Abstract:
An apparatus and method suitable for performing cutting operations on a product to yield a reduced-size product, for example, slicing, strip-cutting, dicing, shredding, and/or granulating a food product. The apparatus includes a casing, an impeller adapted for rotation within the casing about an axis thereof, and knives that perform, in sequence, slicing, strip-cutting and crosscutting on a product to produce reduced-size products. The apparatus is capable of performing a method by which a product is introduced into the impeller and the impeller is rotated to slice the product with a slicing knife and produce therefrom slices having peaks and valleys on opposite surfaces thereof and a cross-sectional shape that periodically varies in thickness. Strips are then produced from each of the slices by forming parallel cuts, each coinciding with a peak of each slice so that each strip has a width substantially identical to a wavelength of the slice.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/103,864, filed Jan. 15, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to methods and equipment for performing size reduction operations on products, including but not limited to food products. 
         [0003]    Various types of equipment are known for reducing the size of products, for example, slicing, strip-cutting, dicing, shredding, and/or granulating food products. A particular example is the DiversaCut 2110® manufactured by Urschel Laboratories, aspects of which are disclosed in patent documents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,472,297 and 3,521,688. The DiversaCut 2110® is adapted to uniformly slice, strip-cut, and/or dice a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and meat products at high production capacities. 
         [0004]    A portion of a DiversaCut machine is depicted in  FIG. 1  as an apparatus  10  comprising a casing (or cutting head)  12  that encloses an impeller  14 . Food product  16  is delivered through a feed hopper (not shown) to the impeller  14  as the impeller  14  rotates on a horizontal axis within the casing  12 . Centrifugal force holds the product  16  against the inner wall of the casing  12  as paddles  20  of the impeller  14  carry the product  16  past a slicing knife  22  mounted on the casing  12  and oriented roughly parallel to the axis of the impeller  14 . An adjustable slice gate  21  located upstream of the slicing knife  22  allows the product  16  to move outward across the edge of the knife  22  to produce a single slice  26  from each individual product  16  with each rotation of the impeller  14 . The thickness of each slice  26  is determined by the distance between the cutting edge of the slicing knife  22  and the adjacent edge of the slice gate  21 . In the embodiment shown, the slices  26  enter circular knives  24  as they radially emerge from the slicing knife  22 , with the result that the slices  26  are cut into strips  27  as the slices  26  continue to travel under the momentum originally induced by the impeller  14 . The strips  27  then pass directly into a rotating knife assembly  28  equipped with crosscut knives  29  that make a transverse cut to produce a reduced-size product  30  (e.g., diced), which is then discharged from the apparatus  10  through a discharge chute  32 . 
         [0005]    As evident from  FIG. 1 , the circular and crosscut knives  24  and  29  are located outside the casing  12 , and therefore engage the food product  16  after slices  26  cut from the product  16  have been produced by the slicing knife  22 . The slices  26 , strips  27 , and final diced product  30  are all examples of reduced-size products that can be produced with a DiversaCut machine of the type represented by the apparatus  10  depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0006]    Although the above-described methods and equipment are useful for many size reduction applications, there is an ongoing desire to provide new methods and equipment for performing size reduction operations on products, including but not limited to food products, that result in food product slices having unique shapes. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention provides an apparatus and method suitable for performing cutting operations on a product to yield a reduced-size product, for example, slicing, strip-cutting, dicing, shredding, and/or granulating a food product. 
         [0008]    According to one aspect of the invention, the apparatus includes a casing, an impeller adapted for rotation within the casing about an axis thereof, and knives that perform, in sequence, slicing, strip-cutting and crosscutting on a product to produce reduced-size products. The casing comprises a circumferential wall, a circumferential opening in the wall, an adjustable slice gate that partially closes the opening, and a slicing knife that defines a gate opening with the slice gate. A width of the gate opening is adjustable by positioning the slice gate relative to the casing. The slicing knife is oriented parallel to an axis of the casing. The slicing knife, an interior surface of the wall, and an interior surface of the slice gate each define a periodic pattern of rounded peaks and valleys wherein the periodic shapes of the interior surfaces of the casing and the slice gate are aligned with each other, and the periodic shape of the slicing knife is shifted so that each peak of the slicing knife opposes a corresponding peak of the surface of the slice gate and the width of the gate opening periodically varies between a minimum gap defined by the distance between opposing peaks of the slice knife and the surface of the slice gate, and a maximum gap defined by the distance between opposing valleys of the slice knife and the surface of the slice gate. The impeller is adapted to cause products within the impeller to be held by centrifugal force against the wall of the casing, carried past the slicing knife, and produce a single slice from each individual product with each rotation of the impeller. Each slice has a cross-sectional shape periodically varying in thickness consistent with the width of the gate opening to have parallel peaks and valleys and each sliced product has a wavelength as measured from peak-to-peak at oppositely-disposed surfaces of the slice. Circular knives are adapted to produce strips from each slice by forming parallel cuts with each parallel cut coinciding with a peak of the slice so that each strip has a width substantially identical to the wavelength of the slice from which the strip is produced. Crosscut knives are adapted to produce reduced-size products from each strip by forming parallel cuts with each parallel cut being transverse to the peaks of the slice and perpendicular to the parallel cuts formed by the circular knives so that each reduced-size product retains the width of the strip from which the reduced-size product was produced and has a length determined by the crosscut knives. 
         [0009]    According to another aspect of the invention, the method includes introducing a product into an impeller, rotating the impeller to slice the product with a slicing knife and produce therefrom slices having peaks and valleys on opposite surfaces thereof and a cross-sectional shape that periodically varies in thickness, producing strips from each of the slices by forming first parallel cuts wherein each of the first parallel cuts coincides with a peak of the slice so that each strip has a width substantially identical to a wavelength of the slice from which the strip is produced, and producing reduced-size products from each of the strips by forming second parallel cuts that are transverse to the peaks of the slice and perpendicular to the first parallel cuts that formed the strips so that each reduced-size product retains the width of the strip from which the reduced-size product was produced and has a length determined by the second parallel cuts. 
         [0010]    Additional aspects of the invention include the resulting reduced-size products. 
         [0011]    Other aspects and advantages of this invention will be better appreciated from the following detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a fragmentary view of a machine adapted to perform cutting operations on a product to yield a reduced-size product, for example, sliced, strip-cut, and crosscut (e.g., dicing, shredding, or granulating) food products. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a casing suitable for use with the machine of  FIG. 1  and adapted for slicing products in accordance with nonlimiting embodiments of this invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the casing of  FIG. 2  and represents one product undergoing slicing and a second product immediately after undergoing slicing. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view along section line A-A of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of detail B in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  represents two isolated views of the product undergoing slicing in  FIGS. 3 through 5 . 
           [0018]      FIGS. 7 and 8  represent side, plan, and perspective views corresponding to three stages of a product that has undergone slicing, strip-cutting, and crosscutting to yield two different reduced-size products in accordance with nonlimiting embodiments of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]      FIGS. 2 and 3  depict a casing (cutting head)  40  in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the present invention. The casing  40  is configured for operation with an impeller, for example, the impeller  14  of  FIG. 1 , adapted to rotate within the casing  40  as discussed above in reference to  FIG. 1 . The casing  40  will be described in reference to the apparatus  10  of  FIG. 1 , including its use in combination with the impeller  14  of  FIG. 1 , though it should be understood that the casing  40  can be adapted for use in size-reduction machines other than the DiversaCut 2110® machine represented in  FIG. 1 . Nonlimiting examples include other machines within the family of DiversaCut machines (e.g., DC2110A, Sprint, Sprint 2), as well as Urschel Model Q machines. Because aspects of the impeller  14  used with the casing  40  can be consistent with what is represented in  FIG. 1 , the impeller  14  is not shown in  FIG. 2 or 3 . 
         [0020]    Similar to the casing  12  of  FIG. 1 , the casing  40  shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3  is a stationary annular-shaped housing for the impeller  14 , which when installed in the casing  40  is enclosed and coaxially mounted for rotation within the casing  40  as shown in  FIG. 1 . In the view represented in  FIG. 3 , the impeller  14  would rotate clockwise, and relative locations of various components of the casing  40  will be described as “upstream” and “downstream” based on the clockwise movement of products ( 46 A and  46 B in  FIGS. 3 through 5 ) within the casing  40  under the influence of the impeller  14  and its paddles  20 . With this arrangement, as the impeller  14  rotates in a clockwise direction, pockets defined by and between adjacent pairs of paddles  20  capture products introduced into the impeller  14  through an open axial end  44  of the casing  40 , for example, with a feed hopper (not shown), and centrifugal forces produced by rotation of the impeller  14  cause the products to be urged radially outward into engagement with a circumferential wall  42  of the casing  40 . 
         [0021]    The circumferential wall  42  of the casing  40  has a circumferential opening that is partially closed by an adjustable slice gate  48  mounted to the casing  40 . The paddles  20  of the impeller  14  carry the products  46 A and  46 B past a slicing knife  50  mounted at the downstream edge of the circumferential opening of the casing  40 . As evident from  FIG. 2 , the slicing knife  50  is oriented roughly parallel to a horizontal axis  52  that is common to the impeller  14  and casing  40 . The adjustable slice gate  48 , located upstream of the slicing knife  50 , allows the products  46 A and  46 B to move outward across an upstream cutting edge of the knife  50  to produce a single slice from each individual product  46 A/B with each rotation of the impeller  14 .  FIG. 3  represents both products  46 A and  46 B as being captured within a single pocket between adjacent paddles  20  (now shown), but with one of the products  46 B being slightly ahead (upstream) of the other product  46 A, such that the product  46 B has already passed the slicing knife  50  while the other product  46 A is still undergoing slicing by the knife  50 . 
         [0022]    The gate  48  and slicing knife  50  define a gate opening  54  ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ) of the casing  40 , and the width of the gate opening  54  can be adjusted by repositioning the gate  48  relative to the casing  40 , for example, by pivoting the gate  48  toward and away from the casing  40 . Furthermore, the thickness of each slice is determined by the gate opening  54 , and more particularly the distance between the slicing knife  48  and the adjacent downstream edge of the slice gate  48 . 
         [0023]    As described in reference to  FIG. 1 , after exiting the casing  40 , each slice enters the circular knives  24  as it emerges from the gate opening  54 , with the result that the slices are subsequently cut into strips as the slices continue to travel under the momentum originally induced by the impeller  14 . The strips then pass directly into the rotating knife assembly  28 , whose crosscut knives  29  make transverse cuts to produce a crosscut (e.g., diced) product. As these aspects are consistent with what is represented in  FIG. 1 , the circular knives  24  and crosscut knives  29  are not shown in  FIG. 2 or 3 . It should suffice to say that the circular and crosscut knives  24  and  29  are located outside the casing  12  and engage the products  46 A and  46 B after slices have been produced from each product  46 A/B by the slicing knife  50 . The slices, strips, and final crosscut products are all examples of reduced-size products that can be produced with the casing  40  depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Whether a sliced, strip-cut, or crosscut (e.g., diced, shredded, or granulated) product is desired will depend on the intended use of the product. 
         [0024]    As evident from  FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 , the slicing knife  50 , the interior surface  56  of the casing wall  42 , and the interior surface  58  of the gate  48  each define a periodic pattern of parallel peaks and valleys when viewed edgewise in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . The periodic patterns are preferably characterized by rounded peaks and valleys, corresponding to what may be termed a corrugated or sinusoidal shape. The periodic shapes of the knife  50  and surfaces  56  and  58  have substantially equal wavelengths (as measured from peak-to-peak or from valley-to-valley). As most readily apparent from  FIG. 5 , the periodic shapes of the surfaces  56  and  58  of the casing  40  and gate  48  are aligned with each other, whereas the periodic shape of the knife  50  is shifted so that each peak of the knife  50  opposes a corresponding peak of the gate surface  58 . As a result, the width of the gate opening  54  periodically varies between a minimum gap defined by the distance between opposing peaks of the knife  50  and gate surface  58 , and a maximum gap defined by the distance between opposing valleys of the knife  50  and gate surface  58 . 
         [0025]      FIGS. 3 through 5  depict the product  46 A as undergoing a slicing operation by the knife  50  and the product  46 B immediately after undergoing slicing.  FIG. 6  contains isolated side and end views of the product  46 A, including an incomplete slice  60  as it is being generated by the slicing operation. The product  46 A has a surface  62  that was generated as a result of the slicing operation performed with the knife  50  during the previous revolution of the impeller  14 , and the knife  50  has two partially generated surfaces  64  and  66  as a result of the current slicing operation. It should be understood that, prior to the slicing operation, the surface  62  of the slice  60  was originally equivalent to the surface  66  of the product  46 A shown in  FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 . The periodic shape of the knife  50  generates a corresponding periodic shape in the opposite surfaces  62  and  64  of the slice  60 , and generates a corresponding periodic shape in the surface  66  of the remaining product  46 A. The cross-sectional shape of the slice  60  is consistent with the shape of the gate opening  54 , i.e., periodically varying in thickness. This shape is achieved as a result of the surface  56  of the casing  40  causing the products  46 A and  46 B to shift a distance equal to one-half wave following the slicing operation, as evident by comparing in  FIG. 5  the misalignment of the surface  66  of the product  46 A with the surface  56  of the casing wall  42  during the slicing operation performed on the product  46 A, and the alignment of the surface  66  of the product  46 B with the surface  56  of the casing wall  42  after completing the slicing operation on the product  46 B. In effect, following the slicing operation, the periodic shape of the surface  56  of the casing wall  42  shifts the position of the products  46 A and  46 B relative to the knife  50  so that each peak on the surface  66  of each product  46 A/B will be aligned with a valley of the knife  50  and each valley on the surface  66  of each product  46 A/B will be aligned with a peak of the knife  50  when the product  46 A/B next encounters the knife  50  following a complete revolution of the impeller  14 . 
         [0026]      FIGS. 7 and 8  represent side, plan, and perspective views corresponding to three stages of a product that has undergone slicing to yield a “Sliced” intermediate product (slices identified with the reference number  60  for consistency with  FIGS. 4 and 5 ), and then has further undergone strip-cutting (“Strip-cut”) and finally crosscutting (“Cross-cut”) to yield, respectively, strips  72  and two different reduced-size products  74 . Each of the intermediate slices  60  has the cross-sectional shape described above for the slice  60  described in reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , namely, a shape that periodically varies in thickness consistent with the shape of the gate opening  54 . As such, the oppositely-disposed surfaces  62  and  64  of each slice  60  have parallel peaks  68  and valleys  70 , and the thickness of each slice  60  periodically varies between a minimum thickness defined between oppositely-disposed valleys  70  on the surfaces  62  and  64 , and a maximum thickness defined between oppositely-disposed peaks  68  on the surfaces  62  and  64 . Each slice  60  has a wavelength (“A”), as measured from peak-to-peak at each surface  62  and  64  determined by the wavelength of the slicing knife  50 , and the wavelength can vary depending on the desired characteristics of the final reduced-size products  74 . 
         [0027]    Each of the strips  72  represented in  FIGS. 7 and 8  is produced as a result of the circular knives  24  ( FIG. 1 ) performing parallel cuts, each cut parallel to and coinciding with a peak  68  of the slice  60  so that each strip  72  has a width (“W”) substantially identical to the wavelength of the slice  60  from which the strip  72  was produced. For this purpose, the axial spacing between adjacent circular knives  24  is intentionally set to be equal to the wavelength of the periodic pattern of the slicing knife  50 , and each circular knife  24  must be aligned with a valley of the slicing knife  50 . At this point in the size-reduction process, the strips  72  of  FIG. 7  are represented as being essentially identical to the strips  72  of  FIG. 8 . As evident from  FIGS. 7 and 8 , other than the strips  72  at the outer extremities of the slice  60 , the cross-sectional shapes of the strips  72  have what may be called a “bow tie” shape. 
         [0028]    Each of the reduced-size products  74  represented in  FIGS. 7 and 8  is produced as a result of the crosscut knives  29  ( FIG. 1 ) performing parallel cuts, each transverse to the peaks  68  of the slice and perpendicular to the parallel cuts formed by the circular knives  24 , so that each reduced-size products  74  retains the width and the cross-sectional shape of the strip  72  from which it was produced. However, the cross-cuts are formed so that the reduced-size products  74  of  FIG. 7  differ in length “L” from the reduced-size products  74  of  FIG. 8 . The lengths of the products  74  are determined by the circumferential spacing between adjacent crosscut knives  29  within the rotating knife assembly  28 . 
         [0029]    The casing  40  represented in  FIGS. 2 through 5  and the process performed therewith can be adapted to cut a variety of different types of food products, including but not limited to potatoes and carrots. It is also foreseeable that the casing  40  and process could be adapted to cut products other than food products. 
         [0030]    While the invention has been described in terms of a specific embodiment, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the physical configuration of the casing  40 , an impeller  14  used therewith, and particular components of the apparatus in which the casing  40  is used could differ from that shown, and various materials and processes could be used to manufacture the casing  40  and its components. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.