초록 ▼

The present invention relates to a dynamic weight control system for a slicing machine, used to slice bacon or other food products, that has both primary and secondary weighing systems. The slicing machine has a slicing blade and a feed mechanism for feeding a food product (e.g., a bacon slab) into

The present invention relates to a dynamic weight control system for a slicing machine, used to slice bacon or other food products, that has both primary and secondary weighing systems. The slicing machine has a slicing blade and a feed mechanism for feeding a food product (e.g., a bacon slab) into the slicing blade at a controlled rate. The primary weighing system controls primary slicing and weighing of multi-slice drafts of the sliced products so that each draft is an approximation of a prescribed control weight. The secondary weighing system checks draft weights and supplies data to a computer that computes an average weight for those drafts that are within an acceptable weight range; it also computes the pass ratio of acceptable weight drafts for a sample group of drafts. The pass ratio computation is ueed to make incremental adjustments in a target weight and the second system then computes a dynamic weight correction based on the adjusted target weight; the weight correction is fed back into the primary weighing system where it is used to adjust the control weight, with no operator intervention required, to reduce weight giveaway.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of controlling the slicing of a food product comprising the following steps: A. recording a target weight and a related control weight for a multi-slice draft of the product; B. advancing a food product into a slicing station at a predetermined feed rate; C. slicing the food product, in the

A method of controlling the slicing of a food product comprising the following steps: A. recording a target weight and a related control weight for a multi-slice draft of the product; B. advancing a food product into a slicing station at a predetermined feed rate; C. slicing the food product, in the slicing station, to produce a series of multi-slice product drafts; D. adjusting the feed rate of step B, when necessary, during slicing of each draft, to maintain the total weight of most of the drafts within a preselected permissible weight range above and below the control weight; E. weighing each draft after its completion; F. counting the number N of acceptable drafts, in a predetermined sample number of S drafts, that are within an acceptable weight range above and below the target weight; G. computing an actual pass ratio N/S; H. adjusting the target weight downwardly by a target weight reduction increment when the actual pass ratio of step G exceeds a pre-recorded desired pass ratio; I. determining the average weight of the actual acceptable drafts in the sample of step F; J. comparing the adjusted target weight of step H with the average weight of step I to determine the difference therebetween; and K. adjusting the control weight in accordance with the difference from step J.