Abstract:
A cutting assembly for use in a hydro-cutting system in which water and food products are conveyed through tubes and the food products are sliced into smaller pieces. The cutting assembly includes multiple disks and U-shaped blades. Legs of the blades are mounted between the substantially parallel disks on opposite sides of the disks, thereby holding the blades in place. A rotationally-driven motor driveshaft extends through the assembly and the assembly is mounted in a tube. When the water and food products are conveyed into the cutting assembly, the rotating assembly slices pieces from the food product, and the pieces are separated from the water for later use or processing. The water can be used in another slicing cycle.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates generally to hydraulically fed food cutting (“hydro-cutting”) apparatuses, and more particularly to a rotating blade assembly used in a hydro-cutting apparatus to cut food products into a plurality of smaller pieces. 
         [0002]    Many food products, particularly vegetables and fruits, are processed prior to sale to preserve the food so it is safe and appealing at the time of consumption. The processing can be either by canning or freezing, among others. Most food products must be sliced or otherwise shaped into an edible size prior to the preservation process unless it is an edible size before processing. Slicing and shaping operations traditionally have been accomplished with sharpened blades. Such blades can be hand-held, but hand-held knives are relatively slow and dangerous to the person using them. Other blades are machine-driven, or use machines to drive the food product into a stationary or machine-driven blade. Food cutting machines increase the speed and consistency of slicing, and provide a higher degree of safety in the food slicing industry. 
         [0003]    Recent advances in food product cutting technologies have resulted in the hydraulically fed cutting apparatus, which is referred to by the shorthand term “hydro-cutting”. Hydro-cutting involves the propulsion of water and food products, typically at very high speed, through a path that includes a stationary cutting blade. Production cutting systems and related knife fixtures are generally well known in the art of hydro-cutting vegetable products. Typical hydro-cutting systems have a so-called knife fixture that is mounted at a position along the path of the food product to slice parallel to the flow of water. Such parallel cutters usually cut or slice into strips or into a helical shape. In such a system, the food products are conveyed one-at-a-time in single file succession into the stationary cutting blades with enough kinetic energy to carry the product through the stationary knife fixture. 
         [0004]    One disadvantage in the food products resulting from conventional hydro-cutting has been the shape of the food products after cutting. The standard “French fry” typifies the parallel cutting systems, because the resulting food products have a familiar elongated shape with a square cross-section. There is a need for a cutting apparatus that provides superior shapes, whether the superiority arises from the subsequent processing or the shape for aesthetic purposes, or both. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In accordance with the invention, a rotatably-mounted and driven knife fixture is provided for cutting vegetable products, such as raw potatoes, into curved shapes as the vegetable products are conveyed past the knife fixture in a stream of water. The rotary knife fixture may include a blade holder and supporting housing to form concave, scoop-shaped pieces emulating cut sections of curved celery and ready for use or further processing without further cutting. 
         [0006]    The rotary knife fixture includes a circular blade holder adapted to be rotatably driven within a vegetable product flow path such as along a hydraulic flow circuit. The blade holder includes a series of blades that are looped in a U-Shape and stacked side by side and held in place by circular inner discs. The blade fixture is placed in a modified cutter head housing that has been designed to gently feed the product downstream into the rotating cutting blade. After the food product has been cut, its smaller pieces are carried downstream by the surrounding water and separated on a conveyer. The blade holder has been designed to be easily removed for replacing blades with alternate configurations or with fresh sharp blades. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a schematic side view illustrating a hydraulic cutting system including a rotatably-driven knife assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged side view in section illustrating a rotary motor mounted to a driveshaft to which the cutting assembly is mounted to rotate perpendicular to the flow of water through the cutter head housing. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a side view illustrating the cutting assembly of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a side view in perspective illustrating the cutting assembly of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a side view in perspective illustrating a disk used in the cutting assembly. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side view in perspective illustrating a blade used in the cutting assembly. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a side view in perspective illustrating the cutting assembly of  FIG. 2  with one of the disks removed to illustrate the position of both blades of the removed disk. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a schematic illustrating the different stages of product during the slicing process. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific term so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. For example, the word connected or terms similar thereto are often used. They are not limited to direct connection, but include connection through other elements where such connection is recognized as being equivalent by those skilled in the art. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The apparatus for cutting food products according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown in an operable configuration with various other components of a hydro-cutting apparatus in  FIG. 1 . One or more pieces of a food product  25 , such as a potato or any other food product that would work with the apparatus described herein, are placed in a container  27 . The container  27  also contains water that is pumped, along with the products  25 , through a series of tubular conduits by a pump  18 . The pump  18  forces the combination of water and products  25  through a decreasing cross-section conduit  19  that accelerates the water and the products  25  to a maximum velocity just as they pass through a cutting region  20 , which is preferably a modified cutter head housing. Downstream of the cutting region  20  is an increasing cross-section conduit  22  that receives the water and the pieces  24  and decreases the velocity of the same prior to conveying the water and pieces  24  onto a preferably straining conveyor  23  that carries the pieces  24  to another step in the process. Water passes through the straining conveyor  23  into the conduit  26  that guides the water, after possibly filtering it, into the container  27  to repeat the cycle. 
         [0017]    The cutting region  20  houses an assembly  10  for cutting the products  25  into the pieces  24  as described above. The assembly  10  is shown in  FIG. 2  mounted to the driveshaft  11  of a rotary prime mover, which may be an electric motor  21  or any similar rotating drive mechanism, including without limitation a hydraulic motor or a pneumatic motor. The motor  21  may be rigidly mounted to the sidewalls of the housing that defines the cutting region  20 , with the driveshaft  11  extending through the passage  13  defined by the sidewalls to a bearing  14  on the opposite side from the motor  21 . Seals are provided at the insertion of the driveshaft to avoid leaking of the water. The assembly  10  is rotatably mounted in the cutting region  20  through which water and food products  25  are conveyed so that as food products  25  are conveyed through the cutting region, they are sliced. 
         [0018]    The assembly  10  is shown in more detail in  FIG. 3 . The assembly  10  may have one or more blades mounted to one or more plates that are aligned along the driveshaft  11 . In one embodiment the plates are the disks  112  and  114 , which are circular, coaxially aligned and mounted to one another by the driveshaft  11  (not shown in  FIG. 3 ) extending through apertures in the disks  112  and  114 . The disks can be made of any food-grade material, including stainless steel, plastic, ceramic, or any other suitable material. The blades  102  and  104  are U-shaped structures having one leg on one side of the disk  112 . The leg extends along a radial line extending from about the center of the disk  112  toward and beyond the peripheral edge of the disk  112 . The blade  102  extends along a curved arc around the peripheral edge of the disk  112 , and spaced from the peripheral edge of the disk  112 , and continues with a second leg extending on the opposite side of the disk  112 . The second leg extends along a radial line of the disk  112  that is on the opposite axial side of the disk  112  from the first leg. The blade  104  is substantially identical to the blade  102  and is positioned similarly, as shown, on the opposite edge of the disk  112 . The disks have peripheral surfaces that cooperate with, and are spaced from, the blades  102  and  104 , as described below. 
         [0019]    Although two blades are shown positioned at 180 degree spacing (along a diameter of the circular disk  112 ), three or more blades can be mounted to each disk. It is also contemplated to use only one blade on each disk. Three blades may be evenly spaced around the periphery of each disk, for example at every 120 degrees, rather than every 180 degrees as in the embodiment of  FIG. 4  that has two blades per disk. Of course, four, five, six or more blades can be mounted around each disk with the angles between each blade being substantially equal, as determined by the number of blades. Thus each blade on a disk is identical, and is evenly spaced around the disk relative to every other blade, and spaced radially the same distance from the axis of the disk. However, it is contemplated to make each blade slightly different to gain cutting advantages. Furthermore, the blades in such alternatives may be spaced at varied angles from adjacent blades around the disk. Still further, each blade in such alternative may extend a slightly different radial distance from the axis, for example to cut progressively thicker pieces, thinner pieces, varied pieces or in case the rotating speed of the assembly can thereby be increased. The blades  102  and  104  can be made of any material that can be sharpened sufficiently, and maintain a sharpened condition for a sufficient number of cuts through food products, and includes at least stainless steel, tool steel, and ceramic materials. 
         [0020]    In the embodiment of the assembly  10  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the blades  102  and  104  extend as a first leg on one side of the disk  112  to a second leg on the opposite side of the disk  112 , where the second leg of each blade is sandwiched between the disk  112  and the disk  114 . When the disks  112  and  114  are clamped together, with at least one shaft extending through the aligned holes formed through the disk  112  and the blades  102  and  104 , the arcuate, sharpened portions  102   a  and  104   a  of the blades are positively located and rigidly held at a position a predetermined distance from the peripheral edge of the disk  112 . In one embodiment, the disk  112  has a groove  120  (see  FIG. 5 ) formed on one side and a similar groove formed on the opposite side (that aligns with and faces the groove  124  on the adjacent disk  114 ). Thus, upon rotation of the disks  112  and  114 , the sharpened, arcuate portions  102   a  and  104   a  of the blades  102  and  104  rotate around the same axis of rotation and remain the same distance from the peripheral surface of the disk  112 . This provides a cutting action into any food product  25  that comes within the paths of the portions  102   a  or  104   a.    
         [0021]      FIG. 6  shows the blades  102  and  104  separated from the disk  112  for illustrative purposes. The blades are not contemplated for use apart from the disks. As noted above, any feasible number of similar (or different) blades and disks can be mounted together to form a cutting assembly that can be positioned in a passage, through which water and food products are conveyed, and then is driven in rotary motion. The food products can be conveyed through the cutting region  20  at a speed that is less than the speed at which conventional hydro-cutting takes place, and that speed can be about one-third the speed of conventional hydro-cutting, although this is not critical. It will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill from the disclosure herein that one, two, three, four, five or more blades can be mounted to a similar or dissimilar number of disks or other plate-shaped structure and the combination can be driven in rotary motion when mounted in the cutting region of a hydro-cutting apparatus. The number of disks can be increased to whatever the space will allow. The blades can mount around disks like those shown and described herein, or any alternative plates that are sufficient to operate as the disk and blade combination described herein. 
         [0022]    Upon rotation of the cutting assembly  10  in the cutting region  20 , any food products  25  that are conveyed into the cutting assembly  10  first contact the sharp leading edge of one of the blades or the curved peripheral edges  112   a  or  114   a  of the disks  112  and  114  (between the blades  102  and  104 ). The location of impact will depend upon the location of the blades in their rotational movement relative to the food product as the food product approaches the assembly  10 . If the first impact is on the curved peripheral edges  112   a  or  114   a , the assembly will continue rotating with the food product in contact therewith until the leading sharp edge of the next blade comes into contact with the food product. 
         [0023]    Once the sharp edge of the first blade comes into contact with the food product, the sharp edge of the blade will readily pass through the food product and exit the opposite side thereof, forming a U-shaped cut through the food product that severs a food piece  24  from the remainder of the food product  25 . Once this occurs, the piece  24  severed from the food product  25  is free to move away from the large portion of the food product  25  that remains. Because the assembly  10  is rotating rapidly and the water forces the food products  25  against the assembly  10 , for every blade on the assembly a piece  24  is formed once during every rotation of the assembly  10 . Thus, for the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , eight pieces  24  are formed for every rotation of the assembly  10 , assuming the food product is in contact with all blades. 
         [0024]    The water flowing around the pieces  24  preferably dislodges and removes the pieces  24  severed from the remaining portion of the larger food product  25 . The pieces  24  move away to create space for the food product  25  to continue moving toward the assembly  10  (as the water forces the food product  25  downstream accordingly) while the next blade rotates further to make contact with the food product  25 . The impact of the next blade repeats the cutting cycle by forming another slice in the food product very similar to the previous slice. Each cutting movement of each blade frees another piece  24  to be removed from the large food product by the action of the water. This cutting and flowing action proceeds in series as the water drives the food products against the assembly  10 , and allows the cutting blades to remove series of pieces from the large food product until the food product is fully sliced into pieces  24 . These pieces  24  flow downstream from the cutting region  20  to the conveyor  23  where they are separated from the water, which is re-used after possibly being filtered. The separated pieces are preferably conveyed to be processed further, or to containers. 
         [0025]    As noted above, the peripheral surfaces  112   a  and  114   a  are shaped in a complementary fashion. As the food product  25  moves toward the assembly  10  after pieces have been removed therefrom, the shape of the outer surface of the food product  25  is determined by the shape of the outer surface of the sharpened blade portions  102   a  and  104   a . The peripheral surfaces  112   a  and  114   a  of the disks accept the blade-shaped outer surface of the food product  25  so that when the next cut is made by the blades, the food product pieces have the same, or very similar, shape as the previous pieces. These pieces have a shape that is determined by the shape of the opening between the peripheral surfaces  112   a  and  114   a  and the blades  102  and  104 . By making the peripheral surfaces  112   a  and  114   a  similar to the shape of the cut surfaces of the food product  25 , the pieces  24  are shaped desirably. 
         [0026]    As illustrated in the schematic of  FIG. 8 , the food product  25  is cut into pieces  24 . Each piece  24  can be substantially the same, or it can vary in shape and size according to the position of the food product  25  relative to the assembly  10 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the substantially spherical food product  25  has four pieces  24  removed from it by one pass of the blades of the assembly  10 . These food products are adjacent one another, but are shown separately in the lower portion of  FIG. 8  (adjacent reference numeral  3 ). Adjacent reference numeral  5 , the pieces  24  are shown from the side that faces the assembly  10  during cutting. At reference numeral  4 , a piece  24  is shown when viewed through the line C-C, and it can be seen that the piece  24  is curved along its longest axis, as well as along it shortest. That is, due to the arcuate cutting path of the blades of the rotating assembly  10 , the pieces  24  are arcuately-shaped along their length. Furthermore, because the blades of the assembly  10  have arcuate sharpened portions  102   a  and  104   a , the pieces  24  are arcuately-shaped along their width. This is further illustrated in  FIG. 8  at reference numeral  6 , which shows the pieces  24  through the line B-B having an arcuate shape. 
         [0027]    The shape of the pieces can be modified by modifying the shapes of the blades used on the assembly, such as to square, v-shaped or even irregular, along with the shape of the disks&#39; peripheral edge, in order to provide a desired shape. Such alternative shapes will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill from the description herein. 
         [0028]    This detailed description in connection with the drawings is intended principally as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the designs, functions, means, and methods of implementing the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions and features may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention and that various modifications may be adopted without departing from the invention or scope of the following claims.