Patent ID: 6016734
Filing Date: 2000-01-25
Classification: B26D,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A food slicing machine including(i) a machine housing and a disk-shaped knife having a cutting plane and rotatably mounted on said housing;(ii) a stop plate coupled to said housing and means including a rotatable adjusting device for moving said stop plate relative to the cutting plane of the knife to set the thickness of a slice;(iii) a guide extending parallel to the cutting plane and a food carriage mounted for reciprocation on said guide between limits;(iv) said food carriage being pivotable about an axis parallel to the guide between a slice-cutting position and a fully retracted position;(v) a locking assembly including(a) a locking disk rigidly connected to rotate with said adjusting device and having a center, a periphery and a slot of uniform width extending from the periphery in the direction of the center,(b) a locking element having a width slightly smaller than that of the slot and being disposed closely adjacent said periphery when the carriage is in the slice-cutting position, said locking element mounted for movement along a generally radial path with respect to said locking disk, wherein said generally radial path extends across said periphery and generally toward said center of said locking disk; and(vi) moving means responsive to pivoting of the carriage from the slice-cutting position for moving the locking element in said generally radial path toward said periphery;(vii) wherein rotation of the adjusting device to produce a slice thickness of zero aligns the slot with the locking element, and wherein a relatively small amount of pivoting of the carriage from the slice-cutting position toward the fully retracted position causes the locking element to move along said generally radial path and enter the slot preventing substantial rotation of the adjusting device in either direction.