Patent ID: 8869664

Claim:
A food slicing and weighing system for producing groups of slices of food product, each group of slices having a total number of slices or a weight greater than or equal to a minimum predetermined group weight, the food slicing and weighing system comprising: a slicing unit having a blade for cutting slices off a log of food, each slice having a slice thickness, a weighing unit having a load sensor, the weighing unit positioned at the location the slices are cut off the log, the load sensor adapted to sense the weight of slices as each slice is received on the weigh unit, and the load sensor providing a signal, the signal relating to the weight of slices on the weigh unit, and a controller receiving the signal or data based on the signal, the controller programmed to: i) after each slice is received on the weigh unit for a group of slices determine based on the signal or the data a calculated thickness for a next slice to be cut from the log and received on the weigh unit, ii) provide an output to the slicing unit to set the slice thickness to the calculated thickness, iii) repeat steps i) and ii) until the group of slices has been completed, wherein the signal or the data provides an indication of the combined weight of slices received on the weigh unit for a group of slices or the controller calculates from the signal or the data an indication of the combined weight of slices received on the weigh unit for a group of slices, and in step i) the controller determines the calculated thickness based on the indication of the combined weight and the calculated thickness determined for the previous slice cut from the log and the weight of the previous slice cut from the log.