Techniques for producing shreds from food ribbon

Abstract

To provide techniques that enable producing shreds from a food ribbon efficiently, in particular, in series.SOLUTION: A cutting apparatus according to the invention includes: a guide track which is driven by a first motor unit; a first cutter portion that is arranged on an outer side of the guide track, transversely in a rotation direction of the guide track, and has a first blade structure with first elevations and first depressions; a second cutter portion that is also arranged on the outer side of the guide track, transversely in the rotation direction of the guide track, and has a second blade structure with second elevations and second depressions. The second cutter portion is arranged offset in the rotation direction of the guide track with respect to the first cutter portion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of producing shredded material from a strip of material. A cutting device, a cutting system and a method are described which allow cutting a strip of material into shredded material. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known from the prior art to first cut a continuously fed strip of food material lengthwise, for example, and then cut the resulting lengthwise strips by means of cross-cutting rollers, which makes it possible to produce pieces of clearly defined shape or so-called "shreds".

[0003] However, the disadvantage in this case is that separate drives are required for both the longitudinal and transverse cuts. Furthermore, the shape of the shreds is limited to diced or rectangular strips, which is not always desirable for customers. In particular, the shreds obtained therefrom are bulky and very heavy. Hollow or flat-cut shreds are very light in weight for a given volume and usually provide better coverage of the sprinkled product.

[0004] Another method is described in EP 3243613 B1, which describes a method for producing shaped food products by providing a cutting device including at least two successive cutters, each having a wave-shaped shape, for producing food slices with a large amplitude and periodic shape, the successive cutters being arranged out of phase with a gap between the radial positions of the cutters, and the cutting device being operated to produce food slices having a first portion, the first portion having a cross-sectional thickness measured as the radial distance between the successive cutters defined by the gap, the cross-sectional thickness being smaller than the cross-sectional thickness of a second portion of the food slice. The food portions are then fed into the cutting device, and slices cut from the food portions are fed out of the cutting device. The cutting device may also be called a centrifugal cutting device.

[0005] However, in this case it is a disadvantage that only smaller food portions can be used, since these food portions have to be brought inside the cutting device.

[0006] In other words, it is not possible to produce shredded material from a continuous strip of food material. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a technology which allows for the efficient, and in particular continuous, production of shredded material from strip-shaped food material, thereby at least partially eliminating the disadvantages of the prior art mentioned at the beginning. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The invention solves this problem by means of the features of the independent claims.

[0009] The features of the various aspects or embodiments of the invention described below can be combined with one another unless expressly excluded or necessarily technically impossible.

[0010] According to the invention, a cutting device is shown for producing shreds from a strip of food material, which may in particular be a strip of food material made of cheese, tofu and / or cheese substitute products. In principle, other food materials, such as, for example, fruits and vegetables, can also be fed to the cutting device. The cutting device comprises at least: A guide path driven by a first motor unit. o The guide path can in particular be realised by a structure in the form of a roller, cylinder or wheel. The relevant structure (more on this later) may have a cavity into which the shredded material can enter and exit again. If this structure has the form of a roller, cylinder or wheel, this results in the property that the guide path on the outside of the structure describes a circular path when the first motor unit drives the guide. The rotation speed at which the first motor unit drives the guide can be flexibly set. A first cutter section disposed outside the guide channel and having a first blade structure having a first protrusion and a first recess transverse to a direction of rotation of the guide channel. o The first cutter section can move, in particular rotate outwards together with the guide belt, so that the strip of food material can be fed to the first cutter section from the outside. o The first blade structure as well as the second blade structure described below can have a plurality or a multiplicity of protrusions. The possible number of protrusions and recesses is, for example, 20 each. The configuration of the shape of the protrusions and / or recesses influences the shape of the shredded material produced, in particular the cross-sectional shape. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the protrusions and recesses can be configured as V-shaped, elliptical, wavy, rectangular and / or diamond. A second cutter part, also located outside the guide path, having a second blade structure with second protrusions and second recesses transversely to the direction of rotation of the guide path, the second cutter part being offset in the direction of rotation of the guide path relative to the first cutter part, such that at least one of the first protrusions virtually meshes with at least one of the second recesses and at least one of the second protrusions virtually meshes with at least one of the first recesses. o The term virtual interlocking can be understood as follows: due to the offset arrangement in the direction of rotation, the projections and recesses of course do not actually interlock with each other, but are offset laterally with respect to the direction of rotation such that, when the second cutter part is moved to its previous position in the first cutter part by the movement of the guide path, at least one projection of the first cutter part is in the place of a second recess of the second cutter part, and in particular all projections and recesses of the first and second cutter parts interlock with each other as described above. In this case, the end regions can be an exception, since in the end regions where the cutter parts end, they can no longer virtually interlock with each other. o In particular where the blade structure is v-shaped, elliptical or wave-shaped, the laterally offset arrangement may be described as the convex and concave portions of the first cutter portion being 90° out of phase with respect to the convex and concave portions of the second cutter portion. The second cutter section can move, in particular rotate outwards together with the guide belt, so that the strip of food material can be fed to the second cutter section from the outside. o That is, the first cutter section creates peaks and valleys in the strip of material, with shreds resulting from the cut-out valleys. Due to the offset arrangement of the second cutter section, this second cutter section can cut the peaks out of the strip of material as shreds in the next cutting process. The strip of material can then be more or less optimally smoothed again. The shred process can then be continued by continuously feeding the strip of material to the cutting device.

[0011] The cutting device allows efficient production of shredded material from a strip of material, since it can be operated in particular by a single motor and produces shredded material from a continuous strip of material instead of material slices, in particular because the cutter part is arranged outside the cutting device.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the cutter part is attached to the guide belt, in particular at a radial distance from the guide belt, so that a slot is formed between the guide path and the cutter part in each case. The formation of a slot is possible in particular if the body realizing the guide path has a cavity below the cutter part. For example, the cutter part can have a slight projection on one and / or both outer sides, at which point this projection and the guide path are connected, for example by the projection having a hole-like bore through which a fastening element can be passed. Due to this projection, the cutter part can have a bridge-shaped cross-section.

[0013] This has the advantage that the shredded material produced outside the cutting device can be fed through the slot into the inside of the body (which realizes a guide path), so that it can be fed out of the cutting device in a controlled manner or simply fall out, without interfering with the subsequent production of further shredded material, and so that it can for example reach a further belt and be discharged from there.

[0014] Preferably, the guide path is realized by a cylindrical body, rollers or wheels, the cylindrical body having a cavity for collecting and / or delivering the shredded material, the cylindrical body, rollers or wheels having an axle operatively connected to and driven by a first motor unit, which causes a movement of the guide path and, consequently, of the cutter portion attached to the guide path.

[0015] Cylindrical bodies, rollers or wheels have the common property that they move the cutter portion on a circular path, which is advantageous in producing shredded material.

[0016] Preferably, the projections and recesses of the two cutter parts each have the same geometrical structure, in particular the projections and recesses are each formed as the negative of one another.

[0017] This has the technical advantage, inter alia, that shreds can be produced in such a way that the least amount of waste possible is produced.

[0018] According to a second aspect of the invention, a system for producing shredded material from a strip of material is presented, i.e. in particular a cutting system, which comprises a cutting device as described above and a feed module, the feed module being configured to continuously feed the strip of material of the cutting device in the conveying direction by means of a feed belt.

[0019] The system allows efficient production of shredded material from a strip of material, since the cutting device of the system can be operated in particular by a single motor and produces shredded material from a continuous strip of material instead of small material portions, in particular because the cutter part is arranged outside the cutting device of the system.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the supply module is drivable by a second motor.

[0021] This second motor allows the ribbon of food to be fed into the system at a variable conveying speed, which can be used to affect the shape of the "shred" as required.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment, the feeding module is configured to feed a strip of food material outside the cutting device.

[0023] This has the advantage, as already mentioned above, that a continuous strip of food material can be used to produce the cut pieces, rather than having to place small sticks of food material inside the centrifugal cutter, as in the prior art.

[0024] Preferably, the cutting angle of the strip of material is flexibly adjustable and is defined by the tangent of the cutter part at the contact point with the strip of material and the conveying direction of the strip of material.

[0025] The advantage of being able to flexibly adjust the cutting angle is that it allows the shape of the shredded material to be altered as required, for example the smaller the cutting angle the longer the shredded material will be, etc. The cutting angle can be varied, for example, by changing the setting angle of the feeding module and / or the angle of the cutter section.

[0026] In a preferred embodiment, the system comprises a counter cutter, which is mounted downstream of the supply belt in the conveying direction, with which the first cutter part and / or the second cutter part mesh. In this case, the counter cutter is in particular formed as a negative counterpart to the first cutter part and / or the second cutter part, so that the convex or tip of the cutter part meshes with the valley of the counter cutter. The counter cutter may be arranged and configured to enable the meshing of the first cutter part and / or the second cutter part.

[0027] For construction reasons, it is impossible or very difficult to completely process the entire thickness of the strip of material into shredded material. This means that at the end of the shredding process, a thin layer of unshredded strip of material always remains. To avoid this, an adjustable counter cutter is attached to the contact point of the cutting system. This counter cutter, which is formed as the negative of the shearing cutter 200, makes it possible to avoid a thin layer (Teppich) remaining and thus to avoid the waste of fine parts. This counter cutter has a contour that shows the negative of the shearing cutter. To achieve a precise contact point, the counter cutter is arranged to be adjustably in one, two or three axes.

[0028] In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a method for producing shredded material from a strip of food material comprises the steps of:

[0029] That is, the cutting device already described is prepared, and a strip-shaped material is fed to the cutting device. At this time, the first cutter portion first cuts the shredded material from the strip-shaped material, thereby forming a third convex portion and a third concave portion on the surface of the strip-shaped material. Then, the second cutter portion cuts the shredded material from the strip-shaped material. At this time, the second convex portion of the second cutter portion cuts the third convex portion from the strip-shaped material.

[0030] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the claims.

[0031] In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0032] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a system for producing shredded material from a strip of food material. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 illustrates an offset arrangement of the first and second cutter portions. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the system of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a side view of the system of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0033] In the following, a number of features of the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments. The present disclosure is not limited to the combination of features specifically mentioned. Rather, unless expressly excluded below, the features mentioned in this specification can be combined in any way for embodiments based on the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a system 100 for producing shreds from a strip of food material 105, particularly a strip of food material 105 for a cheese or cheese replica product.

[0035] The food material strip 105 is fed by the feeding module 110 to the conveying device 120 of the cutting device 140 via a feeding belt 115. The feeding belt 115 can be driven by a second motor unit 125, which is operatively connected to the feeding belt 115 or to the drive rollers mentioned above.

[0036] The cutting device 140 may be supported on a shaft 145. The cutting device 140 has a cylindrical body with an outer profile of two rings 150, which are spaced from one another by support arms 155, in particular by four support arms 155. In other words, this outer cylindrical body may be said to resemble a cylindrical shell with a flat opening 143. From each of the rings 150 extend a number of spokes 160 radially inwards, which are connected to an inner ring 170 of smaller radius. The shaft 145 is supported on these inner rings 170. The cutting device 140 may be rotated, for example, by a first motor unit 175 operatively connected to the shaft 145. The rotational movement of the cutting device 140 is preferably set up in a clockwise direction.

[0037] The first cutter section row 190, which includes the first cutter section 200 and the second cutter section 210, is attached to the second ring 150 at a radially increasing distance relative to the cylindrical body, each cutter section forming a kind of bridge between the two rings 150. The cutter sections 200, 210 are arranged behind the support arm 155 in the direction of rotation. Due to the radially increasing distance of the cutter sections 200, 210, a slot 220 is formed between the cutter sections 200, 210 and the support arm 155, which slot 220 can be seen in the enlarged view of FIG. 3. The guide path is also called the trajectory of the cutter sections 200, 210. Preferably, the trajectory of the guide path is circular or elliptical. Preferably, the guide path is realized by the cylindrical body of the cutting device 140.

[0038] The second cutter sub-row 195 is connected to the first cutter sub-row 190 in the direction of the axis 145. For this purpose, further support arms 155 emerge from one of the rings 150. Preferably, however, these further support arms 155 are not connected to a further ring but project so-called "freely". In principle, however, it would also be possible to provide a further ring. In principle, the second cutter sub-row 195 is formed similarly to the first cutter sub-row 190. In particular, a slot 220 is formed between the cutter parts 200, 210 and the second support arm 155.

[0039] The cutter sections 200, 210 each have one front blade 201 in the direction of rotation. The cutter sections each have alternating convexities 202 and concaves 203 transversely to the direction of rotation. In the direction of rotation, the convexities 202 and concaves 203 can be flattened so that the cutter structure forms a flat surface a few centimeters behind. The cutter sections 200, 210 are arranged with a rotational offset. It is a feature of the invention that the first cutter section 200 and the second cutter section 210 are arranged with a rotational offset transversely to each other in such a way that when, after rotation of the cutting device 140, the cutter sections 200, 210 are respectively arranged in the place where the other cutter section 200, 210 was previously located, the convexities 202 of the second cutter section 210 are located in the place of the concaves 203 of the first cutter section 200, and the concaves 203 of the second cutter section 210 are located in the place of the convexities 202 of the first cutter section 200, as shown in FIG. 2. The cutting device can have a plurality of first cutter sections 200 and second cutter sections 210. However, what is important is that the first cutter sections 200 and the second cutter sections 210 alternate with each other in the direction of rotation. Preferably, the cutter sections 200, 210 are arranged symmetrically on the cutting device 140, in particular at the same distance from each other in the direction of rotation. The terms convex and concave have the same meaning in the context of the present invention.

[0040] This has the following effect on the cutting process to produce shredded material: the strip of material 105 is fed towards the cutting device, and the first cutter portion 200 cuts the shredded material from the strip of material 105 with its protruding portion 202, thereby forming a structure having protruding portions and recessed portions on the surface of the strip of material 105.

[0041] The shredded material thereby enters the slot 220 and there reaches the cavity of the cylindrical body forming the cutting device 140. Since the cylindrical body is also open to the outside, the shredded material can fall out of the cylindrical body, for example onto another belt, from which it is conveyed away. Meanwhile, the strip of material continues to be conveyed by the feed belt 115 towards the cutting device 140. Due to the rotation of the cutting device 140, the second cutter part 210 then comes into contact with the strip of material. Due to the offset arrangement of the projections 202 and recesses 203, the second cutter part 210, in comparison with the first cutter part 200, cuts further shredded material from the projections produced in the strip of material 105, which, as described above, enter the slot 220 and are then conveyed away. This means that new shredded material is always produced by the continuous forward movement of the strip of material 105. Furthermore, the offset arrangement of the cutter parts 200, 210 also limits the length of the shredded material.

[0042] Structurally, the cutting device 140 is arranged at a distance from the feed belt 115 so that the cutter parts 200, 210 do not come into contact with the feed belt 115, since this would damage the latter. This must be avoided, since on the one hand it dulls the cutters and on the other hand it would lead to wear of the food material. The counter cutter 230 is formed as the negative of the first cutter part 200 and the second cutter part 210, so that the projections of the first and second cutter parts engage in the grooves 235 of the counter cutter 230. The remaining thin layers are thus cut into strips as well, which usually have a slightly different shape than the shredded material. However, in this way waste is advantageously avoided. The slots 220 and the counter cutter 230 are shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3.

[0043] Figure 4 is a side view of the system of Figure 1. Figure 4 shows the cutting angle a250, which can be defined as i) the tangent at the contact point between the cutter sections 200, 210 and the web 105 of material, and ii) the direction of travel of the web 105 of material. Figure 4 also very clearly shows how the feed belt 115 is routed under the counter cutter 230.

[0044] The following preferred features of the invention allow the invention to be further developed. i) The shape of the shredded material depends on the thickness of the strip-shaped material, the conveying speed of the strip-shaped material, the number of rotations of the cutting device 140 (which may also be called the cutter roller 140), the diameter of the cutting roller, and the shape of the cutter. The belt-shaped food material may have a thickness of 5 to 20 mm, preferably 8 to 12 mm. The conveying speed of the belt-shaped food material may be 0.5 to 20 m / min, preferably 1 to 10 m / min. The rotation speed of the cutter roller 140 may be 100 to 3000 rpm, preferably 200 to 1000 rpm. The diameter of the cutter roller 140 may be 200 to 500 mm, preferably 300 to 450 mm. ii) The shred surface quality is determined by the variable cutter setting angle. Cut quality and dimensional stability are ensured by the variable cut angle. The cutter section 200, 210 cutter angle can be between 0-20°, preferably between 0-10°. iii) The convex portion 202 and the concave portion 203 of the cutter portion 200, 210 may have a V-shaped cross section. The concave portion and the convex portion may have a depth of 0.5 to 5 mm and a width of 1 to 10 mm. The number of concave portions and convex portions may be arbitrarily selected according to the cutter 200. iv) The rollers and the supply belt can be variably synchronized with each other with respect to speed adjustment. v) Rollers shall be of different diameters depending on the desired shred length (e.g. 200-500mm).

Claims

1. A cutting device for producing shredded material from a strip-shaped food material, comprising: a guide path driven by a first motor unit; a first cutter portion (200) disposed outside the guide path and having a first blade structure with a first protrusion (202) and a first recess (203) transversely to a rotational direction of the guide path; a second cutter portion (210), also disposed outside the guide path and having a second blade structure with a second protrusion (202) and a second recess (203) transversely to the direction of rotation of the guide path; In a cutting device having The second cutter portion (210) is arranged offset in a rotational direction of the guide path relative to the first cutter portion (200), and the second cutter portion (210) is arranged offset laterally with respect to the rotational direction of the guide path such that at least one of the first convex portions (202) virtually meshes with at least one of the second concave portions (203) and at least one of the second convex portions (202) virtually meshes with at least one of the first concave portions (203).

2. 2. The cutting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutter portion is mounted at a distance from the guide belt, so that a slot is formed between the guide path and the cutter portion.

3. 3. Cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the guide path is realised by a cylindrical body or wheels, the cylindrical body having a cavity for collecting and / or transferring the shredded material.

4. The cutting device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the convex portion and the concave portion of the cutter portion each have the same shape and structure, and in particular, the convex portion and the concave portion are each formed as a negative of each other.

5. 1. A system for producing shredded material from a strip of food material, comprising: A cutting device (140) according to claim 1; A system having a supply module (110), The feeding module is configured to feed the strip of food material (105) of the cutting device (140) continuously in a conveying direction by a feeding belt (115).

6. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the supply module is driven by a second motor.

7. 7. The system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the feeding module is configured to feed the strip of material (105) outside the cutting device.

8. 8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the cutting angle of the strip of food material (105) is flexibly adjustable.

9. 9. A system according to claim 5, characterized in that a counter-cutter (230) is mounted downstream of the supply belt in the conveying direction.

10. 1. A method for producing shredded material from a strip of food material, comprising the steps of: Providing a cutting device according to claim 1; feeding a strip of food material (105) to the cutting device, First, the first cutter portion cuts shreds from the strip of material (105), thereby forming third protrusions and third recesses on the surface of the strip of material (105); Thereafter, the second cutter portion cuts shreds from the strip of material (105), and at that time, a second protrusion of the second cutter portion cuts a third protrusion from the strip of material (105).

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