APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING AND SEGREGATING SLICED BACON FROM A SLICING MACHINE

1468945 Bacon slicing machine CASHIN SYSTEMS CORP 16 July 1974 [10 Oct 1973] 31394/74 Heading A4C [Also in Division G3] A bacon slicing machine for producing segregated, weighed quantities of bacon, comprises a blade 22 towards which a bacon belly 18 is fed by a pusher 20 with a rate of advance which varies with the cross-sectional area of the belly sensed by levers 31a so as to produce a uniform number of slices in each segregated quantity, a conveyer 40 having one end positioned adjacent the blade so that slices deposited thereon are shingled by the motion of the conveyer, a scale 42 for weighing the bacon on the conveyer, and a computer network 48 and a feed start-stop control 30 operable to interrupt the advance of the pusher when a predetermined weight of bacon has been deposited on the conveyer. A conveyer 50 receives the slices from conveyer 40, said slices being sensed by a photo-electric detector 52 which actuates a scale 54 to weigh the slices once more. If the scale 54 registers a weight outside a prescribed tolerance range, the setting of scale 42 is adjusted on the receipt of a signal from the computer network to weigh either more or less bacon before interrupting the pusher. A conveyer 58 adjacent the trailing end of conveyer 50 receives cards issuing from a dispenser 36 and the slices from conveyer 50 are discharged on to the card. If a quantity of slices is outside the prescribed weight tolerance, a reject mechanism 60, actuated by a signal from the computer network, diverts the quantity to be made up or down in weight, the slices otherwise being permitted to pass to a take-away conveyer 39. The forward motion of the pusher is initiated after a set time interval by the control 30. Conveyer 40 operates at low speeds when receiving the slices from the blade and at a higher speed in transferring them to conveyer 50. The blade comprises an eccentrically shaped or an involute rotary disc and is encased in a housing. In an alternative embodiment, a conveyer (40'), Fig. 4 (not shown) receives the slices from the blade, the motion of said conveyer being stopped on receipt of a signal from the computer network on interruption of the pusher motion, the slices being reweighed while the conveyer is stationary and the stoppage being for about 20 milliseconds. This second weight is compared to the prescribed weight and the difference utilized to proportionally adjust the setting of scale (42').