DRIVE UNIT FOR PRODUCT HOLD-DOWN ELEMENT

Abstract

The invention relates to a drive unit (1) for a product hold-down element (51) of a food cutting machine (73) for driving a transport means (55) of a product hold-down element (51). The drive unit (1) comprises a driveshaft (3), a gearbox (5) having a gearbox housing (7) with a first and a second side (13, 15), a motor (9), and a torque support (11). The drive shaft (3) is connected to the gearbox (5) and is designed to drive a transport means (55). The motor (9) is connected to the gearbox (5) so that a rotation of the motor (9) is transmitted to the drive shaft (3) by means of the gearbox (5). The drive shaft (3) and the motor (9) are connected to the gearbox (5) on the first side (13) of the gearbox housing (7). The gearbox housing (7) is mounted on the torque support (11) on the second side (15).

Claims

1. A food cutting machine comprising: a product hold-down element; and a slicing blade for cutting a food product, wherein the product hold-down element includes: a drive unit, comprising: a drive shaft: a gearbox having a gearbox housing with a first side and a second side: a motor; and a torque support; a carrier frame; and a transport; wherein the transport is supported in the carrier frame, and wherein the carrier frame is supported on the drive unit by a strut, the drive unit being provided for driving the transport of the product hold-down element, wherein the drive shaft is connected to the gearbox and is adapted to drive the transport, wherein the motor is connected to the gearbox to transmit a rotation of the motor to the drive shaft by the gearbox, wherein the drive shaft and the motor are connected to the gearbox at the first side of the gearbox housing, and wherein the gearbox housing is supported at the second side on the torque support.

2. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the torque support is more elastic in an axial direction (A) of the drive shaft than in a radial direction (R) of the drive shaft.

3. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the torque support is flat and is one of: X-shaped, Y-shaped, or T-shaped.

4. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the torque support is formed of metal and comprises a thickness in a range of 0.8 to 2.0 mm.

5. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the gearbox housing comprises two or more spaced apart fasteners for connection to the torque support such that the gearbox housing is positionable in at least two different relative positions to the torque support.

6. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the drive shaft is connectable to the gearbox by a plug-in connection.

7. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein a toothed sleeve is arranged on the drive shaft, the toothed sleeve being displaceable and configured to be clamped to the drive shaft by an annular clamping element.

8. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the torque support is attached to a frame member.

9. The food cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the motor, the gearbox, and the torque support are enclosed by a housing.

10. The food cutting machine of claim 9, wherein the housing has a sealed feedthrough opening, through which the drive shaft is passed.

11. The food cutting machine of claim 1, further comprising two or more drive shafts, each drive shaft connected to a respective gearbox, each gearbox being connected to a respective motor such that rotation of the motor is transmitted to the respective gearbox and the respective drive shaft, wherein the two or more drive shafts are arranged substantially along an arc of a circle.

12. A food processing line, comprising: a food cutting machine, comprising: a product hold-down element, comprising: a drive unit comprising: a gearbox having a gearbox housing with a first side and a second side; a drive shaft connected to the gearbox at the first side; a motor connected to the gearbox at the first side to transmit a rotation of the motor to the drive shaft via the gearbox; and a torque support coupled to the second side of the gearbox; a carrier frame supported on the drive unit via a strut; and a transport supported in the carrier frame, the transport driven by the drive unit: a slicing blade for cutting a food product; and at least one upstream food product conveying device and/or at least one downstream food portioning device.

13. A method of manufacturing a drive unit for a product hold-down element of a food cutting machine for driving a transport of the product hold-down element, the drive unit comprising: a drive shaft; a gearbox comprising a gearbox housing having a first side and a second side; a motor; and a torque support; wherein the drive shaft is connected to the gearbox and adapted to drive the transport, wherein the motor is connected to the gearbox so as to transmit a rotation of the motor to the drive shaft by the gearbox, wherein the drive shaft and the motor are connected to the gearbox at the first side of the gearbox housing, and wherein the gearbox housing is supported at the second side on the torque support, wherein the method comprises: connecting a motor to a gearbox at a first side of a gearbox housing to form a motor gearbox unit; connecting the motor gearbox unit to a drive shaft at the first side of the gearbox housing; and connecting a second side of the gearbox housing to a torque support, wherein the second side of the gearbox housing is opposite to the first side of the gearbox housing.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the torque support is more elastic in an axial direction (A) of the drive shaft than in a radial direction (R) of the drive shaft.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the drive unit comprises two or more drive shafts, each drive shaft connected to a respective gearbox, each gearbox being connected to a respective motor so as to transmit rotation of the motor to the respective gearbox and to the respective drive shaft, wherein the two or more drive shafts are arranged substantially along an arc of a circle.

16. The food processing line of claim 12, wherein the gearbox is a first gearbox, the drive shaft is a first drive shaft, and the motor is a first motor, and the drive unit further comprises: a second drive shaft connected to a second gearbox that is driven by a second motor.

17. The food processing line of claim 16, wherein the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are arranged substantially along an arc of a circle.

18. The food processing line of claim 16, wherein the torque support is a first torque support, and wherein the drive unit further comprises: a second torque support coupled to the second gearbox.

19. The food processing line of claim 18, further comprising: a frame element configured to dissipate forces applied to the first torque support and the second torque support, wherein the first torque support comprises a first upper end connected to the first gearbox and a first lower end connected to the frame element, and wherein the second torque support comprises a second upper end connected to the first gearbox and a second lower end connected to the frame element.

20. The food processing line of claim 12, wherein the gearbox housing comprises a plurality of fastening receptacles for coupling to the torque support.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In the following, embodiments of the invention are described in more detail with reference to the figures. In the figures

[0035] FIG. 1: is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a drive unit,

[0036] FIG. 2: is a schematic view of torque supports in different shapes,

[0037] FIG. 3: is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a drive unit with housing,

[0038] FIG. 4: is another perspective view of the second embodiment of the drive unit,

[0039] FIG. 5: is a side view of the second embodiment of the drive unit,

[0040] FIG. 6: is another side view of the second embodiment of the drive unit,

[0041] FIG. 7: is a perspective view of a product hold-down element,

[0042] FIG. 8: is a schematic view of a food processing line including a food cutting machine with product hold-down element.

[0043] Throughout the figures corresponding components are marked with the same reference signs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0044] FIG. 1 shows a drive unit 1 with a drive shaft 3, a gearbox 5 encapsulated in a gearbox housing 7, a motor 9 and a torque support 11. The drive shaft 3 and the motor 9 are connected to the gearbox 5 at a first side 13 of the gearbox housing 7. The torque support 11 is connected at a second side 15 of the gearbox housing 7. In this view, the second side 15 of the gearbox housing is facing away from the viewer, so that the torque support 11 is hidden by the gearbox housing 7 and is shown here in dashed lines. The torque support 11 is X-shaped and is connected at its lower end to a first frame element 17. On the side of the drive shaft 3 opposite the gearbox housing 7, the drive shaft is rotatably mounted on a second frame element 19 in this illustration. A sleeve 21, which may for example be a toothed sleeve 21, is arranged on the drive shaft 3 and is provided for driving a transport in the form of a transport belt of a product hold-down element on the basis of the rotation of the drive shaft 3. The first frame element 17 may be part of the drive unit, of a product hold-down element or may be another frame component of a food cutting machine. The drive shaft 3 is connected to the gearbox 5 by means of a plug-in connection 23. In its longest extension, the drive shaft 3 defines its axial direction A. Its radial direction R is defined so as to be perpendicular to the axial direction A.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of torque supports 11 in various shapes. The torque supports 11 are essentially all planar in shape, i.e., their extent in length and width, which are here in the drawing plane, is significantly greater than their thickness, which is here perpendicular to the drawing plane. Variants a), b), and c) are essentially X-shaped, with different areas of material left out. Variant d) is Y-shaped, and variant e) is T-shaped, with the top bar being sloped. The torque supports 11 may have holes 25 to be connected to fasteners of the gearbox housing 7 by means of a threaded connection.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a drive unit 1, which includes four drive shafts 3, each of which is driven by a motor 9 by means of its own gearbox 5 in order to drive a respective transport belt. The sleeves 21 are all still in a position arranged on the right, but may be moved to drive the transport belt of the corresponding track. Ring clamping elements 27 are used to fix the sleeves 21 in their respective positions on the drive shaft 3. The motors 9, gearboxes 5 or gearbox housings 7, and a section of the drive shafts 3 are enclosed by a housing 29. The housing 29 has feedthrough openings 31, through which the drive shafts 3 are passed. The feedthrough openings 31 are designed to be watertight. A holm 33 connects the first frame element 17 and the second frame element 19 and thus provides additional stability to the drive unit 1 or serves for further mounting of support frames as well as an attachment of the drive unit 1 in a product hold-down element. The holm 33, in the form of a tubular support, has a scale 35 to facilitate positioning of support frames or sleeves 21. A strut 37 serves to further support carrier frames.

[0047] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the second embodiment of the drive unit 1 with four drive shafts 3 with the viewing angle being on the second sides 15 of the gearbox housings 7, i.e. from a right-hand side. In order to make the arrangement and in particular the housing 29 as space-saving as possible, the gearbox housings 7 are arranged in partially different orientations. In this way, a smallest possible housing 29 may be filled particularly advantageously. For this purpose, the torque supports 11 are formed in different sizes and shapes and are partially connected to the gearbox housing 7 at different fastening means 39 of the gearbox housing 7. The torque supports 11 are attached to the first frame element 17. In this example, the housing 29 includes an access opening 41 to allow access to components located within the housing 29. A cover 43, shown here as a dashed line, closes the access opening 41 in a watertight and reversible manner. For this purpose, it may be in the form of a door, flap or completely removable cover with correspondingly suitable connecting or retaining elements. A motor 9 and a gearbox 5 in combination form a motor gearbox unit 45.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a side view of the second embodiment according to FIG. 3, looking from the left at the second frame element 19. In this perspective, it is particularly evident how the drive shafts 3 are arranged around the axis of the strut 37, the housing 29 with its shape essentially following this arrangement, and the motors 9 and gearbox housing 7 are space-savingly arranged in the housing 29.

[0049] FIG. 6 shows a side view of the second embodiment according to FIG. 3, looking from the right at the housing 29 or the torque supports 11 and gearbox housings 7. It is evident that each torque support 11 has an individual size and shape. In this way, the respective position of the drive shafts 3 can be met and the torque supports 11 may be attached to a common, straight first frame element 17. It is evident that the position of the gearbox housings 7 are conditioned by the size and shape of the torque supports 11 themselves, as well as by the attachment to different fastening means 39 of the second side 15 of the gearbox housings 7.

[0050] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a product hold-down element 51 with a drive unit 1 including four drive shafts 3. Four carrier frames 53 are mounted on the strut 37 and the holm 33, in each of which a transport 55 in the form of a transport belt is guided, of which only the transport belt 55 of the rearmost carrier frame 53 seen in the direction of view is shown. The transport belts 55 are guided over deflection rollers 57 of the carrier frames 53 and the sleeve 21 of the drive shaft 3. For this purpose, the sleeves 21 are pushed to the respective track position and fixed there by means of a ring tensioning element 27. Toothed sleeves 21 may be used, for example, which engage with a transport belt 55 in the form of a toothed belt. The holm 33 may also be used to attach the product hold-down element 51 in a food cutting machine.

[0051] FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of a food processing line 71 including a food cutting machine 73. The food cutting machine 73 includes a product hold-down element 51 for controllably feeding a food product 75, such as an elongated sausage or cheese loaf, to a slicing blade 77. Stacks 79 of slices 81 of the food product are conveyed to a food portioning device 83 and inserted, for example, into packaging trays. An insertion robot or a suitably arranged conveyor belt may be used for this purpose. In a sealing machine 85, the filled packaging trays are sealed airtight. A food product conveyor 87 is located upstream of the food cutting machine 73 and feeds the food product 75 to it.