MEAT SLICING MACHINE AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF

Abstract: A meat slicing machine has a frame (1) and a meat supporting bed (2) having a load cells (3) associated with supporting bed (2) for weighing the meat product on the bed. Gripper claws of a gripper box (4) are adapted to grip the meat product. A pressure plate (5) having a limit switch (6) is adapted to be engaged by the meat product. A shear-edge (7) is provided on frame (1) as the meat product passes under measuring lasers (8). A profile finger (9) measures the width of the meat product. Lasers (8) or potientometers (10) measure the height of the product. The lead screw (11) pushes the meat product towards the pressure plate (5) to measure the length of the product. The method involves weighing the meat product, measuring the height, length and width of the meat product; determining the volume and density of the meat product; and slicing a portion of the meat product having a predetermined weight into a plurality of slices having a uniform thickness.

Description: Title: MEAT SLICING MACHINE AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF TECHNICAL FIELD My invention relates to a meat slicing machine and method of use thereof, and more particularly, to a machine to slice bacon and the like. BACKGROUND ART Slicing machines of the prior art comprise a rotating blade which either has a spiral cutting edge or a circular cutting edge and is mounted for planetary motion, and means to feed the product towards the blade so that upon each revolution or each gyration of the blade, one slice is cut from the face of the product. The means to feed the product may be a continuous conveyor but usually the slicer includes a fixed platform on which the product is placed and a feeding head which engages the rear face of the product and which urges it towards the blade.. The feeding head is moved by a timing belt or by a lead screw driven by a stepping or variable speed electric motor. Meat slicing machines have a common application in the meat industry. They serve to slice raw/cooked meat products like beef, bacon and ham, etc., into consumer usable portions. These portions may be selected by weight, size or number of slices. The trend today and indeed the demand is for fixed weight portions with a fixed number of slices per pack and at a fixed price. The present slicing machines whilst very expensive fail to achieve fully the performace demanded by the meat industry. This is particularly true in the bacon processing industry where the endeavour is to produce packs of sliced rashers of even slice thickness to a fixed target weight. The present slicing machines' failure is due mainly in part to the varying dimensions/density factors that the raw material presents. More recently, slicing machines have been made more sophisticated by the inclusion downstream of the slicing machine of means to weigh a group of slices cut by the slicing machine, and then, in dependence upon the weight of this preceding group, vary the speed of movement of the product towards the blade by a feedback system to insure, as far as possible that each slice has a particular, predetermined weight. This apparatus is very complicated, and inevitably, there is some time lag between the cutting of a group of slices and the determination that the group has been cut too thickly or too thinly. Further developments made use of the differences between pieces of meat products by weighing the piece and measuring its length to achieve its "weight per unit length. " Further use has been made of the well- known fact that meat products have a "weight distribution curve" particular to the individual type of product. Computer programs have been used to utilize such gathered information so as to produce "an anticipated weight distribution" for a particular product to be sliced, and to target a desired individual "slice weight. " This is repeated until the required number of slices for the package weight is found. This system produces reasonable results but fails to produce a pack with uniform slice thicknesses within the package, and this is due to the fact that the system is designed to produce an individual slice weight by varying the individual slice thicknesses to accomplish this result. A further disadvantage of the above system is the means to weigh the product. The operator is required to first place the meat on the platter (weighing scale) to register the weight, and then remove it and place it on the slicer table. This obviously entails double handling of the product. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to adapt a system and method of slicing meat which can be applied to existing conventional meat- slicing equipment. A further object of this invention is to provide a method and means for handling the variable factors of a given meat product relating to dimensions and density so as to satisfy the performance demands for fixed weight packages with a uniform slice thickness throughout the pack. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a graphic representation of a side of bacon and the equation and means for approximating its area; and Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine for measuring the physical dimensions, i.e., weight, length, depth and width of the product to be sliced. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION With reference to Figure 2, a meat slicer (1) has a roller-bed (2) which rests on a weight load cell (3). The weight of the meat product is recorded when it is placed onto roller-bed (2) . Gripper-box (4) pushes the product along the roller-bed (2) until it is up against pressure plate (5) where a limit switch (6) is activated and the feeding operation stops. At this point, the length of the product is measured, and the gripper claws of gripper-box (4) grips the product. The product moves forward to the shear-edge (7) having passed under the profile measuring lasers (8). The laser heads measure the varying contours on the top of the product while the side profile finger (9) (potentiometer) measures the width. With reference to Figure 1, the face area of the product is calculated by means of lasers or potenti¬ ometers (10) . With this information, a selected volume which is representative of the required portion can be determined, which in turn will be a draft thickness that is divided into the required number of slices (i.e., rashers of uniform thickness). According to this invention, the operator.places the product to be sliced on the slicer roller-bed (2). As can be seen in Figure 2, the roller-bed forms part of the weighing system comprised of load cells (3) . On pressing the start button of the machine, the weight of the product is recorded. The product now moves forward by a lead screw (11) until it is pushed up against the pressure plate (5), hence the feed process stops, and at this point, the length, height and width are recorded to achieve an estimated volume for that particular piece, and hence its estimated density. An encoder is linked to the lead screw (11) to measure the travel of the lead screw. This permits the determination of the length of the product. The lead screw stops, as indicated above, when the product is pressed against the pressure plate (5) where a limit switch (6) is activated. The height across the face of the product is measured by lasers (8), and the width measurement is recorded by the side finger (9) (potentiometer) as also discussed here before. From these physical dimensions, it is possible to ascertain the face area of the product and use the estimated density as a correction factor. It is thereupon possible to find the required volume of product representative of the required package weight. This calculated overall thickness is then divided by the required number of slices for the package. For a 200 gm. package, assuming a density of 1, a preferred volume requirement would be 200 cubic cm. This is achieved by moving the product forward through the slicer blade at fixed speed for that individual package, thus insuring a slice of uniform thickness for each revolution of the blade. The slicing machine also includes a standard "off the shelf" type computer (PC). This computer can be programmed to hold up to 99 product data files. A product file will hold such information as: Product Type, Package Weight, Number of Slices, Slice Thickness Parameters, etc. The computer is also programmed to hold the individual parameters of each piece of product placed on the slicer bed, and this forms part of the management system for statistical analysis. A further very important use of the stored information is to permit the estimate volume and density of the product to be sliced to be compared with the conclusive values as found after the complete piece has passed through the slicer blade as can be seen by the location of both the top measuring lasers and the side finger (9). However, this information is used to compare the estimated values against true values, the results of which are placed in a product density table which is continuously updated and used as a correction factor to the estimated volume/density values. The computer is further programmed to permit on-demand visual displays of the product just sliced. This three-dimensional display reproduces the physical shape of the product as detected by the top profile measuring lasers. According to the present invention, there is now a system for handling these variable factors of dimensions/density, and so satisfying the performance demands for fixed weight packaging with a uniform slice thickness throughout the pack.

Claims: Claims ; 1. A meat slicing machine, comprising, a machine frame, a bed for supporting a meat product, a weight determining means associated with said bed for weighing said meat product, measuring means on said frame for determining the height, length and width of said meat product, computer means operatively connected to said weight determining means, and said measuring means to determine the weight, volume and density of said meat product, and a meat slicing means to slice a given volume of said meat product into a plurality of slices of uniform thickness to create a group of slices of a predetermined total weight. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein laser means is used to determine the height of said meat product. 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for measuring the length of said meat product includes a lead screw device to push the product towards a pressure plate, and release means connected to said pressure plate to stop the action of said lead screw when said pressure plate is contacted by said meat product. 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein an encoder is operatively connected to said lead screw to measure the travel of said lead screw, said encoder being linked to said computer means. 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein measurement means includes potientometer means to determine the height and width of said meat product. 6. The method of slicing a meat product comprising, taking a meat product having a length, width and height, weighing said meat product, measuring the height, length and width of said meat product, determining the volume and density of said meat product, slicing a portion of said meat product having a predetermined weight into a plurality of slices of uniform thickness. AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 7 October 1993 (07.10.93); original claims 3 and 4 amended; remaining claims unchanged (1 page)] 1. A meat slicing machine, comprising, a machine frame, a bed for supporting a meat product, a weight determining means associated with said bed for weighing said meat product, measuring means on said frame for determining the height, length and width of said meat product, computer means operatively connected to said weight determining means, and said measuring means to determine the weight, volume and density of said meat product, and a meat slicing means to slice a given volume of said meat product into a plurality of slices of uniform thickness to create a group of slices of a predetermined total weight. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein laser means is used to determine the height of said meat product. 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for measuring the length of said meat product includes a longitudinal pushing device to push the product towards a pressure plate, and release means connected to said pressure plate to stop the action of said longitudinal pushing device when said pressure plate is contacted by said meat product. 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein an encoder is operatively connected to said longitudinal pushing device to measure the travel of said longitudinal pushing device, said encoder being linked to said computer means. STATEMENT UNDER ARTICLE19 Original claims 3 and 4 have been amended so that the original words "lead screw" therein have been deleted, and the words "longitudinal pushing device" have been substituted therefore. These amendments do not have any impact on the description and the drawings, and no changes therein are required. The longitudinal pushing device is the lead screw (11) and gripper-rbox (4) shown in Fig. 2 and are discussed generally at page 4 of the description of the invention.

Inventors: CAREY JOSEPH, CAREY, JOSEPH
Applicants: CAREY JOSEPH, TOWNSEND ENGINEERING CO, TOWNSEND ENGINEERING COMPANY
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B26D7
IPC codes: A22C17, B26D5, B26D7