Patent GB-527375-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to slicing machines
IPC: B26D7/32
Filed: 1939-04-11
Abstract: 527,375. Slicing-machines. BERKEL & PARNALL'S SLICING MACHINE MANUFACTURING CO., Ltd., and THOMAS, H. April 11, 1939, No. 10867. [Class 28 (ii)] In a slice-stacker of the kind comprising a conveyer which takes the slices, one-by-one, as they are cut, to a discharge position at a part of the machine remote from the operator, and a receiver on which the slices are stacked, the slice-receiver is so mounted that it is movable from its remote position to a position near to the operator, to facilitate the removal of slices from the receiver. In Fig. 1, the operator stands at the position A and the discharge fly 191 removes the slices from the conveyer 16 in an inclined direction and deposits them on the receiver 21 which is attached to a cruciform bracket 24 having a handle 241. The bracket 24 is pivoted at 25 to a member 23 freely revoluble on the conveyer shaft 17, a spring 26 on the pivot continuously urging the bracket upwards to an extent permitted by a roller 27 bearing on a cam 28. When sufficient slices have been deposited, the operator swings the bracket 24, by means of the handle 241, until the receiver 21 occupies the dotted-line position in which position it is held by a trip latch so designed that the latch is automatically tripped when the carriage 13 is again advanced for a slicing stroke. The cam 28 is shaped to depress the receiver against the action of the spring 26 during the movement of the receiver towards the operator. Release of the trip latch allows the spring 26 and cam 28 to act to return the receiver to the receiving position. The spring 26 may be chosen to allow the receiver to descend under the weight of a predetermined number of slices, and thus give room for further deposition of slices. In Fig. 3, the receiver 30 is slidable on a frame 32 pivoted at 33, a torsionspring on the pivot tending to keep the receiver raised. A side extension of the receiver, provided with a handle 43, is accommodated in an arcuate slot 40 leading to a horizontal slot 41. The operator depresses the handle 43, and thus also the receiver 30 and the frame 32, until the extension is free to move along the slot 41, the handle then being pulled forward to slide the receiver along the frame 32 into the unloading position. If the receiver is inadvertently left in this position, it is returned during the next forward movement of the carriage, by a member 45 pivoted to the carriage in such manner that it may turn from the vertical in one direction only. In a modification, the frame 32 is depressed by a handle adjacent to the pivot, and a spring brings the receiver to the unloading position when the extension leaves the slot 40. In a further modification, a hook-ended cam secured to the carriage, depresses the frame 32 and moves the receiver between its receiving and unloading positions during each reciprocation of the carriage. In another modification, a pin on the receiver is engaged by a forked member on the carriage, so that the receiver is reciprocated along the frame in unison with the movements of the carriage. Another pin, or roller, on the receiver contacts with a cam so that the frame and receiver are depressed as the receiver moves towards the unloading position. The depression of the frame may be effected by a crank on the carriage-driving shaft, oscillating a pivoted sickle-shaped cam which is connected by a cable to the pivoted frame. In a further modification, the slice receiver is an endless band movable by the operator to bring the slices into the unloading position. In some cases, the receiver is raised and lowered while the carriage is substantially at rest in the vicinity of the dead-centre position.