Patent ID: 7540221

Claim:
A method for cutting blocks of cheese or other food product into chunks, said method comprising: conveying the blocks of the food product along a processing path in a plane for cutting the blocks; cutting trim from the block, wherein the trim cutting step includes the steps of rotating the block about an axis in the plane that extends perpendicular to a conveying direction from a conveying position to a trimming position and, rotating the block from the trimming position back to the conveying position after trim has been cut from the block; after cutting trim from the block, making one or more longitudinal cuts in a block to create at least one stack including a plurality of slabs of the product; conveying the stack of slabs to a vacuum transfer apparatus; using the vacuum transfer apparatus to destack the stack of slabs to provide a plurality of individual slabs, including controlling the vacuum transfer apparatus to successively lift slabs from the stack for transfer to a slab separation conveyor; conveying the individual slabs in succession from the slab separation conveyor to a slab cutting system that includes a transverse cutter; and using the slab cutting system for cutting the individual slabs to create the chunks of the product.