US2208834A - Bread slicing machine - Google Patents

Description

July 23, 1940. J cRlNER 2,208,834

BREAD SLI CING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MNVENTOR. -gg-W I ATTORNEYS July 23, 1940.

H. J. CRINER BREAD SLICING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

' ATTORNEYZSJ.

Patented July 23, 1940 PATENT OFFICE BREAD SLICING MACHINE arry J. Criner, Davenport, Iowa, assignmof one-half to A. G. Bush, Davenport, Iowa Application August so.

18 Claims.

My invention relates to bread slicing machines of the band-blade type.

The objects of my invention are to provide such a machine with improved means for spacing and guiding the blades and for retaining the bread 6 against displacement during-the slicing operation. v

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine, omitting the feed and discharge tables;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of my machine but showing only a part of the blades;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 1-3 5 Of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail showing a portion of the lower set of guide fingers; I

Figure 5 is a plan view of an alternate form of levers for adjusting the relative position of the a blade guides;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail showing the fixed blade guide;

Figure 7 is a detail top view of the movableguide supporting means;

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail showing the relative position of the three sets of guide members: Figure 9 is an enlarged detail showing pairs of fingers to act as guides in place of solid fingers;

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail side view of 30 threaded blocks to actuate the adjusting levers;v

Figure 11 is an enlarged detail top view of. the threaded blocks for actuating the adjusting levers in the form shown in Figure 5; Figure 12 is an enlarged detail side view of the blade guides and adjusting levers and showing portions of the feed table and discharge table. Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My machine comprises a frame with base l3 having a supporting column united thereto, the

column being preferably T-shaped with rib l I and flanges 2 formed integral and with bosses 3 and 4 at the upper and lower ends thereof regpectively, with a revolvable shaft mounted in the lower boss I and a shaft 8 which may be either fixed or revolvably mounted in the hub l.

A pulley or drum I5 is mounted upon the shaft l and a revolvable pulley I4 is mounted upon the shaft 6. Band-blades ii are mounted upon the m pulleys preferably in Figure 8 form with the crossing point intermediate the pulleys so that the blades at their crossing point and for a certain distance each side thereof, run at right angles as shown in Figures 6 and 12 to the portions 3 contacting the pulleys, the portions intermediate 1939. Serial No. 292,631 (Cl. 14688) the pulleys being twisted in accordance with the common practice in crossed band-blade machines.

Intermediate the hubs 3 and 4 I form integral with the supporting column, arms 80 and 3|, which extend forwardly from the machine and carry transverse arms 30a and 3la which extend outwardly to about the middle of the machine.

A shaft II is revolvably mounted in the hub 8 and in a suitable bearing formed upon the outer end of the transverse shaft 30a. A hand-wheel I0 is rigidly secured upon the shaft ll adjacent the hub 8 by which the shaft ll may be manually turned.

A similar shaft I2 is similarly mounted in the hub -I and head 2! formed upon the inner end of the transverse arm 3la.

Slightly above the level of the shaft II I mount a crossbar l9 extending transversely of the machine with a foot I! which can be secured to the flange 2 by a bolt 23 or other suitable means. The bolt 22 extends through a slot 23" formed in an extension of the web 2 so as to permit vertical adjustment thereof.

The upper face of the crossbar I9 is provided with a channel 21' as shown in Figure 6 and in 25 this channel are mounted a plurality of adjusting members 48 carrying slotted fingers 21. One of the adjusting members may be rigidly united to the crossbar I! by a pin 44 as shown in Figure 4 or by other suitable means, and this may be the middle member where the guide members on each side thereof are adjustable or it may be an end member where the movable members are all arranged on one side thereof, it being obvious that my invention is applicable to one fixed member and a series of movable members arranged at one side thereof or to an intermediate fixed member with the movable members arranged on both sides thereof and movable in opposite directions therefrom.

Upon the shaft II I rigidly secure ,an arm 33', the upper end of which is formed into a yoke that carries a pivot H and upon this pivot is mounted a casting iii a part of which extends toward the frame and has united thereto by bolts or rivets 24', a bar 32 extending approximately at right angles to the crossbar l9.

The bar 32 has pivotally united thereto and extending laterally at opposite sides thereof, a series of links 26 corresponding in number with the movable guide members 48 mounted in the crossbar it, and the free ends of the links 26 are pivotally united to the guide member by pivot bolts 26', the upper portions of the guide members 48 u being preferably slotted for the introduction of the ends of the links 26.

The guide members 48 are provided with fin gers 21 having vertical slots l6 formed therein.

I prefer to form the fingers with slots 16 as shown in Figure 4, but if desired, pairs of fingers I61: and 16b may be used in place of the single fingers, with a space I6" intervening between them through which the blades I6 may run.

Just above the fingers 21 I mount a feed table 52 preferably made of thin sheet metal with a discharge table 53 to receive the bread as it passes from the fingers. These tables may be positioned just above the fingers as shown in Figure 12 or they may be supported at a level with the top of the fingers so as to avoid any interference with the progress of the bread and they may be either level or sloping as desired and in any other forms well known and in common use.

A similar slotted crossbar [1 may be similarly mounted upon the frame with similar guide members and fingers slidably mounted thereon, but in reverse position as shown in Figure 2.

An intermediate crossbar l8 may be similarly united to the frame as shown in Figure 2 having a series of guide members 50 slidably mounted therein with slotted fingers: 28a united to the guide members 58 having their ends upturned as shown in Figure 8 and these guide members may be free to slide lengthwise of the crossbar l8 and to be moved laterally by the movement of the blades.

When desired the crossbar holding the intermediate guide members may be mounted upon arms 33a as shown in Figure '1, these arms being united to hubs 39 and 39' which are pivotally mounted upon the shaft 31, the shaft 31 in turn being rigidly mounted in an arm Ia and formed integral with a rib l and this rib being formed integral with the rib I and flanges 2 of the supporting column. When thus constructed, the fingers 28a will be free to move up and down so as to follow the contour of the bread and the guide members will be free to move longitudinally of the crossbar l8a when impelled in either direction by the blades passing through the slots therein.

The shaft 31 may be mounted in a. suitable bearing formed in a movable block 4|, which can .be vertically adjusted by the bolts 43 which pass through a slot 42 formed in the bracket la.

The length and spacing of the links 26 and the spacing of their pivot connections to the bar 32, are so proportioned with reference to the positions of the guide members 48 that when the casting I3 is moved in one direction, it will force the connected ends of the links 26 to move toward the guide bar l9, thus necessarily spreading uniformly the guide members and widening the spacing between adjacent guide members. So, when the arm 33' is moved in the opposite direction, it will draw the ends of the links away from the crossbar l8 and cause the guide members to be drawn toward the middle of the crossbar l9, thus uniformly narrowing the spacing between adjacent pairs of guide members.

In Figure 10 I have shown an alternative form of apparatus for uniformly adjusting the movement of the guide members in which two bars 46 and 41 are utilized to move the links 26.

The inner ends of these bars are pivoted to a crossbar 31b united to the fiange and the opposite ends carry oppositely threaded heads 45 pivotally united to the bars 46 and 41 respectively; The bar 41 is provided with a short slot 41' in which the pivot Ha may slide lengthme of the bar, the pivot Ha being rigidly united to the head 45.

In this form the shaft ll carrying the handwheel I is mounted in the hub 8 and is provided with threads He and llb which run in opposite directions so that as the shaft H is revolved, it will draw the heads 45 nearer together or farther apart and these heads being united to the arms 46 and 41, will move the outer ends of the arms correspondingly, thereby exerting a lever action upon the links 26 and causing them to move the guide members 48 on the crossbar 19.

The lever bars 46 and 41 and the links 26 and the pivotal connections of the links to the lever bars, are so proportioned and spaced that the guide members 48 will move on the crossbar l8 at varying distances and will retain at all times a uniform spacing from each other, the slot 41' permitting sufilcient movement of the head-block 45 to prevent binding. A similar slot may be formed in the head-block in the bar 46.

The lower pulley I may be driven by a drivewheel or pulley 5 mounted upon the shaft 5 and driven by a belt or any desired form of prime mover, and the blades themselves will act as belts to drive the upper pulley l4.

The spacing in most common use for bread slicing machines spaces the blades to cut slices of from three-eighths to five-eighths of an inch in thickness and in the drawings I have shown the fingers in the position intended to space the blades half an inch apart.

When desired to cut thicker slices, the handwheels 9 and ID will be turned so as to force the guide members farther apart in the crossbars l9 and I1. This can be done while the machine is running and so that the blades will adjust themselves upon the pulleys l4 and I5 and the movement of the blades will carry with them ighe intermediate guides slidable in the cross- When desired to contract the spacing of the blades, the hand-wheels 8 and H! are turned in the opposite direction, thus pulling upon the links 26 and drawing the guide members closer together. This can also be done while the machine is in operation and the movement of the blades will carry with them the intermediate guide members in the crossbar l8.

Any of the usual forms of lateral guide for the bread and bread feed and discharge appliances may be utilized with my apparatus and I make no claim for any particular form of bread table or feeding or discharge apparatus.

Itis obvious that the size, proportions and forms of the various parts of my invention may be varied to a large extent without departing from the spirit of my invention and I do not limit my claims to the preciseforms shown in the drawings. For instance, the guide members may be slotted themselves so as to avoid the need of fingers.

In the claims I use the term guide members" to refer to guide members with slotted fingers either attached or formed integral therewith as well as to guide members comprising two spaced fingers to straddle each blade respectively and to slotted guide members without fingers.

I claim:

1. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame with spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced longitudinally grooved crossbars-united to the frame extending transversely of the machine between the drums, upper and-lower series of guide members slidably mounted in the grooved crossbars respectively to engage, twist and space the blades in their cutting courses, upper and lower push bars mounted at right angles to the crossbars respectively, upper and lower series of spaced diagonal link bars, each link bar having one end pivoted to its vcorresponding push bar and its opposite end united to a correspondin gu de member, and means for forcing the push bars in and out to uniformly expand or contract the spacing of the guide members.

2. A bread slicing machine as described in claim 1, one of the guide members of each series being rigidly secured to its crossbar.

3. A bread slicing machine as described in claim 1, the middle one of the guide members of each series being rigidly secured to its crossbar.

4. A bread slicing machine as described in claim 1, the middle one of the guide members of each series being rigidly secured to its crossbar and the guide members being arranged in spaced series on each side of the fixed middle member.

5. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame with spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a crossbar united to the frame extending transversely of the machine between the drums, a, series of guide members slidably mounted upon the crossbar to engage, twist and space the blades in their cutting courses, a push bar mounted at right angles to the crossbar, a series of spaced, diagonal link bars of progressively increasing length, each link bar having one end pivoted to the push bar and its opposite end united to a corresponding guide member, and means for forcing the push bar in and out so as to uniformly expand or contract the spacing of the guide members.

6. A mechanical movement for spacing and guiding moving blades comprising a crossbar, a guide member rigidly united to the crossbar and a series of movable guide members slidingly mounted upon the crossbar and uniformly spaced therefrom, a push bar mounted at right angles to the crossbar, a series of spaced, diagonal link bars progressively increasing in length regularly, each link bar having one end pivoted to the push bar and its opposite end united to a corresponding movable guide member, and means for moving the push bar longitudinally in either direction whereby the spacing of the guide members is uniformly expanded or contracted.

'7. A mechanical movement as described in claim 6, the movable guide members being arranged in two similar series on opposite sides of the fixed guide member and the two series being arranged to move simultaneously but in opposite direction.

8. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame with spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced, transverse supports united to the frame between the drums, upper and lower series of guide members mounted upon the transverse supports respectively, upper and lower push bars mounted at right angles to the transverse supports respectively, upper and lower series of spaced, diagonal link bars adjacent the support, each link bar having one end pivoted to its corresponding push bar and its opposite end united to its corresponding guide member, and means for forcing the push bars in and out to uniformly expand or contract the spacing of the guide members.

9. In a band-blade slicing machine the combination with a supporting frame, of spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced crossbars united to the frame extending transversely of the machine between the drums, upper and lower series of guide members slidably mounted upon the crossbars respectively to engage, twist and space the blades in their slicing courses, upper and lower push bars mounted at right angles to the crossbars respectively, upper and lower series of spaced, diagonal link bars each link bar having one end pivoted to its cor responding push bar and its opposite end united to a corresponding guide member, and means for forcing the push bars in and out to uniformly expand or contract the spacing of the guide members. 3

10. A combination as set forth in claim 9, the middle guide member of each series being rigidly united to its crossbar.

11. A combination as set forth in claim 9, one of the guide members in each series being rigidly united to its crossbar.

12. A combination as described in claim 9 and an intermediate crossbar parallel to and between the other crossbars, a series of blade guides freely slidable thereon, and a pivoted support to carry the intermediate crossbar whereby its blade guides may follow the contour of the upper surface of the bread.

13. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame with spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced longitudinally grooved crossbars united to the frame extending transversely of the machine between the drums, upper and lower series of guide members slidably mounted in the grooved crossbars respectively, upper and lower push bars mounted at right angles to the crossbars respectively, upper and lower series of spaced, diagonal link bars each link bar having one end pivoted to its corresponding push bar and its opposite end united to a corresponding guide member, means for forcing the push bars in and out to uniformly expand or contract the spacingof the guide members, an intermediate crossbar parallel to and between the other crossbars, a series of blade guides freely slidable thereon, and a pivoted support to carry the intermediate crossbar whereby its blade guides may follow the contour of the upper surface of the bread.

14. In a band-blade slicing machine, the combination with a frame, of spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced crossbars united to the frame .extending transversely of the machine between the drums, upper and lower series of guide members slidably mounted upon crossbars respectively to twist, space and guide the blades, means to uniformly e pand or contract the spacing of the guide members, an intermediate crossbar parallel to and between the other crossbars, a series of blade guides freely slidable thereon, and a pivoted support to carry the intermediate crossbar whereby its blade guides may follow the contour of the upper surface of the bread.

15. A mechanical movement comprising a supporting means, a bar supported thereby, a plurality of guide members mounted upon said bar and slidable longitudinally thereof, the contour of the bar and of the portions of the guide members mounted thereon being such as to prevent rotation of the guide members upon the bar but to permit the guide members to slide freely thereon, a plurality of diagonal link bars of regularly progressively increasing length having one end pivotally united to the guide members respectively, the opposite ends of said link bars being united to a lever having one end pivoted on one side of the crossbar and its opposite end extended on the opposite side of the crossbar, the length of the link bars and the position of their pivotal attachment to the guide members and the lever being such that the movement of the lever upon its pivot in either direction will cause the guide members to move uniformly spaced distances from each other at all positions of adjustment within the limits of the permissible travel of the lever and guide members, and means to move the free end of the lever in either direction.

16. A mechanical movement comprising an elongated support, a plurality of spaced guide members mounted upon said support and freely slidable longitudinally thereof, a plurality of diagonal links of progressively increasing length each having one end pivotally united to its corresponding guide members, the opposite ends of said links being united to a lever pivoted at one end near the middle of the support extending at I right angles thereto, the length of the links and the position of their pivotal attachment to the guide members and the lever being such that movement of the lever upon its pivot in either direction will cause the guide membe s to be uniformly spaced from each other at all positions of adjustment within the limits of the permissible travel of the lever and guide members, and

means for moving the free end of the level within fixed limits.

17. A mechanical movement comprising an elongated support, 01' a slotted guide member rigidly united thereto, guide members mounted upon said support and freely slidable longitudinally thereof at one side of the fixed member, a corresponding series of diagonal links of regularly progressively increasing length each having one end pivotally united to its corresponding movable guide member, the opposite ends of said links being united to a lever having one end pivoted near the fixed guide member and its opposite end extending outwardly approximately at a right angle to the support, the length of the links and the position of their pivotal attachment to the guide members and to the lever being such that movement of the lever upon its pivot in either direction will cause the movable guide members to travel at uniform spacing from each other at all positions of adjustment within the limits of the permissible travel of the lever and guide members, and means for moving the free end of the lever in either direction.

18. A mechanical movement as described in claim 17, and an additional similar series of movable guide members with similar links and a lever arranged on the opposite side of the fixed guide member with means for simultaneously moving the free end of the levers in opposite directions.

HARRY J. CRINER.

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