Profile Loaf Cutting System for Food Products
First Claim
1. A process for automating cutting of a block of food into individual elongated loaves on a conveyor system including an in-feed conveyor, a wire harp cutter, an indexing platform, and a guillotine cutter, the process comprising:
- moving a food block on the in-feed conveyor to the wire harp cutter;
indexing the food block in the wire harp cutter a pre-selected distance;
cutting a slab of the food block at the indexed distance;
rotating the slab 90°
onto the indexing platform;
determining with a sensor a slab width dimension of the slab;
transmitting the slab width dimension to a programmable logic controller coupled to the conveyor system;
cutting the slab with the guillotine cutter into a preselected number of elongated loaves, with each loaf having a loaf width dimension equal to the slab width dimension divided by the preselected number of elongated loaves; and
moving the elongated loaves to a cutting station,wherein the process for automating cutting of a block of food is controlled by the PLC, the PLC including a database storing the pre-selected distance, the pre-selected number, and the slab width dimension.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for cutting blocks of food product into individual, elongated loaves of substantially equal size. The system includes a loaf cutter conveyor configured to receive incoming blocks of food product and move the blocks along continuum processing path for cutting; a programmable logic controller coupled to the loaf cutter conveyor; and, multiple stations associated with the cutter conveyor. The PLC is configured to determine an optimized cut solution of the slab portion of food product from data related to the food product, and is configured to provide the cut solution to the various stations. The PLC is configured to control the system for cutting of the food product, based on the optimized cut solution, into loaves of substantially equal size and shape.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A process for automating cutting of a block of food into individual elongated loaves on a conveyor system including an in-feed conveyor, a wire harp cutter, an indexing platform, and a guillotine cutter, the process comprising:
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moving a food block on the in-feed conveyor to the wire harp cutter; indexing the food block in the wire harp cutter a pre-selected distance; cutting a slab of the food block at the indexed distance; rotating the slab 90°
onto the indexing platform;determining with a sensor a slab width dimension of the slab; transmitting the slab width dimension to a programmable logic controller coupled to the conveyor system; cutting the slab with the guillotine cutter into a preselected number of elongated loaves, with each loaf having a loaf width dimension equal to the slab width dimension divided by the preselected number of elongated loaves; and moving the elongated loaves to a cutting station, wherein the process for automating cutting of a block of food is controlled by the PLC, the PLC including a database storing the pre-selected distance, the pre-selected number, and the slab width dimension. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A process for automating cutting of a block of food into individual elongated loaves on a conveyor system including an in-feed conveyor, a wire harp cutter, an indexing platform, and a guillotine cutter, the process comprising:
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moving a food block on the in-feed conveyor to the wire harp cutter; indexing the food block in the wire harp cutter a pre-selected distance; cutting a slab of the food block at the indexed distance; rotating the slab 90°
onto the indexing platform;determining with a sensor a slab width dimension of the slab; transmitting the slab width dimension to a programmable logic controller coupled to the conveyor system; cutting the slab with the guillotine cutter into a preselected number of elongated loaves, with each loaf having a loaf width dimension equal to the slab width dimension divided by the preselected number of elongated loaves; moving the elongated loaves to a staging platform coupled to a cutting station; inserting a cutter into a cutter holder coupled to the cutting station, the cutter positioned traverse to a longitudinal axis of the elongated loaves; moving the elongated loaves through the cutter, wherein each elongated loaf is cut in a pre-selected profile; moving each profile cut elongated loaf to a second staging platform, wherein the process for automating cutting of a block of food is controlled by the PLC, the PLC including a database storing the pre-selected distance, the pre-selected number, and the slab width dimension. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for cutting blocks of food product into individual, elongated loaves, the system comprising:
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a loaf cutter conveyor configured to receive incoming blocks of food product and move the blocks along a continuum processing path for cutting; a programmable logic controller coupled to the loaf cutter conveyor; and a plurality of stations associated with the loaf cutter conveyor with each station coupled to the programmable logic controller, the stations comprising; a slab cutter station configured to cut a slab portion from a block of food product; a slab measuring station configured to determine a length of a side of the slab portion; an indexing station configured position the slab portion; a loaf cutter station configured to cut the slab portion into a preselected number of elongated loaves of substantially equal width; and a transport conveyor configured to move the elongated loaves away from the loaf cutter station, wherein the programmable logic controller is configured to control the cutting of the food product into individual elongated loaves of substantially equal width. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for cutting blocks of food product into individual, profiled elongated loaves, the system comprising:
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a conveyor system configured with a plurality of stations and platforms, with a station each to cut a slab portion, measure a length of a side of the slab portion, position the slab portion, cut the slab portion into a plurality of elongated loaves of substantially equal width, stage the elongated loaves, cut the elongated loaves into a preselected profile with a removable cutter, move the profile cut elongated loaves; and a programmable logic controller coupled to the conveyor system and configured to control each of the stations and platforms, the programmable logic controller also configured to determine the width of each profile cut elongated loaf based on the length of the side of the slab portion of food product and a predetermined number of desired loaves, wherein each of the profiled cut elongated loaves is substantially the same width. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification