U.S. patent application number 14/381069 was filed with the patent office on 2015-02-05 for cutting apparatus for cutting food items conveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt.
The applicant listed for this patent is Marel Iceland Ehf. Invention is credited to Thorir Finnsson.
Application Number | 20150033921 14/381069 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45876558 |
Filed Date | 2015-02-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150033921 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Finnsson; Thorir |
February 5, 2015 |
CUTTING APPARATUS FOR CUTTING FOOD ITEMS CONVEYED ON A CONVEYOR
INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE CONVEYOR BELT
Abstract
This invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting food
items conveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt.
A cutter is arranged above a gap extending across the at least one
conveyor belt. The cutter is positioned in relation to the gap such
that the cutting path of the cutter extends through the food items
and the gap and below the surface level of the at least one
conveyor belt. The cutter is adapted to be connected to a control
mechanism for operating crosswise movement of the cutter along the
gap. The gap is formed between adjacent elongated supporting means
such as rollers with a fixed internal arrangement, where the
adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter is adapted to be
connected to a control mechanism for operating back and forth
movement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter
parallel to the conveying direction while maintaining the internal
arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the
cutter fixed.
Inventors: |
Finnsson; Thorir;
(Kopavogur, IS) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Marel Iceland Ehf |
Gardabaer |
|
IS |
|
|
Family ID: |
45876558 |
Appl. No.: |
14/381069 |
Filed: |
March 8, 2013 |
PCT Filed: |
March 8, 2013 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2013/054743 |
371 Date: |
August 26, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61624563 |
Apr 16, 2012 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
83/73 ;
219/121.67; 83/168; 83/177; 83/298 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G 15/28 20130101;
B26D 1/04 20130101; B26D 5/34 20130101; A22C 17/0093 20130101; A22C
17/0086 20130101; B26D 7/18 20130101; A22C 17/002 20130101; B26F
3/004 20130101; Y10T 83/4691 20150401; B26D 5/007 20130101; Y10T
83/242 20150401; Y10T 83/364 20150401; Y10T 83/145 20150401; B65G
15/00 20130101; B26D 7/0625 20130101; A22C 17/0006 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
83/73 ; 83/168;
219/121.67; 83/177; 83/298 |
International
Class: |
B26D 5/34 20060101
B26D005/34; B65G 15/28 20060101 B65G015/28; B26D 1/04 20060101
B26D001/04; B26F 3/00 20060101 B26F003/00; B26D 7/06 20060101
B26D007/06; B26D 5/00 20060101 B26D005/00; A22C 17/00 20060101
A22C017/00; B26D 7/18 20060101 B26D007/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 8, 2012 |
EP |
12001608.4 |
Claims
1. A cutting apparatus for cutting food items conveyed on a
conveyor including at least one conveyor belt, comprising: a cutter
arranged above a gap extending across said at least one conveyor
belt, the cutter being positioned in relation to the gap such that
the cutting path of the cutter extends through the food items and
the gap and below the surface level of said at least one conveyor
belt, the cutter being adapted to be connected to a control
mechanism for operating crosswise movement of the cutter along said
gap, wherein said gap is formed between adjacent elongated
supporting means with a fixed internal arrangement, the adjacent
elongated supporting means and the cutter being adapted to be
connected to a control mechanism for operating back and forth
movement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter
parallel to the conveying direction while maintaining said internal
arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the
cutter fixed.
2. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor
further comprises at least one supporting means arranged adjacent
and below said conveyor belt for providing a support for said
conveyor belt.
3. A cutting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said at least
one supporting means comprises at least one supporting belt
extending between a first roller means and a second roller
means.
4. A cutting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said at least
one supporting means has a first end mounted to a downstream side
of a frame structure for maintaining said internal arrangement of
the adjacent elongated supporting means fixed, and a second end
mounted to an upstream side of said frame structure.
5. A cutting apparatus according to claim 2, where the first end of
the at least one supporting means extends from the downstream side
of said frame structure and around a first elongated bar to the
first roller and the second end of the at least one supporting
means extends from the upstream side of said frame structure and
around adjacent second elongated bar to the second roller
means.
6. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor
further comprises a third roller means and a fourth roller means
placed distally away from said first and second roller means, where
at least one of said third or fourth roller means act as a driving
roller means for said conveyor belt.
7. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at least
one further elongated supporting means placed below said adjacent
elongated supporting means, said at least one conveyor belt being a
single conveyor belt and said adjacent elongated supporting means
and said at least one further elongated supporting means being
adapted to create a bypass for said conveyor belt by means of
extending the conveyor belt between the adjacent elongated
supporting means and said at least one further elongated supporting
means such that a substantial U-shaped profile of the conveyor belt
is formed.
8. A cutting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said at least
one further elongated supporting means is adjustable from being in
a closed position where it is placed below said adjacent elongated
supporting means where the conveyor belt is in a stretched state
towards being in an open position where the conveyor belt is in a
slack state.
9. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said elongated
supporting means are rollers.
10. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said adjacent
elongated supporting means are triangular shaped bars where the
acute angles of said triangular shaped bars are facing each
other.
11. A cutting apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said acute
angle of said triangular shaped bars have a round shape.
12. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising
elongated bar arranged below the surface level of said at least one
conveyor belt between said at least one further elongated
supporting means and said cutter, the elongated bar being
positioned such that it intersects with the cutting plane of the
cutter at all times.
13. A cutting apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said
elongated bar is a tube with a slot extending along the
longitudinal axis of the tube, where the tube is positioned such
that the slot is facing the cutter and thus intersects with the
cutting plane of the cutter at all times.
14. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent
elongated supporting means are distal end-rollers of two adjacent
conveyor belts each of which being provided with a belt stretching
mechanism for maintaining a fixed belt tension at all times while
maintaining said fixed internal arrangement of the adjacent
rollers.
15. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutter is
further provided with a tilting mechanism for adjusting the tilting
angle in both directions within the cutting plane of the
cutter.
16. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a
scraper adapted to remove cut out pieces of the food items after
the cutting.
17. A cutting apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said scraper
is mounted to a scraper operating mechanism capable of moving the
scraper down adjacent to the surface level of said at least one
conveyor belt during cutting, and up from the surface level when
not in use.
18. A cutting apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said scraper
operating mechanism further comprise scraper angle mechanism to
adjust the angle of the scraper around a vertical axis.
19. A cutting apparatus according to claim 16, where the scraper is
positioned adjacent and behind the cutter at the downstream end
with respect to the conveying direction of said conveyor belt so as
to allow immediate removal of cut out portions of said food
items.
20. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cutter
is selected from: a fluid pressure cutter, a laser beam cutter, a
high pressurized gas cutter, or a cutting blade.
21. A cutting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said at least
one further elongated supporting means comprises two spaced apart
roller means.
22. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a
removing means for removing undesired particles, off-cuts and the
like that fall through said gap extending across said at least one
conveyor belt.
23. A food processing system comprising a cutting apparatus
according to claim 1, comprising: an imaging system for imaging and
producing image data of the food items to be processed, a computer
system operable connected to a tracing mechanism for tracing the
position of the food items while being conveyed, the computer
system being adapted to process said image data so as to generate
operation parameters for operating said movement of the cutter
across the conveyor belt (102) and parallel to the conveying
direction.
24. A food processing system according to claim 23, wherein said
imaging system is an x-ray system and where said image data is
x-ray data.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for
cutting food items conveyed on a conveyor including at least one
conveyor belt and further to a food processing system comprising
such cutting apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Undesired objects such as tissues or bones in food items
such as fish fillets, poultry fillets and meat may be removed in an
automatic way via cutting, where the cutting is performed in
accordance to images taken of the food items that identify the
locations of the tissues/bones to be cut and removed. Today, the
food items are often moved or placed on a first conveyor that may
include a thin solid belt where the imaging, e.g. x-ray imaging,
takes place while the food items are being conveyed. Since the
cutting involves implementing cutting procedure such as high
pressure water jet that extends below the surface of the conveyor
belt the objects must me moved onto a special cutting belt,
typically a stainless steel conveyor belt, that will not be damaged
during the cutting. A tracking mechanism is implemented for
tracking the position of the food item pieces at all times during
the conveying. The movement between the two conveyors can easily
result in an inaccuracy in the displacement of the food items at
the interface between the two conveyors so that the tracking of the
food items becomes less reliable. Such errors have been corrected
up to some extent in WO2011095998 by providing a second image data
when the food items are positioned on the cutting conveyor and
compare this second image data with the first image data by
utilizing the tracking position, i.e. the second image data is
compared to the expected position of the food items. In case of
non-match between the first and second image data, the x-ray image
data are mapped onto the second image data such that the position
of the tissued matches to the second image data, and the cutting
process is then based on the mapped image data.
[0003] There are however several disadvantages involved in using
such two separate conveyors such as that the whole apparatus
including this imaging section and the cutting section can be very
spacious and costly. Also, transferring the food items from the
x-ray conveyor towards the cutting conveyor does always, despite
the solution described in WO2011095998, result in some inaccuracy
and is also costly since a second imaging mechanism is required.
Further, the cutter belt is made of multiple of small stainless
steel modules that are connected via hinges which makes the
cleaning of the belt more difficult compared to the above mentioned
thin solid belt.
[0004] NO176343 discloses a machine for cutting fish fillet while
these are supported on a conveying surface on a conveyor belt
comprising a frame which can move linearly in the conveyor belt's
direction of movement and which is arranged to support a cutting
element at a level above the conveying surface. The conveyor belt
is so arranged, in conjunction with the frame, that it runs in a
largely U-shaped path, lateral to the conveying surface of the
conveyor belt to form a gap-shaped depression in the conveyor
belt's conveying surface. A guide roller, seated in a rotation
fashion in the frame and running laterally to the conveyor belt at
a level below the conveying surface, supports the conveyor belt at
the bottom section of the U-shape belt. The frame is so constructed
that the internal arrangement between the vertical plane through
the cutting element's longitudinal axis and the vertical plane
through the guide roller are shifted away from each other such that
the U-shaped profile is askew in relation to the vertical plane
through the cutting element's longitudinal axis. This means that if
the cutting means is not a knife blade but waterjet cutter or other
relevant jet cutter it is possible to use narrow gap.
[0005] A collection channel may be disposed at arbitrary levels in
the depression for preventing offcuts and any cutting fluid from
forming an obstruction at the guide roller. In this embodiment it
is preferred that the collection channel is disposed in the upper
section of the depression. The reason for this is that due to the
oblique relation between the U-shaped profile and the vertical
plane through the cutting element's longitudinal axis the
collection channel can constitute a protection for the conveyor
belt in the cutting area so as to prevent the cutting element
damaging (cutting into) the conveyor belt.
[0006] The drawback with this cutting machine is how complex it is,
especially when cutting tools such as waterjet are being implement
instead of cutting blades.
[0007] Moreover, there is no support for the conveyer belt except
the tension in the conveyor belt created between the drive roller
and the reversing roller of the cutting machine. However, the
conveyor belt will always be deflected from it's initial two
dimensional planar surface arrangement when food items are present
and are being conveyed on the conveyor belt, where the more heavier
the food items are the more will this deflection be. Such a
deflection, e.g. between the drive roll and the U-shaped gap, is
obviously reflected in less accurate cutting because the position
of the food items in relation to the cutting means will always be
shifted. Such an inaccuracy may be avoided up to some extent via
arrangement in the reversing roller for regulating the tension in
the belt, but such an increase in the tension may affect the back
and fort movement of the frame comprising the cutting means.
[0008] Also, the length of the apparatus will always be limited
because of the lack of support for the conveyor belt. This means
that it can be difficult or even impossible to implement this
apparatus in relation to further apparatus e.g. as any types of
imaging equipments such X-ray machines where it is important the
such imaging equipments are associated with the same conveyor belt
as the conveyor belt of the cutting machine.
[0009] The inventor of the present invention has appreciated that
there is thus a need for a simplified and more efficient cutting
apparatus and food processing system and has in consequence devised
the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It would be advantageous to achieve an improved and more
efficient and precise cutting apparatus and a food processing
system. In general, the invention preferably seeks to mitigate,
alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above mentioned
disadvantages singly or in any combination. In particular, it may
be seen as an object of the present invention to provide a cutting
apparatus that solves the above mentioned problems, or other
problems, of the prior art.
[0011] To better address one or more of these concerns, in a first
aspect of the invention a cutting apparatus is provided for cutting
food items conveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor
belt, comprising: [0012] a cutter arranged above a gap extending
across said at least one conveyor belt, the cutter being positioned
in relation to the gap such that the cutting path of the cutter
extends through the food items and the gap and below the surface
level of said at least one conveyor belt, the cutter being adapted
to be connected to a control mechanism for operating crosswise
movement of the cutter along said gap,
[0013] wherein said gap is formed between adjacent elongated
supporting means with a fixed internal arrangement, the adjacent
elongated supporting means and the cutter being adapted to be
connected to a control mechanism for operating back and forth
movement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter
parallel to the conveying direction while maintaining said internal
arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the
cutter fixed.
[0014] Accordingly, in case that the imaging equipment is a x-ray
machine, there is no longer need for using two separate conveyors,
i.e. one as a x-ray conveyor and one as a cutting conveyor since
one and the same conveyor may be used for both conveying the food
items during imaging and also during cutting. Thus, any errors in
the displacement of the items and thus in the cutting due to the
transferring between x-ray conveyor and cutting conveyor has been
eliminated. Also, the cutting may take place on a thin solid belt
instead of e.g. a stainless steel conveyor. This has several
advantages such as easier cleanability of the belt compared to such
steel belts that they have alot of hinges and the like. Also, the
costs relating to using such belts is typically much lower compared
to such cutting belts. Further, similar type of belt may be
implemented for this cutting apparatus as in the remaining
conveyors in the food processing system which results in e.g.
lowers costs. Additionally, the food items may be imaged at all
times, e.g. shortly before the cutting starts and also during the
cutting, but such an imaging, e.g. x-ray imaging, is not possible
on a such cutting belts. The apparatus thus facilitates that
monitoring of the cutting compared to said prior art cutting
apparatus that uses stainless steel belts.
[0015] In one embodiment, said conveyor further comprises at least
one supporting means arranged adjacent and below said conveyor belt
for providing a support for said conveyor belt.
[0016] In one embodiment, said at least one supporting means
comprises at least one supporting belt extending between a first
roller means and a second roller means roller means
[0017] Accordingly, a support is provided for the conveyer belt
which prevents the conveyor belt from being deflected when food
items are conveyed on it meaning that any kind of inaccuracy in
cutting is no longer present because the position of the food items
in relation to the cutting means will always be the same. Thus,
extra arrangement for maintaining sufficient tension in the
conveyor belt is not needed. This also means that the conveyor can
be significantly longer than such prior art conveyor where such a
U-shaped gap arrangement is utilized. The at least one supporting
means may further include any means that is arranged parallel to
the conveying direction and below said conveyor belt and/or
transversally to the conveying direction. The supporting means may
also include, but is not limited to, telescopic bars arranged
longitudinal below the main conveyor belt, and/or number of
transversal bars arranged transversal to the transport direction
that can be pushed together and pulled apart arranged below said
conveyor belt.
[0018] In one embodiment, said at least one supporting belt has a
first end mounted to a downstream side of a frame structure for
maintaining said internal arrangement of the adjacent elongated
supporting means fixed, and a second end mounted to an upstream
side of said frame structure.
[0019] In one embodiment, where the first end of the at least one
supporting means extends from the downstream side of said frame
structure and around a first elongated bar to the first roller and
the second end of the at least one supporting means extends from
the upstream side of said frame structure and around a second
elongated bar to the second roller means.
[0020] In one embodiment, said at least one of said first roller
and said second roller is a driving roller for providing back and
forth displacement of the frame structure via said at least one
supporting belt. In that way, a simple solution is provide to
operate the back and forth movement of said adjacent elongated
supporting means, and said at least one further elongated
supporting means and the cutter parallel to the conveying direction
while maintaining said internal arrangement fixed. The at least one
supporting belt does not necessarily have to extend around the
first and the second roller means, i.e. so that the at least one
support belt forms in a way at least one endless-like belt. The at
least one support belt however typically extends around said first
and second roller means and in that way form a kind of an
endless-like belt.
[0021] In one embodiment, said conveyor further comprises a third
roller means and a fourth roller means placed distally away from
said first and second roller means, where at least one of said
third or fourth roller means act as a driving roller means for said
conveyor belt. In that way, said means that maintains the internal
arrangement of said adjacent elongated supporting means, said at
least one further elongated supporting means and said cutter
parallel to the conveying direction fixed during use, is operated
independently of the conveyor belt.
[0022] In one embodiment, the cutting apparatus comprises at least
one further elongated supporting means placed below said adjacent
elongated supporting means, said at least one conveyor belt being a
single conveyor belt and said adjacent elongated supporting means
and said at least one further elongated supporting means being
adapted to create a bypass for said conveyor belt by means of
extending the conveyor belt between the adjacent elongated
supporting means and said at least one further elongated supporting
means such that a substantial U-shaped profile of the conveyor belt
is formed. Accordingly, a simple solution is provided to provide
said opening for the cutter. The at least one further elongated
supporting means may e.g. be an idle roller that is placed directly
below the cutter, but by placing it in the cutting plane it is
ensured that the belt/conveyor will not be damaged during the
cutting because the cutting tool, e.g. a water jet and the like,
will never intersect with the conveyor belt. Also, that fact that a
single conveyor belt is being used makes the apparatus both more
economical and simpler.
[0023] The internal arrangement between the adjacent elongated
supporting means and the at least one further elongated supporting
means may be such that the U-shaped profile may be oblique in
relation to the surface of the conveyor belt, i.e. such that the at
least one further elongated supporting means does not lie directly
below the cutting means and in the cutting plane, or as mentioned
above, such that the at least one further elongated supporting
means is directly below the cutting means.
[0024] In one embodiment, said elongated supporting means is
adjustable from being in a closed position where it is placed in a
lowest position in relation to said adjacent elongated supporting
means where the conveyor belt is in a stretched state towards being
in an unlocked position where the conveyor belt is in a slack
state. By moving the elongated supporting means from said closed
position where it is positioned below said adjacent elongated
supporting means towards said open position towards the rollers or
above the rollers, the conveyor belt may easily be removed for e.g.
cleaning purposes or for replacing it with a new belt.
[0025] In one embodiment, said elongated supporting means are
rollers. In another embodiment, said adjacent elongated supporting
means are triangular shaped bars where the acute angles of said
triangular shaped bars are facing each other. The advantage of
using rollers compared to the triangular shaped bars is that the
wear on the conveyor belt is less which increases the lifetime of
the belt, and also the friction is less meaning that less power is
required to operate it. On the other hand, the advantage of using
such triangular shaped bars is that the active distance between the
distal ends of said adjacent triangular shaped bars can be shorter
compared to rollers, which may be favorable if the food items are
relatively short.
[0026] In one embodiment, said acute angle of said triangular
shaped bars have a round shape. This is to provide a "smooth"
interaction between the conveyor belt and the triangular shaped
bars but the more sharper the acute angles are the higher is the
risk that the conveyor belt becomes damaged.
[0027] In one embodiment, the cutting apparatus further comprises
elongated bar arranged below the surface level of said at least one
conveyor belt between said at least one further elongated
supporting means and said cutter, the elongated bar being
positioned such that it intersects with the cutting plane of the
cutter at all times. In one embodiment, said elongated bar is a
tube with a slot extending along the longitudinal axis of the tube
and where the tube is positioned such that the slot is facing the
cutter and thus intersects with the cutting plane of the cutter at
all times. Accordingly, the enormous impact from the cutter, e.g.
if the cutter is a water cutter, onto the at least one further
elongated supporting means is absorbed by said elongated bar, which
may easily be replaced by a new one.
[0028] In one embodiment, the adjacent elongated supporting means
are distal end-rollers of two adjacent conveyor belts each of which
being provided with a belt stretching mechanism for maintaining a
fixed belt tension at all times while maintaining said fixed
internal arrangement of the adjacent rollers.
[0029] In one embodiment, said cutting apparatus further comprises
a scraper adapted to remove cut out pieces of the food items after
the cutting. It is namely of particular advantage to be able to
remove the cut out pieces after the cutting on one and the same
conveyor as where the cutting is taking place, but today, such an
automatic removing is not possible on the stainless steel cutter
belt that are being used due to their rough surface. Also, it is
prevented that the cut out pieces/offcuts become accumulated in
said gap, i.e. the U-shaped depression.
[0030] In one embodiment, said scraper is mounted to a scraper
operating mechanism capable of moving the scraper down adjacent to
the surface level of said at least one conveyor belt during
cutting, and up from the surface level when not in use. In that
way, and "active" mode and "non active" mode of the scraper is
provided since some cuts may be such that an immediate removing is
not possible.
[0031] In one embodiment, said scraper operating mechanism further
comprises angle adjustment mechanism to adjust the angle of the
scraper around vertical axis. This may be of particular advantage
when e.g. trimming pork belly where the trimming is taking place at
both sides of the pork belly. Thus, by adjusting the angle
accordingly it is ensured that the automatic removing of the trim
is guided away from the conveyor belt.
[0032] In one embodiment, the scraper is positioned adjacent and
behind the cutter at the downstream end with respect to the
conveying direction of the at least one conveyor belt. Accordingly,
an immediate removal of the cut out portion(s) of said food items
is possible.
[0033] In one embodiment, the cut-off material may also can be
removed by means of vacuum or suction means.
[0034] In one embodiment, the cutter is further provided with a
tilting mechanism for adjusting the tilting angle in both
directions within the cutting plane of the cutter. The cutter may
be selected from, but is not limited to: [0035] a fluid pressure
cutter, [0036] a laser beam cutter, [0037] a high pressurized gas
cutter, or [0038] a cutting blade.
[0039] In one embodiment, said at least one further elongated
supporting means comprises two spaced apart roller means.
Accordingly, a space is created between the two spaced apart roller
means for collecting off-cuts and the like that might fall down
through said gap between said adjacent elongated supporting
means.
[0040] In one embodiment, the cutting apparatus further comprises a
removing means for removing undesired particles, off-cuts and the
like from the gap extending across said at least one conveyor belt.
Thus, means is provide to immediately remove any off-cuts, dirt,
particles and the like that might e.g. fall onto the space between
said spaced apart roller means and be pushed hard by the roller
means onto the conveyor belt resulting in that they might otherwise
stick firmly to the conveyor belt.
[0041] In a second aspect of the invention a food processing system
is provided comprising said cutting apparatus, comprising: [0042]
an imaging system for imaging and producing image data of the food
items to be processed, [0043] a computer system operable connected
to a tracing mechanism for tracing the position of the food items
while being conveyed, the computer system being adapted to process
said image data so as to generate operation parameters for
operating said movement of the cutter across the conveyor belt and
parallel to the conveying direction.
[0044] Accordingly, a food processing system is provided that may
utilize a "unified" x-ray and cutting conveyor with the above
mentioned advantages. This does not only make the system as such
more compact but also enhances the accuracy in e.g. trimming since
it is now possible to use a single conveyor meaning that the error
caused when transferring the foot items from one conveyor to the
next is no longer an issue.
[0045] In one embodiment, said imaging system is a x-ray system and
where said image data is x-ray data. In another embodiment, said
imaging system includes x-ray system positioned subsequent to
cutting the food items adapted to image the processed food items,
the image data subsequently being processed by said computer system
so as to determined whether undesired objects are present in the
processed food items.
[0046] In one embodiment, said imaging system is selected from:
[0047] a light source placed below/above the conveyor belt for
imaging said food items and based thereon produce data identifying
said undesired objects, or [0048] a three dimensional imaging
equipment, or [0049] a color vision, or [0050] a x-ray system, or
[0051] an ultaviolet system, or [0052] a combination of one or more
of the above.
[0053] In one embodiment, x-ray system includes a first x-ray beam
for radiating the food items from a first viewing angle for
generating a first view x-ray image data, and a second x-ray beam
for radiating the food items from a second viewing angle for
generating a second view x-ray image data, said first view and
second view image data being utilized as input data in generating
three dimensional image data based of said items.
[0054] In general the various aspects of the invention may be
combined and coupled in any way possible within the scope of the
invention. These and other aspects, features and/or advantages of
the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference
to the embodiments described hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0055] Embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of
example only, with reference to the drawings, in which
[0056] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a
cutting apparatus according to the present invention for cutting
food items,
[0057] FIGS. 2-4 depict graphically a perspective view, top view
and a side view of the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1,
[0058] FIGS. 5-7 depict graphically a perspective view, top view
and a side view of the cutting apparatus in FIGS. 2-4 during
cutting,
[0059] FIG. 8 depicts graphically a U-shaped cut out portion from a
fish fillet,
[0060] FIG. 9 shows where a cutter is moved sidewise across an
opening for cutting other parts of the fish fillet,
[0061] FIGS. 10 and 11 depict a perspective view and a side view of
one embodiment according to the present invention, where adjacent
elongated supporting means and the further elongated supporting
means are rollers that create a bypass for the conveyor belt,
[0062] FIG. 12 depicts two different embodiments of said adjacent
elongated supporting means,
[0063] FIGS. 13-15 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the
apparatus according to the present invention further comprising a
scraper adapted to remove cut out pieces of the food items
immediately after the cutting,
[0064] FIG. 16-18 depict a top view of the embodiment shown in
FIGS. 13-15, where FIG. 16 shown the scenario shortly before
cutting the loins of the fish fillet,
[0065] FIG. 19 shows one embodiment of a food processing system
according to the present invention comprising the cutting apparatus
as discussed in relation to FIGS. 1-18,
[0066] FIGS. 20-25 depict a perspective view, a top view and a side
view of another embodiment of a cutting apparatus according to the
present invention,
[0067] FIG. 26 shows one embodiment of means a frame structure
associated with the cutting apparatus according to the present
invention,
[0068] FIG. 27 shows another embodiment of a system according to
the present invention,
[0069] FIGS. 28 and 29 show another embodiment of a cutting
apparatus according to the present invention for cutting food items
conveyed on a conveyor but instead of utilizing only a single
conveyor belt two adjacent conveyor belts are used,
[0070] FIG. 30 shows yet another embodiment of a cutting apparatus
according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0071] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a
cutting apparatus 100 according to the present invention for
cutting food items conveyed on a conveyor 101 including a conveyor
belt 102. The apparatus comprises a cutter 103 that is arranged
above a gap 104 extending across the conveyor belt 102. The gap is
formed between adjacent elongated supporting means such as adjacent
rollers with a fixed internal arrangement. This will be discussed
in more details in relation to the remaining figures. The conveyor
belt 102 may be made of any type of deflecting material that may be
of solid type such as any type of rubber or plastic material and/or
any type of belt that is stiff in the transversal direction and
flexible in the longitudinal direction such as an Intralox belt
type.
[0072] The cutter may be, but is not limited to, a fluid pressure
cutter, a laser beam cutter, a high pressurized gas cutter, or a
cutting blade, where the cutter is slideable mounted to a track 105
positioned transverse and across the conveyor belt 102 directly
above the gap 104 such that the cutting path of the cutter 103
extends through the gap 104 and below the surface level of the
conveyor belt 102. The track may be an integral part of oppositely
arranged supporting frames 106 for supporting the track and thus
the cutter 103. The frames are mounted to vertical side plates 107
that are slideable mounted to opposite arranged tracks 108 parallel
to the conveying direction. The cutter is operable connected to a
control mechanism including a driving unit (not shown) for
operating crosswise movement of the cutter along the gap 104 as
indicated by the arrow 112. The cutter is further operable
connected to a control mechanism including a driving unit 111 to
operate back and forth movement of the adjacent elongated
supporting means as indicated by the arrow 113 and the cutter
parallel to the conveying direction while maintaining the internal
arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the
cutter 103 fixed, i.e. so that the cutter plane is at all times
positioned directly above the opening 104. FIG. 1 shows further a
conveyor motor 109 for running the conveyor belt, and a frame
structure 110 for supporting the cutting apparatus.
[0073] In another embodiment and which will be discussed in more
details in relation to FIGS. 28-29, the adjacent elongated
supporting means, e.g. adjacent rollers, are distal end-rollers of
two adjacent conveyor belts each of which being provided with a
belt stretching mechanism for maintaining a fixed belt tension at
all times while maintaining said fixed internal arrangement of the
adjacent rollers.
[0074] FIGS. 2-4 depict graphically a perspective view, top view
and a side view of an embodiment of the cutting apparatus 100 shown
in FIG. 1, where a single conveyor belt 102 is used and where the
adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 are rollers. This
should of course not be construed as being limited to rollers since
any types of elongated supporting means that preferably have a
smooth surface area for preventing the conveyor belt from being
damaged may be implemented. In this embodiment, a further roller
(elongated supporting means) 204 is provided and placed between and
below the adjacent rollers 202, 203 such that it intersects with
the cutting plane 206 of the cutter. As mentioned in relation to
FIG. 1, the cutter may e.g. be a fluid pressure cutter meaning that
this further roller must be made of material that can withstand the
impact from the fluid pressure, such as a stainless steel. As shown
here, the internal arrangement between the rollers 202-204 is such
that the further roller 204 is positioned below the cutter 103 and
thus intersects with the cutting planes 206 at all times. This
arrangement of the rollers provides bypass for the conveyor belt
102 since the conveyor belt extends between the adjacent rollers
202, 203 and the further roller 204 such that a substantial
U-shaped profile of the conveyor belt 102 is formed. The
arrangement of the rollers 202-204 shown here may be considered as
the position where the further roller 204 is in a closed position,
i.e. where it is placed below the surface level of the adjacent
roller 202, 203 and where the conveyor belt 102 is in a stretched
state. The adjacent rollers 202, 203 may be rigidly mounted to the
vertical side plates 107 (see FIG. 1), whereas the further roller
204 is also mounted to the side plates 107 but in a way that it is
adjustable from being in a locked position, as shown here, to an
unlocked position via an lock/unlock mechanism comprised in the
side plates. By doing so, the further roller 204 is adjustable
upwards so that the conveyor belt will be no longer be stretched,
i.e. in a slack state. The conveyor belt may thus easily be removed
from the cutting apparatus 100, e.g. for cleaning purposes or for
replacing it with a new belt. Any types of conveyor belts may be
used, e.g. thin solid belts made of plastic material or e.g.
polyurethane, polyester and the like.
[0075] The conveying direction of the food item 201, in this case a
fish fillet, is indicated by arrow 205. A typical procedure as will
be discussed in more details in relation to FIG. 13 is following:
an imaging apparatus such as an x-ray system, takes x-ray images of
the fish fillet 201. The x-ray images are processed by a computer
system including a processing unit which detects where e.g.
undesired fat tissues and/or undesired objects such as bones are
located. Based on this, cutting operation parameters are generated
that operate both the back and forth movement of the cutter 103
across the conveyor belt 102 within the gap 104 as indicated by
arrow 112, and also back and forth movement of the cutter parallel
to the conveying direction as indicated by arrow 113. Accordingly,
one and the same cutter is being used for performing a two
dimensional cutting, i.e. it is capable of cutting while being
moved back and forth parallel to the conveying direction as well as
simultaneously being move transverse across the conveyor.
[0076] The rollers 202-204 and the track 105 shown in FIG. 1 may be
mounted to a common frame structure, e.g. said supporting frames
106 and side plates 107, which is operable connected to a driving
unit (not shown) that operate the back and forth movement of this
frame structure and thus the back and forth movement of the cutter
103 where this back and forth speed may be larger or less than the
speed of the conveyor belt 102. Accordingly, while the fish fillet
201 is being conveyed one and the same cutter can trim the
periphery of the fish fillet 201 and also remove e.g. the bones
from the fish fillet.
[0077] FIGS. 5-7 depict graphically a perspective view, top view
and a side view of the cutting apparatus in FIGS. 2-4, showing
where a portion of the fish fillet 201 at the head end is being
cut. In order to do so, the cutter moves first against the
conveying direction 205 towards the tail end, and subsequently in
the same direction as the conveying direction with a speed that is
larger than that of the conveyor belt 102. The result is a
substantial U-shaped cut out portion 801 as shown in FIG. 8, but as
shown this portion has been removed from the fish fillet. FIG. 9
shows where the cutter 103 has moved sidewise across the opening
104 for cutting other parts of the fish fillet. The fluid pressure
(or the laser beam, or the air pressure) is preferably also
controllable at all times meaning that the e.g. the fluid pressure
is adjustable from being in operation when cutting is taking place
and shut off when no cutting is taking place, i.e. a kind of an
on-off mode of the cutting is preferably fully operable. As an
example, while the cutter is moving across the gap 104 the fluid
pressure is shut off, and when the cutting is continued it is
turned on.
[0078] In one embodiment, the cutter is further provided with a
tilting mechanism (not shown) for adjusting the tilting angle
within the cutting plane of the cutter.
[0079] The food items should of course not be construed as being
limited to fish fillets, but this cutting apparatus may be of
particular importance for cutting poultry items such as poultry
breast, red meat and the like.
[0080] The cut out portion(s) 801 may in one embodiment be removed
with a vacuum or suction means. This may of particular importance
when the cut out portion(s) 801 are located a position, which as
shown, is e.g. between the opposite sides of the fish fillet (or
any food products) where it is not possible to scrape it away. As
will be discussed later, if the cut out portions is at either sides
of the food product (see e.g. FIG. 13-17) other means may be used
to removed the cut out portion(s) from the conveyor belt 102.
[0081] FIGS. 10 and 11 depict a perspective view and a side view of
one embodiment of a cutting apparatus according to the present
invention, where the adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203
and the at least one further elongated supporting means, which in
this case is a single further elongated supporting means 204, are
rollers 202-204 that create a bypass for the conveyor belt 102. The
diameter of the further roller 204 is preferably larger than that
of the adjacent rollers 202, 203.
[0082] The cutting apparatus in this embodiment further comprises
an elongated bar 1000 arranged below the surface level of the
conveyor belt 102 between the further elongated supporting means
204 and the cutter 103 and extends across the conveyor belt, e.g.
between said common frame structure. In that way, the internal
arrangement between the bar 1000 and the rollers 202-204 is fixed
meaning that the bar 1000 moves back and forth as the rollers
202-204 are moved back and forth.
[0083] As depicted in this embodiment, the bar is a tube 1000 with
a slot 1004 extending along the longitudinal axis of the tube 1000
where the slot is facing the cutting plane of the cutter 103 at all
times. The tube may be open at its opposite end or partly open so
as to let the water 1001 that accumulates in the tube to flow out
of the tube.
[0084] Assuming the cutter 103 is a water cutter, the water beam
1003 hits the slot and thus the accumulated water, which results in
that the impact from the water beam 1003 becomes absorbed or
depleted by the tube or by the water accumulated within the tube.
In that way, the conveyor belt will in no way be damaged during the
cutting procedure. The tube 1000 may in addition to this easily be
replaced with a new one when due to e.g wear. Thus, a cost saving
solution is provided since it is more economical to replacing the
tube 1000 with a new once, instead replacing the roller 204. It
should be noted that the elongated bar 1000 should not be construed
to the tube shown here but other shapes of elongated bars may be
used suitable for absorbing the cutting impact from the beam so as
to prevent the belt from being damaged. The shapes, material type,
thickness etc. of the elongated bar may also depend on the type of
the cutter being used.
[0085] FIG. 12a,b depicts two different embodiments of said
adjacent elongated supporting means, where FIG. 12a shows the
embodiment that has been discussed in relation to FIGS. 2-11, where
the adjacent elongated supporting means are rollers 202, 203 as
well as the further elongated supporting means 204, that create a
bypass for the conveyor belt 102.
[0086] FIG. 12b shows an embodiment where the adjacent elongated
supporting means are triangular shaped bars 2002, 2003 where the
acute angles of the triangular shaped bars are facing each other.
As the figures show, the active distance 1201 between the adjacent
rollers 202, 203 in FIG. 12a, i.e. the distance where the planar
surface of the conveyor belt 102 starts to deviate from the planer
surface, is larger compared to the active distance 1201 in FIG. 12b
between the adjacent triangular shaped bars 2002, 2003. Thus, in
case the food items are relatively short, it may be preferred to
use such triangular shaped bars 2002, 2003.
[0087] FIGS. 13-15 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the
apparatus according to the present invention further comprising a
scraper 1301 adapted to remove cut out pieces of the food items
after the cutting. The embodiment shown here further comprises said
elongated bar 1000, but this embodiment obviously applies also to
the embodiment in the absence of this elongated bar 1000.
[0088] The scraper 1301 may be mounted to the cutter 103 or the
track 105 (see FIG. 1), but preferably so that the scraper 1301
follows the cutter 103 at all times, e.g. by rigidly mounting the
scraper to the cutter with a pre-fixed angle. The scraper may also
be mounted to a scraper operating mechanism (not shown here) that
is capable of lifting the scraper 1301 up, as shown in FIG. 14, and
down, as shown in FIG. 13, via e.g. air jack mechanism, depending
on whether the scraper is 1301 is being used or not.
[0089] In one embodiment, the scraper operating mechanism is also
capable of adjusting the angle of the scraper via vertical
rotational axis, depending on whether a portion of the right or
left side of the fish fillet 201 (food item) is being cut and
subsequently removed. As shown here, the distal end of the scraper
1301 points towards the distal end of the conveyor belt 102. FIG.
15 shows where the loins 1501 of the fish fillet has been cut and
subsequently removed from the fish fillet. Accordingly, no extra
manpower is needed to manually remove the cut out portion.
[0090] As an example, if the food item is pork belly, the scraper
1301 is of particular advantage when being utilized to remove the
trim of the pork belly at the opposite sides of the pork belly. In
such cases, the above mentioned angle of the scraper 1301 would be
changed in accordance to e.g. images taken of the pork belly
indicating which of the sides of the pork belly is being processed.
This will be discussed in more details in relation to FIG. 19.
[0091] FIG. 16-18 depict a top view of the embodiment shown in
FIGS. 13-15, where FIG. 16 shows the scenario shortly before
cutting the loins 1501 of the fish fillet 201, FIG. 17 depicts the
scenario during the cutting, showing clearly that the scraper 1301
is attached or associated to the cutter 103 at all times. As shown
in this embodiment, the scraper 1301 is positioned adjacent and
behind the cutter 103, i.e. at the downstream end with respect to
the conveying direction 205 of the conveyor belt 102 so as to allow
immediate removal of the loins 1501 (i.e. the cut out piece).
However, the scraper 1501 may just as well be placed further down
the conveying direction 205 and thus remove the cut out portions
somewhat compared to the embodiment shown here. FIG. 18 shows where
the loins 1501 of the fish fillet has been removed from the fish
fillet.
[0092] FIG. 19 shows one embodiment of a food processing system
1900 according to the present invention comprising the cutting
apparatus 100 as discussed in relation to FIGS. 1-12. The food
processing system 1900 comprises an imaging system 1902 and a
computer system 1901. The imaging system may be, but is not limited
to, a light source placed above the conveyor belt for imaging said
food items and based thereon produce data identifying said
undesired objects, or a three dimensional imaging equipment, or a
color vision, or a x-ray system, or an ultraviolet system, or a
combination of one or more of the above. Assuming that the imaging
system is x-ray system, the resulting imaging data are x-ray data
of the food items to be processed, in this case said fish fillet
201. The computer system 1901 is operable connected to a tracing
mechanism (not shown), such as a tacho meter, for tracing the
position of the fish fillet 201 while being conveyed. The computer
system 1901 is further adapted to process the image data 1903 and
generate operation parameters 1905 for operating said movement of
the cutter 103 across the conveyor belt 102 and parallel to the
conveying direction as indicated by the arrow 113. The operation
parameters 1905 may further contain information indicating e.g.
whether said scraper should be in an "active" mode adjacent to the
conveyor belt (see FIGS. 13-18), and/or whether angle direction of
the scraper, and/or the angle of the scraper.
[0093] In one embodiment, the imaging system includes a further
x-ray system (not shown) positioned subsequent to cutting the food
items adapted to image the processed food items. The computer
system 1901 is also adapted to process this image data, e.g. x-ray
data, for determining whether undesired objects are present in the
processed food items, e.g. bones or small metal pieces. These food
items may then subsequently be rejected.
[0094] In another embodiment, the x-ray system includes a first
x-ray beam for radiating the food items from a first viewing angle,
e.g. from above or below, for generating first view x-ray image
data, and a second x-ray beam for radiating the food items from a
second viewing angle, e.g. from the side, for generating a second
view x-ray image data. The image data are then processed for
generating three dimensional image data based of said items.
[0095] The imaging system, in this case the x-ray system, may be a
dual energy system, meaning that the x-ray radiation uses two
frequencies, where the attenuation of the radiations, e.g. the two
frequencies when passing the products are measured and detected.
However, also x-ray radiation systems with a single
energy/frequency can be used for this purpose, for example when the
height/thickness of the products are even or when the products are
formed to have a substantially uniform thickness.
[0096] FIGS. 20-22 depict a perspective view, a top view and a side
view of another embodiment of a cutting apparatus 100 according to
the present invention. The cutting apparatus shown here further
comprises at least one supporting means 2000 for supporting said
belt 201. In this embodiment, the at least one supporting means is
a supporting belt that extends between a first roller means 2001
and a second roller means 2002. As will be discussed in more
details later the at least one supporting belt is fixed to a frame
structure 2003 that supports said adjacent elongated supporting
means 202, 203 and said further elongated supporting means 204. At
least one of the roller means 2001, 2002 acts as a driving roller
for the frame structure 2003 via the at least one supporting belt
and provides said back and forth displacement of the elongated
supporting means 202-204 and the cutting means 103.
[0097] As shown, the at least one supporting belt 2000 is arranged
adjacent and below said conveyor belt 102 and provides a support
for the conveyor belt, i.e. the conveyor belt 102 lies on top of
the at least one supporting belt 2000. For illustrative purposes
the conveyor belt 102 is shown in dotted lines to educe the view of
the at least one supporting belt 2000. The conveying direction of
the food item, in this case a fish fillet 201, is indicated by the
arrow 205.
[0098] The number of supporting belts shown here is four, but this
number may vary from being only one supporting belt to two or more
supporting belts, where the number of belts may e.g. depend on the
width of the conveyor belt 102 or the type and/or weight of the
food products. Also, in this embodiment, the four supporting belts
2000 extend around the first and second roller means 2001, 2002
where the distance between the upper and the lower horizontal sides
of the supporting belts is greater that the depth of the U-shaped
belt.
[0099] The ends 2006, 2007 of the four supporting belts 2000 are
mounted to an upstream side 2005 and a downstream side 2004 of the
frame structure 2003. As FIGS. 20 and 22 show, the first and the
second ends 2007, 2006 of the four supporting belts 2000 extend
upward and along the downstream and the upstream sides of the frame
structure 2003 and around elongated bars (not shown here) to the
first and second rollers 2001, 2002, respectively.
[0100] The at least one supporting belt may be made a timing belt
which has a tooth shaped pattern and where the driving roller 2001,
2002 has a corresponding tooth shaped surface for engaging with the
at least one tooth shape of the timing belt.
[0101] FIGS. 23-25 depict a perspective view, a top view and a side
view of the same embodiment as shown in FIGS. 20-22, but at some
later time point where the fish fillet 201 has been conveyed from
the first position shown in FIGS. 20-22 towards a second position
and where a portion 2301 of the fish fillet has been removed with
the cutting means.
[0102] FIG. 26 shows one embodiment of said frame structure 2300
discussed in relation to FIGS. 20-25, where the frame structure
comprises two opposite sides 2601 (the distal side is not shown).
Said adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 is mounted to an
upper part of the two opposite sides 2601 and said further
elongated supporting means 204 is mounted to the lower part of the
two opposite sides 2601. The internal arrangement between the
adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 and the further
elongated supporting means 204 is such that the vertical plane
extending through the further elongated supporting means 204 is
between the vertical planes extending through the adjacent
elongated supporting means 202, 203. These elongated supporting
means shown in this embodiment are guide rollers that rotate around
an elongated rotation axis and act as idle rollers.
[0103] The frame structure further comprises a winch acting as a
locking/un-locking mechanism 2604 for locking and unlocking the
further elongated supporting means 204 by e.g. moving the winch
2604 from the horizontal position shown here where the further
elongated supporting means 204 is in a locked position up to a
horizontal position where the further elongated supporting means
204 is in an unlocked position. By doing so the further elongated
supporting means 204 my be lifted upwards via the handle 2605 when
e.g. removing the belt 102.
[0104] The mounting of the first and second ends 2006, 2007 of the
supporting belts may as an example done by means of sliding the
open ends into a pockets 2602 that e.g. clamp the open ends of the
supporting belts in a fixed position, and extending the supporting
belts 2000 upwards and around elongated bars 2610, 2611 that are
rigidly mounted to the frame structure towards said first and
second roller means 2001, 2002, respectively.
[0105] Other means may also be provided for fixing the open ends of
the supporting belts to the upstream/downstream sides of the frame
structure.
[0106] The wheels 2603, 2604 are adapted to slide on a sliding
track (not shown here) for allowing said back and forth movement of
the frame structure.
[0107] The cutting means may in relation to FIGS. 20-26 be mounted
to the frame structure 2300 so that it follows the back and forth
movement of the frame structure 2300 and also along a sliding track
or similar means across the gap (not shown here), or the cutting
means may run along and across separate sliding means along and/or
across the gap 104 by be synchronized such that it is position
above the gap at all times, i.e. independently from said frame
structure 2300.
[0108] FIG. 27 shows another embodiment of a system according to
the present invention 1900. In this embodiment, the conveyor 101
further comprises a third roller means 2701 and a fourth roller
means 2702 placed distally away from said first and second roller
means 2001 of the cutting apparatus 100, where the third roller
means act as a driving roller means for the conveyor belt 101. In
this embodiment the cutting means may, but is not limited to, be a
water jet cutter, but shown here is also a spiral shaped water
inlet 2705 into the cutter, that is connected to a water source
(not shown).
[0109] The cutting apparatus 100 is arranged within a frame 2706
but in this embodiment the size of the frame is large enough to
contain another cutting apparatus (not shown) next to the cutting
apparatus shown here. Moreover, the frame 2706 further includes an
upper compartment 2707 to host the motor that drives the back and
forth movement of the frame structure 2300.
[0110] Also, imaging equipment 2703 is shown, but this may e.g. be
an X-ray apparatus for collecting data indicating e.g. the position
of bones to be removed and/or undesired tissues, fat etc. but this
data is used by a computer system/control unit (not shown) to
operate the cutting means that removes the bones and/or the
undesired tissues fat etc.
[0111] One and the same conveyor belt 101 is used throughout the
system, i.e. from where the food items enter the imaging equipment
until the food items have been processed by the cutting apparatus
100. This means that there is no need to use two different conveyor
belts, i.e. one conveyor belt for the imaging equipment that
conveys the food items into and through the imaging equipment and
another cutting belt when cutting the food items with the cutting
means.
[0112] FIGS. 28 and 29 depict another embodiment of a cutting
apparatus 100 according to the present invention for cutting food
items conveyed on a conveyor, but instead of utilizing only a
single conveyor belt as discussed in relation to the previous
figures and create a bypass for creating said gap, two adjacent
conveyor belts 2801, 2802 are used where said adjacent elongated
supporting means 202, 203 are distal end-rollers of two adjacent
conveyor belts 2801, 2802. As depicted here, each of the conveyor
belts 2801, 2802 is provided with a belt stretching mechanism that
is connected to the opposite ends 2803, 2804 of the two conveyors
2801, 2802, that adjusts height of the opposite ends in dependence
of the length of the horizontal part of the conveyors such that the
belt tension of the conveyor belt remains substantial constant at
all times. These opposite ends may e.g. be idle rollers. FIGS. 28
and 29 show the adjacent ends 202, 203 of the cutting apparatus 100
in two different positions, where FIG. 28 shows the adjacent
elongated supporting means 202, 203 are more to the right compared
to FIG. 29 and where the opposite end 2803 is moved downward
whereas the opposite end 2804 moved upward.
[0113] Any type of means (not shown) may be placed below the gap,
especially in case the cutting means is a water jet, to take the
impact from e.g. the water jet. In case the cutting means is a
cutting blade such means may not be needed.
[0114] FIG. 30 shows another embodiment of a cutting apparatus 100
according to the present invention where the at least one further
elongated supporting means comprises two roller means 3001, 3002
instead of said single roller as shown in FIGS. 2-26. The space
between the two roller means 3001, 3002 facilitates the removal of
any undesired dirt, particles, tissues, bones, off-cut particles
and the like from the processing, but it is important that such
dirt/particles etc. do not land on the surface of the conveyor belt
and become clamped between the belt 102 and the rollers 3001, 3002.
The rollers 3001, 3002 might then push them hard to the belt 102
and therefore they might stick firmly to it.
[0115] A removing means 3004 may be provided at the space between
the roller means 3001, 3002 for removing said undesired
dirt/particles/off-cuts etc. that may fall down through the opening
between the adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203. This may
as an example be, but is not limited to, a blowing devices that
blows these away before the dirt becomes clamped between the
conveyor belt and the rollers, a water jets, a suction mechanism
and the like.
[0116] This embodiment shows also said elongated bar 1000 as
discussed in relation to FIGS. 10 and 11, but this may especially
be important if the cutting means is a water jet cutter, to prevent
the cutting means from damaging the belt 102. In case the cutting
means is a cutting blade or similar means such an elongated beam
1000 may not be needed.
[0117] Also, this embodiments shows where said at least one
supporting belt 2000 extends between four rollers where at least
one of these rollers are driving rollers for the adjacent elongated
supporting means 202, 203 and the two roller means 3001, 3002, or
the frame structure (not shown here) to which these adjacent
elongated supporting means 202, 203 and the two rollers 3001, 3002
are mounted to. The number of rollers between which the at least
one supporting belts 2000 extends should of course not be construed
as being limited to these four rollers, but e.g. two rollers as
discussed in relation to FIGS. 20-25 could just as well be
possible.
[0118] The same applies to the number of rollers between which the
conveyor belt extends between, but these rollers could just as well
be two or more.
[0119] While the invention has been illustrated and described in
detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration
and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and
not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed
embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be
understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing
the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the
disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word
"comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the
indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. The
mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different
dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these
measures cannot be used to advantage.
* * * * *