Abstract:
A food slicer is provided having a support member including a base portion and an upstanding portion integrally formed with the base portion. The upstanding portion includes a rotating cutting blade secured thereto for slicing food product and a first motor positioned within the upstanding portion for rotating the cutting blade. The base portion includes a food product table slidably secured thereto and is movable across the cutting blade for holding product while it is being sliced by the cutting blade. A second motor positioned within the upstanding portion is included for providing movement of the food product table with respect to the cutting blade. An adjustable gage plate also is provided for determining the thickness of a food product to be sliced by the cutting blade. A first control member accessible by an operator is included for controlling the length of the stroke of the food product table with respect to the cutting blade, and a second control member accessible by an operator also is included for controlling the speed of the food product table with respect to the cutting blade independent from the first control member.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/711771, filed Aug. 26, 2005, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to food slicers and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing transition from manual mode to automatic mode for the food slicer that provides for an enhanced sanitary environment, enables easier operation and cleaning and incorporates a number of enhanced ergonomic features.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     The basic design of both manual and automatic food slicers has proven to be quite effective and durable throughout the years. Although various important improvements have been made to such slicers, the overall design has not changed very much particularly with regard to the overall cleanliness, ergonomics, or ease of operation.  
         [0004]     Today, food slicers are utilized to slice a number of food products such as meats, cheeses and the like in a variety of environments such as delicatessens, supermarkets, and restaurants to name a few. Such food slicers need to be quite durable since they tend to be used for many hours during a day by many different individuals while providing the desired performance, safety and cleanliness.  
         [0005]     Additionally, food slicers need to be designed to allow adaptability since they need to handle a variety of products of different shapes, sizes, and textures while readily providing slices of different thicknesses of the product being sliced. The speed at which a particular product is moved across the cutting blade can also vary on automatic food slicers to improve productivity.  
         [0006]     Food slicers typically have a manual mode where an operator moves the product to be sliced across the slicing blade and an automatic mode where a motor provides for movement of the product table across the blade for slicing of food product. Such food slicers have some type of switch or the like that enables an operator to transition the food slicer from manual slicing mode to automatic slicing mode.  
         [0007]     When transitioning from manual mode to automatic mode, the product table must first move from whatever position it was in prior to the transition to the “home” position which is at the front of the slicer. Once in the home position, the slicer then begins slicing at a predetermined or default stroke length and stroke speed.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     In accordance with an embodiment, a food slicer is provided having a support member including a base portion and an upstanding portion integrally formed with the base portion. The upstanding portion includes a rotating cutting blade secured thereto for slicing food product and a first motor positioned within the upstanding portion for rotating the cutting blade.  
         [0009]     The base portion includes a food product table slidably secured thereto and is movable across the cutting blade for holding product while it is being sliced by the cutting blade. A second motor is included positioned within the upstanding portion for providing movement of the food product table with respect to the cutting blade. An adjustable gage plate also is provided for determining the thickness of a food product to be sliced by the cutting blade.  
         [0010]     A first control member accessible by an operator is included for controlling the length of the stroke of the food product table with respect to the cutting blade, and a second control member accessible by an operator also is included for controlling the speed of the food product table with respect to the cutting blade independent from the first control member. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     The present disclosure will become better understood with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a top right perspective view of a food slicer according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a front plan view of the food slicer of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a bottom plan view of the food slicer of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the product table support arm of the food slicer of  FIGS. 1-3  including the auto drive engagement mechanism in a disengaged position;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a to plan view of the product table support arm of the food slicer of  FIGS. 1-3  including the auto drive engagement mechanism in a disengaged position;  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged portion of  FIG. 5  illustrating details of the drive belt engagement and the electrical switching mechanism in a disengaged position;  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is a bottom plan view of the product table support arm of the food slicer of  FIGS. 1-3  including the auto drive engagement mechanism in an engaged position;  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is a to plan view of the product table support arm of the food slicer of  FIGS. 1-3  including the auto drive engagement mechanism in an engaged position; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 9  is an enlarged portion of  FIG. 8  illustrating details of the drive belt engagement and the electrical switching mechanism in an engaged position; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the auto drive motor and drive system of the food slicer.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0022]     The food slicer of the present invention is generally illustrated by numeral  10  of  FIGS. 1-2  wherein like parts are designated by like reference numerals. Although the present disclosure will be described with reference to the example embodiments illustrated in the figures, it should be understood that the food slicer  10  may have many alternative forms without departing from the teachings of the present invention. One of ordinary skill in the art will additionally appreciate different ways to alter the parameters of the embodiments disclosed, such as the size, shape, or type of elements or materials, in a manner that falls within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and appended claims.  
         [0023]      FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate the basic components of the food slicer  10  of the present invention. The food slicer  10  substantially includes a food handling portion generally illustrated by reference numeral  12  and a support portion, housing or member generally illustrated by reference numeral  14 .  
         [0024]     The food handling portion  12  substantially includes a product table  16 , a push arm or pusher  18  and a product table support arm  20 . The support portion  14  substantially includes a base portion or member  22 , an upstanding portion or member  23 , a rotating circular slicing knife or cutting blade  24 , a ring guard  25 , a knife cover  26 , an adjustable gage plate  28  for determining slicing thickness and a control member or operator interface  30  having a gage plate support and adjustment mechanism  32  for the gage plate  28  and control buttons  34  as illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0025]     The support portion  14  also includes at least one motor  35  ( FIG. 3 ) positioned within the inside of the upstanding portion  23 . If desired, a second motor  38  ( FIGS. 3 and 10 ) may be positioned within the inside of the support portion  14  along with associated structure for automatically moving the product table  16 .  
         [0026]     Briefly, for manual slicing, a food product (not illustrated) is placed on the product table  16  beneath the pusher  18  with the end to be cut or sliced resting upon the gage plate  28  with the product table  16  in its forward position. The operator adjusts the gage plate adjustment mechanism  32  which directly moves the gage plate  28  with respect to the blade  24  to provide a slice thickness gap therebetween that corresponds to the desired thickness for slicing of the product and gets bigger with thicker slices. The control buttons  34  are then accessed to turn the motor on which in turn rotates the blade  24 .  
         [0027]     The operator then pushes the product table  16  preferably via a handle  36  or other contact point forward or to the right with respect to  FIG. 1  whereby the blade  24  slices the product to the desired thickness. The operator then pulls the product table  16  backward or to the left with respect to  FIG. 1  for continued slicing of the product as described above.  
         [0028]     For automatic slicing, after placing the food product in the product table  16  and adjusting the gage plate  28  to a desired thickness, an operator then actuates a knob, lever or button, such as lever  40  on the support arm  20 . As described in detail below, by activating the lever  40  the slicer  10  is initially put into a “ready” mode till an “on” button is pressed to begin auto mode where the second motor  38  is activated to drive the product table  16  via the support arm  20  across the blade  24  at a particular length of stroke of the arm  20  and thus product table  16  with respect to the cutting blade  24  as well as a particular speed of travel of the product table  16  across the cutting blade  24 . Once an operator transitions the food slicer  10  from manual mode to auto mode, the food slicer  10  slices food product on its own until the operator stops the slicing.  
         [0029]     Typically, when an operator transitions the food slicer  10  from manual mode to auto mode the product table  16  is not in its fully forward or “home” position illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Accordingly, once the lever  40  is activated and the “on” button pressed the electronics of the food slicer  10  first engages the second motor  38  and then slowly moves the product table  16  from whatever position it may have been in to the home position where it can then begin slicing the food product.  
         [0030]     Once in the home position, the electronics of the food slicer  10  automatically provide default settings for the stroke length or length of travel of the product table  16  with respect to the blade  24  as well as a particular speed of the product table  16  as it moves across the blade  24 . Preferably, this default setting is full slicing stroke and slow speed, but can vary.  
         [0031]     Once the slicer  10  is put in auto mode and the default stroke and speed settings are obtained, the operator frequently may want to adjust the stroke length, stroke speed or both depending on the size of the particular product being sliced in order to cut slices faster. This is particularly true when slicing food product having a smaller cross-section, such as a salami or pepperoni, for example. It is to be noted that the operator can do this “on the fly”, meaning he does not have to stop slicing to change the stroke length or speed of the product table  16 .  
         [0032]     As  FIG. 2  illustrates, the operator interface  30  of the slicer  10  includes a number of control buttons generally illustrated by the reference numeral  34 . More particularly, four controls buttons  42 ,  44 ,  46  and  48  are illustrated but the number can vary. Button  42  is an “on” button, button  44  is an “off” button, button  46  is a “speed control” button and button  48  is a “stroke control” button.  
         [0033]     In one embodiment, since the default settings for auto mode are full stroke and slow speed the speed control button  46  increases the speed and the stroke control button  48  decreases the stroke of the product table  16  as it moves across the blade  24 . Both the speed and stroke are increased and decreased by buttons  46  and  48  respectively in discrete incremental steps. Preferably three incremental steps are provided for each button  46  and  48  and when pressed in succession “scroll” over to the first setting. For example, the speed control button  46  starts at slow speed in the default setting. Pressing the button  46  once increases the speed to medium, pressing the button  46  a second time increases the speed to fast, pressing the button  46  a third time scrolls or cycles the speed back to slow. For the stroke button  48  the logic is the same except it decreases from full stroke, to medium stroke to short stroke and back to full stroke upon successively pressing the button  48 . It is to be understood, however, that the particular number, shape and function of buttons  34  can vary.  
         [0034]     Accordingly, once the slicer  10  is transitioned to auto mode, the operator can then access button  46  to increase the speed of the product table  16  in discrete increments as desired. Similarly, the operator can access button  48  to decrease the stroke of the product table  16  in discrete increments as desired. It is to be noted that the button  46  operates independently from button  48  so that an operator can fine tune the operation of the slicer  10  to accommodate a particular product depending on various characteristics of the product, including size, thickness, texture and ease of cutting.  
         [0035]     For example, when slicing salami with a relatively small diameter to allow for faster slicing an operator typically will adjust the stroke of the product table  16  via button  48  to be shorter than the default setting of full stroke and just enough to cut the full diameter of the salami. An operator typically will also adjust the speed of the product table  16  via button  46  to be faster than the default setting of slow to enable faster cutting. By adjusting both the stroke and speed of the slicer  10  the salami is sliced faster.  
         [0036]     Briefly, referring to  FIGS. 4 and 7 , to transition the slicer  10  from manual to auto mode, after first turning off the blade  24  with off button  44 , the lever  40  typically is pulled toward the left so the lever or knob  40  moves away from the exterior of the slicer  10 . This movement of the lever  40  outward causes linkage  50  to rotate counterclockwise with respect to  FIGS. 4 and 7 . As the linkage  50  rotates, it pulls a clip  52  slightly to the left so that teeth  54  on the clip  52  can engage with teeth  56  on a drive belt  58  of the second motor  38  ( FIGS. 3 and 10 ).  
         [0037]     This motion of the linkage  50  and clip  52  also is illustrated in  5 ,  6 ,  8  and  9  with the rotation of the linkage  50  reversed since these figures are viewed from the top side of the support arm  20 . Accordingly, movement of the lever  40  outward causes the linkage  50  to rotate clockwise to pull the clip  52  via cam  60  slightly to the left so that teeth  54  on the clip  52  can engage with teeth  56  on a drive belt  58  of the second motor  38 . Of course, to disengage the auto drive the lever  40  is pushed inward thereby disengaging the teeth  54  on the clip  52  from the teeth  56  on the drive belt  58 .  
         [0038]     As  FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate, when the clip  52  moves to the left a first hall effect switch  62  aligns with permanent magnet  64  on the clip  52  to activate the electronics of the slicer  10  for auto drive and establish the desired default speed and stroke settings as described in more detail below.  
         [0039]     As  FIGS. 3 and 10  generally illustrate, the second motor  38  includes a shaft  66  and is secured to the slicer  10  by a bracket or plate  68 . One end of a small drive belt  70  is attached to one end of the shaft  66  and the opposite end of the drive belt  70  is attached to a pulley  72 . Pulley  72  has a shaft  74  that extends through the bracket  68  to the opposite side of the bracket  68  where it engages the larger drive belt  58  ( FIG. 10 ). As described above, the teeth  56  on the inside surface of the belt  58  engage with the teeth  54  on the clip  52  ( FIGS. 4-9 ) to attach the support arm  20  and the product table  16  to the belt  58  and enable the second motor  38  to drive the arm  20  and product table  16  via belts  70  and  58  for auto drive mode. At the end of the belt  58  opposite the pulley  72 , a pully/tensioner assembly  76  can be included to secure the belt  58  for movement and enable tension adjustment if required.  
         [0040]     The following is the sequence of events for transitioning the slicer  10  from manual to auto mode. With the blade  24  of the slicer  10  being either running or off, the lever  40  is pulled outward to engage the teeth  56  of the drive belt  58  with the teeth  54  of the clip  52  which is attached to the support arm  20  which may be in any position with respect to the slicer  10   
         [0041]     Once the belt  58  is engaged with the clip  52 , the first hall effect switch  62  is activated by the magnet  64  to a) verify auto mode, b) turn off the blade  24  and c) “wake up” the operator interface or control panel  30 . In waking up the control panel  30 , the speed button  46  and stroke button  48  light up and the default settings of slow speed and long stroke is set. Nothing happens, however, until the “on” button  42  is pressed which then starts the blade  24  turning.  
         [0042]     If the support arm  20  is in its fully forward or “home” position, upon pressing the on button  42  a second hall effect switch and corresponding magnet (not illustrated) is activated and effectively “zeros” the electronics or tells the electronics that the arm  20  in fact is in the fully forward or home position. The slicer  10  then pauses momentarily and then ramps up to speed and starts to slice the food product and is monitored and controlled by an encoder described in more detail below. If the support arm  20  is not in the home position, the electronics will cause the arm  20  to slowly back up to its home position, trip the second hall effect switch to notify the electronics that the arm  20  is in the fully forward or home position and then pause and then ramp up to speed and thereafter controlled by the encoder described in more detail below.  
         [0043]     Once the support arm  20  and product table  16  are moving to slice the product, the speed of the arm  20 , stroke of the arm  20  or both can be changed “on the fly” in discrete increments by pressing buttons  46  or  48  respectively. In one embodiment, 3 settings are provided for both buttons  46  and  48  for a total of 9 possible speed and stroke combinations, although the number of combinations can vary which scroll back to the default settings as described above.  
         [0044]     Once finished slicing, the operator presses off button  44 . The slicer  10  then finishes its cut and returns to the home position. When the off button  44  is pressed, the lights for the speed and stroke buttons  46  and  48  will go off until the arm  20  returns to the home position. If the operator then restarts the slicer  10  by pressing the on button  42  without disengaging the lever  40 , the slicer  10  will start auto slicing with the speed and stroke settings previously set by the operator, not the default settings.  
         [0045]     If the lever  40  is pushed inward after slicing to disengage auto mode but the main power is not turned off to the slicer  10 , the speed and stroke settings previously set by the operator will be stored in memory and the slicer  10  will go to those prior speed and stroke settings upon restart of the auto drive mode. It is to be understood, however, that the particular logic of the stroke, speed and other settings of the slicer  10  can vary.  
         [0046]     Additionally, after the product table  16  is placed in the home position for auto slicing and the second hall effect switch is tripped, all subsequent positions of the product table  16  are accounted for by an encoder (not illustrated) in operable communication with an end (not illustrated) of the shaft  66  that extends to the exterior of the second motor  38  opposite the end of the shaft  66  that engages the belt  70 . The encoder also can sense a full stroke and can adjust the stroke and/or speed of the slicer  10  to correct any errors short of a full stroke, among other functions. When the product table  16  approaches an end of its stroke, the electronics automatically decelerate the drive motor and thus the product table  16  in order to make a smooth transition to the opposite direction. This deceleration occurs regardless of the speed or stroke setting selected by the operator.  
         [0047]     Numerous modifications and alternative embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode for carrying out the present disclosure. Details of the structure may vary substantially without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure, and exclusive use of all modifications that come within the scope of the appended claims is reserved. It is intended that the present disclosure be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the applicable rules of law.