US3515191A - Food-slicing machines - Google Patents

Description

June 2, 1970 J. L. ANIECKI ETAL 3,515,191

FOOD- L June 2, 1970 J, ANEcK| ETAL 3,515,191

FOOD-SLICING MACHINES Filed Feb. 20, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I VI A W23;

June 2, 1970 J. L. ANECKI ETAL 3,515,191

FOOD-SLICING MACHINES Filed Feb. 20, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 fzwl BMW United States Patent US. Cl. 146-102 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A food slicing machine of the type having a rotating circular cutting wheel which is rendered safer by enclosing the sharpening stones within the blade guard so that it is no longer necessary to run the machine while the blade is exposed, even when the blade is being re-sharpened.

This invention relates to food slicing machines of the type having a rotating circular blade and is particularly concerned with a sharpening attachment which is employed to sharpen the edge of the blade and to shield the exposed upper edge of the blade.

Normally the exposed upper edge portion of the blade is protected by the guard of a sharpening attachment during normal operation of the food slicing machine, the attachment being movable to a position in which sharpening stones can be applied to the exposed portion of the blade edge when it is desired to sharpen the blade. As this sharpening operation has to take place at fairly frequent intervals it is desirable for the movement of the attachment from the blade and the movement of the sharpening stones to the blade to be as simple as possible. Hitherto all such arrangements have been fairly complicated and have all suffered from the disadvantage that the edge of the knife blade has been exposed during movement of the attachment, leading to a risk of injury.

A food slicing machine in accordane with the invention has a sharpening attachment housing which acts both to protect the exposed upper edge portion of the rotatable blade and house sharpening stones for the blade edge. The attachment is adjustable from a position in which the blade edge is protected for normal running of the machine to a position in which the sharpening stones can be brought into operation to sharpen the blade edge by a movement parallel to or substantially parallel to the plane of the blade and a movement perpendicular to or substantially perpendicular to, that plane. Thus all that needs to be done is to lift the attachment housing relatively to the body of the machine and the body of the blade, move the guard housing perpendicular to the plane of the blade and then push the attachment housing down over the blade to te position in which the sharpening stones can be applied to the blade edge. When the blade has been sharpened, the guard housing is again lifted and moved back perpendicular to the blade and then pushed down in a plane parallel to the blade to the position in which the blade is protected for normal running. This movement is very easy and what is more the blade is etfectively guarded at all times.

Preferably means are provided to lock the guard in the relatively downward position in which it covers the blade.

A further advantage of the invention is that the housing can be held rigidly in the correct position so that the grinding stones when applied to the blade edge are always held at a correct angle to the blade edge which helps to prevent wear of the sharpening stones and damage to the blade.

Preferably the sharpener housing is mounted for move- 3,515,191 Patented June 2, 1970 ment perpendicular to the plane of the blade in a slide housing, the slide housing being mounted in the main housing of the apparatus, for movement in a plane parallel to that of the blade.

Preferably guide pins are provided so that once the sharpened housing has been lifted it can only subsequently be allowed to move downwards over the blade in one of two positions in which the guide pins, which for example may be secured to the main housing engage in holes in the slide portion of the guard housing.

An embodiment of a food slicing machine in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference ot the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the food slicing machine;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the guard housing; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the guard taken at right angles to FIG. 2. f

The food slicing machine comprises essentially a main housing generally indicated at 2 in which a circular knife blade 4 is rotatably driven by a motor 6.

Food is placed in a hopper 8 and is fed to the blade by gravity, the hopper being reciprocated past the blade either manually by means of a handle 10 or by a motor (not shown).

The housing 2 supports a sharpener housing 12 and cover 14 which acts to protect the exposed upper edge portion of the blade 4. The housing 12 carries a sharpening stone and a honing stone 16 (only one of which is shown in the drawing) which are rotatably mounted on the outer wall of the housing and can be brought to bear against the edge of the blade 4 when the housing 12 is in the the sharpening position as shown in FIG. 1, by means of press buttons (not shown).

The housing 12 includes a flange 18 secured to a slide rod 20 by means of screws 22. The slide rod 20 is mounted in a corresponding bore 24 in a slide housing 26 for movement in the slide housing in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the blade 4. The slide housing 26 includes a downwardly extending pin 28 which is mounted for movement in a plane parallel to that of the blade 4, in a bore 30 contained in the main housing 2.

The pin 28 is biased upwardly (as seen in the drawings) in the bore 3 0 by means of a coil spring 32 but is held in the downward position shown in FIG. 1 by means of a lock screw 34 (see FIG. 3) which is screw threadedly engaged in a tapped bore 36 in the main housing and the inner end 38 of which engages in a slot 40 in the periphery of the pin 28.

In order to ensure that the sharpener housing is only lowered over the blade 4 in one of two positions, namely a guard position and a sharpening position, two guide pins 42 are provided each projecting upwardly from the main housing '2 through holes 44 in the base of the slide housing and upwardly into the bore 24 of that housing. The slide rod 20 is provided with two holes 46 corresponding to the pins 42 so that the slide 20 and slide housing can only be lowered over the projecting upper ends of the pins 42 in one of two positions corresponding to the guard, and sharpening positions, of the guard housing.

When it is desired to move the sharpener housing from the sharpening position shown in FIG. 2 the screw 34 is unscrewed from the position shown in FIG. 3 to allow the spring 32 to move the slide housing upwardly relatively to the main housing 2 and the knife blade 4. When the sharpener housing has moved upwardly to a position determined by the length of the slot 40, the pins 42 no longer engage in the holes 46 in the base of the slide 20 and the sharpener housing can then be moved to the right as shown in FIG. 1 with the slide 20 moving in the bore 20. When a position is reached in which the right hand pin 42 (as shown in FIG. 1) is aligned with the right hand hole 46 then the slide housing can be moved downwardly relatively to the main housing 2 and the knife blade 4, and this is arranged to be the case when the right hand end of the slide 20 abuts the right hand end of the bore 24.

As the arrangement of the food slicing blade is generally not vertical, as shown in the drawings, but rather is at an angle to the vertical the inclination of the bore 24 will be downwardly away from the knife 4. Thus the slide 20 normally moves in the bore 24 from the position shown in the drawing to the sharpening position, under its own weight.

When the slide has moved in the bore 24 then downward movement of the slide housing relatively to the knife can take place until the end 38 of the lock screw 34 abuts the upper end of the slot 40 to limit the downward movement of the guard housing. The screw 34 is then tightened to maintain the guard housing in the new position, in which the upper edge of the knife blade 4 is shielded within a recess 48 at the relatively inner edge of the guard housing.

Throughout this movement the knife blade 4 has been protected by the cover 14 of the sharpener housing and has not been effectively exposed.

When the sharpener housing is in the position shown in FIG. 1 ready for sharpening, the sharpening stone 16 and the honing stone 16 are rigidly positioned relatively to the edge of the knife blade (except for movement in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the blade) and in this way the stone are always applied to the edge of the blade at the correct angle leading to a reduction of wear of the stones and a lessening of any risk of damage to the edge of the blade.

When the blade has worn the position of the sharpening attachment can be adjusted by means of the regulating screw 50 shown in FIG. 3.

We claim:

1. A food slicing machine comprising a rotary blade; a protective shield arranged to normally shield said blade; and sharpening stones housed within the protective shield; the shield being adjustable relative to the blade from a position in which the blade edge is protected for normal running of the machine into a position in which the sharpening stones may be brought into operation to sharpen the blade edge while the latter is still protected by the shield.

2. A food slicing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which means are provided to lock the shield in a position in which it covers the blade.

3. A food slicing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the shield for the sharpening stones is mounted for movement in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the blade in a slide housing, the slide housing being itself mounted in a main housing for movement in a plane parallel to that of the blade.

4. A food slicing machine as claimed in claim 3 in which guide pins are provided aligned with holes in the slide portion in the slide housing upstanding from the main housing and the arrangement being such that once the slide housing has been moved in a direction parallel to the plane of the blade away from the blade so as to be disengaged with the pin, it can only subsequently move down away from the blade in one of two positions in which the guide pins engage in the holes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS W. GRAYDON ABERCROMBIE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 51248

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