Positioning of a position-variable stop means of a slicing device for slicing food

Abstract

The invention relates to a slicing device (1) for slicing food, wherein the slicing device (1) has a cutting unit (2) having a rotating cutting knife (3) and has a feed unit (4) for feeding the food to be sliced to the cutting unit (2), wherein the feed unit (4) and / or the cutting unit (2) has a position-variable stop means (5) for guiding, holding and / or positioning the food, and wherein the slicing device (1) has a positioning aid (6) in the form of a light source which is configured to project a light marker for the position-variable stop means. The invention further relates to a method for positioning a position-variable stop means of the slicing device.

Description

State of the art

[0001] The present invention is based on a slicing device for slicing food, wherein the slicing device has a cutting unit with a rotating cutting blade and a feed unit for feeding the food to be sliced ​​to the cutting unit, and wherein the feed unit and / or the cutting unit has a position-variable stop means for guiding, holding and / or positioning the food.

[0002] In such so-called "slicers" or "high-performance cutting machines," typically bar-shaped or other shaped food products, such as sausage, cheese, ham, cured ham, or the like, are sliced ​​at a high cutting rate, for example, up to 1,000 cuts per minute or more. The food product is transported by the feed unit through a stationary cutting plane in the area of ​​the cutting unit, where the cut is made by a rotating cutting blade, for example, in the form of a circular or sickle blade, in a cutting plane. The slice thickness results from the feed distance of the food product between two cuts. The cut slices are usually combined into portions with a constant number of slices and / or according to their exact weight and packaged.

[0003] Such slicing machines typically have product-guiding components, such as grippers and guides, which are at least temporarily in contact with the food product and guide, support, drive, and / or hold the food product during transport to or through the cutting plane. These components are all subsumed under the generic term "lifting devices" for the purposes of the present invention. Since the generic slicing devices are naturally intended for slicing different food products, food products of completely different geometries (calibers) are used on them. The lifting devices must then be adjusted accordingly for each new food product. This adjustment is usually performed manually by a slicing device operator and is therefore time-consuming and costly, since the slicing device must not be in operation during the adjustment.

[0004] Furthermore, the adjustment must be carried out precisely and carefully, otherwise faulty cutting operations could result in high potential follow-up costs, for example, due to increased product waste, increased machine contamination, or increased wear, such as metal abrasion in the product guides when there is direct contact between moving machine components. In the worst case, incorrect positioning can even lead to damage to machine components, for example, if an incorrectly adjusted gripper hits the cutting bar and then presses it into the cutting blade.

[0005] A generic slicing device is described, for example, in WO 2017 / 186498 A1, which also addresses at least the problem of time-consuming retooling of the sling gear. To solve this problem, this document proposes the use of an adjustment mechanism for adapting the sling gear. While this simplifies the adjustment of the sling gear, it does not solve the problem that the operational reliability of the slicing device depends on precise and careful manual positioning of the sling gear. Disclosure of the invention

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a slicing device which does not have the disadvantages described in connection with the prior art and in particular enables reliable and rapid conversion to different foods with different calibers.

[0007] The object of the present invention is achieved by a slicing device according to claim 1.

[0008] According to the invention, the slicing device has a positioning aid in the form of a light source configured to project a light mark for the position-adjustable lifting device. This advantageously creates a light mark for the lifting device, which marks a target position for the lifting device. An operator who prepares the slicing device for a new food product with a caliber that differs from that of the previous food product and repositions the lifting devices for this purpose receives precise information from the light mark as to the position in which the lifting devices should be arranged. Operational reliability is thus significantly increased, since the precision and accuracy of the repositioning of the lifting devices do not depend solely on the operator's subjective assessment.In addition, changeover time can be significantly reduced because the operator does not have to carry out laborious manual re-measuring or estimating of the correct position. The light marking shows the operator in particular the target position for the lifting device, or the positioning aid is configured to project the light marking onto the target position of the lifting device. The position of the lifting device can then be changed manually or motorically by the user. It is also conceivable for the lifting device to be moved automatically to the correct position and for the operator to simply perform a subsequent visual inspection based on the light marking. Thanks to the light marking, the operator can immediately see whether the lifting device is in the correct position or not.

[0009] In the sense of the present invention, the stop means preferably comprises any product-guiding component of the slicing device, the position of which can be changed depending on the product in order to use the slicing device with different product calibers.Such lifting means are in particular product guides which extend parallel to a main transport direction of the food in the direction of a cutting plane and guide the food product laterally, from above or from below, or end stops which are located transversely to the main transport direction in front of or behind the food product and act as an end stop for the food product (for example when loading a track), or grippers which engage in a rear end of the food product as seen in the main transport direction, or transport means which are in direct contact with the food product and transport the food product in the direction of the cutting plane.

[0010] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the stop means is positionally adjustable and can be attached in a feed plane, wherein the positioning aid is designed to project the light marking onto the feed plane and / or onto the stop means, wherein the light marking is preferably projected onto the feed plane from above. Alternatively, it is also conceivable for the light source to project the light marking from the side or from behind (in the main transport direction). A projection from behind could advantageously always occur at the same angle as the angle of the feed plane, particularly if the product feed is designed to be pivotable.

[0011] The light source preferably comprises an LED and / or a laser, preferably a line, cross, or point laser. This advantageously allows the precise target position of the lifting device in the feed plane, i.e., in two independent spatial directions, to be determined. It is also conceivable for the light marking to indicate not only the exact position but also the orientation of the lifting device in the feed plane. Furthermore, in addition to the target position, a lifting device specification and / or a product type specification is preferably projected onto the position of the lifting device. It is also conceivable for numbers for the numerical specification of the lifting device or even part numbers to be displayed so that the operator can immediately see for which lifting device the position indicated by the light marking is intended. Machine operation and conversion thus becomes significantly more intuitive and less error-prone for the operator.

[0012] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning aid comprises two light sources, wherein a first light source, in particular a laser, for projecting the light marking and / or a second light source, in particular an LED, for projecting a lifting device specification and / or a product type specification. Typically, generic slicing devices are equipped with multiple lifting devices. Advantageously, the operator carrying out the conversion of the machine is thus not only shown at which position a lifting device should be arranged, but also which lifting device should be arranged there by displaying a lifting device specification, for example a number or a name of the lifting device in question.Furthermore, it is conceivable that the food product for which the positioning is carried out is indicated by also indexing the product specification, so that at least a rough plausibility check can be carried out by the operator.

[0013] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning aid is designed to project light markings at predetermined positions and / or in predetermined orientations based on product-specific positioning data to mark the target position of the stop means. The slicing device has a control unit connected to a memory unit, the control unit being configured to read product-specific positioning data from the memory unit and transmit it to the positioning aid. Advantageously, a plurality of different product-specific positioning data for various products that can be sliced ​​with the respective slicing device can thus be pre-stored in the memory of this slicing device.If one of these products is to be sliced, the corresponding positioning data only needs to be read from the memory and transmitted to the positioning aid, which then displays the appropriate positions for the lifting devices for the food products to be sliced, so that these can be positioned at the appropriate location automatically or manually or motorically by the operator.

[0014] The control unit preferably has a recording unit via which a product type can be specified, wherein the product-specific positioning data is selected from the memory unit based on the product type. Such a recording unit can, for example, be an input medium, such as a touch panel, a keyboard, or a voice or gesture control, via which the operator on the slicing device selects a specific product to be sliced ​​next, so that the associated positioning data can be read from the memory. Alternatively, it is also conceivable for the operator to enter the dimensions of a new product using the recording unit, and for the control unit to calculate the correct positioning data for the positioning aid or the lifting devices from this.

[0015] A further object of the present invention to solve the problem set out at the outset is a method for positioning a position-variable stop means of a slicing device, in particular according to the invention, according to claim 10.

[0016] The method according to the invention comprises at least two method steps, wherein in a first method step, a target position for the lifting device is marked with the aid of a light marking, and wherein in a second method step, the lifting device is positioned based on the light marking. Analogous to the device according to the invention, the method according to the invention can also advantageously be used to convert the slicing device to food of different calibers more precisely, reliably, and quickly by pre-marking the target position for the lifting device with the light marking. To avoid repetition, the statements made above for the device according to the invention apply equally to the method according to the invention and vice versa.

[0017] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a product type is specified in a first sub-step of a zeroth method step preceding the first method step. In a second sub-step of the zeroth method step, product-specific positioning data are loaded from a storage unit based on the product type and transmitted to a positioning aid. Preferably, in the first method step, the light marking is then projected by the positioning aid to the target position depending on the product-specific positioning data.

[0018] To mark the target position, a light mark in the form of a line, dot or cross is preferably projected from the positioning aid to the target position.

[0019] Furthermore, in addition to the target position, a lifting device specification and / or a product type specification is preferably projected onto the position of the lifting device.

[0020] Further details, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the drawings and the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The drawings merely illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention, which do not limit the essential concept of the invention. Short description of the drawings

[0021] Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the slicing device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 shows a perspective detailed view of the slicing device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments of the invention

[0022] In the various figures, identical parts are always provided with the same reference symbols and are therefore usually named or mentioned only once.

[0023] In Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a slicing device 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The slicing device 1 comprises a cutting unit 5 with a rotating cutting blade 3 that cuts a food product 8 into food slices 9. The cutting blade 3 comprises a circular blade rotating about a rotational axis or a sickle blade that rotates about a rotational axis and undergoes an orbital motion.

[0024] The food product 8 is fed to the cutting unit 5 by means of a feed unit 4 of the slicing device 1. In the present example, the feed unit 4 has two conveyor belts 10, 11, which transport the food product 8 continuously or intermittently in the direction (also referred to as the main transport direction) of the cutting plane 12 of the cutting blade 3. The lower conveyor belt 11 forms a product support on which the food product 8 rests or lies during loading and / or slicing. The cutting blade 3 is attached to a rotating blade holder 13 and preferably cooperates in a cutting manner with a cutting edge 13, which is provided, for example, at the front end of the product support. The cutting blade 3 rotates within the cutting plane 12, so that the rotation axis of the cutting blade 3 is perpendicular to the cutting plane 12.

[0025] Between the cutting blade 3 and the cutting edge 14 there is a so-called cutting gap, which should be as small as possible, but must be large enough that the blade does not touch the cutting edge. This gap must be adjusted regularly. This can be achieved by moving the cutting blade 3 and / or the cutting edge 14. Furthermore, the cutting edge 14 must be aligned parallel to the cutting blade 3. After cutting, the food slices 9 separated from the food product 8 generally fall onto a deposit table 15. On the deposit table 15, the food slices 9 are arranged in portions, in particular a plurality of food slices 9 stacked and / or shingled one above the other. The deposit table 15 has further transport means for transporting the food slices 9 or the portions away, for example in the form of a conveyor belt or a conveyor belt.The finished portions are removed from the cutting unit 2 and then packaged.

[0026] The feed unit 4 further comprises a plurality of stop means 5, which guide, contact and / or grip the food product 8 during the feed to or through the cutting plane 12. The feed unit 4 comprises, for example, a gripper 16, which engages in a rear end 17 of the food product 8, as seen in the main transport direction, before or during slicing and stabilizes the food product during slicing, in particular towards the end of the slicing process, and discards the end piece that cannot be sliced. The gripper 16 is preferably attached to a tong carrier 19 (see Figure 2) which moves the gripper 16 back and forth parallel to the main transport direction of the food product 8. The position of the gripper 16 on the tong carrier 19 and / or the position of the entire tong carrier 19 can be adjusted, ie the gripper 16 can be changed in position in order to be able to take different product geometries into account. The gripper 16 is a stop means 5 in the sense of the present invention. In order to guide the food product 9 during loading of the slicing device 1 and / or during slicing of the food product 9, the feed unit 4 further has a plurality of product guide means 18, which likewise form stop means 5 in the sense of the present invention.The product guide means 18 extend parallel to the main transport direction of the food products 9 and are provided with variable position, i.e., adjustable, in particular transverse to the main transport direction, to accommodate food products 8 with different calibers. It is conceivable that at least two such product guide means 18 are provided, with one of the two product guide means 18 being arranged on each side of the food product 8, so that the food product 8 is guided on both sides during transport in the direction of the cutting plane.

[0027] The position of the lifting means 5 must always be adjusted to the caliber, i.e., the diameter, height, and width, of the food product 8 to be sliced. For this purpose, the lifting means 5 are designed to be positionally adjustable. If a new food product 8 is to be sliced ​​using the slicing device 1 according to the invention, the caliber (i.e., its diameter, height, width, or other shape) of which differs from the caliber of the previously sliced ​​food product 8, the positions of the lifting means 5 are readjusted by an operator of the slicing device 1 manually or by motor using appropriate actuators. For each caliber, there is an optimal position at which the lifting means 5 must be arranged to ensure optimal and reliable slicing operation. This optimal position, at which the operator must position the lifting means 5, is referred to as the target position.

[0028] To locate these individual target positions for the respective lifting devices 5, the cutting device 1 has a positioning aid 6 with a light source, which projects a light marking 20 in the form of a line, a dot, or a cross at the location of the target position. The operator then immediately recognizes the target position for the respective lifting device 5 and can compare the actual position with the target position or place the lifting device 5 directly at the target position if there is a deviation.

[0029] The positioning aid 6 comprises, in particular, a laser or an LED arranged above the feed plane of the feed unit 4 and radiating light downward into the feed plane. The resulting light marking 20 is located, in particular, in the area of ​​the feed plane and / or on the tong carrier 19. The intensity and color (preferably red) of the laser are selected, in particular, such that there is no risk of eye injuries to the operator.

[0030] It is conceivable that the slicing device 1 comprises a control unit 7, which controls the positioning aid 6 accordingly so that it projects the light markings 20 into the correct target positions. For this purpose, the control unit 7 is preferably connected to both a detection unit 21 and a storage unit 22. The storage unit 22 preferably has a database in which a plurality of product-specific target positions for various food products 8 are stored. The detection unit 21 comprises, in particular, a touch panel, a scanner, a keyboard, or a voice or gesture control.

[0031] The operator can use the detection unit 21 to determine the food product 8 to be re-sliced, for example, by selecting a product type on the touch panel or by entering a product identifier or reference number via the touch panel or a keyboard, and / or by scanning an identification code assigned to the food product 8, such as a barcode or QR code, with the scanner. Subsequently, the product-specific target positions (also referred to as product-specific positioning data) for this food product 8 are retrieved by the control unit 7 from the database of the storage unit 22, and the positioning aid 6 is controlled accordingly.

[0032] Alternatively, it is also conceivable for the operator to enter the exact dimensions of the newly sliced ​​food product 8 using the recording unit, and for the control unit 7 to independently calculate the target positions for the lifting devices 5. Furthermore, it would also be conceivable for the operator to enter the target position directly via the recording unit.

[0033] The procedure described above corresponds to the method according to the invention for positioning the position-adjustable lifting devices.

[0034] In the side view according to Figure 1 only one track of the slicing device 1 is visible. However, the slicing device 1 is preferably designed with multiple tracks, as in Figure 2 can be seen by the fact that in addition to the Figure 1At least one further track is provided for feeding and slicing food products 8, analogously to the track shown. Each track then has one or more grippers 16, as well as at least one product guide means 18.

[0035] In Figure 2 is a perspective detailed view of the feed unit 4 of the device described above with reference to Figure 1 illustrated slicing device 1.

[0036] Above the feed unit 4, three positioning aids 6', 6" and 6" are arranged, for example, each having a plurality of light sources in the form of line lasers. The first and last positioning aids 6' and 6" each project light markings 20', 20" in the form of lines parallel to the main transport direction into the feed plane, which indicate the respective target positions for the product guide means 18 arranged laterally of each track.

[0037] The middle positioning aid 6" projects light markings 20" in the form of lines onto the top of the gripper carrier 19 to indicate the target position of the grippers 16 on the gripper carrier 19.

[0038] It is also conceivable that the positioning aid 6 not only projects the light markings 20 for the target positions of the various lifting devices 20 into the feed plane, but that additionally, by means of further light markings (not illustrated), a lifting device specification is also projected into the vicinity of the light marking 20. The operator thus not only learns where the lifting devices 5 are to be arranged, but also which light marking 20 is intended for which lifting device 5. This prevents incorrect arrangement of the lifting devices 5. In addition, it is also conceivable that a product type specification is projected into the feed plane so that the operator can verify that the correct product type has been selected on the detection unit 21 and thus that the correct target positions are loaded and displayed. List of reference symbols

[0039] 1 Slicing device 2 Cutting unit 3 Cutting knife 4 Feeding unit 5 Lifting device 6 Positioning aid 7 Control unit 8 Food product 9 Food slices 10 Upper conveyor belt 11 Lower conveyor belt 12 Cutting level 13 Knife holder 14 Cutting edge 15 Deposit table 16 Gripper 17 Food product end 18 Product guiding device 19 Tongs carrier 20 Light marking 21 Detection unit 22 Storage unit

Claims

1. Slicing device (1) for cutting food products (8), wherein the slicing device (1) has a cutting unit (2) with a rotating cutting blade (3) and a feed unit (4) for feeding the food products (8) to be cut to the cutting unit (2), wherein the feed unit (4) and / or the cutting unit (2) has a position-adjustable stop means (5) for guiding, holding and / or positioning the food product (8), characterized in that the slicing device (1) has a positioning aid (6) in the form of a light source which is configured to project a light marking (20) for the position-adjustable stop means (5).

2. Slicing device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the position of the stop means (5) can be changed manually or by a motor by a user, and the positioning aid (6) is configured to project the light marking (20) at a desired position of the stop means (5).

3. Slicing device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the stop means (5) can be fixed in a feed plane in a position-alterable manner, wherein the positioning aid (6) is designed for projecting the light marking (20) into the feed plane and / or onto the stop means (5), wherein the light marking (20) is preferably projected from above into the feed plane.

4. Slicing device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the light source comprises an LED and / or a laser, preferably a line, cross, or point laser.

5. Slicing device (1) according to claim 4, wherein the positioning aid (6) comprises two light sources, wherein a first light source, in particular a laser, is for projecting the light marking (20) and a second light source, in particular an LED, is for projecting a stop means specification and / or a product type specification.

6. Slicing device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the stop means (5) comprises a gripper (16) for gripping a rear end (17) of the food product (8) to be cut.

7. Slicing device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the positioning aid (6) is designed to detect light markings (20) at predetermined positions and / or in predetermined orientations for marking the target position of the stop means (15).

8. Slicing device (1) according to claim 7, wherein the slicing device (1) has a control unit (7) connected to a memory unit (22), wherein the control unit (7) is configured to read product-specific positioning data from the memory unit (22) and transmit it to the positioning aid (6).

9. Slicing device (1) according to claim 8, wherein the control unit (7) has a detection unit (21) via which a product type can be specified, wherein the detection unit (21) has a detection unit (22) for detecting a cutting direction, and wherein the control unit (12 unit (21) via which a product type can be specified, wherein the product type, the product-specific positioning data is selected from the control unit (7) from the memory unit (22).

10. Method for positioning a position-adjustable stop means (5) of a slicing device (1) according to one of the preceding claims wherein, in a first process step, a target position for the stop means (5) is marked by means of a light marking (20) and wherein, in a second process step, the slinging device (5) is positioned by means of the light marking (20).

11. Method according to claim 10, wherein in a first sub-step of a process step preceding the first process step, a product type is specified, wherein in a second sub-step of the zero process step, product-specific positioning data is specified process step, a product type is specified, wherein in a second sub-step of the zero process step, product-specific positioning data are loaded from a memory unit (22) on the basis of the product type and transmitted to a positioning aid (6).

12. Method according to claim 11, wherein in the first process step the light marking (20) is projected by the positioning aid (6) to the target position as a function of the product-specific positioning data.

13. Method according to one of claims 10 to 12, wherein, to mark the target position, a light marking (20) in the form of a line, dot or cross is projected from the positioning aid (6) to the target position.

14. Method according to one of claims 10 to 13, wherein, in addition to the target position, a stop means specification and / or a product type specification is projected onto the position of the stop means (5).

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