US2137364A - Slicer - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 22, 1938. E. STRECKFUSS ET AL 2,137,364

SLICER Filed Feb. 12, 1956 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS.

& w w UY. N 3 m 3 m 17A 54 R m 4Y B Nov. 22 1938. E. G. s'nEc Fuss ET AL 2,137,364

SLICER Filed Feb. 12. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \FWYD 0 GEoRGEALE/vS/(Y.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 22, 1938 PATENT OFFICE sucm Elmer G. Streckfussand George A. Lensky, Gincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Cincinnati Time Recorder Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application February 12, 1936, Serial No. 63,566

4 Claims. (01. 146-146) Our invention relates to slicers of the type which are used in grocery stores and meat markets, for the slicing of various articles of merchandise, such as meats, sausages of all kinds, cheeses and the like.

It is an object of our invention to provide a slicer of this type which will be of sturdy and compact construction, and therefore not subject to getting outof adjustment.

It is another object of our invention in connection with such a slicer, to provide a stop member by means of which the thickness of the slice to be cut may be effectively gauged. Further, it is an object of our invention to provide such a stop plate which will be capable of fol lowing the movement of the slicer blade, so that when the blade is elevated, the stop plate will be in its elevated position to act as an abutment for the merchandise to be sliced, and which abutment will be lowered out of the way when the blade is depressed in taking the slice.

In this connection, it is a further object of our invention to provide means whereby the stop plate will not be lowered during the first portion of the downward movement of the blade, whereby it is insured that a slice is begun before the stop plate is retracted.

Further, it is an object of our invention to provide means whereby the mechanism for raising the stop plate upon actuation of the slicing knife may be rendered inoperative.

Another object of our invention is to provide means for accurately varying the position of the stop plate in order to provide for the cutting of slices of varying thicknesses. In this connection it is our object to render the adjusting means independent of the knife or other parts of the machine, so that the gauge may be set as desired regardless of whether the knife be in its raised or lowered position, and to place the operating knob for said adjusting means conveniently for the operator at the front of the machine. A still further object of our invention is to provide means for taking extremely large slices. In suchcases it is desirable that the material being sliced be supported on both sides of the blade, and to this end, it is our. object to provide means for moving the entire material support under the blade.

These and other objects of our invention which will be set forth hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, We accomplished by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which we shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is now made to the drawings which form a part hereof, and in which:-

Figure l is a front elevation of our slicer.

Figure 2 is a plan View with a portion of the material carrier and framework broken away to show the underlying construction.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing the mechanism in a position in which the stop plate is elevated by movement of the knife.

Figure 4 is a similar view but showing the mechanism in a position in which the stop plate is not raised upon movement of the knife.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of one of the op erating members taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2. t

Figure 6 is a horizontal section showing certain construction taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 4.

Briefly, in the practice of our invention, we provide a frame or housing I, which is provided in its upper portion with an opening 2. On the upper portion of the framework We provide finished portions 3 and 4, and centrally a pair of slotted bosses 5. The material carrier is shown at 6, and is of L-shaped cross section. Upon its lower side it is provided with a plurality of bosses l to which are screwed a series of rails 8. The two outside rails ride upon the finished surfaces 3 and, 4, and the carriage is held in position upon the frame by means of the brackets 9, which are screwed to the said frame. The central rail 8 rides in the aforementioned slots in the bosses 5. Screwed to the central rail 8.is a slotted stud In, the function of which will be described hereinafter.

Mounted transversely of the frame is a shaft H, which has bearings in bosses I2 on the said frame I. At its right hand end, as seen in Figure 2, this shaft ll carries the stop plate or thickness gauge IS. The shaft ll carries fixedly thereon a collar l4 and the entire shaft together with the stop plate are urged toward the right by the action of a compression spring l5 which acts between the left hand boss I2 and the collar l4.

Mounted in the front of the frame I is an operating knob it, which is provided with appropriate markings as, for example, from 1 to 12. This knob i6 is mounted fixedly upon a shaft H which rides in a boss [8 in the front Wall of the frame. The rear face of the knob I6 is provided with a number of small depressions I9 equal in number to the number of indicia on the face of the knob. A round headed stud 20 spring mounted in a hole 2| in the boss I8, is adapted to engage with the depressions I9 to yieldingly fix the position of the knob at each point where one of the indicia is opposite a small indicating screw 22. Within the framework the shaft carries a cam 23. Pivoted underneath the stop portion of the frame or housing as at 24, is a lever 25. One end of this lever carries a roller 26 which is adapted to ride upon the aforementioned cam 23.

carries a roller 21 which is adapted to ride" against the collar I4. Thus it may be seen that by turning the knob IS the position of the stop plate |3 may be adjusted to vary the thickness of the slice desired. The indicia may conveniently be arranged so that the numeral 1 may indicate the thinnest slice and the numeral 12 indicate the thickest slice, or in any other .convenient manner. The knife blade is shown at 21 and is mounted upon the knife frame 28 which is fixedly mounted upon a shaft 29 which has a bearing in a boss 30 at the rear of the frame. The front end of the knife frame .28 carries a handle 3|. We have found it desirable to mount a bracket 32 upon the frame, carrying a spring mounted stud 33 underneath the handle 3| so as to provide a yieldable abutment for the knife. The rear of the knife frame 28 is provided with a lug 56 which is adapted to be retained by the spring clip 51 which is mounted upon a stud 58 fixed in the frame boss 36. The purpose of this construction is to prevent accidental dislodgement of the knife blade from its raised position, forwardly by means of the clip 57, or rearwardly by means of the coaction between the lug 56 and the stud 58. Additional safety means are provided by means of the thumb guard 59 which is affixed to the frame I at the front of the machine.

The other end of the shaft 29 carries a lever 34 fixed upon it, and a linkage comprising the levers 35 and 36 connects the lever 34 with a lever 31 fixed upon the shaft I As may be seen in Figure 6, a short shaft 38 is mounted in the framework in a position which in Figure 4 would bring it immediately behind the joint between the levers 35 and 36. The shaft 38 carries a forked member 39 to which is screwed a slotted plate 40. Upon the screw which connects the levers 35 and 36, we mount a stud 4| which is adapted to ride in the slot 40a in the plate 40.

Now with the parts in the position shown in Figure 4, when the knife is raised the lever 34 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction and since the joints between the members 34 and 35, 35 and 36, and 36 and 31, are free, the stud 4| will simply ride downwardly in the slot 40a. in the plate 40, without affecting the shaft The reason it will do this is that the major portion of the slot 40a is formed as an arc, drawn about the center of the joint between the links 36 and 31 as a center, and having a radius between centers of the link 36.

Also within the housing we mount a shaft 42 as in the bosses 43 and 44. Upon this shaft we mount a collar 45, which is adapted to be rocked by means. of the operating lever 46. Attached to the collar 45 by means of the extensions 45a is a forked lever 60. A pin 41 is mounted upon the plate 40 and as shown in Figure 4,. is adapted to be engaged by the fork portion of the lever 46.

If now it be desired that the stop plate be raised upon elevation of the knife, the operating lever 46 is moved to the position shown in Figure equal to the length, joints at each end, of the The other end of the lever.

3. By virtue of the construction just above described, the plate 40 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction so that the stud 4| in moving through the slot 40a, is forced to travel in a substantially horizontal direction, whereby the linkage 3435-3631 transmits the motion of the shaft 29 to the shaft whereby the plate I3 is elevated and depressed in unison with the knife. The terminal portion of the slot 40a is hooked was indicated at 40b so that as the knife is raised, the stop plate will follow it upwardly until the stud 4| reaches the hooked portion of the slot 40b, whereby the action of the linkage will be of the type discussed in connection with Figure 4. In other words, further upward movement of the operating handle of the knife will have no further efiect upon the stop plate. Likewise upon return movement' of the knife downwardly, the stop plate will not begin to be retracted until the stud 4| has traversed the hooked portion of the slot 46b and has entered the straight portion 40a. Screwed into the frame as at 55 is a stop member for the plate l3. This member is preferably made of rubber or other resilient material so as not to injure the enamel on the plate |3.

The lever 60 carries an upward extension 60a which rides in the slot in the stud In, which was described above. With the operating handle 46 in its raised position, as shown in Figure 4, the operating handle 46 may be moved toward the right by virtue of the slot indicated at 50 in Figure 1. This motion will be transmitted by the portion 60a and the stud ID to the carriage 6 which will thus be bodily moved toward the right. It will be noted that the upstanding portion of the carriage 6 is provided with a slot 5| and that the more or less horizontal portion is provided with a groove 52. Upon extreme movement to ward the right of the operating handle 46, the

position of the carriage will be such that the knife 21 passes through the slot 5| into the groove 52. Thus, means are provided for supporting food-stuffs on both sides of the blade where it is desired to take a heavy cut. The operating handle milled knob 53 which is preferably spring mounted. The inner end of the milled knob is tapered as at 53a, so as to seat in the countersunk portion 50a of the L-shaped slot 50, whereby the three positions of the lever 46 are defined. As a further safeguard against lateral movement of the table when the operating handle is in its lower position as shown at 53, we provide an L-shaped slotted bracket 54 screwed to the under side of the frame. In the position shown in Figure 3, the portion 60a of the lever 60 enters the slot in the bracket 54 so that the table is locked against lateral movement, while when the lever 46 is in its raised position as shown at 54, the portion 600, clears the bracket 54 so that lateral movement of the carriage is permitted.

It is to be understood that different forms of our preferred embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, and that we do not intend to limit ourselves otherwise than as indicated in the appended claims.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. In a slicing mechanism having a knife mounted on a shaft and a stopmounted on a shaft, a linkage mechanism for selectively transmitting motion from one shaft operating the knife, to another shaft operating the stop, comprising a lever fixed on each shaft, and two con- 46 is provided at its outer end with a I nected links which are connected respectively to the said fixed levers, and guide means for the joint between said two connected links, said guide means being movable to one position in which the movement of said joint is ineffective to transmit said motion, and to another position in which it is effective to transmit said motion.

2. In a slicing machine having a pivoted cutting element, a material support formed of two sides at an angle to each other, said cutting element adapted to out along an edge of the plane of one of the sides of said support, a groove in one side, and a slot in the other side, and means to shift said support laterally so that said cutting element may pass through said slot and into said groove, and a thumb guard disposed in fixed relation to the cutting plane of said cutting element.

3. In a slicing mechanism having a knife mounted on a shaft and a stop mounted on a shaft, a linkage mechanism for selectively transmitting motion from one shaft operating the knife, to another shaft operating the stop, comprising a lever fixed on each shaft, and two connected links which are connected respectively to the said fixed levers, and guide means comprising a pivotally mounted slotted plate for guiding the joint between said two connected links, said guide means being movable to one position in which the movement of said joint is ineffective to transmit said motion, and to another position in which it is effective to transmit said motion.

4. In a slicing mechanism having a knife mounted on a shaft and a stop mounted on a shaft, a linkage mechanism for selectively transmitting motion from one shaft operating the knife, to another shaft operating the stop, comprising a lever fixed on each shaft, and two connected links which are connected respectively to the said fixed levers, and guide means comprising a pivotally mounted slotted plate for guiding the joint between said two connected links, said slot having a terminal portion angularly disposed with respect to the rest of the slot, said guide means being movable to one position in which the movement of said joint is ineffective to transmit said motion, and to another position in which it is effective to transmit said motion until it enters the angular portion of said slot, whereupon it is again ineffective, for the purpose described.

ELMER G. STRECKF'USS. GEORGE A. LENSKY.

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