Rotary knife fixture for cutting spiral, textured potato pieces
US9089987B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 8, 2012 |
| Grant date | Jul 28, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 19, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T83/9372
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A rotary knife fixture for cutting vegetable products such as raw potatoes into spiral shapes. The knife fixture includes a ring-shaped blade holder driven rotatably within a hydraulic product flow path. The blade holder includes at least one cutting blade, wherein the blade is twisted from a generally longitudinally aligned center axis outwardly in opposite circumferential directions with a sharpened leading edge set at a desired pitch angle. By controlling the pitch angle of the blade in relation to the blade rotational speed and velocity at which the potato travels along the hydraulic flow path, the resultant spiral cut shape is selected. By using multiple cutting blades at known axially spaced positions and selecting the angular position of each cutting blade in succession, the number of spiral shapes cut from each potato is selected. The blades can have a nontextured straight-cut edge, or a textured crinkle-cut edge, or a combination.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.