Food cutting apparatus

Abstract

 A food item cutting apparatus, having a housing (10) including a food inleet port (12) and food outlet port (14), a first row of reciprocatable knives (16) oriented with their cutting edges facing the food inlet port and disposed inside the housing on a plane between the food inlet port and the food outlet port and a second row of reciprocatable knives (20), also oriented with their cutting edges facing the food inlet port, on a plane substantially parallel to the first row of reciprocatable knives and positioned between the first row of knives and the food outlet port, the axis of the second row of knives are oriented at an angle to the axis of the knives in the first row. The apparatus also includes a cutter (24) disposed in a plane between the second row of knives (20) and the food outlet port (14), adapted to be driven in a direction substantially perpendicular to a line joining the food inlet port to the food outlet port. The cutting means (24) are arranged for movement in a direction transversely to the axes of the second row of reciprocatable knives (20), and at least one electric motor (50) arranged to drive the knives and the cutter.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a food cutting apparatus, and more particularly to a vegetable and fruit dicer-cutter.

[0002] Many devices are available for cutting vegetables into slices. Some devices can convert the slices into chips, but only a few devices are able to convert the chips into cubes. Most of these devices - be they manually operated or electrically driven - operate in a satis­factory manner on hard vegetables such as cucumbers, cabbage, marrows and so on. When, however, the need arises to cut one of the most popular vegetables, the tomato, the inevitable result is its unintended squashing, with the attendant separation of juice from the solid parts of the vegetable, leaving tomato cubes that are not at all asthetically pleasing for use in salads. The root of the problem is that considerable pressure is applied during the cutting of the outer skin, and this pressure is more than can be tolerated by the soft inner portion of this vegetable. While thin tensioned wires have been employed successfully for the cutting of hard foods such as cheese and meat, these wires are not satisfactory for tomatoes for the reason stated. The requirement therefore exists for a device that can dice especially soft vegetables, such as tomatoes, as well as to dice soft and/or juicy fruit.

[0003] It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to overcome these difficulties and to provide a reliable and safe device for the dicing of food items enabling the user to obtain high quality food item cubes of pleasing appearance.

[0004] In the preferred embodiments of the invention incorporate several optional features to achieve the object of dicing very soft vegetables with the application of very light pressure only. One of these features provides for a different direction of movement of each individual reciprocating knife relative to an adjacent knife. An array of knives all moving in the same direction requires that the food item to be cut be restrained from movement together with the knives. This restraining force - whether applied externally to the food item or supplied by the inertia of the food time itself - has an undesirable side product: vegetable juice, extracted from the vegetable being cut. However, when the knives are arranged to reciprocate in alternate directions, any movement of the vegetable in part as whole resulting from the movement of a cutting knife serves most conveniently to increase the cutting action of at least one adjacent knife and is balanced thereby. Not only is there then no need to provide any restraining force, but the speed and cutting stroke of the knives may then be reduced, and the quality of the cube produced improved.

[0005] Accordingly, the above object is achieved by providing a food item cutting apparatus, comprising a) a housing including a food inlet port and food outlet port, b) a first row of reciprocatable knives oriented with their cutting edges facing said food inlet port and disposed inside said housing on a plane between said food inlet port and said food outlet port, c) a second row of reciprocatable knives, also oriented with their cutting edges facing said food inlet port, on a plane substantially parallel to the first row of reciprocatable knives and positioned between said first row of knives and said food outlet port, the axis of said second row of knives being oriented at an angle to the the axis of the knives in said first row, d) cutting means disposed in a plane between said second row of knives and said food outet port, and adapted to be driven in a direction substantial­ly perpendicular to a line joining said food inlet port to said food outlet port, said cutting means being arranged for movement in a direction transversely to the axes of said second row of recipro­catable knives, and a) at least one electric motor arranged to drive said knives and said cutting means.

[0006] The invention will now be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments with reference to the following illustrative figures so that it may be more fully understood.

[0007] With specific reference now to the figures in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental under­standing of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.

[0008] In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional partially fragmented and sectioned eleva­tion of a first embodiment of the food item cutting apparatus according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 partly broken away exposing some interior parts;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a knife and its drive mechanism, in a second embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the mechansim driving the holder of a circular revolving blade, and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a second embodiment of the mechansim driving a circular revolving blade.

[0009] There is seen in Fig. 1 a housing 10 preferably provided with a plurality of inlet ports 12,12′, arranged for alternative positioning over the housing 10, each inlet port having a different cross-­sectional size and each inlet port being only slightly larger than a food item to be cut. For example, inlet port 12 could advantageously be sized to allow the passage of tomatoes, and inlet port 12′ could be for cucumbers.

[0010] A knife 16 is one of a first, upper row of a plurality of reciprocatable set of knives, typically having a height of 5 to 16 mm and a thickness of 0.6 to 1 mm. Each knife 16 is advantageously provided with a serrated cutting edge formed by a ground chamfer 18. This chamfer 18 faces upwards towards the inlet port, and furthermore, the chamfers in the row of knives face the same direction.

[0011] A second lower row of reciprocatable set of knives 20 is arranged closely below, and perpendicularly to, the first row. Preferably the space between the two rows should not exceed 1 mm. Knives 20 are also provided with chamfers 22, have a height of 5 to 10 mm and are similar in arrangement to knives 16.

[0012] Both rows of knives are arranged to be driven in a reciprocating movement, of a typical stroke of 6 to 12 mm, by means of one of the mechanisms to be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3.

[0013] Very closely below the knives 20 and preferably spaced not more than 1 mm below these knives, there is disposed a sickle-shaped blade 24 provided with a chamfered cutting edge which faces the outlet port 14. Blade 24 is affixed to a revolvable shaft 26, the latter being supported in bearings 28 and arranged to be revolved by a pulley 30 driven by a belt 48 at a speed of 400 to 800 RPM.

[0014] The outlet port 14 is fitted with a shallow slide 32, forming a guiding channel for the cut food.

[0015] Slidably disposed inside the inlet port 12 there is a plunger head 34 attached to a stem 36. Projections 38 of cubular form depending from the plunger head 34, are configured for free passage into the "squares" formed between the set of knives 16 and 20. A similarly configured plunger head 34′ is provided for use of with the inlet port 12′.

[0016] Rigidly attached to the stem 36 and parallel thereto is a toothed rod 40, the teeth of which are spaced apart 5 to 15 mm along at least part of its length. The rod 40 extends outside the inlet port 12 and engages a depth control mechanism which will be described with reference to Fig. 2.

[0017] Referring now also to Fig. 2, there is seen a pattern of squares formed by the knives 16,20, the dimensions of which squares partly determine the size of the cut food particles. The set of knives 16 and 20 are driven by the cranks 42,42′, which, in turn are driven by shafts 44,44′, pulleys 46,46′, the belt 48 and a fractional horsepower motor 50. However, it will be obvious to those versed in the art that a variety of alternative drive systems, such as cams, or a large combined crank could alternatively be used to achieve the reciprocating motion of the knives.

[0018] Advantageously, the axis of the shaft 26 on which the sickle-­shaped blade 24 is mounted, is located along a line co-planar with the plane of a central knife 20. Also advantageously, the blade 24 is arranged to be driven in a direction transversely to the axes of the knives 20 in the second row of the set of knives.

[0019] In the preferred embodiment of the invention a plunger movement control mechanism is provided. As seen in Fig. 2, the mechanism comprises a lever 52 engaged at or near its midpoint by means of a pivot 54, which pivot is supported by the machine housing or frame. The mechanism further comprises a striker cam 56 rigidly attached to the shaft 26 and is driven thereby. A tooth on the striker cam 56 is configured to intermittently contact the edge 53 of the lever 52 when shaft 26 revolves. Normally, the edge 55 of the lever 52 is biased into engagement with a tooth in the toothed rod 40 by means of a spring 58, and will thus prevent the descent of the toothed rod 40, and consequently the descent of the stem 36 and the plunger head 34. When, however, edge 53 of the lever 52 is struck by the striker cam 56, edge 55 of the lever 52 disengages the tooth of the rod 40 and the latter is thus freed to descend by a distance of one tooth. The spring 58 causes the lever 52 to return to its original position and thereby prevents excessive decent of toothed rod 40.

[0020] Fig. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein each reciprocatable set of knives 16 is connected for oscillation in a direction opposite to that of any adjacent knife, such an arrangement being applicable to either the first row, the second row, or both rows of reciprocatable knives. A link 60 oscillates a crankshaft 62 about a shaft 64. Crankshaft 62 is provided with a plurality of arms 66,66′, each arm driving one knife 16 by means of a connecting rod 68,68′. Each knife 16, driven by its individual connecting rod 68,68′, is connected to either an arm 66 or an arm 66′ in alternate manner. The effect of the crankshaft 62 oscillating being that each knife 16 moves in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of an adjacent knife. Typically the mechanism will be connected to oscillate at a speed of 800 to 1600 cycles per minute.

[0021] Fig. 4 shows a further embodiment of the cut-off means, wherein the sickle-shaped blade 24 of Figs. 1 and 2, is replaced by a revolvable, belt-driven circular blade 70, supported by an arm 72. The circular blade 70 is provided with a sharp edge 88, the ground portion of which faces downwards towards the outlet port 14, as indicated by the broken circular line.

[0022] The arm 72 with the blade 70 is imparted movement by a mechanism including a disc 74 carrying a pin 76, driven by a belt 77. The pin 76 engages a lever 78, which oscillates as a result of the revolutions of the pin 76 about the shaft 80 of the disc 74. The lever 78 is connected at one end by means of links 82 and 84, to the arm 72 and oscillates it about the pivot shaft 86. The other end of the lever 78 is linked to the housing. It will, of course, be understood that other mechanisms are feasible to achieve the required oscillatory movement of the arm 72, such as a cam operated movement, or the use of slotted levers in place of links. These mechanisms can be arranged for imparting a slow "in" movement and a fast "out" movement to the arm 72. Such mechanisms are per-se known and will not be described in further detail. The circular blade 70 is driven by a belt 90 and a pulley 92 at a speed of 1000-2000 RPM.

[0023] Illustrated in Fig. 5 is an elevation of a second embodiment of a mechanism driving the circular blade 70. Two parallel rods 93 (only one is seen) slidably support a sleeve 94, which sleeve in turn supports a revolvable shaft 96 carrying the circular blade 70. The shaft 96 is driven by a second conical gear 98, which meshes with a conical gear 100 mounted on a splined shaft 102 driven by splined a tube 104. The disc 74 revolves about the shaft 80, and carries the pin 76. A connecting rod 106 conveys reciprocating motions from the pin 76 to the sleeve 94, thereby imparting a horizontal movement to the circular blade 70. The effect of this arrangement is that the circular blade 70 executes a reciprocating straight line movement.

[0024] In operation, there is first chosen the desired size of an inlet port 12 and is aligned within housing 10 above the set of knives. The plunger head 34 is then raised and the food item to be diced is inserted in the inlet port 12, coming to rest on the serrated cutting edges 18 of the upper set of knives. Light pressure is applied to the food item by the plunger head 34, causing the projections 38 to contact the food item, which is then consecutively cut by the set of knives 16 and 20 into square prisms. Excessive pressure on the food item is prevented by the lever 52, which allows the descent of the toothed rod 40, stem 36 and the plunger head 34 of only one tooth for each traverse of the blade 24 or 70. The square prisms are then cut into cubes by the blade 24 or 70. The cut cubes then exit through outlet port 14, freely fall onto slide 32 and may then be collected in a tray or dish (now shown).

[0025] It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodi­ments and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

1. A food item cutting apparatus, comprising:

a) a housing including a food inlet port food outlet port;

b) a first row of reciprocatable knives oriented with their cutting edges facing said food inlet port and disposed inside said housing on a plane between said food inlet port and said food outlet port;

c) a second row of reciprocatable knives, also oriented with their cutting edges facing said food inlet port, on a plane substanti­ally parallel to the first row of reciprocatable knives and positioned between said first row of knives and said food outlet port, the axis of said second row of knives being oriented at an angle to the axis of the knives in said first row;

d) cutting means disposed in a plane between said second row of knives and said food outlet port, adapted to be driven in a direction substantially perpendicular to a line joining said food inlet port to said food outlet port, said cutting means being arranged for movement in a direction transversely to the axes of said second row of reciprocatable knives, and

e) at least one electric motor arranged to drive said knives and said cutting means.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inlet port is sized slightly larger than the food item to be cut.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are provided a plurality of inlet ports for alternative positioning with respect to said housing, said inlet ports each having a different size and each being slightly larger than a food item to be cut.

4. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a plunger adapted to press food items in said inlet port towards and between said knives.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a plunger depth control mechanism, said mechanism controlling plunger descent of for each traverse of said cutting means across the area underneath said reciprocatable knives.

6. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the ground chamfers forming the cutting edges of at least one row of said reciprocatable knives face in the same direction.

7. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein at least some of said knives have serrations on their cutting edges.

8. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein each reciprocatable knife is connected for oscillation in a direction opposite to that of any adjacent knife.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, wherein said cutting means comprise a blade affixed to a shaft, the axis of which shaft is disposed along a line co-planar with a central knife of said second row of reciprocatable knives.

10. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein said cutting means is a blade whose ground chamfer forming the cutting edge faces said outlet port.

11. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 wherein said cutting means comprise a sickle shaped blade.

Drawing