Cutting device, slitting device, vegetable cutting apparatus and vegetable cutting method

Abstract

The application provides a cutting device, a slitting device, a vegetable cutting equipment and a vegetable cutting method. The cutting device comprises a cutting assembly, a moving assembly and an identification part. The identification part can identify the contour information of food materials. The moving assembly can adjust the relative position relationship between the food materials and the cutting assembly according to the contour information of the food materials, so as to realize various cutting effects on the food materials. The slitting device comprises a storage assembly and a slitting assembly. The slitting assembly is used for slitting the food materials passing through the storage assembly. The vegetable cutting equipment comprises the cutting device and the slitting device. The slitting device can preliminarily slit the food materials. The cutting device is used for further cutting the food materials slit by the slitting device, so as to further finely cut the food materials. The vegetable cutting method provided by the application adopts the vegetable cutting equipment, and can improve the cutting quality and efficiency of the food materials.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of cooking technology, specifically to a cutting device, a slicing device, a vegetable cutting equipment, and a vegetable cutting method. Background Technology

[0002] When a vegetable cutter cuts vegetables, the ingredients to be cut are placed on a conveyor. The conveyor causes relative movement between the ingredients and the blades, thereby adjusting the cutting position on the ingredients and cutting them. The relative movement speed between the conveyor and the blades is usually set to a constant speed, resulting in adjacent cutting positions being close together. Since the shapes of the ingredients vary, cutting positions with the same intervals will result in different volumes of cut ingredients. Especially when dealing with ingredients with complex shapes, the position or shape of the ingredients needs to be manually adjusted. It lacks adaptability to ingredients with different shapes, has low cutting precision, and is not conducive to improving cutting efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application aims to address at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, this application proposes a cutting device that can adjust the cutting position of the blade on the food according to its shape, enabling multiple cutting methods to be used, thus meeting various cutting needs and improving cutting precision and efficiency.

[0004] This application also proposes a slitting device.

[0005] This application also proposes a vegetable cutting device having the above-mentioned cutting apparatus.

[0006] This application also proposes a method for cutting vegetables.

[0007] A cutting device according to a first aspect of this application includes a cutting component, a moving component, and a recognition unit. The cutting component is used to cut food ingredients. The moving component includes a fixing part, a driving part, a connecting part, and a placing part. The driving part is connected to the fixing part, and the connecting part is connected to the driving part. Along a first direction, the connecting part is located between the fixing part and the placing part. Along a second direction, the placing part is disposed adjacent to the cutting component. The placing part is used to carry food ingredients. The driving part is used to drive the connecting part to move closer to or away from the placing part along the first direction. The connecting part and the placing part can fix the food ingredients. The driving part can also drive the connecting part to move closer to or away from the cutting component along the second direction to adjust the cutting position of the cutting component on the food ingredients. The recognition unit is connected to the fixing part. Along the first direction, the recognition unit is located below the fixing part. The recognition unit is used to recognize the outline information of the food ingredients on the placing part and feed the outline information back to the driving part.

[0008] The cutting device according to the embodiments of this application has at least the following beneficial effects: the placement part is used to carry the food, the identification part is used to identify the outline information of the food on the placement part, and feeds back the outline information to the driving part. According to the outline information fed back by the identification part, the driving part drives the connecting part to approach the placement part along the first direction to fix the food. After fixing, the driving part drives the connecting part to approach the cutting component along the second direction to change the relative distance between the food and the cutting component. This allows the cutting position of the cutting component on the food to be adjusted without manually adjusting the position and / or shape of the food, thereby adapting to different cutting requirements for food of different shapes and improving the precision and efficiency of food cutting.

[0009] According to some embodiments of this application, the moving component further includes a rotating part, which is connected to a driving part and a connecting part. The driving part drives the rotating part to rotate around a first direction, and the rotating part drives the connecting part to rotate. Along the axis of rotation of the connecting part, the connecting part can drive the food to rotate for adjusting the cutting position.

[0010] According to some embodiments of this application, the placement part is provided with a clearance groove extending in a second direction. In the first direction, the clearance groove is located below the connecting part and is correspondingly provided to the connecting part. The clearance groove is used to avoid the connecting part.

[0011] According to a second aspect of the present application, a cutting device includes a storage component and a cutting component. The storage component includes a storage body. The storage body is provided with an inlet, an outlet and a storage cavity. The inlet is used to allow food to enter the storage cavity and the outlet is used to allow the food to be exposed outside the storage cavity.

[0012] The slitting assembly includes a slitting drive unit, a circulation unit, and a slitting cutter. The slitting cutter is located on the side of the storage body where the discharge port is located. The slitting drive unit is used to drive the slitting cutter to move along a third direction through the discharge port to slitting the food exposed at the discharge port. The circulation unit is used to drive the slitting cutter to reciprocate along a second direction during the movement of the slitting cutter along the third direction. The second direction intersects with the third direction.

[0013] The slitting device according to the embodiments of this application has at least the following beneficial effects: under the combined action of the slitting drive unit and the circulation unit, the slitting blade moves in a third direction and also reciprocates in a second direction. As a result, the slitting blade can slit the food in a manner close to manual cutting, which is beneficial to protect the cut surface of the food and improve the precision of cutting the food.

[0014] According to some embodiments of this application, the slitting cutter is connected to the slitting drive unit, the slitting drive unit is connected to the circulation unit, and the circulation unit is connected to the slitting cutter.

[0015] According to some embodiments of this application, the storage body is provided with a clearance part, which is connected to the storage cavity. The cutting device also includes a clamping component, which is located at the clearance part and enters the storage cavity through the clearance part to fix the food ingredients.

[0016] According to some embodiments of this application, the clamping assembly includes a clamping drive unit and at least two clamping parts. The clamping drive unit is connected to each clamping part. Along a first direction, each clamping part is distributed around the storage body. Each clamping part is located at a clearance part. The clamping drive unit drives each clamping part to enter or exit the storage cavity through the clearance part. Each clamping part is used to fix the food in the storage cavity.

[0017] The vegetable cutting device according to the third aspect of this application includes a slitting device and a cutting device in any of the above embodiments. The slitting device includes a storage component and a cutting component. The storage component includes a storage body, which has a storage cavity for accommodating food ingredients, an inlet for the food ingredients to enter the storage cavity, and an outlet for the food ingredients to be exposed outside the storage cavity. Along a first direction, the cutting component is located on the side of the storage body where the outlet is provided, and the cutting component is used to cut the food ingredients exposed outside the outlet.

[0018] The placement section moves between the slitting component and the cutting component. The placement section is used to carry the ingredients slitting by the slitting component and transport the ingredients to the cutting component for cutting.

[0019] The vegetable cutting device according to the embodiments of this application has at least the following beneficial effects: the slitting device is used to initially slit larger ingredients, the cutting device is used to cut the initially slit ingredients again, and the cutting device includes a recognition unit that can recognize the outline of the ingredients. The moving component adjusts the position of the ingredients according to the outline information recognized by the recognition unit. Thus, the vegetable cutting device does not require manual adjustment of the position or shape of the ingredients, has a high degree of cutting precision, is adaptable to cutting ingredients of various shapes, and is beneficial to improving the cutting efficiency of ingredients.

[0020] According to some embodiments of this application, the slitting assembly includes a slitting drive unit and a slitting cutter. The slitting drive unit is connected to the slitting cutter. The slitting cutter is located on the side of the storage body where the discharge port is located. The slitting drive unit is used to drive the slitting cutter to move along a third direction through the discharge port to slitting the food exposed at the discharge port. The third direction intersects with the first direction.

[0021] According to some embodiments of this application, the slitting assembly further includes a circulation section. Along the second direction, the circulation section is disposed adjacent to the slitting drive section and connected to the slitting drive section. The circulation section is also connected to the slitting cutter. The circulation section is used to drive the slitting cutter to reciprocate along the second direction during the movement of the slitting cutter along the third direction. The second direction intersects with the third direction.

[0022] According to some embodiments of this application, the slitting assembly further includes a circulation section along the second direction. The circulation section is disposed adjacent to the slitting drive section and connected to the slitting drive section. The circulation section is used to drive the slitting drive section to reciprocate along the second direction during the movement of the slitting cutter along the third direction. The second direction intersects with the third direction.

[0023] According to some embodiments of this application, the cutting device further includes a clamping component. The storage body is provided with a clearance portion, and the clamping component is located at the clearance portion. The clearance portion is in communication with the storage cavity. The clamping component can enter or exit the storage cavity through the clearance portion. The clamping component enters the storage cavity to fix the food ingredients.

[0024] According to some embodiments of this application, the clamping assembly includes a clamping drive unit and at least two clamping parts. The clamping drive unit is connected to each clamping part. Along a first direction, each clamping part is distributed around the storage body. Each clamping part is located at a clearance part. The clamping drive unit drives each clamping part to enter or exit the storage cavity through the clearance part for fixing or releasing the food.

[0025] This application also proposes a vegetable cutting method, which uses the vegetable cutting equipment described in any of the above claims to cut vegetables, the vegetable cutting method including:

[0026] Feeding: Put the ingredients into the storage chamber through the feeding port, so that the ingredients in the storage chamber are exposed from the discharging port;

[0027] Cutting and transporting; the cutting component cuts the food exposed at the discharge port into a part to be cut and a part that has been cut. The part to be cut is located in the storage chamber, and the part that has been cut is located on the placement part. The placement part transports the part that has been cut to the cutting device.

[0028] Scanning and cutting: At the cutting device, the identification unit takes a picture of the cut part to obtain the outline information of the cut part. The placement unit transports the food to the connecting unit. According to the outline information, the driving unit drives the connecting unit to approach and fix the cut part along the first direction. Along the second direction, the connecting unit drives the cut part to approach the cutting component and adjusts the relative position of the cut part and the cutting component to change the cutting position of the cutting component on the cut part. The cutting component cuts the cut part.

[0029] The vegetable cutting method according to the embodiments of this application has at least the following beneficial effects: The method enables the separate cutting and slicing of ingredients. The slicing and handling process breaks down larger ingredients into smaller volumes, facilitating subsequent cutting. In the scanning and cutting step, the outer contour of the sliced ​​ingredients is photographed and recognized, and the relative position between the ingredients and the cutting components is adjusted based on the recognized contour information, thereby enabling operations such as cutting into chunks, slices, and peels. Therefore, processing ingredients using the above-described method improves cutting efficiency and helps to enhance the precision and quality of ingredient cutting.

[0030] According to the vegetable cutting method of this application embodiment, an avoidance part is provided on the side wall of the storage body. In the cutting and handling step, a clamping component is used to fix the part to be cut. The clamping component enters the storage cavity through the avoidance part to fix the part to be cut.

[0031] According to the vegetable cutting method of the present application embodiment, the cutting component includes a cutting blade. In the cutting and transporting step, the cutting blade moves along a third direction through the discharge port to cut the food exposed from the discharge port into a part to be cut and a part that has been cut. The cutting blade also moves back and forth along a second direction during the movement along the third direction, and the second direction intersects with the third direction.

[0032] According to the vegetable cutting method of this application embodiment, in the scanning and cutting step, when the food approaches the cutting component along the second direction, the connecting part can also drive the food to rotate, thereby adjusting the relative position between the food and the cutting component.

[0033] Additional aspects and advantages of this application will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0034] The present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, wherein:

[0035] Figure 1 This is a front view of the vegetable cutting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0036] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the cutting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0037] Figure 3 This is a side view of the cutting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0038] Figure 4 This is a rear view of the cutting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0039] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the vegetable cutting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0040] Figure 6 This is a top view of the slitting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0041] Figure 7 This is a bottom view of the slitting device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0042] Figure 8 This is a front view of the slitting device according to an embodiment of this application.

[0043] Figure label:

[0044] Cutting device 100, cutting assembly 110; moving assembly 120, fixing part 121, driving part 122, first motor 1221, second motor 1222, third motor 1223, connecting part 123, placing part 124, clearance groove 1241, identification part 125, rotating part 126;

[0045] The components include: a slitting device 200, a storage assembly 210, a storage body 211, an inlet 212, an outlet 213, a storage chamber 214, a clearance part 215, a slitting assembly 220, a slitting drive part 221, a slitting cutter 222, a circulation part 223, a clamping assembly 230, a clamping drive part 231, and a clamping part 232.

[0046] Vegetable cutting equipment 300. Detailed Implementation

[0047] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting this application.

[0048] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the orientation descriptions, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0049] In the description of this application, "several" means one or more, "multiple" means two or more, "greater than," "less than," and "exceeding" are understood to exclude the stated number, while "above," "below," and "within" are understood to include the stated number. The use of "first" and "second" in the description is merely for distinguishing technical features and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features, or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0050] In the description of this application, unless otherwise expressly defined, terms such as "setup," "installation," and "connection" should be interpreted broadly, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meaning of the above terms in this application in conjunction with the specific content of the technical solution.

[0051] In the description of this application, the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "illustrative embodiment," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., refer to specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with that embodiment or example, which are included in at least one embodiment or example of this application. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

[0052] The embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0053] refer to Figures 1 to 3 According to an embodiment of the first aspect of this application, the cutting device 100 includes a cutting assembly 110, a moving assembly 120, and an identification unit 125. The cutting assembly 110 is used to cut food ingredients. The moving assembly 120 includes a fixing part 121, a driving part 122, a connecting part 123, and a placing part 124. The driving part 122 is connected to the fixing part 121, and the connecting part 123 is connected to the driving part 122. Along a first direction, the connecting part 123 is located between the fixing part 121 and the placing part 124. Along a second direction, the placing part 124 is disposed adjacent to the cutting assembly 110 and is used to hold food ingredients. The driving part 122 drives the cutting assembly 110. The connecting part 123 moves closer to or further away from the placement part 124 along the first direction. When the connecting part 123 moves closer to the placement part 124, it can fix the food. When the connecting part 123 moves further away from the placement part 124, it can detach from the food. Alternatively, the connecting part 123 can drive the food to move along the first direction. The driving part 122 can also drive the connecting part 123 to move closer to or further away from the cutting component 110 along the second direction. After the connecting part 123 fixes the food, the connecting part 123 drives the food to move closer to or further away from the cutting component 110 along the second direction. This is used to adjust the cutting position of the cutting component 110 on the food, thereby enabling various cutting methods such as cutting the food into chunks or slices.

[0054] It should be noted that the connecting part 123 moves the food along the second direction to approach the cutting component 110. The movement of the connecting part 123 can be continuous or intermittent. If the connecting part 123 moves continuously, it can move at an accelerated or constant speed. Accelerated movement of the connecting part 123 can cut the food into gradually larger pieces, while constant movement of the connecting part 123 can cut the food into more uniform pieces. Furthermore, the thickness of the slices can be adjusted by controlling the movement speed of the connecting part 123.

[0055] The identification unit 125 is connected to the fixing unit 121. Along the first direction, the identification unit 125 is located below the fixing unit 121. The identification range of the identification unit 125 can completely cover the placement unit 124. The identification unit 125 is used to identify the outline information of the food on the placement unit 124 and feed back the identified food outline information to the driving unit 122. The driving unit 122 drives the connecting unit 123 to move according to the outline information, so as to determine different cutting positions according to different shaped food, increase the adaptability to cutting different shaped food, and make the size of each part of the cut food more similar, which is convenient for cooking and processing. During this period, there is no need to manually adjust the position or shape of the food, which is beneficial to improving the cutting efficiency of the food.

[0056] For example, along the second direction, the cutting component 110 is arranged adjacent to the placement part 124, on which food is placed. The placement part 124 provides support for the cutting component 110 to cut the food. The cutting component 110 includes a motor and a cutting blade. The motor and the cutting blade are connected by a gear and rack transmission. When the motor switches between forward and reverse, the cutting blade can cut up and down along the first direction. The cutting blade cuts down along the first direction. After cutting the food, the cutting blade returns to its original position and completes one cutting cycle. Along the first direction, a connecting part 123 is provided above the placement part 124. Above the connecting part 123, a fixing part 121 and a driving part 122 are provided. The driving part 122 is fixed on the fixing part 121. Along the first direction, the driving part 122 includes a first motor 1221 located above the fixing part 121. The first motor 1221 is driven by a synchronous belt to another synchronous pulley. A part of the connecting part 123 is clamped on the synchronous belt, thereby realizing the movement of the connecting part 123 along the second direction. Along the first direction, the driving part 122 also includes a third motor 1223 located below the fixing part 121. The third motor 1223 is connected to the connecting part 123 by a gear and rack. The third motor 1223 is used to drive the connecting part to move up and down along the first direction. Thus, the moving component 120 can realize the movement of the food in two directions and adjust the cutting position of the food, which is beneficial to improving the adaptability to the shape of the food.

[0057] Along the first direction, a recognition unit 125 is also provided below the fixing part 121. The recognition unit includes a camera module capable of taking pictures of the food. The camera module is communicatively connected to a visual terminal processing system. The food photos taken by the camera module are uploaded to the visual terminal processing system for recognition, and the outline information of the food is extracted. The driving part 122 drives the connecting part 123 to move according to the outline information. The movement of the connecting part 123 includes up-and-down movement along the first direction and left-and-right movement along the second direction. The connecting part 123 approaches and fixes the food on the placement part 124 along the first direction. After fixing, the connecting part 123 moves towards the cutting component 110 along the second direction under the drive of the driving part 122, thereby adjusting the cutting position of the cutting component 110 on the food. Each cut of the food can have the same or different intervals. By adjusting the cutting position of the food, the cutting component 110 can cut the food into several pieces with the same or different volumes. Especially for irregularly shaped food, adjusting the cutting position is beneficial to improving the uniformity of the volume of the food after cutting, which is convenient for cooking.

[0058] For example, the outline information of the food can be the coordinates of the food along the second direction with the cutting component 110 as the origin. Different coordinate information can be found at different points along the outer outline of the food. The coordinate information fed back to the driving unit should be an absolute value. Based on the coordinate information, the driving unit 122 drives the connecting part 123 to move along the second direction. The connecting part 123 moves the food closer to the cutting component 110. The displacement of the connecting part 123 should be the sum of the coordinate information at the outer outline of the food and the required cutting thickness of the food. Based on the required cutting thickness and the coordinate information at the outer outline of the food, the displacement of the connecting part 123 along the second direction is determined, which is beneficial to improving the cutting uniformity of food with different outer outlines.

[0059] It should be noted that the above coordinate information will change with the change of the outer contour of the food and the movement of the food driven by the connecting part 123. The recognition unit 125 calculates the required displacement of the connecting part 123 based on the initial position of the food in the placement part 124. For example, if the initial coordinate of the outer contour of the food at a certain point is a, and the cutting thickness of the food is b, then the connecting part 123 will drive the food to move along the second direction toward the cutting component 110 by the sum of a and b. And each time the food is cut, the connecting part 123 will drive the food to move along the second direction toward the cutting component 110 by b, so as to obtain food with a thickness of b.

[0060] Furthermore, the ingredients can be cut into ingredients of different thicknesses. For example, if the required cutting thickness of the ingredients is two thicknesses, b and c, and the initial coordinate of the outer contour of a certain point of the ingredient is a, then the connecting part 123 drives the ingredients to move along the second direction toward the cutting component 110 by the sum of a and b. After that, the connecting part 123 drives the ingredients to move along the second direction toward the cutting component 110 alternately by b and c to obtain ingredients with thicknesses of b and c.

[0061] refer to Figures 1 to 4 In some embodiments, the moving component 120 further includes a rotating part 126, which is connected to the driving part 122 and also connected to the connecting part 123. The driving part 122 drives the rotating part 126 to rotate around a first direction, and the rotating part 126 drives the connecting part 123 to rotate. The connecting part 123 can drive the food to rotate, thereby adjusting the cutting position of the cutting component 110 on the food and avoiding cutting dead angles when cutting the food. Under the combined action of the driving part 122, the rotating part 126, and the connecting part 123, the connecting part 123 includes up-and-down movement along the first direction, left-and-right movement along the second direction, and rotation about the first direction as the axis. This helps to better adjust the relative position between the food and the cutting component 110, thereby enabling further adjustment of the cutting position of the cutting component 110 on the food.

[0062] For example, the connecting part 123 can move the food closer to the cutting component 110 along the second direction, and then the connecting part 123 can rotate the food around the first direction. The cutting component 110 can peel the food. It should be understood that during the peeling process, the recognition part 125 can recognize the outer contour of the food and feed back the recognized contour information to the driving part 122. The driving part 122 drives the rotating part 126 and the connecting part 123 to adjust the cutting position of the food, so as to achieve fine cutting of the food and improve the cutting quality of the food.

[0063] Specifically, the outer contour edge of the food also has coordinate values ​​along a third direction. The coordinate values ​​along the third direction affect the circumferential cutting position along the rotation direction of the connecting part 123. It should be understood that the higher the rotation accuracy of the connecting part 123, the closer the outer contour of the food after being cut by the cutting component 110 is to a circle. When the connecting part 123 drives the food to the cutting position of the cutting component 110, the connecting part 123 drives the food to rotate and the cutting component 110 cuts the food alternately to achieve cutting of the outer contour edge of the food, thus achieving peeling of the food.

[0064] It should be noted that after the connecting part 123 is coupled with the food, the rotating part 126 drives the connecting part 123 to rotate, and then the connecting part 123 drives the food to rotate. The rotation of the food makes it easier for the recognition part 125 to better recognize the outer contour of the food, reducing the recognition blind spot of the recognition part 125. The accurate recognition of the food contour is beneficial to improving the precision of cutting the food.

[0065] refer to Figures 1 to 4 In some embodiments, the placement part 124 is provided with a relief groove 1241 extending in a second direction. In a first direction, the relief groove 1241 is located below the connecting part 123 and is correspondingly provided to the connecting part 123. The relief groove 1241 can accommodate a part of the connecting part 123. Specifically, when the connecting part 123 fixes the food on the placement part 124, the connecting part 123 moves downward and closer to the food in the first direction. The connecting part 123 can penetrate the food and couple with the food. In the first direction, the exposed part of the connecting part 123 is placed in the relief groove 1241. The relief groove 1241 is used to avoid the part of the connecting part 123. Compared with not providing the relief groove 1241, the provision of the relief groove 1241 can ensure that the connecting part 123 can completely penetrate the food, which is convenient for better fixing of the food and beneficial for better cutting of the food.

[0066] refer to Figures 5 to 8 According to the second aspect of this application, the slitting apparatus 200 includes a storage assembly 210 and a slitting assembly 220. The storage assembly 210 includes a storage body 211, which has an inlet 212, an outlet 213, and a storage cavity 214. The inlet 212 is used to allow food to enter the storage cavity 214, and the outlet 213 is used to allow the food to be exposed outside the storage cavity 214. The slitting assembly 220 is located below the storage body 211 and includes a slitting drive unit. 221, circulation unit 223 and cutting blade 222, cutting drive unit 221 is connected to cutting blade 222, along the second direction, circulation unit 223 is connected to and adjacent to cutting drive unit 221, circulation unit 223 is also connected to cutting blade 222, circulation unit 223 drives cutting blade 222 to reciprocate along the second direction, when cutting drive unit 221 drives cutting blade 222 to move along the third direction, cutting blade 222 also includes reciprocating motion along the second direction, cutting assembly 220 is used to cut food exposed below storage cavity 214.

[0067] refer to Figures 5 to 8In some embodiments, the cutting blade 222 is connected to the cutting drive unit 221, the cutting drive unit 221 is connected to the circulation unit 223, and the circulation unit 223 is connected to the cutting blade 222. The cutting drive unit 221 simultaneously drives the cutting blade 222 and the circulation unit 223. Under the drive of the cutting drive unit 221, the cutting blade 222 moves along a third direction through the discharge port to cut the food exposed at the discharge port 213. During the movement of the cutting blade 222 along the third direction, the circulation unit 223 also drives the cutting blade 222 to reciprocate along a second direction. The second direction intersects with the third direction, which can realize the cutting of food in a way that simulates manual cutting, which is beneficial to improving the cutting quality.

[0068] It should be understood that the second direction can be perpendicular to the third direction. Compared with non-perpendicularity, the second direction being perpendicular to the third direction makes it easier to connect the drive unit 221 and the circulation unit 223 through standard bevel gear transmission, simplifying the implementation difficulty.

[0069] Specifically, the slitting drive unit 221 includes a servo motor and a ball screw. The slitting cutter 222 is connected to the ball screw slider. Driven by the servo motor, the ball screw slider drives the slitting cutter 222 to move in a third direction to cut the food exposed outside the storage body 211. The circulation unit 223 includes a cylindrical cam and a guide rail slider. In the third direction, the cylindrical cam is located at the end of the ball screw away from the servo motor. The cylindrical cam is driven to rotate by a bevel gear. When the cylindrical cam rotates, it drives the guide rail slider to reciprocate in a second direction. The guide rail slider is connected to the slitting cutter 222. Thus, when the slitting drive unit 221 drives the slitting cutter 222 to move in the third direction, the slitting cutter 222 also includes reciprocating motion in the second direction. When the slitting cutter 222 cuts the food exposed below the storage cavity 214, it can simulate the way food is cut manually, which is beneficial to improving the cutting quality and efficiency of the food.

[0070] In other embodiments, the circulation unit 223 is connected to the cutting drive unit 221, and the cutting drive unit 221 is connected to the cutting blade 222. The circulation unit 223 can drive the cutting drive unit 221 and the cutting blade 222 to reciprocate together along the second direction. When the cutting blade 222 reciprocates along the second direction, the cutting drive unit 221 also drives the cutting blade 222 to move along the third direction, so as to realize the cutting of food in a way that simulates manual cutting of vegetables, which helps to improve the cutting quality of food.

[0071] refer to Figures 5 to 8In some embodiments, the storage body 211 is provided with a clearance portion 215, and the cutting device 200 further includes a clamping assembly 230 located at the clearance portion 215. Specifically, the clamping assembly 230 includes a clamping drive portion 231 and a clamping portion 232, with a portion of the clamping portion 232 located at the clearance portion 215. The clearance portion 215 communicates with the storage cavity 214, and the clamping portion 232 can enter the storage cavity 214 through the clearance portion 215 to fix the food and prevent the food from sliding out of the storage cavity 214. Specifically, the food enters from the inlet 212 of the storage body 211. The food is inserted and the clamping assembly 230 fixes the food inside the storage cavity 214. Part of the food is exposed outside the storage cavity 214. The cutting blade 222 cuts the food exposed outside the storage cavity 214 by reciprocating along the second direction and moving along the third direction. After cutting, the clamping assembly 230 retracts from the avoidance part 215, and the food falls under gravity. The clamping assembly 230 fixes the part to be cut inside the storage cavity 214 again. The clamping assembly 230 makes the food more stable during cutting, avoids the food from moving during cutting, and helps to improve the cutting quality of the food.

[0072] refer to Figures 5 to 8 In some embodiments, the clamping assembly 230 includes a clamping drive unit 231 and at least two clamping parts 232. Along a first direction, each clamping part 232 is distributed around the storage body 211. Correspondingly, the number of clearance parts 215 is the same as the number of clamping parts 232. Along the first direction, the clearance parts 215 are distributed on the side wall of the storage body 211 at positions corresponding to the clamping parts 232. The clamping parts 232 are located at the clearance parts 215. The clamping drive unit 231 drives each clamping part 232 to enter or exit the storage cavity 214 through the clearance parts 215. Each clamping part 232 cooperates with each other to fix the food in the storage cavity 214 and improve the cutting stability of the cutting blade 222.

[0073] Specifically, the clamping drive unit 231 can be a servo motor, and the clamping unit 232 can be a ball screw. The main body of the ball screw is located outside the storage cavity 214, and a part of the screw slider is located at the clearance part 215. The servo motor is connected to each ball screw through belt drive and gear drive. In the clamping assembly 230, only one servo motor is needed to drive the movement of multiple clamping units 232. Compared with setting multiple servo motors, setting one servo motor helps to simplify the structure, and the ball screws can form a better fit, avoiding the error caused by the performance difference between multiple servo motors.

[0074] refer to Figures 1 to 8According to a third aspect embodiment of the present application, a vegetable cutting device 300 includes a slitting device 200 and a cutting device 100 as described in any of the above embodiments. The slitting device 200 includes a storage assembly 210 and a slitting assembly 220. The storage assembly 210 includes a storage body 211, which has an inlet 212, an outlet 213, and a storage cavity 214 for food ingredients to pass through sequentially. Along a first direction, the slitting assembly 220 is located below the storage assembly 210, that is, on the side of the storage body 211 where the outlet 213 is located. The slitting assembly 220 is used to slit the food ingredients exposed below the storage cavity 214. Along a second direction, a placement part 124 moves between the slitting assembly 220 and the cutting assembly 110. The placement unit 124 is used to carry the ingredients cut by the cutting component 220 and transport the cut ingredients to the cutting component 110 for cutting. Thus, the vegetable cutting device 300 can realize the cutting and segmentation of ingredients. The cutting component 220 can cut larger ingredients into a set size. The placement unit 124 can transport the ingredients cut by the cutting component 220 to the segmentation component. The recognition unit 125 recognizes the outline information of the ingredients on the placement unit 124. The moving component 120 fixes the ingredients according to the outline information recognized by the recognition unit 125 and adjusts the relative position between the ingredients and the cutting component 110 to adjust the cutting position of the cutting component 110 on the ingredients, thereby providing a more precise cut and ensuring the cutting quality of the ingredients.

[0075] refer to Figures 5 to 8 In some embodiments, the cutting assembly 220 includes a cutting drive unit 221 and a cutting blade 222. The cutting drive unit 221 is connected to the cutting blade 222. Under the drive of the cutting drive unit 221, the cutting blade 222 moves closer to or further away from the storage body 211 along a third direction to cut the food. The third direction intersects with the first direction. Specifically, after the food is placed into the storage chamber 214 through the inlet 212, the food will leave the storage chamber 214 through the outlet 213. Along the first direction, the cutting blade 222 is located below the outlet 213. Along the third direction, the cutting blade 222 can move closer to or further away from the storage body 211 to cut the food at the outlet 213. The cutting drive unit 221 may include a servo motor and a ball screw. The cutting blade 222 is connected to the screw slider on the ball screw. When the cutting blade 222 cuts the food once, it includes movement along the third direction towards the storage body 211 and movement away from the storage body 211 to cut the food into a part to be cut and a part that has been cut. The part to be cut is located in the storage chamber 214. The part that has been cut is transported along the second direction to the cutting assembly 110 through the placement unit 124 for further cutting of the food.

[0076] It should be noted that at least two of the aforementioned first, second, and third directions can be perpendicular to each other to better conform to standardization and reduce the production costs of each component.

[0077] refer to Figures 5 to 8 In some embodiments, the slitting assembly 220 further includes a circulation section 223. Along the second direction, the circulation section 223 is arranged adjacent to the slitting blade 222 and is connected to the slitting drive section 221. The circulation section 223 is also connected to the slitting blade 222. The circulation section 223 includes a cylindrical cam and a sliding guide rail. The sliding guide rail is connected to the cylindrical cam, and the cylindrical cam is connected to the slitting drive section 221. Under the drive of the slitting drive section 221, the sliding guide rail reciprocates along the second direction, thereby driving the slitting blade 222 to reciprocate along the second direction. Thus, under the combined action of the slitting drive section 221 and the circulation section 223, the slitting blade 222 also reciprocates along the second direction when moving along the third direction. The slitting motion of the slitting blade 222 in the vegetable cutting device 300 can better simulate the manual vegetable cutting method, which is beneficial to improving the cutting quality and cutting speed of the ingredients.

[0078] refer to Figures 5 to 8 In some embodiments, the slicing device 200 on the vegetable cutting device 300 further includes a clamping component 230. The storage body 211 is provided with a clearance part 215. The clamping component 230 is located at the clearance part 215. The clearance part 215 is connected to the storage cavity 214. The clamping component 230 can enter or exit the storage cavity 214 through the clearance part 215. The clamping component 230 enters the storage cavity 214 to fix the food, ensuring the stability of the slicing blade 222 when slicing the food, making the slicing surface of the food more uniform, which is beneficial to improving the quality of the dish.

[0079] refer to Figures 5 to 8 In some embodiments, the clamping assembly 230 on the vegetable cutting device 300 includes a clamping drive unit 231 and at least two clamping parts 232. The clamping drive unit 231 is connected to each clamping part 232. Along the first direction, each clamping part 232 is distributed around the storage body 211. Each clamping part 232 is located at a clearance part 215. It should be understood that the number of clearance parts 215 should be the same as the number of clamping parts 232, and the two are positioned correspondingly. Compared with setting multiple power sources, by driving a single power source through the clamping drive unit 231, each clamping part 232 can enter or exit the storage cavity 214 through the clearance part 215. This is beneficial to simplifying the overall structure of the vegetable cutting device 300, and also facilitates the cooperation between each clamping part 232, reducing the error generated between different power sources.

[0080] refer to Figures 1 to 8According to an embodiment of this application, a vegetable cutting method is performed using the vegetable cutting device 300 in any of the above embodiments. The specific vegetable cutting steps include feeding, slitting and transporting, and scanning and cutting. The ingredients are put into the feeding port 212 and enter the storage chamber 214. Under the action of gravity, the ingredients fall onto the placement part 124, and part of the ingredients are located in the storage chamber 214. Along the first direction, the height of the exposed ingredients is the height from the placement part 124 to the feeding port.

[0081] Along the first direction, the cutting component 220 is located below the storage body 211. The cutting component 220 cuts the food into a part to be cut and a part that has already been cut. The part to be cut is located in the storage cavity 214, and the part that has already been cut is located on the placement part 124. Along the second direction, the placement part 124 transports the part that has already been cut to a location below the recognition part 125. The recognition part 125 includes a camera that can take pictures of the food on the placement part 124 and upload the pictures to a visual recognition terminal for contour extraction and analysis. The placement part 124 continues along the second direction. The ingredients are transported to the bottom of the connecting part 123, where the connecting part 123 is coupled with the ingredients. The moving part and the rotating part 126 work together to translate and rotate the ingredients, thereby adjusting the relative position of the ingredients and the cutting component 110 to perform various processing such as cutting and peeling. During cutting, the identification part 125 can take pictures and analyze the ingredients on the placement part 124 multiple times to adjust the cutting position of the cutting component 110 on the ingredients. Thus, multiple cutting methods can be satisfied to meet the processing needs of different types or shapes of ingredients.

[0082] refer to Figures 5 to 8 In some embodiments, during the feeding step described above, the cutting device 300 further includes a clamping component 230. A clearance portion 215 is provided on the side wall of the storage body 211. The clamping component 230 enters the storage cavity 214 through the clearance portion 215 to fix the part to be cut. Specifically, the food is placed into the storage cavity 214 through the inlet 212. Under the action of gravity, the food falls onto the placement portion 124 that moves below the storage body 211. The placement portion 124 supports the food. The cutting blade 222 is located between the placement portion 124 and the storage body 211. The cutting blade 222 is used to cut the food into the part to be cut and the part that has been cut. The placement portion 124 transports the cut part to the next process. The clamping component 230 fixes the part to be cut in the storage cavity 214 to prevent the part to be cut from falling.

[0083] For example, the clamping assembly 230 includes a clamping drive unit 231 and three clamping parts 232. The clamping drive unit 231 includes a servo motor, and the clamping parts 232 include ball screws. The clamping drive unit 231 and each clamping part 232 are driven by gears and synchronous belts. Along the first direction, the three clamping parts 232 are distributed around the storage body 211. The distance between any two adjacent clamping parts 232 is 120°. The storage body 211 is provided with a clearance part 215, and the clamping parts 232 are located in the clearance part 215. Driven by the clamping drive unit 231, the three clamping parts 232 can enter the storage cavity 214 at the same time to clamp the food, and can also exit the storage cavity 214 at the same time to release the clamping of the food, so that the food can fall onto the placement part 124 below. Compared to setting multiple power sources, the structure of the vegetable cutting device 300 can be simplified by simultaneously driving the three clamping units 232 by the clamping drive unit 231. In addition, the three clamping units 232 can clamp the food from three directions, which can improve the stability of the food clamping.

[0084] refer to Figure 7 In some embodiments, during the cutting and handling step, the cutting assembly 220 includes a cutting blade 222. When the cutting blade 222 approaches the storage body 211 along a third direction, it also includes a cyclic reciprocating motion along a second direction. Under the combined motion of the two motions, the cutting blade 222 divides the food located outside the storage cavity 214 into a part to be cut and a part that has been cut. Thus, when cutting food, the cutting blade 222 can better simulate the way of manual cutting, which helps to improve the uniformity of the cutting surface and ensure the quality of the food.

[0085] Specifically, the slitting assembly 220 also includes a slitting drive unit 221, a circulation unit 223, and a slitting cutter 222. The slitting drive unit 221 includes a servo motor and a ball screw. The sliding part of the ball screw is connected to the slitting cutter 222. One end of the ball screw is connected to the slitting drive unit 221, and the other end is connected to the circulation unit 223. The circulation unit 223 includes a cylindrical cam and a sliding guide rail. The slider part of the sliding guide rail is connected to the cylindrical cam, and the cylindrical cam is connected to the ball screw. Driven by the servo motor, the first slider on the ball screw drives the slitting cutter 222 to move in a third direction, and the slider part on the sliding guide rail drives the slitting cutter 222 to reciprocate in a second direction. Thus, the slitting cutter 222 slits the food under the combined motion of the two directions.

[0086] refer to Figures 1 to 4In some embodiments, during the scanning and cutting step, when the food ingredient approaches the cutting component 110 along the second direction, the moving component 120 can also drive the food ingredient to rotate. Thus, under the drive of the moving component 120, the food ingredient can be raised, lowered, translated, and rotated, achieving cutting of the food ingredient at any position without dead angles, which is beneficial to improving the adaptability to the food ingredient.

[0087] Specifically, the moving component 120 includes a driving part 122, a rotating part 126, and a connecting part 123. The rotating part 126 and the connecting part 123 are both connected to the driving part 122. The driving part 122 includes a first motor 1221, a second motor 1222, and a third motor 1223. The connecting part 123 is connected to the third motor 1223. The third motor 1223 is used to drive the connecting part 123 to rise or fall in a first direction. The second motor 1222 is connected to the rotating part 126. Driven by the second motor 1222, the third motor 1223 and the connecting part 123 rotate around the axis of the connecting part 123. The axis of the connecting part 123 is parallel to the first direction. Driven by the first motor 1221, the rotating part 126 and the connecting part 123 move in a second direction, thereby bringing the food closer to the cutting component 110. Therefore, the food moves in three directions during cutting, the cutting component 110 can cut the food at any position, and the recognition unit 125 can also take pictures and analyze the outline of the food while cutting, and can adjust the relative position between the food and the cutting component 110 according to the analyzed outline information.

[0088] The embodiments of this application have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this application is not limited to the above embodiments. Within the scope of knowledge possessed by those skilled in the art, various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of this application. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in the embodiments of this application can be combined with each other.

Claims

1. A vegetable cutting device, characterized in that, include: The cutting device includes a storage component and a cutting component. The storage component includes a storage body, which has a storage cavity for containing food ingredients, an inlet for the food ingredients to enter the storage cavity, and an outlet for the food ingredients to be exposed outside the storage cavity. Along a first direction, the cutting component is located on the side of the storage body where the outlet is located, and the cutting component is used to cut the food ingredients exposed outside the outlet. A cutting device includes a cutting component, a moving component, and a recognition unit. The cutting component includes a cutting blade capable of cutting the food ingredient vertically along a first direction. The moving component includes a fixing part, a driving part, a rotating part, a connecting part, and a placing part. The driving part is connected to the fixing part, the rotating part is connected to the driving part, the connecting part is connected to the rotating part, and the connecting part is connected to the driving part. Along the first direction, the connecting part is located between the fixing part and the placing part. Along the second direction, the placing part is disposed adjacent to the cutting component and is used to carry the food ingredient. The placing part moves between the slitting component and the cutting component. The placing part is used to carry the food ingredient slitted by the slitting component and transport the food ingredient to the cutting component for cutting. The driving part is used to drive the connecting part to move closer to or away from the placement part along the first direction. The connecting part and the placement part can fix the food. The driving part can also drive the connecting part to move closer to or away from the cutting component along the second direction to adjust the cutting position of the cutting component on the food. The driving part drives the rotating part to rotate around the first direction. The rotating part drives the connecting part to rotate. Along the circumference of the rotation of the connecting part, the connecting part can drive the food to rotate to adjust the cutting position. The identification part is connected to the fixing part. Along the first direction, the identification part is located below the fixing part. The identification part is used to identify the outline information of the food on the placement part and feed the outline information back to the driving part.

2. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The placement part is provided with a clearance groove extending along the second direction. Along the first direction, the clearance groove is located below the connecting part and is correspondingly arranged to the connecting part. The clearance groove is used to avoid the connecting part.

3. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, include: The slitting assembly includes a slitting drive unit, a circulation unit, and a slitting cutter, wherein the slitting cutter is located on the side of the storage body where the discharge port is located; The slitting drive unit is used to drive the slitting cutter to move along a third direction through the discharge port to slit the food exposed outside the discharge port. The circulation unit is used to drive the slitting cutter to reciprocate along a second direction during the movement of the slitting cutter along the third direction, the second direction intersecting the third direction.

4. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The slitting cutter is connected to the slitting drive unit, the slitting drive unit is connected to the circulation unit, and the circulation unit is connected to the slitting cutter.

5. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The storage body is provided with a clearance part, which is connected to the storage cavity. The cutting device also includes a clamping component, which is located at the clearance part and enters the storage cavity through the clearance part to fix the food ingredients.

6. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The clamping assembly includes a clamping drive unit and at least two clamping parts. The clamping drive unit is connected to each of the clamping parts. Along a first direction, each of the clamping parts is distributed around the storage body. Each of the clamping parts is located at the avoidance part. The clamping drive unit drives each of the clamping parts to enter or exit the storage cavity through the avoidance part. Each of the clamping parts is used to fix the food in the storage cavity.

7. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cutting assembly includes a cutting drive unit and a cutting blade. The cutting drive unit is connected to the cutting blade. The cutting blade is located on the side of the storage body where the discharge port is located. The cutting drive unit is used to drive the cutting blade to move along a third direction through the discharge port to cut the food exposed outside the discharge port. The third direction intersects with the first direction.

8. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The slitting assembly further includes a circulation section along a second direction. The circulation section is disposed adjacent to the slitting drive section and connected to the slitting drive section. The circulation section is also connected to the slitting cutter. The circulation section is used to drive the slitting cutter to reciprocate along the second direction during the movement of the slitting cutter along the third direction. The second direction intersects with the third direction.

9. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The slitting assembly further includes a circulation section along a second direction. The circulation section is disposed adjacent to the slitting drive section and is connected to the slitting drive section. The circulation section is used to drive the slitting drive section to reciprocate along the second direction during the movement of the slitting cutter along the third direction. The second direction intersects with the third direction.

10. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cutting device further includes a clamping component. The storage body is provided with a clearance part. The clamping component is located at the clearance part. The clearance part is in communication with the storage cavity. The clamping component can enter or exit the storage cavity through the clearance part. The clamping component enters the storage cavity to fix the food ingredients.

11. The vegetable cutting device according to claim 10, characterized in that, The clamping assembly includes a clamping drive unit and at least two clamping parts. The clamping drive unit is connected to each of the clamping parts. Along the first direction, each of the clamping parts is distributed around the storage body. Each of the clamping parts is located at the avoidance part. The clamping drive unit drives each of the clamping parts to enter or exit the storage cavity through the avoidance part, for fixing or releasing the food.

12. A method for cutting vegetables, characterized in that, The vegetable cutting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is used for cutting vegetables; the vegetable cutting method includes: Feeding: The food ingredients are placed into the storage cavity through the feeding port, so that the food ingredients in the storage cavity are exposed from the discharging port; Cutting and transporting; the cutting component cuts the food exposed at the discharge port into a part to be cut and a part already cut, the part to be cut is located in the storage cavity, the part already cut is located on the placement part, and the placement part transports the part already cut to the cutting device; Scanning and cutting: At the cutting device, the identification unit takes a picture of the cut portion to obtain the outline information of the cut portion. The placement unit transports the food to the connecting unit. According to the outline information, the driving unit drives the connecting unit to approach and fix the cut portion along the first direction. Along the second direction, the connecting unit drives the cut portion to approach the cutting component, adjusting the relative position of the cut portion and the cutting component to change the cutting position of the cutting component on the cut portion. The cutting component cuts the cut portion.

13. The vegetable cutting method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The storage body has a clearance portion on its side wall. In the cutting and handling step, a clamping assembly is used to fix the part to be cut. The clamping assembly enters the storage cavity through the clearance portion to fix the part to be cut.

14. The vegetable cutting method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The cutting assembly includes a cutting blade. In the cutting and transporting step, the cutting blade moves along a third direction through the discharge port to cut the food exposed from the discharge port into the part to be cut and the part that has been cut. The cutting blade also reciprocates along a second direction during its movement along the third direction, and the second direction intersects with the third direction.

15. The vegetable cutting method according to claim 12, characterized in that, During the scanning and cutting step, when the food ingredient approaches the cutting component along the second direction, the connecting part can also drive the food ingredient to rotate, thereby adjusting the relative position between the food ingredient and the cutting component.

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