Weight controlled slicing system

Claim 2

A weight controlled slicing system comprising: a single knife; means defining a cutting area; means mounting said knife for cyclical movement through said cutting area; means for cyclically driving said knife through said cutting area; a plurality of feeding devices located on one side of said cutting area and at spaced locations for progressively Advancing an object to be sliced into said cutting area; a plurality of slice receiving devices on the other side of said cutting area, one for each of said feeding devices, and arranged to receive slices from the object being fed into the slicing area by the associated feeding devices as they are cut by said knife; plural weighing means, one for each of said slice receiving means and associated therewith for providing a signal relative to the weight of slices received on the associated slice receiving means; means for generating a desired weight signal for a given number of slices; means for comparing said actual weight signals and said desired weight signal to determine any difference therebetween; and means responsive to a deviation determined by said comparing means for adjusting the feed rate of a corresponding one of said feeding means.

Claim 3

Slicing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there are plural ones of said desired weight signal providing means, one for each of said feeding means; said comparing means comprising a single comparator; and multiplexing means for sequentially providing said comparator with corresponding actual weight and desired weight signals and for associating said comparator with the feeding means corresponding to the weighing means whose actual weight signal is being provided to said comparator at that particular point in time.

Claim 4

Slicing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means mounting said knife for movement through said slicing area includes a rotary shaft for rotating said knife within said sliding area, and said plural feeding means are equally radially spaced about the axis of rotation of said shaft.

Claim 5

A weight controlled slicing system comprising: a knife movable through a cutting area; means for driving the knife through said cutting area; a plurality of feeding devices on one side of said cutting area each operable to progressively feed an object to be sliced into said feeding area; a plurality of means, one for each feeding means, for determining the actual weight of slices cut by said knife from the object fed into said feeding area by the associated feeding device and for providing a signal proportional thereto; a plurality of means, one for each of said feeding means, for providing a desired weight signal proportional to a desired weight for the number of slices cut from the object fed by the corresponding feeding means; a single comparator adapted to receive corresponding ones of said actual weight and desired weight signals and determining a difference therebetween; a plurality of means, one for each of said feeding devices, for adjusting the feed rate thereof; and sequencing means for sequentially receiving corresponding ones of said actual weight and desired weight signals and for providing said signals to said comparator; and further sequencing means responsive to said comparator for providing a feed rate correction signal based on a determination of difference between said signals by said comparator to the corresponding one of said feed rate adjusting means.

Claim 6

A weight controlled slicing system comprising: a knife movable through a cutting area; means for driving the knife through said cutting area; a plurality of feeding devices on one side of said cutting area each operable to progressively feed an object to be sliced into said feeding area; a plurality of means, one for each feeding means, for determining the actual weight of slices cut by said knife from the object fed into said feeding area by the associated feeding device and for providing a signal proportional thereto; a plurality of means, one for each of said feeding means, for providing a desired weight signal proportional to a desired weight for the number of slices cut from the object fed by the corresponding feeding means; a single comparator adapted to receive corresponding ones of said actual weight and desired weight signals and determining a difference therebetween; a plurality of means, one for each of said feeding devices, for adjusting the feed rate thereof; and sequencing means for sequentially receiving corresponding ones of said actual weight and desired weight signals and for providing said signals to said comparator; and further sequencing means responsive to said comparator for providing a feed rate correction signal based on a determination of difference between said signals by said comparator to the corresponding one of said feed rate adjusting means.

Claim 7

Slicing apparatus according to claim 4 further including a plurality of slice receiving means on said other side of said cutting area, each corresponding to one of said feeding devices and adapted to receive slices cut from the object fed by the corresponding feeding device, said plural weighing means each being associated with corresponding ones of said slice receiving means; a plurality of means, one for each said slice receiving means for removing an accumulated stack of slices therefrom; and plural means, one for each of said feeding means, independently operable to cause the corresponding one of said receiving means to receive slices from its associated slice receiving means after a predetermined number of slices have been cut, said predetermined number being independently selectable for each of said feeding means.

Claim 8

Slicing apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said actual weight and said desired weight signals are provided after subsTantially each slice cut and said comparator is operable to compare said signals after substantially each slice cut.