Slicing machine for cold cuts

A slicing machine with a carriage for the goods to be sliced, a blade against which the goods are drawn to form a slice, a mechanism for carrying away the slices and a blade-cleaning member which is disposed along the rear of the blade and serves to deflect the slicing away from the latter toward the slide conveyor. Between the slice conveyor and the latter member, a plurality of gripper bands are provided to transfer the slices to the conveyor, the gripper band passing around rollers in recesses of the blade cleaning member.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
My present invention relates to a cold cut slicing machine with a carriage 
for receiving the uncut body of sausage, cheese or the like to be sliced, 
a rotating blade with a guide for adjusting cutting or slice thickness, a 
device for delivering the cut slices from the blade to a conveyor which 
preferably consists of horizontal parallel, aligned and activated conveyor 
bands or chains with points, which transport each slice to a depositing 
station, and a kicker which reaches behind the conveyor bands or chains 
and pulls away each slice from the points on which they are pierced and 
throws them on a depositing table. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
With cold cut slicing machines one always had to take care that the cutting 
thickness was not set too thin, since then the cut slice would fold itself 
during the transport between knife and conveyor device and/or and the 
slice would be torn in transport. There are kinds of meat, especially 
smoked meat or Bundnerfleisch which must be sliced very thinly. Especially 
with these kinds of foodstuff repeated breakdowns of the machine occurred. 
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the invention is to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art 
and to provide a machine which is capable of exactly depositing very thin 
slices. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This is attained in accordance with the invention by providing the delivery 
device with a cleaner very near to the cutting edge of the blade reaching 
out for receiving the slices during the cutting operation, whose guiding 
surface includes an acute angle toward the blade and which has lateral 
axes and/or guide pullies for gripper bands which lead from the cleaner 
away to a guide roller of the conveyor bands or chains. A guide sheet or a 
roller is provided opposite the gripper bands. The cleaner reaches into 
the groove of the blade, where the slice is received, caught by the 
gripper bands and transported into the direction of the conveyor bands. A 
guide sheet or one or more rollers are positioned opposite the gripper 
bands and prevent the turning aside of the slices in the transfer area 
between blade and conveyor device. 
It is useful if the cleaner is swingable on a parallel towards the cutting 
surface arranged axis and a setting device is provided, especially one in 
the form of a setting screw, which is positioned next to the cleaner in 
opposite draw of the gripper bands, With the setting screw an accurate 
setting of the cleaner can be obtained, which as close as possible is 
driven toward the blade, without, however, touching it. 
The setting movement in the range of millimeters and requires 
simultaneously an adjustment of the tension of the gripper bands. In a 
special application of the invention the gripper bands are guided between 
the conveyor bands or chains around the guide roller and have on their 
running surface a continuous keel like rib for exact guidance, The 
peripheral speed of the gripper bands is then the same as the peripheral 
speed of the conveyor bands or chains. 
When the rollers of the gripper bands run freely opposite. the rollers of 
the conveyor bands, the peripheral speed of the gripper bands is then 
determined directly by the advance of the cut slices. 
The guide sheet arranged opposite of the gripper bands is suitably formed 
as a two-armed lever whose rotation axis sits in guides, which are 
rotatably deposited on the frame of the conveyor device. The end of the 
one lever arm of the guide sheet is arranged close to the impact plate and 
the end of the other lever arm carries rollers for pressing the cut slices 
on the points of the conveyor bands or chains, where the distance between 
the rollers and conveyor bands is the same as the space between blade and 
impact plate which determines the cutting thickness. The guide sheet can 
therefore on the one hand without problem and without special preparatory 
actions be swung away from its use position. In the use position the guide 
sheet is rotated around its axis at each cutting size setting, so that 
upon decreasing of the cutting size the rollers are brought closer to the 
conveyor bands or chains. The delivery of the goods to be cut therefore 
takes place by taking the diameter into consideration. It is especially 
advantageous when the rollers have a larger diameter at the edge than in 
the center area and when the rollers in the running surface of the points, 
are arranged on the bands or chains and overlap the same. With this each 
slice is especially effectively pressed onto the points. Further it is 
useful when the guide sheet is arranged comblike in towards each other 
parallel facing flaps or fingers and/or has prongs for decreasing the 
contact surface with the cut slices. 
In another guiding device of the invention in which a roller is opposite 
the delivery device, the roller has toothed rims, which in some cases are 
provided with points and preferably the roller lies against the gripper 
bands and/or against the conveyor band or chains. When the rotating axis 
of the roller is arranged on guides, which on the one hand are hinged on 
the frame of the conveyor device and on the other hand are braced on the 
impact plate, then the roller will set itself. In order to assure a 
uniform delivery of the slices from the knife to the conveyor device, the 
roller can be operable with the speed of the cutting carriage for the 
goods or the conveyor bands or chains. The slices can then neither be torn 
nor pushed together.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION 
A rotating blade 1 has an adjustable impact plate 2 for the cut goods 
disposed in front of it and moveable as shown by the double-headed arrow. 
Along the impact plate 2 the cut goods (sausage, cheese and the like) are 
delivered to the blade 1. The thickness of the cut slice depends upon the 
position of the impact plate 2 relative to the plane of the cutting edge 
of the blade. 
A cleaner 3 is provided behind the blade 1, which reaches into a groove 
formed behind the cutting edge of the blade 1. The cleaner 3 is rotatable 
about a horizontal axis 4. The space between the blade 1 in the cutting 
area and the cleaner 3 can be adjusted by turning a conically tapered 
setting screw 5. 
The cleaner 3, which is formed as shown in FIG. 3 as a bent guiding element 
adjusting itself to the groove of the blade 1, has recesses with guide 
rollers, around which gripper bands 6 are arranged. These gripper bands 6 
furthermore are run over a guide roller 7, which is part of a conveyor 
device which is formed as a chain frame. 
A slice of sausage which has been cut by the blade 1 during the cutting 
operation is deflected by the cleaner 3 and passed on to the gripper bands 
6, which advances the slice until the slice is seized by the points 8 of 
the conveyor bands 9 or chains and engaged for further transportation. 
The gripper bands 6 are operated in the example according to FIG. 1 by the 
guide roller 7. The peripheral speed of the gripper bands 6 corresponds to 
the advancing speed of a carriage for cut goods, which is not illustrated, 
so that it is assured that the slice will be removed with that advancing 
speed from the cutting location as the cutting goods had been delivered to 
the blade 1. An alternative thereto is that the guide roller can consist 
of parallel layered rollers, of which those, which displace the gripper 
bands 6 are running free. It is also possible, to provide between the 
operating rollers of the conveyor bands 9 and the rollers of the gripper 
bands 6 one or more slip couplings to prevent tearing the slices and to 
assure a gentle, uniform transfer from blade 1 to the conveyor device. 
The gripper bands 6 as well as the cleaner 3 are disposed opposite (FIG. 1) 
a guide sheet 10. An insert sheet 11 with springs can preferably be 
arranged on the lower part of the guide sheet. The guide sheet 10 is 
pivotable on two guides 12 and forms a two-armed lever. The one lever arm 
13 is connected with the impact plate 2 and takes part in the cut size 
setting. The second lever arm 14 carries rollers 15 on its end, which 
press against the conveyor bands 9 and especially against the points to 
ensure that a slice is pushed and secured on the points. This pressing 
device can be removed from the operating position by means of the guides. 
This is very advantageous for cleaning purposes. 
Another auxiliary system shows in FIG. 2. A roller 16 is arranged 
oppositely of the gripper bands 6 as well as the conveyor bands 9. It is 
rotatable on guides 17 and is depositioned by re-setting of the impact 
plate 2 (resetting of cutting size) relatively towards the conveyor bands 
9 and the gripper bands 9. Large cutting sizes need, as also shown in FIG. 
1, a wider space between roller 16 and the delivery device. Roller 16 can 
be provided with protrusions, especially teeth or points, which act upon 
the slices and together with the gripper bands and without interruption 
continue to tranpsort them. Obliquely arranged flaps or fingers 18 extend 
from roller 16 and consist of elastic material, which touch the slices and 
press them against the gripper bands 9. The finger 18 cover the upper 
surface of the roller 16, that is they are provided in parallel rims at 
the same level as the gripper bands 6 on the roller 16. In the area of the 
gripper bands 6 which is turned away from the roller 16 a cover 19 is 
provided behind which fingers 18 are pulled in during rotation of the 
roller. Instead of fingers 18 bristles can also be used. 
Roller 16 can be freely running or operated in such a way that its 
peripheral speed is equal to the advancing speed of the carriage for the 
cut-goods or the conveyor device (conveyor bands 9). The fingers 18 can be 
further realized by bent sheet metal strips, which are arranged on the 
roller 16 in a rotatable fashion and by means of a spring each, are 
clamped in front in radial direction. 
FIG. 3 shows a view of the cleaner 3 with the gripper bands 6 and the guide 
roller 7 with the auxiliary roller system removed (guide sheet 10, FIG. 1 
or roller 16, FIG. 2). The gripper bands 6 have the purpose to turn away 
the cleaner 3 from around the axis 4 out of the drawing plane or from the 
blade 1. The setting screw 5 on which tapered sleeve cleaner 3 is 
arranged, forms an impact and presses the cleaner 3 during screwing in 
place in direction of the blade 1. 
In the method according to FIG. 3, the guide rollers of the gripper bands 
6, which are arranged next to the blade, lie on a circular arc. Tests have 
shown that an arrangement of gripper bands of equal length, whose guide 
rollers in the cleaner lie on a joint axis, bring advantages, not only 
constructive ones, but also concerning the sure grip of cut slices. The 
gripper bands 6 can have for their secure guidance on the running surface 
a V-shaped rib in the form of a continuous leading keel and the guide 
rollers or -axes correspondingly formed grooves. Also a ball-shaped or 
concave running roller or axle upper surface is useful for centering the 
gripper bands.