Patent ID: 6931973

Claim:
A slicing machine comprising: a support; a blade on the support and having an edge; a carriage adapted to carry a foodstuff to be sliced and displaceable on the support past the blade edge in a forward direction and in an opposite reverse direction; reversible drive means on the support and connected to the carriage for displacing it in the forward and reverse directions; sensor means on the support for generating an output when the foodstuff on the carriage is generally engaged by the blade edge; and control means connected between the sensor means and the drive means for, on displacement in the forward direction of the carriage and foodstuff thereon, displacing the carriage and foodstuff thereon by the drive means in the forward direction on generation of the output and for subsequently, when the sensor means stops generating the output, displacing the carriage and the foodstuff thereon in the reverse direction by the drive means, whereby as the foodstuff engages the blade edge the drive means takes over forward movement of the carriage and after a slice is cut from the foodstuff the drive means reverses the carriage.