Meat cutting device

Abstract

To provide a meat cutting device capable of uniformizing thickness of a group of cut meat sliced from a lump of raw meat having an unstable shape, adjusting weight of the group, and having versatility and good usability.SOLUTION: A meat cutting device 1 consists of: an input unit 7 for inputting scheduled cutting information; a weight measuring unit 3; a meat lump shape measuring unit 6; a cutting unit 2; and a meat lump conveying belt 20 and 30. The meat cutting device 1 has feed amount determining means 4 for determining the feed amount of the meat lump conveying belt by calculating cut thickness for cutting the meat to be cut of a predetermined purpose from meat lump outer shape information and meat lump layer weight information measured by the meat lump shape measuring unit 6 comprising upper and lower sensors 6a and 6b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a meat cutting device that accurately detects a meat block to be cut and cuts the cut meat for a predetermined purpose, and further relates to an invention of a meat cutting device that can cut different meat blocks such as loin meat and pork belly at the same time and cut them so that they can be placed on a tray with a uniform thickness.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in the meat cutting process, there has been a demand for a cutting device that can accurately cut meat blocks, cut a plurality of meat blocks at the same time, and moreover, can cut continuously in order to improve the labor force.

[0003] Conventionally, there has been a cutting device that detects a meat block with a sensor and cuts it as described in Patent Document 1. However, this detection is performed within an illumination frame, and the exact measurement of the outer shape of the meat block is not necessarily made. In addition, it was not possible to cut continuously.

[0004] On the other hand, as described in Patent Document 2, there is also a prior art with two transfer troughs. However, this is for cutting diced meat and is divided into two parts with a partition from one conveyor belt, and does not convey two types of meat blocks separately and independently and cut them with one cutting blade.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Therefore, the present invention provides a cutting device that can accurately detect the outer shape of a meat mass to enable cutting for a predetermined purpose, and further can cut a plurality of meat masses simultaneously and continuously into a large amount of cut meat, thereby improving the operating efficiency.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The meat cutting device of the present invention is a meat cutting device that cuts a meat mass conveyed by a meat mass conveying belt with a cutting unit, and includes a meat mass shape measuring unit that measures the outer shape information of the meat mass conveyed by the meat mass conveying belt, and a feed amount determining means that determines the feed amount of the meat mass conveying belt based on the total weight information of the meat mass and the meat mass shape information detected by the meat mass shape measuring unit. The meat mass shape measuring unit is characterized by including a first measuring unit provided above the meat mass conveying belt and a second measuring unit provided below the meat mass conveying belt and measuring through a belt opening portion.

[0008] Further, it is a food cutting device that can independently convey meat masses with a plurality of parallel-running meat mass conveying belts and cut a plurality of meat masses with one cutting unit. The second measuring unit serving as the meat mass shape measuring unit measures through a belt opening portion that opens across the plurality of parallel-running meat mass conveying belts, and the feed amount determining means preferably determines the feed amount corresponding to the cutting thickness of one meat mass conveying belt and the feed amount corresponding to the cutting thickness of the other meat mass conveying belt individually.

[0009] Further, it is a food cutting device that cuts two meat masses with one cutting unit with two meat mass conveying belts consisting of a first meat mass conveying belt and a second meat mass conveying belt running in parallel. A motor is arranged on one side in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the two meat mass conveying belts, and it is preferable that the other side opposite to the one side is an open side so that the meat mass conveying belt can be taken out.

[0010] Further, the two meat mass conveying belts are arranged in series with two rollers including a first roller for enabling the conveyance of the first meat mass conveying belt and a second roller for enabling the conveyance of the second meat mass conveying belt, and two motors including a first motor and a second motor connected to the two rollers are arranged on one side in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the two meat mass conveying belts, and a first rotational force transmission means for transmitting the rotational force from the first motor to the first roller of the first meat mass conveying belt and a second rotational force transmission means for transmitting the rotational force from the second motor to the second roller of the second meat mass conveying belt are preferably provided.

[0011] Moreover, a meat cutting device that equalizes the thickness of the cut meat cut from the meat mass for each group and adjusts the total weight of each group, having an input unit for inputting a planned cutting thickness and a planned cut group weight, and calculating the length of each group before cutting based on the weight per unit volume from the meat mass shape information and the total meat mass information measured by the meat mass shape measurement unit, and preferably having a feed amount determination means for determining the feed amount of the meat mass conveying belt for a uniform cutting thickness obtained by equalizing the thickness for each length of the group before cutting.

[0012] Further, the input unit further includes tray length information in the planned cutting information, and further has a cut meat conveying belt for conveying the cut meat cut by the cutting unit. In addition to determining the feed amount of the meat mass conveying belt, it preferably has a feed amount determination means for determining the feed amount of the cut meat conveying belt so that the stacked length of the cut meat of each group is within the tray length information.

Advantages of the Invention

[0013] According to the invention described in claim 1, the shape of the meat mass can be accurately measured by the first measurement unit and the second measurement unit arranged vertically, and accurate meat mass outer shape information can be obtained. From this meat mass outer shape information, the weight per unit volume is calculated from the total meat mass, and a cutting width of a predetermined weight can be set, or the cutting weight of each group can be calculated to enable so-called quantitative cutting or pack cutting (tray cutting).

[0014] According to the invention described in claim 2, a plurality of independent meat mass conveying belts are used to convey a plurality of meat masses separately and independently. The meat masses are measured by a meat mass shape measuring unit through one belt opening part at the same position in the conveying direction, and then cut by one cutting unit. As a result, a large amount of cut meat can be continuously measured and cut with a predetermined weight. Also in this case, by passing through one belt opening part with one measuring unit, accurate meat mass outer shape information can be obtained, and it becomes possible to obtain a large amount of continuous cut meat under predetermined desired cutting conditions with a plurality of belts.

[0015] According to the invention described in claim 3, when cleaning or performing maintenance on the belt, it can be pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the belt, thus realizing space saving.

[0016] According to the invention described in claim 4, when a plurality of belts run side by side, if at least the motors are arranged on both sides, the belts must be taken out in the conveying direction during belt cleaning or maintenance, and space saving cannot be achieved, and the usability will be significantly reduced. By adopting the form described in this claim, it is possible to obtain a large amount of continuous cut meat under predetermined desired cutting conditions with a plurality of belts, and at the same time, a meat cutting device that combines space saving can be provided.

[0017] According to the invention described in claim 5, not only so-called quantitative cutting but also so-called pack cutting for packing a group of cut meat into a pack becomes possible. Moreover, the cutting thickness of a group of cut meat put into one pack can be made uniform, so that the cut meat in each group has the same thickness, and it becomes possible to provide a pack of cut meat without a sense of incongruity.

[0018] According to the invention described in claim 6, the feeding amount of the cut meat conveying belt is determined according to the tray length to form a scale state, and a group of cut meat that has been cut can be directly put into the tray and made into a pack, which can greatly improve the working efficiency.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] An example of the implementation of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this description, the upstream side (the front left side in FIG. 1) and the downstream side (the rear right side in FIG. 1) of the conveyor belt will be used for the description. Also, the cut meat refers to the sliced meat pieces for eating, one by one, and the meat mass refers to the rod-shaped meat mass (raw log) before cutting, and a group refers to the state of a collection of one or more cut meats for putting into individual trays.

[0021] The meat cutting device 1 of the present invention includes a cutting unit 2, and two meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30 for conveying the meat mass toward the cutting unit 2 are arranged in parallel left and right in the conveying direction (the direction of the arrow line X) and run side by side. Among the two meat mass conveyor belts, the one on the side of the conveyor motor box 5 on one side is the first meat mass conveyor belt 20, and the one on the other side, which is not on the side of the conveyor motor box 5, is the second meat mass conveyor belt 30. In this embodiment, two meat mass conveyor belts are running side by side, but three or more meat mass conveyor belts may be running side by side, or a partition plate may be provided between the plurality of meat mass conveyor belts.

[0022] In addition, meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30 and cut meat conveyor belts 40 and 50 having the same conveyance direction are arranged behind the cutting unit 2. The cut meat conveyor belts 40 and 50 are belts for conveying cut meat cut by the cutting unit. Note that the conveyance directions of the cut meat conveyor belts 40 and 50 may be different from the conveyance directions of the meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30.

[0023] On one side (the back side in FIG. 1, the side different from the second meat mass conveyor belt 30 side as viewed from the first meat mass conveyor belt 20) in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction X (longitudinal direction) of the meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30 shown in FIG. 1, a weight measurement unit 3, a feed amount determination means 4, and a downstream conveyance motor box 5 are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side. A first motor and a second motor are also built in the box of the feed amount determination means 4. On the other side of the second meat mass conveyor belt 30 (the side different from the first meat mass conveyor belt 20 side), these devices are not arranged, so it is an open side. By making this the open side, the meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30 can be taken out facing the open side, enabling space-saving cleaning and maintenance.

[0024] The two meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30 are arranged in series with three belts: upstream belts 21 and 31, middle belts 22 and 32, and downstream belts 23 and 33. The upstream belts 21 and 31 are rotated by the first motor in the feed amount determination means 4, the middle belts 22 and 32 are rotated by the second motor in the feed amount determination means 4, and the downstream belts 23 and 33 are rotated by the third motor in the conveyance motor box 5 to perform the conveyance operation. A gap of 30 to 40 millimeters is formed between the upstream belt and the middle belt, and this gap becomes a belt opening portion 25 which is a detection position by a lower sensor described later.

[0025] The two upstream belts 21, 31, the middle belts 22, 32, and the downstream belts 23, 33 have the same length, positions of the upstream and downstream ends in the conveying direction, inclination directions and inclination angles that are inclined vertically, and belts of the same form run side by side. Therefore, the belt opening portions 25 of the first meat mass conveying belt 20 and the second meat mass conveying belt 30 are opened across a plurality of side-by-side meat mass conveying belts, and are formed as one opening portion where the respective opening portions are arranged in parallel at positions common in the conveying direction. Note that it is preferable to provide guide walls on both sides of the downstream belts 23, 33 to guide them from impacts during cutting by the cutting unit 2, but they are omitted in FIG. 1 for the sake of explanation.

[0026] The meat mass shape measuring unit 6 is arranged such that a first measuring unit 6a extends above both of the two meat mass conveying belts 20, 30 from the feed amount determining means 4 on one side, and a second measuring unit 6b is arranged below the meat mass conveying belts 20, 30 (specifically, it will be described later). Further, an input unit 7 for inputting predetermined planned cutting information is arranged on the front side in the drawing of the first measuring unit 6a.

[0027] The cutting unit 2 is located above and inclined between the meat mass conveying belts 20, 30 and the cut meat conveying belts 40, 50, and is a thin cylindrical case, and incorporates one or two rotating circular blades, and these rotating circular blades cut while rotating and revolving. The portion that projects upstream from the cutting unit 2 is the upper pressing unit 10, and an upper pressing belt that presses the meat mass from above during cutting is arranged. Note that the conveyance motors of the cut meat conveying belts 40, 50 are arranged on one side (the back side) of the belt, similar to the conveyance motor 5, and the other side is the open side.

[0028] The weight measurement unit 3 is a trapezoidal member located on one side of the most upstream side of the meat mass conveyor belts 20 and 30. When the user places the meat mass on the weight measurement unit 3, the total weight of the entire meat mass is measured and displayed on the display unit 3a, and the total meat mass weight information is sent to the feed rate determination means 4. In this embodiment, by providing the weight measurement unit 3 in the cutting device 1 of this embodiment, there is no need to re-enter the information measured by another measuring instrument, which improves the working efficiency. However, it may also be possible to measure the weight by separate measuring means and input the total meat mass weight information.

[0029] The feed rate determination means 4 is a control mechanism that determines the feed rate capable of separately and independently conveying the first meat mass conveyor belt 20 and the second meat mass conveyor belt 30. It is possible to convey the first meat mass conveyor belt 20 and the second meat mass conveyor belt 30 simultaneously by the same feed rate, or to provide a difference in the feed rates of the first meat mass conveyor belt 20 and the second meat mass conveyor belt 30 and convey them separately and independently.

[0030] Furthermore, the feed rate determination means 4 can also determine the feed rate for separately and independently conveying the upstream belts 21 and 31, the middle belts 22 and 32, and the downstream belts 23 and 33. Specifically, the upstream belts 21 and 31 and the middle belts 22 and 32 are operated simultaneously for measurement by the meat mass shape measurement unit 6, while the downstream belts 23 and 33 convey the feed rate corresponding to only the specific cutting thickness to be cut by the cutting unit 2.

[0031] Also, the feed rate determination means 4 can determine the feed rate of the cut meat conveyor belt after cutting. As a result, it becomes possible to stack and arrange the cut meat groups at predetermined intervals, and the working efficiency can be improved when performing tray or packing operations.

[0032] A specific form of the meat block shape measurement unit 6 will be described. In addition to FIG. 1, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the meat cutting device 1 of the present embodiment uses laser sensors as a pair of upper and lower first and second measurement units 6a and 6b, but it may be an image measurement means using a camera function or other measuring instruments. In the present embodiment, the outer shape of the meat block can be accurately measured by the reflection of the laser to obtain meat block shape information, and the feed amount can be accurately determined. Hereinafter, the first measurement unit and the second measurement unit will be described explicitly as sensors.

[0033] As described above, the meat block shape measurement unit 6 is arranged so as to project above both of the two meat block conveying belts 20 and 30 from the feed amount determining means 4 on one side. A first sensor 6a is provided, and a second sensor 6b is provided below the meat block conveying belts 20 and 30. The first sensor 6a arranged above is arranged slightly upstream of the open portion 25 between the upstream belts 21 and 31 and the middle belts 22 and 32 in a side view as shown in FIG. 2, and is inclined obliquely downward (arrow line A) in accordance with the inclination of the inclined belt portions 21a and 31a described later. By irradiating the laser in this direction, the shape of the meat block from above is measured.

[0034] One of the meat block shape measurement units, the lower second sensor 6b, is arranged below the belt open portion 25, and the laser is irradiated from below through the belt open portion 25 to measure the shape of the meat block from below. More specifically, the upstream belts 21 and 31 have descending belt portions 21a and 31a that descend once in the vicinity of the belt open portion 25, and are inclined in a direction (arrow line B) orthogonal to the inclination direction of the descending belt in a side view, and irradiated from below.

[0035] By shifting the irradiation positions of the first sensor 6a and the second sensor 6b and shifting the irradiation directions in this way, it is possible to prevent the information of the laser sensor from being confused. Furthermore, by having the descending belt portions 21a and 31a, it is possible to drain in advance the drips flowing out from the meat mass and improve the detection accuracy. Also, by positioning the wall members 26, 26 having inclined surfaces that incline inward upward between the belt opening portion 25 and the second sensor 6b within the opening range below the belt opening portion 25, it is possible to prevent the drips flowing out from the meat mass from flowing down to the second sensor 6b on the lower side.

[0036] Furthermore, the middle belts 22 and 32 are inclined downward in the conveying direction, and this inclination angle is made gentler than the inclination angles of the descending belt portions 21a and 31a of the upstream belts 21 and 31. By doing so, it is easier for the meat mass being conveyed by the descending belts 21a and 31a to be conveyed from the upstream belt to the middle belt.

[0037] Also, preferably, in order to prevent the meat mass to be detected, which is conveyed through between the belt opening portions 25, from falling or getting caught at the belt opening portion 25, it is preferable to arrange the conveying auxiliary tool 27. In this embodiment, the conveying auxiliary tool 27 which consists of a small receiving stand is partially arranged across the width direction of the belt. Note that the conveying auxiliary tool 27 may also consist of auxiliary rollers instead of the receiving stand.

[0038] When using the conventional sensors only from above or from the side, the shape of the lower surface placed on the belt was not detected. However, by using the upper and lower sensors 6a and 6b in this way, it becomes possible to accurately measure the shape of the meat mass and obtain accurate meat mass shape information. The upper and lower sensors 6a and 6b can detect any of the meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30 running parallel, and can detect both simultaneously, enabling continuous cutting operation.

[0039] Next, a plurality of parallel meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30 will be described. By arranging the plurality of the above-described weight measuring units 3, the feed rate determining means 4 having a built-in motor, and the conveyance motor box 5 on one side of the meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30, it is possible to remove them toward the other side when cleaning or performing maintenance on the meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30. There is also a food cutting device that removes the belt in the conveying direction for cleaning, but by removing it to the side in the conveying direction, cleaning and maintenance can be performed in a space-saving manner. In particular, in the present embodiment, two meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30 are arranged in parallel and run side by side, and by sequentially removing the belts to the other side, which is the open side, it is possible to achieve space-saving even in the cleaning of the inner belt (the first meat mass conveying belt 20).

[0040] As shown in FIG. 4, in the box of the feed rate determining means 4, a first motor 11a and a second motor 11b for rotating the rollers 13a and 13b of the upstream belts 21 and 31 to enable conveyance, and a first motor 12a and a second motor 12b for rotating the first rollers 14a and second rollers 14b of the middle stream belts 22 and 32 to enable conveyance are arranged. These motors are arranged on one side of the first meat mass conveying belt 20 running side by side, and cleaning and maintenance can be performed in a space-saving manner by removing the belt from the other side. Note that the motors for rotating the rollers of the downstream belts 23 and 33 and the rotational force transmission means are arranged in the motor box 5, but since the configuration of the transmission means for the motors of the upstream and middle stream belts is the same, the description thereof is omitted. Note that FIG. 4 shows a state in which the upper half of the rollers 13a and 13b is cut out in the drawing.

[0041] Regarding the rotational force transmission means for enabling two conveying belts 20 and 30 running side by side to be conveyed separately and independently, the first motor 11a and the second motor 11b of the upstream belts 21 and 31 and the first roller 13a and the second roller 13b will be described by way of example. The first roller 13a and the second roller 13b around which two separately independent upstream belts 21 and 31 are wound are connected in series in the longitudinal direction of the rollers (so as to be continuously connected in the longitudinal direction), and each rotates. The first roller 13a and the second roller 13b share the same rotation axis 15. The rotation axis 15 has the first sprocket 16a and the second sprocket 16b on the side of the first motor 11a and the second motor 11b arranged in series in the axial direction. These sprockets 16a and 16b are connected to the respective gear portions of the motors 11a and 11b by chains (not shown), transmitting the rotational force of the motors 11a and 11b to the rollers 13a and 13b, enabling the meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30 to be conveyed.

[0042] First, the first sprocket 16a on the roller side (the left side in the drawing of FIG. 4) is directly connected to the first roller 13a on the motor side (the front side in the drawing) by screwing or the like, transmitting the rotational force only to the first roller 13a and enabling the first upstream belt 21 to be conveyed. On the other hand, the second sprocket 16b on the motor side (the right side in the drawing) is connected to the second roller 13b on the opposite side of the motor side (the back side in the drawing) via the rotation axis 15, enabling the second upstream belt 31 to be conveyed. When transmitting the rotational force to the second upstream belt 31 by the second sprocket 16b and the second roller 13b, bearings 17 and 17 are arranged between the first roller 13a on the motor side (the front side in the drawing) and the rotation axis 15, and the first roller 13a is not rotated by the second rotational force transmission means. Even if the rotational force is transmitted using the first rotational force transmission means for rotating the first roller 13a, the rotational force is not transmitted to the second roller 13b. Since the configuration for transmitting the rotational force from the motors 12a and 12b to the rollers 14a and 14b for conveying the middle belts 22 and 32 by the sprockets 18a and 18b is the same as the above, the description is omitted.

[0043] By adopting the above configuration, since one of the plurality of rotational force transmission means transmits the rotational force to only one of the rollers of the plurality of belts, it becomes possible to arrange the motor on one side, and the other side in the conveyance direction of the belt can be an open side without any attached equipment. As a result, while enabling the parallel meat mass conveyance belts 20 and 30 to be taken out and extracted to the open side on the other side, the two belts 20 and 30 running side by side can be conveyed separately and independently. Furthermore, the feed amounts of the two meat mass conveyance belts 20 and 30 that can be conveyed independently are appropriately determined by the feed amount determination means 4, and thus they can be conveyed.

[0044] The basic function of the meat cutting device 1 of the present embodiment is as follows: When the weight of the meat mass is measured by the weight measurement unit 3 and the meat mass is appropriately placed on the upstream belts 21 and 31 of the meat mass conveyance belts 20 and 30 and operated, the shape of the meat mass is measured by the meat mass shape measurement unit 6 while being conveyed to the middle belts 22 and 32. Further conveyed, it is appropriately cut by the cutting unit 2 to become cut meat, and discharged by the cut meat conveyance belts 40 and 50. At this time, the weight per unit volume is calculated based on the total weight information and the meat mass shape information of the meat mass, and the feed amount determination means 4 determines the feed amounts of the downstream belts 23 and 33 for cutting the cut meat for a predetermined purpose and conveys them. As a result, it becomes possible to cut the cut meat for a predetermined purpose, and it is also possible to convey and cut the meat mass separately by the two parallel meat mass conveyance belts 20 and 30, and it becomes possible to provide the meat cutting device 1 with improved operating power. At this time, the individual cutting thicknesses of the meat mass are calculated for each desired weight, and the feed amount corresponding to each individual cutting thickness is determined from the tip of the meat mass. This is the so-called "quantitative cutting".

[0045] Next, an explanation will be given regarding the cutting of each group, which is so-called "pack cutting". The input unit 7 is a panel for inputting information necessary for placing on a tray, and inputs information such as the planned cutting weight, planned cutting thickness, planned total weight of a group, tray length, etc. This planned cutting thickness is the thickness for each piece of cut meat initially planned, and the planned total weight of a group is the total weight of the cut meat of a group consisting of a plurality of pieces of cut meat to be placed in one tray initially planned. In addition, the number of planned cuts and other cutting conditions may be input.

[0046] "Pack cutting" equalizes the cutting thickness and adjusts the weight of each group. Regarding the control, determination, and determination flow of the feed rate determination means 4 in this case, an explanation will be given based on the flowchart of FIG. 5.

[0047] First, the user inputs the planned cutting thickness, planned total weight of a group, and tray length to the input unit 7 (input step). The meat block is placed on the weight measurement unit 3, and the weight of the meat block is measured (weight measurement step). At this time, the weight measurement unit 3 sends the measured weight data to the feed rate determination means 4.

[0048] The meat block is placed on the upstream belts 21, 31 of the meat block conveyor belts 20, 30 and conveyed, and the shape of the meat block is measured by the upper and lower meat block shape measurement units 6 before reaching the middle belts 22, 32 (meat block shape measurement step). At this time, the outer shape of the meat block is measured, and the shape data is sent to the feed rate determination means 4.

[0049] The feed rate determination means 4 calculates the weight per unit volume of the meat block from the weight data and the shape data. Then, based on this, the required length of the meat block (before cutting for each group of the input information) is calculated individually (calculation step).

[0050] Furthermore, the feed rate determination means 4 determines the number of cuts according to the planned cutting thickness and the planned number of cuts of the input information, calculates the thickness equalized by dividing the group before cutting calculated in the previous calculation step by the number of cuts, calculates the uniform thickness, and determines the feed rate for the uniform thickness (feed rate determination step).

[0051] The actually conveyed meat mass is conveyed by the third belts 23 and 33 for each feed amount determined in the feed amount determination step, and cut by the cutting unit 2 (cutting step).

[0052] When the tray length is input to the input unit 7, the feed amount determination means 4 adjusts the conveyance time of the cut meat conveyance belts 40 and 50 so that a group of cut meats are arranged in series and stacked according to the input tray length (cut meat conveyance step). That is, when there is a large amount of cut meat according to the tray length, the overlapping part is increased, and when there is a small amount of cut meat, the overlapping part is decreased. Actually, the individual lengths and the number of cut pieces of the cut meat in the shape data are calculated, and the feed amounts of the cut meat conveyance belts 40 and 50 are determined so as to be partially stacked and arranged in series to form the tray length.

[0053] Furthermore, when different meat masses are conveyed and cut by the two parallel meat mass conveyance belts 20 and 30 of the present embodiment and two types of cut meats are packed in a single tray as a group for each predetermined weight, the planned cutting thickness for each meat mass is input in the input step, and the total weight of the whole group, the tray length, etc. are input. Then, in the weight measurement step and the shape measurement step, the weight and shape are measured for each meat mass. In the calculation step, the specific gravity for each meat mass is calculated, and the total cutting length for each meat mass is calculated and calculated so as to be the total weight of a group. Then, in the feed amount determination step, a uniform thickness is calculated to determine the feed amount, and cutting is performed in the cutting step. Furthermore, when the tray length is input, the feed amount of the cut meat conveyance belt is determined so that a group corresponds to the tray length.

[0054] Due to the accurate measurement by the meat mass shape measurement unit 6 of the present embodiment, the feed amount determination means 4 can achieve so-called quantitative cutting in which the weight of each cut meat is made uniform, and adjustment of the weight of a group of cut meats for each tray to a predetermined weight, and can also achieve so-called pack cutting in which the cutting thickness of a group of cut meats for each tray is made uniform. In pack cutting, it is possible to pack as a meat sales tray that has different thicknesses for each tray and does not give a sense of discomfort to the final consumer.

[0055] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, by measuring two parallel meat mass conveying belts 20 and 30 through a common belt opening portion 25 of the pair of upper and lower meat mass shape measuring portions 6 and cutting them with one cutting unit 2, the operating speed can be significantly improved, and the meat masses fed out by the two belts can be cut into fixed quantities respectively, cut into packs respectively, or made into a group of cut meats with fixed quantity cutting and pack cutting in one pack or tray.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0056] 1... Meat cutting device, 2... Cutting unit, 3... Weight measuring portion, 4... Feed amount determining means, 5... Motor box, 6... Meat mass shape measuring portion, 6a... First sensor, 6b... Second sensor, 7... Input portion, 11a... First motor, 11b... Second motor, 12a... First motor, 12b... Second motor, 13a... First roller, 13b... Second roller, 14a... First roller, 14b... Second roller, 15... Rotating shaft (rotational force transmission means), 16a... First sprocket (rotational force transmission means), 16b... Second sprocket (rotational force transmission means), 17... Bearing, 18a... First sprocket (rotational force transmission means), 18b... Second sprocket (rotational force transmission means) 20... First meat mass conveying belt, 21... Upstream belt, 21a... Descending belt portion, 22... Middle stream belt, 23... Downstream belt, 25... Belt opening portion, 26... Wall member, 27... Conveying auxiliary tool, 30... Second meat mass conveying belt, 31... Upstream belt, 31a... Descending belt portion, 32... Middle stream belt, 33... Downstream belt, 40... Cut meat conveying belt, 50... Cut meat conveying belt, X... Conveying direction.

Claims

1. A meat cutting device that cuts a meat block conveyed by a meat block conveying belt with a cutting unit, a green meat shape measuring unit that measures external information of the green meat conveyed by the green meat conveying belt; and a feed amount determining means that determines a feed amount of the green meat conveying belt based on green meat total weight information and the green meat shape information detected by the green meat shape measuring unit, a meat cutting apparatus including a meat cutting section for cutting a meat product from a meat cutting machine, the meat cutting section being provided with a first measuring section above the meat cutting machine and a second measuring section below the meat cutting machine and performing measurements through an opening in the meat cutting machine;

2. A food cutting device capable of independently conveying meat chunks on a plurality of parallel running meat chunk conveying belts and cutting the plurality of meat chunks with one cutting unit, The second measuring section, which is the meat chunk shape measuring section, measures through a belt opening section that opens across a plurality of meat chunk conveyor belts running in parallel, 2. The meat cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the feed amount determining means determines the feed amount of one of the green meat conveying belts for the cutting thickness and the feed amount of another of the green meat conveying belts for the cutting thickness separately.

3. A food cutting device in which two meat greens are cut by one cutting unit using two meat greens conveying belts, the two meat greens being made of a first meat green conveying belt and a second meat green conveying belt, which run in parallel, 3. The meat cutting device according to claim 2, wherein a motor is arranged on one side opposite to a conveying direction of the two meat greens conveying belts, and the other side opposite to the one side is an open side so that the meat greens conveying belt can be removed.

4. The two meat greens conveying belts are each provided with two rollers arranged in series, the rollers being a first roller for conveying the first meat greens conveying belt and a second roller for conveying the second meat greens conveying belt; Two motors, consisting of a first motor and a second motor connected to the two rollers, are arranged on one side in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the two meat greens conveying belts, 4. The meat cutting device according to claim 3, further comprising: a first rotational force transmission means for transmitting a rotational force from the first motor to the first roller of the first green meat conveying belt; and a second rotational force transmission means for transmitting a rotational force from the second motor to the second roller of the second green meat conveying belt.

5. A meat cutting device for making the thickness of cut meat from a block of meat uniform for each group and adjusting the total weight of each group, an input section for inputting a planned cutting thickness and a planned cutting group weight; 5. The meat cutting device according to claim 1, further comprising a feed amount determining means for calculating an individual pre-cut group length based on a weight per unit volume from the green meat shape information measured by the green meat shape measuring unit and the total green meat weight information, and determining a feed amount of the green meat conveying belt for a uniform cut thickness obtained by uniformizing the thickness for each pre-cut group length.

6. The input unit includes tray length information in the planned cutting information, and further includes a cut meat conveyor belt for conveying the cut meat cut by the cutting unit; 6. The meat cutting device according to claim 5, further comprising a feed amount determining means for determining the feed amount of the cut meat conveying belt so that the stacked length of a group of cut meat is within the tray length information, in addition to determining the feed amount of the meat block conveying belt.

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