Patent GB-190604010-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to Machines for Cutting Butter or the like Material.
Inventor: CARTER EDWIN KAY
Filed: 1906-02-17
Granted: 1906-10-04
Abstract: 4010. Carter, E. K. Feb. 17. Butter &c. cutters. - Consists of a machine for cutting frusto-conical cakes of butter or like material into layers of equal volume, and for subdividing each layer into sectors of equal volume. A cake of butter is placed centrally upon a circular pan 9 having projecting ribs 12, which enter the butter and prevent it from slipping on the pan. The pan, which has an outer water trough 10, is then clipped on to four radial arms 6 on a turntable, which is rotatably mounted on the base 1 of the machine by a bolt 3. A frame 29, having a series of inclined bars 36, is pivoted by a pin 30 to a vertical standard 27, and to its upper end is secured a metal strip 32 with a handle 31. The strip 32 is adapted to slide in a slot formed between the standard 27 and an attached strip 33. A U-shaped piece 39 of sheet metal is loosely mounted on the standard 27 and the strip 33 by screws 38, which pass through vertical slots in the piece 39, and a pin 41 on the piece 39 is engaged in an inclined slot 37 in the frame 29. A finger 42, pivoted to the piece 39, is turned down to an horizontal position, and, by means of the handle 31, the frame 29 is oscillated about its pivot, thereby moving the piece 39 vertically, until the finger 42 touches the top of the cake of butter. The frame 29 is then locked by means of a screw 35. The cutter consists of a wire 57, which is attached at one end to an adjustable hook 54 on the downturned end of a frame 51. The other end of the wire passes up a groove in a support 52 on the frame 51, and is secured at the upper end of the support. The frame 51 is pivoted by pins 50 to lugs on a carriage 43, which is adapted to slide vertically on the flanges 28 of the standard 27 and can be fixed at definite heights with a projection 48 upon it resting on one or other of the bars 36 of the frame 29. A rod 44, with. an attached handle 46, is mounted in the frame 43, and is provided with flat parts 45 opposite the flanges 28. When the handle 46 is turned down, the rounded parts of the rod 44 press against the flanges 28 and cause the projection 48 to engage a bar 36, but when the handle is horizontal the flat parts 45 are opposite the flanges, and the carriage can be moved to free the projection from the bars, so that the carriage can be moved vertically. When the position of the frame 29 has been adjusted according to the height of the cake of butter, the finger 42 is turned up, and, by a handle 56, the frame 51 is turned down to a horizontal position determined by the action of stops 55 on the carriage 43, the support 52 entering the centre of the cake and the wire 57 cutting a vertical slit therein. The wire 57 is then in the same vertical plane as the bottom edge of the projection 48, which is resting on the top bar 36. A lever 13 is loosely pivoted on the bolt 3 below the turntable, and is provided with a clamping-device, which comprises a pivoted handle 20, Fig. 9, having an enlarged part with a V-shaped recess 22 embracing a slide-block 23. An. adjustable screw 15 is mounted on the lever, and a ring 7 forming part of the turntable is gripped between the screw and a block 19, which slides between lugs 18 on the lever, when the handle 20 is pressed towards the end 20<1> of the lever against the action of a spring 24. On the base 1, Figs. 1 and 4, of the machine is rotatably mounted a notched disk 59, which can be fixed with any one of its notches 60 engaged by a snug on a spring arm 62. A cam 61 is secured to the top of the disk 59, and the cam and a fixed projection 64 form stops which co-operate with pieces 65 on the lever 13 to limit the arc of motion of the lever. Before the cake of butter is placed on the machine, it is weighed, and the disk 59 is fixed with the notch 60 corresponding to the weight engaged by the snug, the notches being arranged to suit weights of from fifty-seven to sixty-seven pounds. When the lever 13 is moved in one direction it is clutched to the ring 7, and the cake of butter is rotated, and when the lever is returned the clutch is disengaged. The cake of butter can be rotated, by successive movements of the lever 13, until a complete layer of butter has been severed, or the cake can be rotated through an arc fixed by the position of the disk 59, to cut off one pound of butter, the frame 51 being raised at the end of the movement of the lever 13. Successive layers, all of equal volume, can be thus cut and subdivided, the carriage 43 being lowered one step as each layer is cut off. The lowest layer requires vertical slits only to be cut while the carriage 43 rests on stops 66. The machine may be adapted to cut a cake of butter of any regular shape of which the horizontal cross - section is approximately circular or of other regular shape.