Abstract:
The present invention refers to a processing center for automatic food treatment without human intervention throughout the process. Various food products like vegetables or fruits are placed within the storage compartments of the apparatus and, depending on apriori preprogrammed parameters, are automatically cut in 3 dimensions. The desired 3D cut is obtained by the following cutting steps: 
     1. Slicing of the product. 
     2. Horizontal cutting of sliced product. 
     3. Vertical cutting of sliced product. 
     Various possibilities are established by the above process so as to allow preparation of ready made salads with predetermined size of cut components like onion, cucumber, tomato, radish, banana, apple, orange, melon, etc. 
     The apparatus is equipped with motion converting mechanisms, multimode control and with approppiate computerized control means. It is possible to combine the present apparatus with the seasoning center for liquid or powdered seasoning like oil or salt, as is described in my pending patent application IL122104: “Seasoning Center for automatic dispensing of granular, powdered or liquid seasoning products.”

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The next generation of food treatment apparatus encompasses high tech utensils in order to facilitate the preparation of food, to save expensive time and extra labour. 
     A desired slice geometry of eggplant, potato, apple or other food products, cutting thereof without comminution, may be obtained by virtue of the present invention. 
     The user of the processing center is required interactively to enter selected mode of cutting and 3 dimensions of the products to be cut. The data is stored in apparatus memory for automatic program execution. The present invention, which intends to overcome traditional methods of preparation associated with food handling and time wasting will result in fast, fresh and tasty food. Fast food, saturated with canned goods, constitutes a significant part of our every day food menu. This type of food has an advantage due to its simple preparation process, which is cheap and time saving. However, esthetic shape and fresh aroma of the food product are missing. 
     The proposed apparatus saves extended preparation time, caused by manual cutting of food products and involving plates, knives, trays and other accessories that will remain nostalgic memories. After the cut process is terminated, pressing of a button will effect liquid or powdered seasoning executed automatically, for example by virtue of a seasoning center as per pending patent application IL122104. 
     Significant profit for restaurants can be achieved, where clients can obtain their favourite tasty salad. The variety of products which a restaurant would be able to offer its clients, by virtue of the present invention, will be significantly superior to what is available at present. Sanitary processing of vegetables and fruits will be made possible by the present process, thus avoiding human involvement. 
     We do not know similar food centers for food preparation. 
     Of those known in the art, food centers are capable of performing only a minor part of the various activities and operations which are possible with the apparatus of the present invention: 
     Those known in the art devices usually comprise a cabinet provided with a rotary blade suitable for slicing of 2 or 3 products. The sliced food pieces are obtained without the possibility to predetermine shape and size. Sometimes the cut products are split into unesthetic shapes. At the end of the cutting process, the products have to be removed and placed in a separate container for seasoning and mixing. It is impossible to prepare a fruit salad (due to total squashing of the fruits) or get a potato chips with desired shape and size. 
     There are known also manually operated devices for different activities: special slice cutter, potato slicer, etc. Furthermore there is also the electrical food processor or mixer with different attachments enabling convienent mixing. However, this processor has significant disadvantages in comparison to the proposed invention: 
     1. The known food processor comprises a working metal disk provided with a groove above its knife. Applying pressure on the food product to be cut against the disk will cause a slice cut depending on the width of the groove. For a longer or narrower width of slice, the user has to open the food processor housing and to replace the working disk. Therefore the cutting possibilities are limited according to the number of available disks. 
      The size of a slice is also limited by the narrow entry to the cutting device, thus precluding the possibility to slice an entire egg, eggplant, etc. The narrow entry also causes damage to the food product(partial cut), and thus an unesthetic appearance. The above activity encompasses immense additional manual work and environmental disturbances (kitchen utensils and cleaning). 
     2. In the known in the art devices there is no possibility to obtain a predetermined length or height of a slice cut, neither the possibility for obtaining potato chips with a predetermined and uniform size. Salad products cut by a known food processor are mainly split in random and non-uniform shapes. The traditional food processor causes comminution of the food products, associated with a total disruption of the normal structure. There is no possibility of a uniform cut. 
     3. The known food processor can process a product only when it is manually pressed by a plastic pusher against the cutting means. There is no possibility for automatic feeding of various food products within the cutting zone without human intervention. 
     4. The traditional food processor cannot be programmed for a plurality of processing activities, either associated with one product or various products. Cutting of cabbage into thin slices needs a dedicated slicing disk which differs from that required for cutting eggplant into slices, thus additional time consuming operation is required for replacing the disk. 
     5. Another disadvantage of the known processor is associated with the lack of possibility of connecting a manual food processor to an automatic computerized seasoning center, as per my pending patent application IL122104. Therefore, additional labour and time is required for adding taste to food. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 a  shows a general view of the processing center, including its main components. 
     FIG. 1 b  shows a side view of the center shown in FIG. 1 a.    
     FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of the slicing unit including an entry, holding pistons, slice cutter and slice width adjusting means. 
     FIG. 3 shows a top view of the slicing unit residing on a table including the entry conveyor and holding pistons, slice cutter, slice width adjuster and an opening for transferring the cut slice to the next process station. 
     FIG. 4 a  shows a general view of the slicing unit including all its components. 
     FIG. 4 b  shows a schematic view of the transferring means of a cut slice, refered to the second cutting unit. 
     FIG. 5 shows an additional general view of the apparatus. 
     FIG. 6 shows an isometric side view of the horizontal and vertical slice cutter when the cutting head is at the end of the cut process. 
     FIG. 7 shows another view of the cutter presented in FIG.  5 . 
     FIGS. 8 a ,  8   b  show a side view of the slice cutter when the cutting head is lifted from the rotary working table and when it approaches it. 
     FIG. 9 a  shows an upper view of the rotary working table. 
     FIG. 9 b  shows a side view of the rotary working table including the table&#39;s fixture, different plates and driving motor. 
     FIG. 10 shows an isometrical view of the rotary working table. 
     FIG. 11 shows a side view of horizontal and vertical slice cutter including rotary working table, cutting head and holding fixture. 
     FIG. 12 shows a detailed side view of the cutting head and rotary working table including a means for fixation of the cutting knife during the cutting process. 
     FIG. 13 shows the cutting head attached to a sliding fixture, movable by a motor. 
     FIG. 14 shows in detail the cutting head including knives, motor and various adjusting and transmission means. 
     FIG. 15 shows the cutting head when all knives are concatenated at the frame&#39;s center, so as to provide for a minimum uniform distance between adjacent knives. 
     FIG. 16 shows a top view of the cutting head when all knives are distributed in a frame for a maximum uniform distance between adjacent knives. 
     FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of detail B shown in FIG.  16 . 
     FIG. 18 shows a detailed view of a knife assembeled on the displacement screws. 
     FIG. 19 is an isometric view of the cutting head including the elastic tabular element. 
     FIG. 20 is an additional isometric view of the processing center including horizontal and vertical cutter system. 
     FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of the electric control system. 
     FIG. 22 shows a flow chart describing the 3D cut process. 
     FIG. 23 shows a flow chart describing the user interface facility. 
     FIG. 24 shows a first or second multicutting process. 
     FIG. 25 shows a flow chart describing the slicing of a food product. 
     FIG. 26 shows a general view of a semi manually operated, 3D-processing center. 
     FIG. 27 a  shows a side view of the processing center of FIG. 26 
     FIG. 27 b  shows an isometric view of the slice cutting knife of the processing center of FIG. 26 
     FIG. 27 c  shows an upper view of the slice cut cabinet with a product 
     FIG. 27 d  shows an isometric view of the horizontal and vertical cutting head when the knives are spaced at the minimum distance. 
     FIG. 27 e  shows an isometric view of the cutting head when the knives are separated at the maximum distance displacement between the knives. 
     FIG. 28 shows a general view of a completely automatically operated, 3D-processing center for home use. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 a  shows the 3D food product cutter with all its main components: 
     The entry and slice cutter unit  1  for conveying, holding, cutting and passing a cut food product slice to the horizontal and vertical cutting unit  2 . 
     The slice cutter unit  1  consists of an entry product conveyer  3 , a slice cutter  4  and a slice width adjuster  5 . The user may adjust, as an apriori set of cutting, parameters which are similar or dissimilar to the products to be cut. This option may cause similar cuts for all products without limitation on products quantity at the food center&#39;s entry. 
     The present invention is not limited to the food products. The apparatus also can be used for cutting other materials, including super conductive materials or various soft materials. 
     The horizontal and vertical cutting unit  2  consists of a cutting head  6 , a working rotary table  7 , slice supply means and final slice cut storage means. The sliced product  13  falls through an opening  12  on a shelf for further transfer to the rotary working table  7 , where a first horizontal cut is obtained through multicut operation of the cutting head  6 , then the rotary working table is rotated 90 degrees for a second multicut of the cutting head, so obtaining a complete 3D product cut. 
     The cut product&#39;s pieces are then transferred to the output container  14 , where automatic seasoning may be obtained, for example, by a seasoning center as described in my previous patent application IL122104. 
     A flow chart diagram for 3D cut is given in FIG. 22, where slice cut, horizontal cut and vertical cut are described by a block diagram process. With respect to the flow chart of FIG. 22, a food product conveyed to the entry of the feeder (shown in FIGS. 1 a ,  2 ) is sliced by a cutting blade, after several setup preparations. The slice is then supplied to a working rotary table, where a first multicut is obtained by a cutting head provided with a plurality of knives. Ending the first multicut leads to a new slice cut and to a 90 degree rotation of the working table. A second multicut is then performed. The 3D cut product is removed from the working table into the output container leading to a new cutting cycle. It should be understood that the given flow chart represents a short summary of the 3D process involving various software routines and hardware activity not given in detail in the flow chart of FIG.  22 . 
     Separate and independent control is provided for 3D cutting mode. The cut parameters are defined by a human operator, based on his knowledge and taste experience. Detailed operating parameters are maintained in a suitable memory means and can be polled by a computing device during operation of the apparatus. The apparatus is incorporated with various sensors, microswitches, or other means, required for use in feedback control process for controlling the apparatus within its functioning. The electrical control is in general presented in a flow chart diagram shown in FIG. 21, where the motorized means are close loop controlled for high valued performance and robustness. 
     With respect to FIG. 1 a , the apparatus is equipped with sensors  8  or other measurement means at different places (most of them not drawn, however the skilled in the art person should know how properly to choose them and to incorporate in the apparatus of the present invention), for alarm, limit switch and performance sensing and measuring. 
     The sensory information is transmitted to the computing means  9  through the control and electronic circuits  10 . Control means are used to apply the computed parameters to the motor through suitable motor drivers (not shown). A friendly user/operator programmable interface  11  may be used for an automatic cut program or manual operation for applying 3D cut parameters. A user interface flow chart is given in FIG. 23, where a user may preffer an automatic preprogrammed ready to use program or program 3D cut parameters for an arbitrary product to be cut. 
     FIG. 1 b  shows the apparatus from FIG. 1 a , rotated 90 degrees, for a detailed slice cut of an arbitrary food product  15 , where the slice cut unit  1  is keyed to the housing  16  which departs between the slice cut unit  1  and the horizontal and vertical cutting unit  2 . 
     With respect to FIG. 2 a user locates manually different food products in compartments  17  residing on the entry conveyer  3 . 
     The processing center comprises a user entry product conveyer  3  for passing and locating the food products and a product feeder  18  means for holding and supplying the food product to the slice cutting unit  4  as shown in the schematic view of FIG.  2  and in an upper view of the apparatus in FIG.  3 . 
     The conveyer is provided with compartments  17  for conveying the food product to an entry of a cutting plane, where the product is prepared for slice cutting by fixation means. The sliced food product is passed through the opening  12  (FIG. 3) and is pushed to the rotary cutting table  7  by the dynamic slice product remover  19  as seen in FIG. 1 a ,  4   b . The conveyer conveys every product to the entry of the feeder where a pushing piston  20  advances the product to the feeding table  26  (FIG. 5) where a slice cut is obtained by slice cutter  4  provided with a slicing blade. 
     The slice cutter comprices a slice cutting device and a dynamic slice width adjuster  5  which defines the width of the sliced cut as seen in FIGS. 1 a ,  4   a.    
     The slice cutting device consists of a motor&#39;s assembly and a slice cutting blade attached to the motor&#39;s assembly through a transmission unit. With respect to FIG. 4 a , the slice motor&#39;s assembly consists of a motor  21  fixed in a housing of the slice cutter  22  and a suitable rotating screw (not shown) which in turn conveys a bracket. A slice cutting blade  24  is mounted on the bracket. The screw is attached to the motor&#39;s shaft at one end and to a housing at the opposite end, so converting the rotary movement to linear displacement of the bracket. Placing the blade at an inclined angle relative to the working plane  26  (FIG. 5) causes a cutting action analoque to a human&#39;s hand cut, controlled by the computerized means  9 . Accelerated penetration into the product and a reversed constant motion of the blade may be obtained through the computerized means in addition to limit switch and performance sensory for controlled activity. 
     The dynamic slice width adjuster includes a motor&#39;s assembly assembled in a bracket and a stopper  23 . 
     The motor&#39;s assembly includes a motor  65  fixed in a housing  66  and a suitable rotating screw which in turn conveys the stopper  23 . The screw (not shown) is attached to the motor&#39;s shaft at one end and to the stopper at the opposite end, so converting the rotary movement to linear movement of the stopper. The stopper  23  pushes against the food product, so defining the width of the slice. FIG. 5 shows the cutting blade  24  ready to penetrate the food product hold by fixation means  27  and tauched by a flexible material  28 . A side view of the horizontal and vertical cutting unit  2  is seen at the lower part of the FIG.  5 . 
     FIGS. 4,  5  show the entry product conveyer  3  which is operated by a motor  25  provided with a suitable screw, (not shown), for transmitting the rotary movement to a linear displacement of a nut, (not shown), mounted on the conveyer. This arrangement enables conveying of the food products, located in compartments  17 , which are ended by a separating wall  67 , to feeder&#39;s entry for next process step. 
     The entry product feeder include: a pneumatic pushing piston  20 , the feeding table  26  and a fixation means  27 . 
     In order to fix the food product rigidly it is pushed against a dynamic stopper  23  by the the pushing piston  20  during slice cut process. Additional fixations means  27  presses the food product against the feeder&#39;s table so as to prevent eventual movement during the slice cut activity. Those fixation means are coated with a coating consisting of a flexible material  28  such as gum to provide stable holding shapeless food product. 
     FIG. 25 shows a process of slicing the food product using the described fixation means. 
     The slice cutter works in various modes of operation, defined by the computing device, causing different cutting activities like accelerated penetration of the blade through the cutting process or at an arbitrary invariant velocity, so contributing to a higher cut performance. 
     The given process enables cutting through different food products or other nonfood materials defined by relative high viscosity. FIG. 4 b  shows a shelf  33 , where the dynamic product remover  19 , pushes the slice to the working rotary table  7 . 
     With respect to FIGS. 6,  7 , the second cutting unit  2  for horizontal and vertical cutting comprises partially a fixture  32 , a housing  16  (which is preferrably common to the cutter unit  1  and unit  2 ), a rotary working table  7  and a cutting head  6 . Slice supply means and cut product storage means are shown in FIG. 4 b . The fixture  32  serves for holding and conveying the cutting head  6  and consists of a leading screw  35  (seen in FIGS. 8 a,b ) driven by a motor  31  which is attached to the fixture. The screw  35  transforms rotary movement of motor&#39;s shaft to linear movement of an adaptor  29  for moving knives holder frame with respect to the rotary working table  7 . 
     The cutting head  6  is keyed to an adaptor  29  moving along  2  parallel slides  30 , from opposite sides, so enabling controlled motion of the cutting head as seen in FIG.  6 . 
     The adaptor  29  for moving the knive&#39;s holder frame with respect to the rotary working table  7  moves along an inclined trajectory beginning from a higher point relative to the work table  7  and ending at the working table, as can be seen in FIGS. 8 a ,  8   b . This motion of the cutting head is similar to a human&#39;s hand cutting move. The move of the cutting head shown in FIGS. 8 a ,  8   b  emphasises spatial relationship between the cutting head  6  and the rotary working table  7 . 
     The rotary working table as shown in FIGS. 9 a ,  9   b  consists of a removable cut surface  41 , an upper working plate  40 , a perforated intermediate plate  39 , a lower intermediate plate  38 , table&#39;s fixture  37 , a driving wheel  42 , a driven wheel  43 , sensory (not shown) and a motor  34 . The removable cut surface  41  is replaced after a number of cutting activities. It is preferably made of rough material like teflon, polythylene or polyamide. 
     FIG. 10 shows the rough removable cut surface  41  placed on the upper working plate  40  which is keyed to the perforated intermediate plate  39  with perforations for suction of air. The upper working plate  40  is teflon made, and is tightened to the perforated intermediate plate  39 . The perforated intermediate plate is a plain surface located upon the intermediate plate  38  which is connected to the fixture table  37 . The rotary working table is comprised of a fixture  37  for holding table&#39;s components and an attached toothed driven wheel  43  as shown in FIG.  10 . 
     The rotary motion is effected by a motor  34  which rotates the working table. 
     A driving wheel  42  is attached to the end of motor&#39;s shaft for transmitting torque to the toothed driven wheel  43 . 
     The rotary working table motor&#39;s torque is transmitted via a toothed driving wheel  42  located on its shaft to the toothed driven wheel  43  for a preprogrammed angle of rotation of the sliced product  13  for changing from horizontal to vertical cut. 
     For convienence, the given rotary work table is assembled in order to operate as a vacuum table when needed, being connected to a source of vacuum. Air holes  44  are placed in the perforated intermediate plate  39 , upper working plate  40  and removable cut surface  41  in order to firmly hold the product on the table for better cutting. 
     FIG. 11 shows a side view of the rotary working table, the cutting head with the plurality of cutting knives  45  touching the working table together with fixture  32  for holding and conveying the cutting head  6 . A source of vacuum is connected to the intermediate plate  38  at its center. The air system is activated for some cutting tasks. 
     The motor  34  is controlled by the computing device and transmits torque via the toothed transmission means attached to its shaft so rotating the driven table. The motor may turn the table 90 degrees for vertical or horizontal cut and in addition, by virtue of sensory (not shown), cause various product cutting shapes. 
     According to an arbitrary rotating angle, varying between 0 and 90 degrees, different shapes of food could be obtained via the computing means. FIG. 12 shows the cutting head approaching the rotary table with the knives  45  located parallel to the table and a tabular element  36  located between a shoulder  48  and the rear part of the knife for fixation of the knife during cut process. Further details will be given later in this section. The cutting head as shown in FIG. 13, comprises a plurality of knives  45  fixed within a base frame  46 , cutting head motor  47 , transmission means, springs and sensors. 
     A horizontal and vertical cut process is established via the cutting head  6  that performs a double cut activity, referring to a first cut for a horizontal penetration of the slice, then lifting &amp; leaving the slice for a 90 degrees rotation of the working table (the slice is located on) and then performing a second cut for a vertical cut of slice. Ending the vertical cut stage, leads to a lift &amp; leave the cut product by the cutting head. 
     The achieved cutting process reduces deformation of the individual pieces of food and provides for homogenous cutting action. Accelerating of cutting speeds increases accuracy of cutting. Fixation of the cutting knives by a pressure of air, adapted through a tabular element, is required prior to the cut process in order to prevent any possible lateral movement of the knives during cutting. 
     With respect to FIG. 24, the cutting head starts moving from rest and is accelerated untill it reaches a penetrate velocity at the slice surface area. The cutting head is then accelerated to a final velocity (while cutting), for a high valued performance. The end of cut is established by a suitable sensor, causing a stop of the cutting head and a start of an opposite movement (leaves the cut product). The distance between adjacent knives is opened during the lifting of the cutting head out of the cut slice for better cut results. 
     With respect to FIG. 14, a symmetrical construction of the cutting head is obtained by a symmetric rear parts of knives, tabular elements  36  and covering shoulders  48  from opposite sides of the knives. The cutting head motor  47  is connected to a toothed wheel  52  for changing the distance between adjacent knives according the instructions of the computing device. The toothed wheel is connected to the motor at one end and cooperates with a displacement screw  54  at the opposite end for transmitting rotary movement thereto. A transmission belt  53  transmits the torque to a similar toothed wheel  52 ′ so as to rotate displacement screw  54 ′. Similar covering shoulder  48  and tabular element  36  (not shown), are installed above screw  54 ′. 
     FIG.  15  and FIG. 14 show the set of knives at their compressed position (the knives are concentrated in the center area of the frame) and their distributed position (the knives are distributed through the entire frame) accordingly. 
     A cutting knife  45  has holes made at both its opposite ends for mounting on two displacement screws  54 , 54 ′ and an elongated rear portion at both its ends for connection with a spring leaf. With respect to FIG. 16, a displacement screw consists of a left portion of screw  58  and right portion of screw  57  with correspondingly left-hand threads  60  and right-hand threads  59 . 
     The centered border between the left and right parts of the displacement screw (the origin) is not provided with threads. The right  56  and left  55  outermost knives are made with fixed nuts  63  attached to their corresponding holes, so as to move the knives, rectilinearly upon rotation of displacement screws, relative to the circular displacement of the screws. 
     The knife residing in the middle of the base frame  61  is fixed by both its oposite ends to the screws via a lock-nuts  62 , 62 ′ and is always fixed, irrespective to an arbitrary position of the plurality of knives, as time function. The remaining knives are assembled to move freely along the displacement screws depending on the opening of the W-shaped spring, adapted to every knife at its oposite sides, as shown in FIG.  17 . FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of detail B, designated in FIG.  16 . 
     The W-spring is connected between any two knives at both sides thereof and is assembled from different types of spring leaf. The W-springs are elastic symmetrical springs, being responsible for transmitting uniform linear displacement of knives. 
     A long spring leaf  49  is connected to a knife via a connector means  51  and at its opposite end to a short spring leaf  50  via connector means  51 ′. The connection between the spring leaves or between a spring leaf and a knife is made via connector means such as screws or nuts or by other available means, depending for example, on spring&#39;s material. The spring elements can be made of metallic or non metalic material and the particular means for connecting between them will be chosen accordingly. 
     The distance between the knives is kept uniform by virtue of their symmetric construction and by virtue of the W-springs. 
     The force of a spring given by F=-kx, where F represents force, x the displacement and k an elastic constant, must be identical for all the W springs for symmetric displacement. 
     According this formula, the elastic constant k should be a common parameter for all the W springs, leading to symmetrical construction &amp; assembly (by materials with suitable characteristics) for symmetrical controlled displacement of the knives. 
     FIGS.  18 , 19  show an elastic tabular element  36  residing between a shoulder  48  and an upper cover of knives  64 ′ at both sides of the knives. The W springs reside between a lower cover of knives  64 , lying on the rear portion of the cutting knives  45  and the upper cover  64 ′. For cutting of hard products or other materials like some superconductive materials, steady position of the knives is required. 
     Fixed and steady position of knives when penetrating the product during the cut activity is achieved, for example, by applying a pressure of air through the tabular element, so tighten the working knives without possibility for their lateral movement. 
     The cutting head cuts through the food product until it encounters a stop (not shown) which prevents it from passing through the working table. The horizontal and vertical cut process may be seen in FIG. 20, where the cutting head is shown as driven by a motor attached to the fixture, for a cutting activity upon the rotary working table. 
     Continuous on-line sensors determine the system&#39;s operation and safety separating of cutting operations. As the horizontal and/or vertical cut is completed, a final product remover  19 ′, (FIGS. 1 a ,  4   b ), mounted for lateral motion along a linear path, preferably moves the cut food products from the rotarry work table to the output container  14 . 
     The remover is a pneumatic operated piston as seen in FIG. 4 b.    
     In output container mixing and seasoning the food products is optionally established. 
     The products can be selectively and manually seasoned irrespective of the automatic activities effected in the apparatus, or they can be seasoned automatically—without any human intervention by adding thereto the seasoning center as per my pending patent application IL122104. 
     FIG. 26 shows a general view of a semi manual application of the 3D-processing center. 
     The semi manual 3D cutter  68  consists of a slice cut cabinet  69 , a slice cut knife  70 , a slice width setup  71 , an adjuster for adjusting the distance between knives  77  for horizontal and vertical multicutting, a handle for performing the slice cut  72 , a handle for performing the horizontal and vertical multicutting  76 , a H&amp;V cutting head  78  for performing the horizontal or vertical cut, a pusher  80  for cut food products  90  which are transferred from the cutting rotary table  74  to the output receiving container  81  and a motorized air pressure system  99 . 
     The semi manually operating process starts by placing a fresh food product  75  into the slice cut cabinet  69 , where the product is fixed via the motorized air pressure system  99  and sliced upon rotating the handle  72  which causes the slice cut action via the belt  73 . The slice falls on the rotary table  74  where the slice is hold by vacuum and a first multicut is performed by the H&amp;V cutting head  78 , operated by the handle  76 . 
     Returning the cutting head back to its initial position, causes a 90 degree movement of the rotary table  74  by virtue of the rotary table belt  79 . A second multicut is then performed by the cutting head so obtaining the 3D cut final product. Pushing back the H&amp;V cutting head  78  to half its way, will release the vacum and cause the pusher  80  to swipe the 3D cut product from the rotary table  74  to the output receiving container  81 . 
     Pushing back the cutting head to the second half of its way untill its initial position will cause the pusher  80  to go back to its initial state. The pusher  80  is manually operated when only one multicut is required (chips, etc.) or no multicutting required at all (sliced food products). 
     FIG. 27 a  shows a side view of the semi manual or automatic version of the 3D-processing center, where the side view including axis zz′ shows the operating process from the slice cut cabinet till the working rotary table  74 . The oo′ axis line is the cutting slice axis as shown in FIG. 27 b . The schematic motion of the H&amp;V cutting head  78  is shown at its initial position referring to starting of the cut process and at the lower position above the rotary table  74 . 
     FIG. 27 b  shows an isometric view of the slice cutting knife  70  of the semi manual 3D processing center shown in FIG.  26 . The belt  73  is operated by handle  72  and causes the slice cut knife to cut the slice which falls through the opening  82  onto the rotary table  74  for the next horizontal and vertical cut. 
     FIG. 27 c  shows an upper view of the slice cut cabinet  69  where the fresh food product  75  is held by the flexible fixing element  85  for the slice cut. Air presure  83  enters through the cabinet air inlet  84  and pushes the flexible fixing elements  85  against the fresh food product  75 . 
     FIG. 27 d  shows the cutting head for horizontal or vertical multicutting when the knives are spaced at the minimum distance displacement between the knives. 
     FIG. 27 e  shows the cutting head when the knives are separated at the maximum distance displacement between the knives for obtaining larger pieces. 
     FIG. 28 shows a general view of a completely automatically operated, 3D-processing center for home use. The processing center consists of a rotary entry plate  87 , motor for rotary plate  89 , a slice cut cabinet  69 , a motor for slice cutting  92 , a slice cut knife  70 , a motor of slice width setup  91 , a rotary table  74 , a motor of rotary table  95 , a H&amp;V cutting head  78 , a distance between knives motor  93 , a motor for driving the H&amp;V cutting head  94 , a motorized air pressure system  99 , a pusher  80 , an output receiving container  81 , a user programmable interface  96 , a computing device  97  and electrically controlled circuits  98 . 
     Different fresh food products  75  are located on the rotary entry plate  87 . A start cut program botton is then pressed on the user&#39;s interface  96  which causes an automatic cut process ended when all food products are 3d cut in the output receiving container. The apparatus may be manually or automatically operated according to a preprogrammed activity. The width of the slice to be cut is adjusted by the motor of slice width setup  91  and the distance between the knives of the cutting head for vertical or horizontal multicutting is adjusted by the distance between knives motor  93 . Those adjustments are performed apriori to the start of the food product cut activity (manually or automatically). The cut process starts with the motor of the rotary plate  89  which rotates the rotary entry plate  87  until a fresh food product  75  falls through the feeding entry  88  into the slice cut cabinet  69  where the food product is held by virtue of the motorized air pressure system  99  (as given in detail in FIG. 27 c ). The fresh food product  75  is then sliced by the slice cut knife  70  opereted by motor of slice cutting  92 . The slice falls on to the rotary table  74  where it is fixed by air vacuum produced by the motorized air pressure system  99 . A first multicutting is then performed by the cutting head  78  operated by the motor for driving the cutting head  94 . When the cutting head  78  leaves the cut slice, the motor of rotary table  95  rotates the slice 90 degrees for a second multicutting performed by the H&amp;V cutting head  78 . When the cutting head leaves the cut slice for the second time, the pusher  80  transfers the 3D cut product  90  to the output receiving container  81 . Various manual and automatic programs are available through the user programmable interface  96 , through the computing device  97  and electrically controlled circuits  98  which operate the various motors and sensors within the apparatus. 
     LEGEND 
       1 . Entry and slice cutter unit 
       2 . Horizontal and vertical cutting unit 
       3 . Entry product conveyer 
       4 . Slice cutter 
       5 . Slice width adjuster 
       6 . Cutting head 
       7 . Rotary working table 
       8 . Sensor 
       9 . Computing means 
       10 . Control and electronic circuits 
       11 . Operator programmable interface 
       12 . Opening for transferring cut slice to Ver. &amp; Hor. cut part 
       13 . Sliced food product 
       14 . Output container 
       15 . Food product 
       16 . Housing 
       17 . Compartment 
       18 . Feeder 
       19 . Dynamic slice product remover to the rotary table 
       19 ′ Dynamic cut product remover from rotary table to output container 
       20 . Pushing piston 
       21 . Motor of slice cutter 
       22 . Housing of slice cutter 
       23 . Stopper 
       24 . Slice cutting blade 
       25 . Motor of entry conveyor 
       26 . Feeding table 
       27 . Fixation means 
       28 . Flexible material 
       29 . Adapter for moving knives holder frame with respect to working table 
       30 . Slide 
       31 . Motor for driving the cutting head 
       32 . Fixture holding and conveying cutting head 
       33 . Shelf for pushing the slice to the rotary table 
       34 . Motor of rotary working table 
       35 . Leading screw 
       36 . Elastic tabular element 
       37 . Table fixture 
       38 . Intermediate plate 
       39 . Perforated intermediate plate with perforations for suction of air 
       40 . Upper working plate 
       41 . Removable cut surface 
       42 . Driving wheel 
       43 . Driven wheel 
       44 . Air holes 
       45 . Cutting knives 
       46 . Knives base frame 
       47 . Cutting head motor 
       48 . Shoulder 
       49 . Long spring leaf 
       50 . Short spring leaf 
       51 ,  51 ′ Leaf spring connection 
       52 ,  52 ′ Toothed wheel 
       53 . Transmission belt 
       54 ,  54 ′ Displacement screw 
       55 . Left outermost knife 
       56 . Right outermost knife 
       57 . Right portion of screw 
       58 . Left portion of screw 
       59 . Right hand thread 
       60 . Left hand thread 
       61 . Center knife 
       62 ,  62 ′ Lock nut 
       63 . Nut 
       64 . Lower cover of knives 
       64 ′ Upper cover of knives 
       65 . Motor of slice width adjuster 
       66 . Adjuster housing 
       67 . Separating wall 
       68 . Semi Manual 3D-Cutter 
       69 . Slice cut cabinet 
       70 . Slice cut knife 
       71 . Slice width setup 
       72 . Handle for slice cut 
       73 . Belt 
       74 . Rotary table 
       75 . Fresh food product 
       76 . Handle for horizontal and vertical cut 
       77 . Distance between knives adjuster 
       78 . H&amp;V cutting head 
       79 . Rotary table belt 
       80 . Pusher 
       81 . Output container 
       82 . Opening 
       83 . Air pressure 
       84 . Cabinet air inlet 
       85 . Flexible fixing element 
       86 . Automatic 3D-processing center 
       87 . Rotary entry plate 
       88 . Feeding entry 
       89 . Motor for rotary plate 
       90 . 3D-cut products 
       91 . Motor for slice width setup 
       92 . Motor for slice cutting 
       93 . Distance between knives motor 
       94 . Motor for driving the H&amp;V cutting head 
       95 . Motor of rotary table 
       96 . User programmable interface 
       97 . Computing device 
       98 . Electronically controlled circuits 
       99 . Motorized air pressure system