CARRIER FOR FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract: The invention relates to a carrier (1) for conveyance and storage of food products such as meat products in an appliance for automatically slicing the food product. The carrier (1) comprises a base plate (3) and optionally a standing wall (2) for supporting the food product during slicing. In accordance with the invention means (4, 9, 10) are present for fixing the position of the food products in relation to the carrier (1).

Description: Carrier for food products The invention relates to a carrier according to the preamble of claim 1. Such carriers are known from EP 0777202 where they are shown in the Figures 5-7 with the accompanying specification. The disadvantage of the known carrier is that when the carrier is moving through the appliance for automatic slicing, it is possible for the food product to move in relation to the carrier so that it can no longer be accurately positioned when it is being sliced. In order to avoid this disadvantage, the carrier is embodied in accordance with the characterizing part of claim 1. As a result, when the carrier is positioned in the appliance for automatic slicing, the food product will also be automatically positioned as required, so that uninterrupted slicing can take place, because the position of the cut surface of the food product remains unchanged. According to one embodiment, the appliance is designed in accordance with claim 2. This is a simple manner of fixing the food product in relation to the carrier. According to a further improvement, the carrier is designed in accordance with claim 3. This is a means for quickly attaching the food product with the sliding portion on the carrier, thereby loosing as little as possible of the food product when securing the food product to the sliding portion. According to a further improvement, the appliance is embodied according to claim 4. Hereby the food product is firmly secured to the sliding portion so that during conveyance, which may be accompanied by relatively strong accelerations and decelerations, detachment of the food product from the sliding portion is prevented. According to a further improvement, the appliance is embodied according to claim 5. This further facilitates attaching the clamping means to the sliding portion and the food product to the sliding portion. 2 The invention also comprises the clamping means for securing food products to a sliding portion that is provided with a press-on surf ce. The invention will now be explained with reference to an exemplary embodiment in which: - Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a carrier, - Figure 2 shows a front view of the carrier of Figure 1 , - Figure 3 shows a top view of the carrier of Fig- ure 1, - Figure 4 shows a side view of the carrier of Figure 1 , and - Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a holder with pins as used in the carrier of Figure 1. The carrier 1 shown in the Figures 1-4 is used in a distributor in which meat products are stored. The dashed line in Figure 1 indicates the meat product on the carrier 1. In the distributor various kinds of meat products are stored, and by means of a key board control panel the customer can choose the kind and quantity of meat product he wishes to order and the thickness of the slices. After ordering, the meat product is conveyed by the distributor to a cutting appliance and there the ordered slices are cut off at a cutting plane S. In order for the slices to neatly fall on to a platform, the cutting blade is positioned at an angle of approximately 40°, and the meat product to be sliced also has to be inclined at that angle. Such a distributor is described in EP 0777202. Tests have shown that the various conveyor operations taking place with the meat product make it necessary for the meat product to be secured on the carrier 1 such as to be supported firmly and in the correct manner. To this end the carrier 1 is comprised of a base plate 3 having a raised edge 2. In the corner enclosed by the base plate 3 and the raised edge 2, a sliding portion 6 can slide in a feed direction F to the cutting plane 5. The sliding portion 6 has a press-on surface V directed toward the cutting plane S, which stands virtually perpen- 3 dicularly in relation to the feed direction F. By means of a shoulder portion 9 which engages a thickening of the raised edge 2, the sliding portion is joined to the base plate 3 and the raised edge 2. To the sliding portion 6 a clamping strip 4 is fastened by means of which the sliding portion 6 is clamped to the base plate 3, for example, to a clamping strip 16 which is part of the base plate 3. To the sliding portion 6 a holder 7 is mounted, by means of which the meat product is secured to the sliding portion 6. The holder 7 comprises a holder plate 8 which is provided with guide pins 18, allowing the holder 7 to move in vertical direction parallel to the press-on surface V in relation to the sliding portion 6. The edge of the holder 7 directed toward the cutting plane S is pro- vided with pins 10, the bottom ends of which have sharp points . The holder plate 8 is provided with slotted holes 9 to which a handle 17 can be attached (see Figures 2 and 4) . In order to allow the sliding portion 6 to move along the carrier 1 in the feed direction F while slicing the meat product, a movement member is used which is coupled to the sliding portion 6. To this end an iron strip 5 is mounted in the sliding portion 6, and to this the movement member, which is part of the distributor, can attach with the aid of magnets. During storage, the carrier 1 lies in a rack of the distributor and it is removed from the rack by a hole 20 provided in the base plate 3. The carrier 1 is provided with a side strip 12 and a bottom strip 14 to guide the carrier 1 during conveyance in the cabinet of the distributor. To this end guides have been provided in the cabinet, such as a wheel 11, which is slightly spring- activated in vertical direction, a guide block 13 and a support block 15, which in Figure 2 are represented by a dashed line. In the embodiment of the carrier 1 shown, the base plate 3, the raised edge 2, the side strip 12, the bottom strip 14 and the clamping strip 16 are embodied as an extruded profile of an aluminium alloy. Near the cutting 4 plane S the bottom strip 14 and the clamping strip 16 have been removed so that the meat product can be brought more' accurately to the cutting blade in the cutting plane B. The extruded profile is coated with a layer of, for example, "TEFLON" (TEFLON is a registered trademark) , allowing easy cleaning of the material . Due to the fact that the base plate 3 and the raised edge 2 are made in one piece, there is no joint, so that no contamination or bacterial growth can develop, and the carrier 1 can easily be cleaned. Near the corner formed by the base plate 3 and the raised edge 2 the carrier 1 is smooth, allowing the meat product positioned between the sliding portion 6 and the cutting plane S to be moved without problems in the feed direction F. During slicing in the cutting plane S, the meat product positioned in the corner is pressed by the cutting blade over a large part of its length against the base plate 3 and the raised edge 2 , so that it is supported in two directions. This results in the slice being cut off evenly. Due to the smoothness of the support, the feed to the cutting plane S also proceeds evenly . The sliding portion 6, the clamping strip 4 and the shoulder portion 9 are made from plastic, for example, POM. In the exemplary embodiment the above-mentioned components are shown as separate components, however, it is also possible to combine the components into one component . The clamping strip 4 is always designed such that the sliding portion 6 moves over the base plate 3 only stiffly, and that it preferably only moves when the above- mentioned movement member engages the iron strip 5 to displace the sliding portion 6. To this end the clamping strip 4 comprises a spring-activated element which in this case is a bent strip of plastic. The clamping force is such that the meat product will not be displaced when the meat product is accelerated and decelerated during conveyance between storage and the slicing appliance. The holder 7 is embodied such that it firmly holds the meat product against the press-on surface V of the 5 sliding portion 6. Although a piece of meat product having a weight of, for example, 10 kg can easily slide over the base plate 3, involuntary displacement of the meat product during conveyance and slicing, during which the carrier 1 may incline, for example, 40°, will be largely avoided because it is attached to the sliding portion 6. During this procedure considerable forces may occur. In order to be able to realize a sufficiently firm attachment, the pins 10 are positioned perpendicularly to the feed direc- tion F at a distance a from each other, and if a is, for example 20 mm, most meat products will be sufficiently firmly attached. The pins 10 may be round or square and have a diameter of 3 mm and extend to maximally 20 mm and preferably to approximately 5 mm from the base plate 3 and thus have a length which is more than half the height of the sliding portion 6. At their top side the pins are optionally reinforced in their longitudinal direction in order to prevent bending . Between the pins 10 and the press-on surface V of the sliding portion 6 there is a distance c, which also depends on the meat product to be sliced. If the meat product has a straight and even end and the meat is firm, then c may be relatively small. With soft kinds of meat and sausages having a round end, c has to be larger. A common value for c is 10 mm. To ensure that the pins 10 that are inserted into the meat product do not cause the slices to have an undesirable shape, the cutting plane S has to keep at a certain distance from the pins 10. It has been shown that if said distance is larger than 5 mm, the pins will have no adverse effect on the shape of the slices . At the same time this means that a distance b, extending above the top plate in front of the pins 10, must be less than 5 mm and is, for example, 2 mm. In this manner the cutting blade will not touch the top plate 8. To place the meat product on the carrier 1 one proceeds as follows. The slightly frozen (approximately -2°) meat product is placed on the base plate 3 with its side against the raised edge 2 and one end at the cutting plane 6 S. The sliding portion 6 is pushed with the press-on surface V against the other end of the meat product . The guide pins 18 of the holder 7 are positioned into the sliding portion 6 and the pins 10 are inserted into the meat product until the holder plate 8 rests on the sliding portion 6. Then the handle 17 is removed from the holder 7. After the guide pins 18 have been inserted into the sliding portion 6 they can automatically be locked therein by means of, for example, a spring-activated ring (not shown) ; one could also use a locking screw. In the embodiment shown one holder 7 is used. However, especially for broader pieces of meat product, it is also possible to place several holders 7 next to one another; correspondingly, the base plate 3 and the sliding portion 6 may then also be wider. After the carrier 1 with the meat product has been placed in the distributor, it can be conveyed to the cutting appliance in the usual manner. In the cutting appliance, the movement member moves to the sliding portion 6, which sliding portion 6 may then be at an arbitrary position in the longitudinal direction of the carrier 1. The movement member is provided with sensors (micro-switches) perceiving the approach of the sliding portion 6. Once the sliding portion 6 has been perceived, the magnets in the movement member come into action, thereby coupling the sliding portion to the movement member. The meat product's movement can now be controlled accurately by the movement member and is able to obtain the feed required during slicing. In addition to this description of the movement mem- ber using magnets, other embodiments are also possible such as, for instance, using a gripper. Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the holder 7 with the pins 10 and the holder plate 8 being made of one piece of plate material. This makes it possible to manu- facture the holder cheaply. In this embodiment no handle is used for pushing the pins into the meat. The carrier 1 shown here, may have different dimensions in a distributor, which are adapted to the different dimensions of the meat product. 7 The embodiment mentioned before describes the use of the carrier for the storage and conveyance of the meat ' product. However, the same carrier may also be used for conveyance and storage of other products such as, for example, cheese and also bread, vegetables or fruit. The carrier described is furnished with one raised edge 2. An embodiment with two raised edges is also possible, so that the food product is enveloped better, while the sliding portion 6 remains accessible for a movement member.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A carrier for conveyance and storage of food products such as meat products in an appliance for automatically slicing the food product, comprising a base plate (3) optionally provided with a standing wall (4) for supporting the food product during slicing, and means (5,6) for moving the food product along the base plate and standing wall characterized in that means (4,9, 10) are present for fixing the position of the food products in relation to the carrier while the carrier (1) is moving in the appliance. 2. A carrier in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the means for fixing the food products comprise a sliding portion (6) with clamping means (4,9) for fixing the sliding portion in a sliding direction (F) in relation to the carrier, as well as attachment means (8,10) for attaching the food products to the sliding portion. 3. A carrier in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the attachment means comprise pins (10) that may be inserted into the food products perpendicularly to the sliding direction (F) and alongside the sliding portion. 4. A carrier in accordance with claim 3 , characterized in that the length of the pins (10) is more than half the height of the sliding portion and/or that the pins can be inserted through the height of the food product to maximally 20 mm from the perimeter of the food product. 5. A carrier in accordance with claim 3 or 4 , characterized in that the pins (10) are joined to guide means (18) that are movable in relation to the sliding portion. 6. Attachment means for attaching food products to the sliding portion of a carrier in accordance with one of the claims 2-5.

Inventors: DE GRAAF MATTIJN GODEWIJN, MOONS WILHELMUS ANDREAS MARIA, DE GRAAF, MATTIJN, GODEWIJN, MOONS, WILHELMUS, ANDREAS, MARIA
Applicants: FOODCORNER INTERNATIONAL B V, GRAAF MATTIJN GODEWIJN DE, MOONS WILHELMUS ANDREAS MARIA, DE GRAAF, MATTIJN, GODEWIJN, FOODCORNER INTERNATIONAL B.V., MOONS, WILHELMUS, ANDREAS, MARIA
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B26D7
IPC codes: B26D7