APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING SLICES WITH BIASED SPRING-LOADED FEED MECHANISM

摘要

An apparatus for slicing objects, such as potatoes, with a rotatably mounted knife assembly. Objects (such as potatoes) to be sliced are conveyed downward toward the knife assembly between a gripper chain and a feed chain. A pair of springs provide a biasing force which urges the chains together, thereby ensuring that the conveyed potatoes are fed positively and uniformly toward the knife assembly. Preferably, two feed rolls having teeth are mounted between the lower ends of the chains and the knife assembly (each feed roll at the end of a rotating, slidable shaft). The teeth of the rotating feed rolls grip each potato conveyed against them by the chains, and force each such potato downward against the rotating knife assembly. Preferably, a support and retaining plate is fixedly mounted to the feed mechanism to constrain vertical movement of the feed rolls as they rotate with a potato gripped between them.