Packaging element