U.S. patent number 3,664,396 [Application Number 05/103,430] was granted by the patent office on 1972-05-23 for dicing machine.
Invention is credited to Gerard A. Tremblay.
United States Patent |
3,664,396 |
Tremblay |
May 23, 1972 |
DICING MACHINE
Abstract
A reversible motor is connected through a speed reducing drive
train to rotate a worm having pitched and pitchless grooves to
advance intermittantly a ram mounted pressing head within a box
fastened to a face plate holding interchangeable cutting frames and
orificed plates to produce desired protrusions; the same drive
train to rotate a shaft to which attach interchangeable cutting
knives to revolve flush with the outward face of said face plate to
sever the extrusions only upon the stationary position of said
pressing head. The length of the extrusions for dicing is
determined by the distance between the centers of the pitched and
pitchless grooves of said worm, which is equal to the spacing
between the blades disposed in quadrillations of the specific
cutting frame chosen to produce said square extrusions. Reversing
the rotation of the motor retracts the pressing head to its
starting position in the box. A motor switch supplies electrical
power to the motor and its direction of rotation is controlled by a
forward reverse switch actuated by the closing and opening of the
box door. A forward rotation limit switch stops the motor
automatically at the completion of a full extrusion cycle and a
reverse rotation limit switch stops the motor automatically at the
completion of a full retracting cycle.
Inventors: |
Tremblay; Gerard A. (Montreal
403, Quebec, CA) |
Family
ID: |
22295139 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/103,430 |
Filed: |
January 4, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
425/152;
241/101.01; 99/537 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B26D
3/18 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B26D
3/18 (20060101); B26D 3/00 (20060101); B26d
003/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;146/78A,113D,169 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Abercrombie; Willie G.
Claims
I claim:
1. A dicing machine for cutting fruits, vegetables and other foods
in cubes and capable, through interchangeability of parts, of
extruding and cutting such shapes as strips, slices, shreds,
mincings, ricings, gratings, shoestrings, and also capable of
extracting juices, crush ice, compress meats, etc., comprising:
a face-plate having a three-sided opening, the edges of which being
step-cut to provide seating for interchangeable extruding cutting
frames with serrated blades disposed in quadrillations and in
parallel and plates having large and small orifices, said frames
and plates having step-cut edges which slide into said opening;
a face-plate having an annular opening in its center allowing
passage of a driving shaft to which attach interchangeable
cross-cutting and toothed knives to sever the extrusions produced
by said cutting frames and orificed plates;
a face-plate having a plurality of tapped holes in its outward face
into which fasten legs or posts supporting the machine when it is
operated in the vertical position;
a face-plate having two extensions to its rear edge forming
supporting legs for the horizontal operating position of the
machine;
a face-plate having tapped holes in its back face to receive the
screws fastening the flanges of a motor housing and the flanges of
a removable box enclosing a ram pressing head;
a face-plate having tapped holes in its rear edge to receive the
screws fastening a plate closing said motor housing, said plate
having a narrow angled bracket extending from its bottom edge to
receive for support the flanged rim of a circular knife-guard
pan;
a face-plate having two tapped holes in its back face to receive
the screws pivoting the swinging clips holding for support said
flanged rim of the knife-guard pan.
2. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a motor housing having flanges at its open bottom which are
fastened to the back face of said face-plate;
a motor housing having tapped holes in the bosses inside of one of
its walls to receive the bolts fastening the resilient mounting of
a motor;
a reversible motor being retained by said resilient mounting;
a motor housing having a on-off two-pole motor switch fastened to
one of its walls;
a motor housing having a rubber bushed annular opening in one of
its walls for the passage of a plug-in cord which is connected to
said motor switch;
a motor housing having a rectangular opening in its top wall for
the seating of a bearing-block and having a plurality of tapped
holes in said top wall to receive the bolts fastening the flanges
of said bearing-block to the top of said top wall;
a reducing gear train being held in rotation by the bearings of
said bearing-block, the sections of which are bolted together and
forming part of the bearing-block assembly;
a reducing gear train being rotated by the meshing of a pinion
fitted to the shaft of said motor;
a driving shaft being rotated by said reducing gear train, in said
bearing-block, and extending to rotate in a bearing at the base of
the front wall of said motor housing to protrude beyond the annular
opening in the center of said face-plate where an off-set keying
lug is tapped centrally to receive a wingscrew which fastens said
interchangeable knives and align the latter for flush revolving
over the outward face of said face-plate;
a driving shaft being fitted with a gear having lugs or dogs for
the driving of a worm, and being tapered at its top end to provide
easy centering of the bored recess of said worm;
a motor housing having a ledge extending from its top wall and
being centrally bossed and bored to form a bearing into which
slides a ram and for the guidance of said ram's pressing head
within said enclosing box;
a forward-reverse rotation switch being fastened to said ledge and
having a stem extending frontward to coincide with and fit into a
pocket in the front base of a ram guide, said stem being pushed-in
to close the contacts of the forward rotation side of said switch
by the action of a pin fitted to the box door when the latter is
closed, said stem being released by the opening of said door, at
which time the reverse rotation contacts are closed and the forward
rotation contacts are open;
a motor housing having a plurality of tapped holes in the flanged
edge of its open back wall to receive the screws fastening said
closing plate.
3. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a worm having one of its ends recessed and bored to adapt to the
tapered end of said driving shaft and being transversally grooved
to adapt over the lugs or dogs of said shaft gear to be driven in
rotation by said driving shaft;
a worm having its other end terminating into a stub shaft which
rotates in a bearing fastening to a gear and worm housing, the
latter being fastened to the top of said motor housing;
a worm having a plurality of single pitched grooves in 180.degree.
or in one half of its circumferential face and parallel or
pitchless grooves in the remaining 180.degree. or in the opposite
half of its circumferential face and being continuous in width,
depth and angle for the entire length of said face;
a toothed block having a plurality of teeth of a width, length and
angle to slide into and to mesh with a group of the worm's grooves
to be advanced when said teeth are riding in the pitched grooves
and to remain stationary when riding in the pitchless grooves of
said worm, thereby being advanced intermittantly upon each full
revolution of said worm;
a block carrier retaining said toothed block and having a hub at
its lower end which is bored to fit over a ram and being tapped to
receive a setscrew;
a block carrier having embedded rollers in the top and bottom face
of its back member protruding slightly from the latter to ride over
the inside face of a trough shaped guide fastening to said gear and
worm housing and to said ledge of the motor housing when said
carrier is advanced by the toothed block's meshing into the pitched
grooves of said worm;
a ram being of a diameter to slide through the bearing in the ledge
of said motor housing and being of a length which includes the
length of the body or face of the worm plus an extension beyond
said bearing to allow for the adapting of a pressing head;
a pressing head being square in shape and having a bored hub
adapting to the end of said ram and being tapped to receive a
knurled head setscrew for hand locking, providing easy removability
for cleaning;
a pressing head having a plurality of lugs of a length and shape to
lodge loosely in the spaces between the serrated blades of the
cutting frames at the completion of a full extrusion cycle.
4. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a guide being trough shaped, e.g. having three walls, the side
walls of which are flanged for fastening to said gear and worm
housing and being slotted in its front wall to allow for full
travel of a releasing bolt;
a guide having a slot at the top and bottom of its front wall into
which slide for adjustment the studbolts of the limit switch
brackets, the top one being for the reverse rotation limit switch
and the bottom one being for the forward rotation limit switch and
being calibrated for specific adjustments when extrusions are made
by cutting frames or by orificed plates, the latter requiring a
shorter extrusion cycle;
a guide having a larger width and height at its lower end to fit
over the forward-reverse rotation switch and has an annular opening
near its bottom edge to form a pocket into which lodges the
extremity of the stem of said switch, said larger end being drilled
to receive the bolts fastening it to said motor housing ledge.
5. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a releasing bolt for the manual engagement and disengagement of
said toothed block's teeth with the grooves of said worm;
a releasing bolt having a threaded end rotating in the tapped hole
in the back center of said toothed block, a body fitting loosely in
an annular opening in the back member of said block carrier, a
locking pin fitted transversally into said body and lodging into a
transversal groove in the inside face of the back member of said
block carrier when said toothed block is in the disengaged
position;
a releasing bolt having a body extending beyond and within the slot
in the front wall of said guide and having a knurled head for hand
rotation;
a releasing bolt having a coiled spring encircling its body to
exert pressure between said knurled head and the back member of
said block carrier to hold said locking pin in said transversal
groove when in disengaged position;
a releasing bolt as described above being in the engaged position
when it is pressed-in and rotated 90.degree. in either direction,
whereby said locking pin is dislodged from said transversal groove
and wedges vertically between the inside face of said block carrier
and the back of said toothed block forcing its teeth to lodge into
the grooves of said worm.
6. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a box having two side walls and an open front being flanged for
fastening by means of thumbscrews to the back of the face-plate and
to the front wall of the motor housing, said thumbscrews permitting
the easy removability of said box for cleaning;
a box having an annular opening in its front flange into which
adapts the end of the setscrew fastening for alignment the cutting
frames and orificed plates;
a box having a top wall spanning its two side walls to provide
rigidity, said top wall being slotted to lodge over the ram with
generous clearance to allow for removability;
a box having half hinges at the top and bottom of one of its side
walls, the bottom one having an annular opening in which adapts the
pivoting pin of the bottom half hinge of a door, and the top one
having an annular opening into which adapts a thumbscrew pivoting
the top half hinge of said door;
a box having parallel lugs at the front center of one of its side
walls between which fulcrums a latch being pivoted by a screw
fitting into tapped holes in said lugs;
a latch having a hook-shaped head to hold the door in closed
position, said latch being kept in engagement by the pressure of a
coil spring fitting over a lug at end of the inner face of the tail
end of said latch and resting on said side wall;
a latch being released from said engaged position by pressing in
said tail end against said spring, whereby said hooked head slides
off the edge of said door.
7. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a door having half hinges at the top and bottom of one of its side
edges, the bottom one having a pin adapting into the annular
opening in the bottom half hinge of said box, and the top one being
tapped to receive the threaded end of the thumbscrew pivoting into
the annular opening in the top half hinge of said box;
a door having step-cut edges at all four sides to provide tight
closure over the edges of the front wall of the box, the smaller
rectangle being formed by said step-cut fitting with slight
clearance within said box;
a door having a pull-knob fitted to its outward face;
a door having a pin fitted to the inside top of its step-cut edge
to coincide with and lodge into the annular pocket in the bottom
front of the ram guide when the door is shut to actuate the
forward-reverse rotation switch stem, whereby the ram head will be
made to advance in an extrusion cycle with said door in the closed
position only.
8. A dicing machine as described in claim 1 including:
a knife-guard pan being circular and having a flat bottom,
preferably of transparent material to permit observation of the
extrusions and cuts produced by the machine, and being of a height
to clear generously the surface upon which the machine rests in the
vertical position or as standing upon the removable legs fitted for
that purpose to the outward face of the face-plate;
a knife-guard pan having a narrow outward flange at its top for
seating to the outward edge of said face-plate and being of an
inside diameter generously larger than the circle described by the
revolving tip of the knife fitted to the driving shaft;
a knife-guard pan being retained in position upon said face-plate
by the hooking of its flange between the angled extension at the
bottom edge of the motor housing closure plate and said face-plate,
and by the closing of the clips pivotted at the back of said
face-plate upon said flange, thereby fastening said knife-guard pan
at three points and providing complete safety of operation of the
machine in either the vertical or horizontal position.
Description
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In its preferred form the invention comprises a reversible motor
driven ram operated pressing head type machine for cutting fruits,
vegetables and other foods, having a pitched and pitchless grooved
worm determining the length of extrusions produced by the cutting
blades of specific frames and by the orifices of specific plates,
and the severance of the extrusions being accomplished by specific
rotating knives, and a motor reversing means to retract the
pressing head upon completion of the extruding cycle.
The principal object of the invention is to provide a sturdy,
efficient, easily operated, safe to use, readily dismantable for
cleaning and fully portable machine for cutting fruits, vegetables
and other foods in small size cubes for dicing, principally, and
also capable of producing such other shapes as square and round
strips, slices, shreds, gratings, mincings, ricings, extracting
juices, crushing ice, etc., in the preparation of soups, salads,
side dishes, garnishings, cocktails, for french-frying, preserving
and pickling, which will prove to be a great asset to restaurants,
hotels, institutions and homes.
Other features of the invention reside in its construction and in
the simple arrangement of its parts as hereinafter described and
particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
In the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation, fully in section, of one embodiment of
the invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the machine in direction I--I of FIG.
1 showing the face plate with a cutting frame having blades
disposed in quadrillations and a cutting knife in position to sever
the extrusions to produce cubes for dicing.
FIG. 3 is a rear view of the machine with a cut in direction IV--IV
of FIG. 1 showing the teeth of the toothed block meshing into the
grooves of the worm and the releasing bolt arrangement.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view in direction III--III of FIG. 1 showing
the reducing gear train and the forward-reverse rotation switch and
door actuating arrangements.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view in direction II--II of FIG. 1 showing
the position of the motor in relation to the driving shaft and to
the ram pressing head.
FIG. 6 is a frontal elevation of the essential components of the
machine to achieve intermittancy of the ram's advance showing the
pitched and pitchless grooves of the worm and toothed block
arrangement.
FIG. 7 is a frontal elevation, partly in section, of the pressing
head in the box showing the fashion in which a fruit or vegetable
is pressed through the blades of a cutting frame.
FIG. 8 is a frontal elevation, partly in section, showing the lugs
of the pressing head in lodged position in the spaces between the
blades of a cutting frame at the end of a full extrusion cycle.
FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the box door and attaching
fitting.
FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the box and attaching fittings.
FIG. 11 is an isometric view of a knife-guard pan retaining
clip.
FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the pressing head with attching
fitting.
FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the machine in the horizontal
position and stripped of all removable parts for cleaning.
FIG. 14 is an isometric view of cutting frames and orificed plates
and their attaching fitting.
FIG. 15 is an isometric view of the knife-guard pan.
FIG. 16 is an isometric view of a face plate leg.
FIG. 17 is an isometric view of a cross-cutting knife and attaching
fitting.
FIG. 18 is an isometric view of a toothed knife.
FIG. 19 is a side view of a serrated blade.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 19 inclusively, the illustrated dicing
machine comprises a motor 1 having a resilient mounting 2 fastening
to and within housing 3 which, in its turn, is fastened to the back
face of face-plate 4. The driving shaft 5 of said motor is fitted
with a pinion 6 which meshes with gear 7 fitted to one end of shaft
8 rotating in bearing 9 of bearing block 10 which is fastened to
the top of said housing. The other end of said shaft is fitted with
pinion 11 which meshes with gear 12 fitted to one end of shaft 13
rotating in bearing 14 of said bearing block. The other end of said
shaft is fitted with pinion 15 which meshes with gear 16 fitted to
shaft 17 rotating in bearing 18 of said bearing block and in
straddling bearing 19 which is also fastened to said bearing block,
and it meshes with gear 20 fitted to driving shaft 21 rotating in
bearing 22 of said bearing block and in bearing 23 at the base of
housing 3. This gear is fitted with lugs 24 which adapt in
transversal groove 25 in one end of worm 26 where the latter has a
centrally bored recess 27 adapting to the tapered end 28 of said
driving shaft. The other end of said worm has stub shaft 29 which
rotates in bearing 30 fastened to gear and worm housing 31 being,
in its turn, fastened to the top of housing 3. The body of said
worm has a plurality of grooves cut in its face in the following
fashion: parallel or pitchless grooves 32 in 180.degree. of its
circumference or in half of its face, and single pitched or
advancing type grooves 33 in the remaining 180.degree. of its
circumference or in the opposite half of its face. When said worm
is driven in clockwise rotation, facing stub shaft 29, toothed
block 34 having a plurality of teeth 35 meshing into said grooves
is made to advance when said teeth are engaged in said single
pitched grooves and to remain stationary when they are engaged in
said pitchless grooves. This stationary position coincides with the
position of cross-cutting knife 36 then revolving over the upper
half of face-plate 4 and across the outward face of cutting frame
37 having its serrated blades disposed in quadrillations 38 and
having its step-cut edges 39 seating into the step-cut edged
opening 40 of said face-plate to sever extrusions produced by the
advance of said toothed block when its teeth are engaged in the
pitched grooves of said worm. Keying opening 41 in the hub 42 of
said cross-cutting knife adapts to a similarly shaped extension 43
at the extremity of driving shaft 21, said extension being tapped
centrally 44 to receive wingscrew 45 fastening said cross-cutting
knife which has a progressively curved cutting edge 46 to sever
extrusions with a slicing effect. One said extrusions have been
severed, the knife continues to revolve over the lower or blank
half of said face-plate, therefore being out of the way of other
extrusions being formed.
Block carrier 47 contains said toothed block 34 and it travels
within the walls of a trough-shaped guide 48 fastened to gear and
worm housing 31 and to the ledge 49 of motor housing 3. It is
equipped with rollers 50 which are inserted in its back member 51
and protruding slightly so as to ride over the flat surfaces 52 of
said guide. Annular opening 53 in said back member allows the
passage of releasing bolt 54 having a threaded portion 55 rotating
in tapped hole 56 in the rear of said toothed block. Locking pin 57
is fitted transversally in the body of said bolt and adapts into
groove 58 in the inner face of said back member when said toothed
block's teeth are disengaged from the grooves of the worm. Coil
spring 59 encircles the body of said bolt and exerts pressure
between said back member and knob 60 to hold said disengaged
position when the machine is not in use. Slot 61 in the front wall
of said guide allows free sliding of said bolt and spring for the
entire length of the worm. Hub 62 of said block carrier is fitted
to the end of ram 63 and it is locked by setscrew 64 which also
retains switch tripper arm 65. Bearing 66 of ledge 49 guides said
ram in its travel and centers pressing head 67 with its hub 68
adapting to the end of said ram and being locked to the latter by
means of a thumbscrew 69 for removability, said pressing head
having a plurality of lugs 70 which lodge freely in the spaces
between blades 38 of the cutting frame at the completion of an
extruding cycle.
Box 71 has a slot 72 in its top wall to slide with generous
clearance over said ram to permit removability for cleaning.
Thumbscrews 73 fasten said box flanges 136 to said face-plate 4 and
motor housing 3. Half hinges 74 and 75 of said box mate with half
hinges 76 and 77 of door 78. Pin 79 adapts for pivotting into hole
80 and thumbscrew 81 adapts for pivotting in hole 82 and fastens
into tapped hole 83. Pin 84 fitted to the inside top of said door
coincides with annular opening 85 in the front face of said guide
48 to depress stem 86 of forward-reverse rotation switch 87 against
spring 88 within said switch. A pull-knob 89 is fitted to the front
face of said door. Parallel lugs 90 of said box are drilled and
tapped to receive threaded pin 91 retaining latch 92 which is held
in closed position by coil spring 93 fitting over lug 94. Forward
limit switch 95 is retained by bracket 96 having a studbolt 97
adapting in slot 98 of said guide 48 for adjustment to advance or
retard the completion of extrusion or crushing cycles as tripper
arm 65 depresses switch button 99. Nut 100 locks said switch in
calibrated positions. Reverse limit switch 101 is retained by
bracket 102 having studbolt 103 adapting in slot 104 of said guide
for adjustment to advance or retard the completion of the ram's
retraction as tripper arm 105 fastened to the end of block carrier
47 depresses switch button 106 of said switch. On-off motor switch
107 is fastened to housing 3 and it is connected to said motor and
to plug-in cord 108 which passes through opening 109 and resilient
bushing 110. Forward rotation contacts 111 of said forward-reverse
rotation switch are connected to one pole of said motor switch and
to said motor's clockwise rotation terminal via forward limit
switch, and reverse rotation contacts 112 of said forward-reverse
rotation switch are connected to the other pole of said motor
switch and to said motor's anticlockwise rotation terminal via
reverse limit switch. The above connections provide operational
safety of the machine as said contacts 111 are closed only upon
said box door being shut causing said motor to rotate in the
clockwise direction to advance the ram pressing head inside said
box to extrude and the cross-cutting knife to revolve and sever the
extrusions. Opening said box door closes contacts 112 causing said
motor to rotate in the anticlockwise direction to retract said ram
pressing head to the top of the box.
Back plate 113 is fastened to said motor housing 3 to close the
latter and it is extended at its bottom edge to form a narrow angle
bracket 114 to hold knife-guard pan 115 having flanged edge 116
being retained at two other points by clips 117 pivotting at the
rear face of face-plate 4 by means of screws 118.
When the machine is operated in the vertical position, said
face-plate is fitted with a plurality of legs or posts 119 being
capped with resilient ends 120 and having reduced threaded portions
121 fastening into tapped holes 122 in the outward face of said
face-plate. When the machine is operated in the horizontal
position, extending legs 123 of said face-plate and 124 of said
gear and worm housing are fitted with resilient ends 125 to provide
four point support.
Frame 126, having serrated blades 127 disposed in parallel, has the
same step-cut edges 39 as frame 37 and adapts into opening 40 of
said face-plate to extrude slices.
Plate 128, having large orifices 129 in its surface coinciding with
the inside dimensions of the box fitting over said plate, has the
same step-cut edges 39 as frame 37 and adapts into opening 40 of
said face-plate to extrude round strips.
Plate 130, having small orifices 131 in its surface coinciding with
the inside dimensions of the box fitting over said plate, has the
same step-cut edges 39 as frame 37 and adapts into opening 40 of
said face-plate to extrude shoestrings and to extract juices.
Frames 37 and 126 and plates 128 and 130 have the same tapped hole
132 into which fits setscrew 133 having small end 134 adapting in
hole 135 in the front flange 136 of said box to ensure proper
alignment.
Progressively curved toothed knife 137 has a plurality of teeth 138
of a width equal to the length of the extrusions. It features the
same keying opening in its hub as cross-cutting knife 46 and it
attaches to driving shaft 21 with the same wingscrew 45.
The interchangeability of the above frames, plates and knives
provides a wide selection of extrusions, cuts and shapes and their
combinations will produce the following:
Cutting frame 37 having serrated blades 38 disposed in
quadrillations, used with cross-cutting knife 36 fitted to driving
shaft 21, will produce perfect cubes for dicing. The same frame
used with toothed knife 137 will produce chips or gratings, and the
same frame used with no knife will produce long square strips as
required for french-frying.
Cutting frame 126 having serrated blades 127 disposed in parallel,
used with cross-cutting knife 36 fitted to driving shaft 21, will
produce short rectangular strips. The same frame used with toothed
knife 137 will produce shreds, and the same frame used with no
knife will produce slices.
Plate 128 having large orifices 129, used with cross-cutting knife
36 fitted to driving shaft 21, will produce short round pellets or
discs. The same plate used with toothed knife 137 will produce
mincings, and used with no knife it will produce long round strips
or sticks.
Plate 130 having small orifices 131, used with cross-cutting knife
36 fitted to driving shaft 21, will produce ricings. The same plate
used with toothed knife 137 will produce fine mincing, and used
with no knife it will produce shoestrings. This plate is also used
for extracting juices, crush ice, press meat for hambergers,
etc.
The particular embodiment depicted was chosen solely for
illustrative purposes, and is not intended to limit the extent of
the invention as hereinafter claimed.
* * * * *