Patent ID: 7186429

Claim:
A method of marking a plurality of individual pieces of food product to be divided from a sheet of food product, the method comprising the steps of: supplying a sheet of food product to a cutting plate having a plurality of cutting openings and positioning the sheet of food product with respect to the plurality of cutting openings so that the plurality of cutting openings correspond to a plurality of individual pieces of food product to be divided from the sheet of food product; marking the plurality of individual pieces of food product to be divided from the sheet of food product while the individual pieces of food product to be divided from the sheet of food product are positioned with respect to the cutting plate so that the marking is aligned to the plurality of individual pieces of food product to be divided from the sheet of food product and the plurality of cutting openings; moving a plurality of supporting elements into the plurality of cutting openings of the cutting plate to support the plurality of individual pieces of food product to be divided from the sheet of food product while marking the plurality of individual pieces of food product to be divided from the sheet of food product; and dividing, at least partially, the individual pieces of food product from the sheet of food product.