Cutting – Tool engages work during dwell of intermittent workfeed – Work fed successively to plural tools
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-31
2002-07-09
Ashley, Boyer (Department: 3724)
Cutting
Tool engages work during dwell of intermittent workfeed
Work fed successively to plural tools
C083S932000, C083S072000, C083S076600, C083S268000, C083S276000, C083S404000, C083S425200, C083S431000, C083S697000, C083S468600, C083S613000, C083S435200, C083S435000, C083S858000, C083S639100, C099S537000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06415698
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting wafer sandwiches or stacks of wafer sandwiches. More particularly this invention concerns such an apparatus which longitudinally and transversely cuts a wafer sandwich into a plurality of small rectangular pieces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the production of cream-filled wafer confections, a sheet of highly friable wafer is coated on its upper side with a heated sticky filling, termed “cream,” and then another such wafer is applied to it and the wafer sandwich thus formed is cooled to adhere the two wafer layers and cream filling together. When thus cooled the two wafers cannot be separated from the cream without destroying them.
Such a cream-filled sandwich is produced from relatively large wafer sheets measuring from 290 mm×460 mm to 350 mm×760 mm with a thickness of between 1 mm and 3 mm and a cream coating between 0.5 mm and 2 mm thick so that the resultant wafer sandwich measures between 3 mm and 20 mm thick, depending on how many cream layers are used. Obviously such a large item must be cut into small pieces for marketing. The small pieces can be sold as is or can be coated with chocolate.
The standard apparatus therefore normally stacks a plurality of such sandwiches atop one another into a wafer stack that it cuts into a group of strips that are then cut crosswise to subdivide them into a larger group of rectangular pieces. The outer edge strips are typically discarded because they are not of uniform dimensions and frequently the cream filling does not extend to the very edge. As mentioned, after cutting into rectangular pieces and discarding the irregular edges, the pieces are typically covered with chocolate or the like.
German patent document 3,732,269 of Pfister describes a wafer-sandwich cutter with two cutting stations spaced apart in a transport direction. The first cutter serves for longitudinally slicing with stationary blades spaced apart transversely of the transport direction. The second station has a plurality of blades spaced apart in the transport direction and movable transversely of the direction across the path of the wafer sandwich to cut the strips formed by the longitudinal cutter into pieces.
With this system a device upstream of the longitudinal cutter pushes the sandwiches through the two stations, with the upstream sandwiches bearing on the. downstream sandwiches and moving them and the longitudinal strips formed in the first cutting station pushing the pieces in the downstream second cutting station. The transverse cutter in the second downstream station is provided with a slide reciprocal longitudinally in the transport direction and serving to form gaps between succeeding wafer sandwiches. This longitudinal slide is in a downstream position when a group of longitudinal wafer-sandwich strips are pushed onto it, simultaneously pushing out the pieces cut in the preceding transverse-cutting operation. Once a group of longitudinal strips is positioned on the longitudinal slide in its downstream position, a hold-down plate is pressed down against the top surfaces of the strips and then the hold-down plate and the longitudinal slide are stepped back upstream, opposite the normal transport direction to form a gap between the downstream ends of the strips held between the plate and longitudinal slide and the upstream ends of the previously transversely cut strips. Once the longitudinal slide and plate, with the group of longitudinal strips clamped between them, is moved into an upstream position, the strips are cut transversely.
The transverse cutter is comprised of a transverse slide movable transversely to the direction underneath the longitudinal slide and carrying a plurality of upwardly pointed triangular blades that project upward through transverse slots in the longitudinal slide and into downwardly open transverse grooves in the hold-down plate. The transverse slide is shifted across and back to cut the longitudinal strips into pieces, with the downstream pieces falling off the downstream end of the longitudinal slide. Then the longitudinal slide is moved back to its downstream position, the hold-down plate is lifted, and the conveyor pushes a new batch of longitudinal strips onto the longitudinal slide, pushing the freshly cut pieces off the downstream end of the longitudinal slide onto an output table whence they travel to a further processing step.
The double-slide structure is fairly complex to manufacture and maintain, especially in a foodstuff-handling machine that must be maintained meticulously clean. The guides for the longitudinal movement of the longitudinal slide must be transversely, adjustable or pivotal about a vertical axis in order to set the movement direction of the slide parallel to the travel direction of the workpiece and to adjust the cutter transversely. The slides require that some space be left for longitudinal movements between the longitudinal cutter and the output station which is substantially longer than a standard workpiece. The output station must have a hold-down beam that holds the last row of wafer pieces pushed into the output station so they are not pulled back when the longitudinal slide moves back upstream. This hold-down beam prevents wafer pieces from sticking to the upstream workpiece and being pulled back upstream when the longitudinal slide and hold-down plate retract upstream to create the gap necessary to eliminate the scrap pieces to be cut from the downstream ends of the strips they are holding. Furthermore the entire hold-down plate and the frame holding it are fairly complex also so that they further add to the expense of the machine and the difficulties in maintaining it.
With the known machine the group of longitudinal strips clamped between the longitudinal slide and the hold-down plate is moved upstream and then downstream. Meanwhile the strips held between the longitudinal slide and the hold-down plate are vertically compacted somewhat. In the pause before the longitudinal slide moves back upstream, the hold-down plate and the hold-down beam must both be pressed down on the respective workpieces, whereupon the longitudinal slide is retracted and the transverse slide is moved back and forth to cut the strips clamped between the hold-down plate and the longitudinal slide into pieces. Subsequently the hold-down plate and longitudinal slide are moved back downstream, the hold-down plate and hold-down bar are both raised, and the conveyor must step a new workpiece through the longitudinal cutter and onto the longitudinal slide. These movements are complex and must be perfectly synchronized, further adding to the cost of manufacture. The lifter for the hold-down plate and the drive for the transverse slide are carried on the longitudinal slide, making the structure that has to be moved fairly massive so that the actuator for the longitudinal slide has to be relatively powerful and, of course, expensive.
Another disadvantage of the known machine is that it cannot be used on wafer sandwiches whose upper surfaces are covered with anything, such as cream, caramel, powdered sugar, or the like which would stick to or be damaged by contact with the hold-down plate. The machine can only be used with wafer sandwiches having a dry and relatively stable top surface.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for cutting wafer sandwiches or stacks of wafer sandwiches.
Another object is the provision of such an improved cutting apparatus which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which is relatively simple, which can be manufactured and maintained at low cost, and that can be used with all types of wafer sandwiches, even those with a sticky or fragile upper surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An apparatus for cutting a wafer sandwich into a plurality of rectangular pieces has according to the invention a support surface defining a transport path extending longitudinally through a longitudinal-cutting station and a transverse-cutting s
Haas Franz
Haas Johann
Liebermann Gerhard
Ashley Boyer
Dubno Herbert
Franz Haas Waffelmaschinen-Industrie Aktiengesellschaft
Wilford Andrew
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