Cammed Slicing-Cleaving Food Product Slicer Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional food-product slicers are ineffective in handling both soft and hard food products, as soft-product slicers crush hard products and hard-product slicers damage soft products during cutting.
Innovation Solution
A food-product slicer with a cammed slicing-cleaving action mechanism, incorporating a blade set and a pusher designed to engage the product resistively, utilizing a camming arrangement that imparts both slicing and cleaving actions, allowing for the handling of both soft and hard products without distortion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional soft-product slicers are used to cut hard products, then the slicing action is insufficient, but the hard products are crushed and damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines slicing action and cleaving action into a single cutting operation. The blade set is configured to provide both slicing (for soft products) and cleaving (for hard products) actions simultaneously, allowing one machine to handle both soft and hard products effectively without crushing or damaging them
Solution Approach 2:
The pusher assembly is designed to dynamically adjust the cutting action based on product hardness. The cammed mechanism allows the pusher to impart both slicing and cleaving actions, adapting the cutting method to the specific product being processed
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional hard-product slicers are used to cut soft products, then the cleaving action is sufficient, but the soft products are damaged and distorted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges slicing and cleaving actions into a single operational mode, allowing soft products to be sliced gently while hard products receive the necessary cleaving action, thus preventing damage to soft products while maintaining effectiveness on hard products
Solution Approach 2:
The slicer is designed as a universal machine that can handle both soft and hard products with a single configuration. The blade set and pusher assembly are designed to provide multiple cutting actions (slicing and cleaving) simultaneously, making the machine adaptable to different product types without requiring separate machines for soft and hard products
3Reliability
If separate slicers are used for soft and hard products, then each product type is handled optimally, but the device complexity and number of machines required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal slicer that can handle both soft and hard products with a single machine. The blade set and pusher assembly are designed to provide both slicing and cleaving actions, eliminating the need for separate machines for different product types and reducing overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of soft-product slicers and hard-product slicers into one unified machine. The cammed pusher assembly and blade set work together to provide both slicing and cleaving actions, merging what were previously separate operational modes into a single versatile device
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The slicer effectively cuts both soft and hard products by combining slicing and cleaving actions, preventing crushing of soft products and maintaining blade integrity when cutting hard products, thus providing a universal slicing solution.
Implementation Method 1
a camming arrangement designed and configured to impart a combined slicing and cleaving action between the food-product and the blade set when the food-product is engaged between the food-product pusher and the blade set
Data Source
AI summary
A food-product slicer that includes a camming arrangement that induces a slicing action as between food-product being cut and a blade set effecting the cutting. In some embodiments, the camming arrangement includes a camming region formed on a food-product pusher, wherein interaction of the food-product with the camming region during a cutting operation induces a slicing action into the food-product. In some embodiments, the camming arrangement includes one or more camming structures, such as slots, and corresponding cam followers to impart slicing action motion into a product pusher, which in turn induces the slicing motion into food product engaged therewith, and/or into a blade set to creating the slicing action.