Transverse cutting of a moving food product

Abstract

A cutting device, knife carrier suitable for use in the cutting device, a cutting system and method for cutting a strand of stacked bands of a food product are disclosed. The cutting device, knife carrier, cutting system and method combine a transverse cutting knife with a diagonal cutting knife disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the transverse cutting knife. The diagonal cutting knife diagonally cuts the stack simultaneously with transverse cutting of the stack by the transverse cutting knife to form substantially triangular prism shaped stacks made of corresponding substantially triangular shaped slices. A food product obtainable by the method is disclosed, wherein (a) the food product comprises at least two stacks of food product, wherein the edges of individual slices forming the hypotenuse of one substantially triangular prism shaped stack are disposed adjacent to the edges of the individual slices forming the hypotenuse of the other substantially triangular prism shaped stack in one-to-one relation to one another and/or (b) the substantially triangular footprint of each stack is in the form of a quadrilateral, wherein at least 80 percent of the surface area of the quadrilateral is triangular.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cutting device for cutting a strand of stacked bands of a food product comprising:
 a knife carrier adapted for mounting two cutting knives at an oblique angle to each other,   a transverse cutting knife having a cutting edge mounted on the knife carrier,   a diagonal cutting knife having a cutting edge mounted on the knife carrier at the oblique angle relative to the transverse cutting knife,   wherein the cutting edge of the transverse cutting knife is oriented in the same cutting direction as the cutting edge of the diagonal cutting knife.   
     
     
         2 . The cutting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the diagonal cutting knife is disposed at an angle between 40° and 50° with respect to the transverse cutting knife. 
     
     
         3 . The cutting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the knife carrier further comprises a hold down device ( 11 ) elastically mounted on the knife carrier over the diagonal cutting knife, wherein the hold down device ( 11 ) has an engagement surface facing away from the knife carrier and a slot in the engagement surface aligned with the diagonal cutting knife for receiving the diagonal cutting knife. 
     
     
         4 . The cutting device according to  claim 3 , wherein the hold down device ( 11 ) is mounted on at least two guide shafts ( 15   a , 15   b ) retractably mounted on the knife carrier ( 1 ), wherein each guide shaft has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of each guide shaft is mounted on the hold down device ( 11 ) and the second end of each guide shaft is elastically connected to the knife carrier ( 1 ). 
     
     
         5 . A cutting apparatus comprising the cutting device according to  claim 1  and a drive device for driving oscillating displacement of the cutting device between a raised position and a lowered position, wherein the cutting device is mounted on the drive device so that the cutting edge of the transverse cutting knife and the cutting edge of the diagonal cutting knife are oriented downward from the knife carrier. 
     
     
         6 . A knife carrier for mounting cutting knives for cutting a strand of stacked bands of a food product comprising:
 a mounting platform ( 12 ) and   a first, a second and a third cutting knife holder ( 6   a ,  6   b ,  6   c ), each cutting knife holder having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of each cutting knife holder is fixedly connected to the mounting platform ( 12 ) and the second end of each cutting knife holder is adapted for attaching at least one cutting knife, wherein the second ends of the cutting knife holders are in spaced apart relation to each other in a single plane in spaced apart relation to the mounting platform ( 12 ).   
     
     
         7 . The knife carrier according to  claim 6 , wherein the knife carrier further comprises a hold down device ( 11 ) elastically mounted between the second ends of two of the cutting knife holders, wherein the hold down device ( 11 ) has an engagement surface facing away from the mounting platform ( 12 ) having a slot in the engagement surface aligned with the two cutting knife holders. 
     
     
         8 . The knife carrier according to  claim 7 , wherein the hold down device ( 11 ) is mounted on at least two guide shafts ( 15   a , 15   b ) slidably mounted on the mounting platform ( 12 ), wherein each guide shaft has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of each guide shaft is mounted on the hold down device ( 11 ) and the second end of each guide shaft is elastically connected to the mounting platform ( 12 ). 
     
     
         9 . A cutting device for transversely cutting a strand ( 3 ) of stacked bands of a food product comprising:
 a knife carrier ( 1 ) according to  claim 6 ,   a transverse cutting knife having a first end, a second end and at least one cutting edge between the first end and the second end, and   a diagonal cutting knife having a first end, a second end and at least one cutting edge between the first end and the second end,   wherein   the first end of the transverse cutting knife and the first end of the diagonal cutting knife are mounted on the first cutting knife holder,   the second end of the transverse cutting knife is mounted on the second cutting knife holder such that the cutting edge faces away from the mounting platform and   the second end of the diagonal cutting knife is mounted on the third cutting knife holder such that the cutting edge faces away from the mounting platform,   whereby the transverse cutting knife and the diagonal cutting knife form an oblique angle relative to each other.   
     
     
         10 . The cutting device according to  claim 9 , wherein the diagonal cutting knife is disposed at an angle between 40° and 50° with respect to the transverse cutting knife. 
     
     
         11 . The cutting device according to  claim 9 , wherein the cutting edge of the diagonal cutting knife lies on a plane offset from, and parallel to, a plane through the cutting edge of the transverse cutting knife such that the plane through the cutting edge of the transverse cutting knife is further from the mounting platform than the cutting edge of the diagonal cutting knife. 
     
     
         12 . The cutting device according to  claim 11 , wherein the offset is in the range between 0.1 and 5 mm. 
     
     
         13 . The cutting device according to  claim 9 , wherein the cutting edge of the diagonal cutting knife is curved. 
     
     
         14 . A cutting apparatus comprising the cutting device according to  claim 9  and a drive device for driving oscillating displacement of the cutting device between a raised position and a lowered position, wherein the cutting device is mounted on the drive device so that the transverse cutting knife and the diagonal cutting knife are located below the mounting platform ( 12 ). 
     
     
         15 . A food product comprising two stacks of food product in the form of individual slices, wherein each stack is in the form of a triangular prism having two sides at substantially right angles to each other, wherein each individual slice in the stack is substantially triangular, has two edges perpendicular to each other and one edge which forms the hypotenuse of the triangle, wherein the edges of individual slices forming the hypotenuse of one stack are disposed adjacent to the edges of the individual slices forming the hypotenuse of the other stack in one-to-one relation to one another. 
     
     
         16 . The food product according to  claim 15 , wherein the substantially triangular footprint of each stack is in the form of a quadrilateral having a right angle, wherein at least 80 percent of the surface area of the quadrilateral is triangular.