Rotatable Cutting Land for Food Slicer Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing slicer apparatuses face issues when cutting food items at shallow angles, as they lack sufficient support, leading to the food item sliding or being pulled apart, and the cutting land may interfere with the conveying process.
Innovation Solution
A slicer apparatus with a cutting land that has a recess on one side, allowing the cutting blade to extend into it, and a system for independently adjusting the angular position of the cutting land around its longitudinal axis, enabling optimal angular adjustments for better cutting and support, including temporary continuous rotation to facilitate the movement of cut pieces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cutting land is shaped to provide counter hold effect at shallow angles, then the food item support is improved, but the conveying process is disturbed
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting land is made rotatable around its longitudinal axis, allowing its angular position to be dynamically adjusted. This enables the cutting land to adapt its orientation to different cutting requirements while maintaining proper conveying function, resolving the contradiction between providing support at shallow angles and avoiding interference with conveying.
Solution Approach 2:
The angular position of the cutting land around its longitudinal axis is changed as a variable parameter. By independently adjusting this angular position, the system can optimize the cutting land's orientation for different cutting scenarios, ensuring both adequate food item support and smooth conveying operation.
2Reliability
If the cutting land extends above the support surface at shallow angles, then the counter hold effect is improved, but the last cut piece is left resting on the cutting land
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable cutting land allows the last cut piece to be properly conveyed by adjusting the cutting land's angular position, preventing it from being left resting on the cutting land surface and maintaining continuous conveying operation.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the angular position parameter of the cutting land, the system optimizes the transition of cut pieces from the cutting zone to the conveying path, ensuring the last piece is not left behind and productivity is maintained.
3Strength
If the knife moves perpendicularly through the food item, then the intrinsic meat connection is improved, but the cutting angle flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The independently adjustable angular position of the cutting land provides flexibility in cutting angles while the perpendicular knife movement maintains meat connection strength, allowing the system to adapt to different cutting requirements without compromising structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting function is segmented into independent components: the knife provides perpendicular cutting action for meat connection, while the rotatable cutting land provides angular flexibility, allowing each component to optimize its function separately.
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~2
Figure 3~4(b)
Figure 5~8
AI summary
This invention relates to a slicer apparatus for slicing food items, comprising: a conveying means for conveying a food item to be cut along a conveying path, where a gap is provided extending across the conveying path, at least one cutting blade, a cutting land arranged in and along the gap, the cutting land comprising a recess on at least one side such that during cutting the at least one cutting blade at least partly extends into the recess, a first moving means connected to the at least one cutting blade for moving the at least one cutting blade in distance relative to the cutting land, a second moving means connected to the at least one cutting blade for moving the at least one cutting blade angularly relative to the conveying path, and a third moving means connected to the cutting land for adjusting at least an angular position of the cutting land around its longitudinal axis, wherein the third moving means is configured to independently adjust the at least angular position of the cutting land around its longitudinal axis.