US1221224A - Butter-cutter. - Google Patents

Description

J. F. SCANLAN.

BUTTER CUTTER- APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. I912.

1,221,224 Patented. Apr. 3, 1917.

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J. F. SCANLA'N.

BUTTER CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. I912- Patented Apr. 53,1917.

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1. F. SCANLAN. BUTTER CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 19].!-

Patent ed Apr. 3,1917.

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TlNliTETT %TAT% PATENT JOSEPH F. SCANLAN, NEW YORK, N. Y.

BUTTER-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

Application filed May 22, 1912. Serial No. 698,880.

ter-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a simple, compact, strong and durable de vice for cutting butter or similar material kept in bulk, as in tubs, into parts, sections, bricks or prints, and which will accomplish the same in an economic and sanitary manner, with a minimum amount of handling or exposure of the butter to the atmosphere.

Another object is the provision of means for automatically cutting a portion of a package of butter into parts, bricks or prints, and leaving the remainder intact. Uther objects are the provision of means for automatically impressing marks, such as trade marks, etc., ontothe face of the bricks or prints, as they are out; such arrangements of parts that the butter cannot contact with anything bearing oil or grease, and fully inclosing the apparatus, except the means for operating the same. Devices for decreasing the temperature are provided, in order to still further assure the purity of the butter and to prevent disintegration.

Finally, without interfering with the compactness of the machine as an entity, means are provided for collecting and compacting the scraps or fragments, remaining after the regular sections or bricks have been cut, so that these collected scraps can be placed again in position for being properly cut.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention in one form in which,.

Figure 1 is a front elevation,

Fig. 2 a side elevation of the right side of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 a plan view of the top of the machine,

Figs. 4 and 5, detail views of the means for fastening the stationary cutting members,

Fig. 6 a plan view of the compressing device,

Fig. 7a vertical cross section of the same, and

Figs. 8 and 9 details of construction of the operating devices.

A box or casing 1, of sufiicient height and strength, and having a top 2, carries a pair of standards 3 and a, each containing, in suitable bearings, a vertical worm 5, provided at the lower end with a bevel gear 6, engaged by a similar bevel gear 7, of the driving shaft 8 which is located within the b0 1, and adapted to be rotated by means of the crank 9.

Each of the worms 5 engages a nut 10, having integral therewith a bracket 11, for supporting the platform 12. The turning of the crank 9 causes vertical movement of the platform 12 andthe bulk of material placed thereon.

The upper ,end ofthe standards 3 and 4c is extended into a carrying frame 13, for

to the face 19, whichlatter forms the bean ing face for the ferrules 20, each of which is provided with a conical bore, for the purpose of receiving and securely holding the doubled-up end of the wire or band 1 1. The other end of the wire is held by a screw 21, having a cylindrical recess 22, for receiving the ferrules 23, in which the other doubled-up end is similarly held as in the ferrules 20.

The stationary-cutting members run from bar 16 tothe rod 17 over a cross bar 2 1, located near and parallel to the rod 17, and having notches or grooves similar to the grooves 18 of the bar16. Proper tension may be applied to the cutting members by turning the screws 21.

In order to alter and adjust the spaces between the members, the bars 16 and 24: are provided with more grooves than necessary to receive the number of wires, and the rod 17 has lateral recesses 25, for receiving the movable blocks 26, which, in turn, carry some of the holding and tension screws 21. The remainder of the screws 21are in permanent position. According to the size of the bricks of material wanted, the wires 14 are so distanced as to cut-the bricks prop erly. The wires 15 of the second set of stationary cutting members, are similarly secured to the bar 27 and the rod 28, and are located in thesame plane with the cutto which latter are secured the sheaves 33 and 34. The shaft 31 is rotatable by means of the crank 35 and rotation is imparted by this shaft to the shaft 32 by means of the ropes 36 and 37, running over the sheaves. Each rope is connected to one of the car riages 38 and 39 and rotation of the crank 35 causes the movement back and forth of the carriages. The carriages form the support for bearing brackets 42 and 43, adapted to receive the shaft 44 of the printing roller 45, to which rotation is imparted by means of the pinions 46 and 47, engaging the racks 48 and 49. One of the carriages also holds a screw 50 for holding one end of the moving cutting member 51, the other end of which is secured to the second carriage. This cutting member 51 moves in actual contact with members 14 and 15, and its cutting action is, therefore, analogous to that of a pair of scissors, the advantage of which is that the cut is made without tearing or breaking the brick or print.

The printing roller 45 is provided with embossed characters and designs and presses into the top face of the bricks of butter, by passing over the same at the time of their being cut into bricks.

The devices for collecting and compacting the scraps and fragments of butter, left after the cutting into bricks, are shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and also in Figs. 1 and 2.

On top of the cover 2 of the box 1 and adjoining the standards 3 and 4, are the rail bars 52 and 53 and secured thereto are the side boards 54 and 55. These boards form the side walls of a box or receptacle, of which 56 is the bottom and 57 the back wall. The latter parts 56 and 57 are integral and movable, as forthwith will be shown. The front wall of the box is shown at 58, as pivoted at 59 so that it may be swung out of the way, in order to facilitate the removal of the material from the compressor. The top 60 of the compressor box forms the bottom of the platform 12 and is vertically movable with the same. The bottom 56 of the compressor box is provided with a rack 61 that is adapted to mesh with a pinion 62 on the driving shaft 8.

' The cuttings, scraps and fragments of butter are collected in the compressor box and, first, compressed in one direction by the lowering of the platform 12, 2'. e. the top 60 of the box, and then in another direction, by moving the bottom 56 and back 57 by means of the rack 61 and pinion 62 against the stationary front wall 58. The butter is there by formed into a solid lump of substantially rectangular shape, ready to be out further.

For the purpose of, either, lifting the platform 12 in order to cut butter, or lowering the same, in order to compress scraps, and thereby holding the bottom plate 56 stationary, or holding the platform 12 stationary and moving the bottom 56, the shaft 8 is provided with a collar 63, adapted to be engaged by a nut block 64, having a handle 65 and movably held in a stationary casing 66, having a guide slot, so that the movement of the handle 65 in an angular plane to the axis of the shaft 8, causes axial displacement of the shaft and of all parts secured thereto. Fig. 1 of the drawings shows that the bevel gears 7 and the pinion 62 are secured to the shaft 8. Should it be desired to operate the platform 12, then the gears 7 must be in mesh with the gears 6, while the pinion 62 is disengaged from the rack 61, as shown in solid lines in the drawing. In case, however, that the bottom 56 of the compressor box should be moved, then the shaft is axially shifted, so that the gears 7 become disengaged from the gears 6 and the pinion 62 meshes with the rack 61, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The means for determining the dimensions of the bricks of material and, therefore, their weight, are attached to the driving shaft 8 and comprise a clutch member 67, secured to the shaft and capable of engaging with a second clutch member on the loose sleeve 68. This sleeve is provided with a worm 69 adapted to mesh with a block 71 having an index pointer 72, gliding along a scale plate 73. A stationary index pointer 74 coiiperates with a scale arranged along the periphery of a disk which is also part of the sleeve 68. A knurled collar 75 permits rotation by hand of the sleeve 68 and the index plate 7 O.

The refrigerating compartment 76 may be placed at or form a part of the rear wall of the casing of the device. The front wall 77, Figs. 1 and 2, is preferably made of glass, as may also be one or both of the side walls 78. If desired, the rear wall formed by or covering the refrigerating compartment may consist of a reflecting surface, such as a mirror.

In operating the machine, material, such as butter in bulk, as taken in the shape of a frustum of a cone from the butter tubs, is placed upon the platform 12 and raised by turning the crank 9, until its upper face is in contact with the stationary cutting members. The shaft 8 is then shifted so that the bevel gear 7 becomes disengaged from the gears 6. The index device is adjusted by turning by hand the knurled collar 75 until both of the pointers 72 and 74 are set to zero. The shaft 8 is then shifted until the bevel gears 6 and 7 are again in mesh and the crank 9 is then turned until the pointers 72 and 74 indicate the proper weight. Full pounds are shown by the pointer 72 While fractional pounds are shown by 74:. This operation results in forcing the butter through the stationary cutting members and a dividing the bulk vertically. The turning of the crank 35 then completes the cutting into bricks by moving the cutting wire 51 transversely across the stationary wires.

This operation is then repeated until the entire tub of butter has been cut into individual bricks or prints. The scraps and remnants are collected and compressed in the manner heretofore described.

It will be understood, of course, that only one layer of bricks may be cut at one time, as needed, and the remainder of the bulk of butter left uncut on the platform. Inasmuch as the entire machine is inclosed in the casing and exposed to the effect of the refrigerating means, the bulk of butter, as well as the bricks already cut, are kept from contamination, of which facts a customer can easily be made aware, by observing the machine through the glass Walls of the casing.

What I claim is:

1. The combination With a butter cutter of a butter compressor, a platform common to both and adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, a second platform adapted to be displaced in its own plane, and means for alternately displacing said platforms.

2. The combination With a butter cutter, of a butter compressor, a platform common to both and adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, a second platform adapted to be displaced in its own plane, a wall secured to said second platform and displaceable therewith, a stationary wall substantially parallel to said displaceable wall, and means for alternately displacing said platforms.

3. The combination with a casing, of means within the casing for cutting butter, means without the casing for operating said butter cutting means, and means within the casing for compressing butter operated by said butter cutting operating means.

l. The combination with a butter cutter, of a butter compressor, a platform common to both and adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, a second platform adapted to be displaced in its own plane, means for alternately displacing said platforms, and means for determiningthe displacement of said first platform.

The combination with a butter cutter, of a butter compressor, a platform common to both. and adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, a second platform adapted to be displaced in its own plane, means for alternately displacing said platform, and means for determining the displacement in one direction of said first platform.

6. The combination with a butter cutter, of a platform adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, rotatable means for displacing said platform, and rotatable means for determining the displacement of said plat- I ing said platform, and rotatable means for determining the displacement in one direction of said platform.

8. The cornbinationwith a butter cutter, of a platform adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, rotatable means for displacing said platform, a clutch on said rotatable means, and means operated by said clutch for determining the displacement of said platform.

9. The combination with a butter cutter, of a platform adapted to be displaced parallel to itself, rotatable means for displacing said platform, a clutch on said rotatable means, a Worm-and-gear operated by said clutch, a dial, and a pointer operated by said Worm-and-gear for indicating the displacement of said platform.

10. The combination With stationary cutting members, spaced apart and located in one plane, of a vertically moving platform adapted to force a block of butter through said cutting members, cutting means comprising a cutting member adapted to cooperate with said stationary members, and movable only in a plane substantially the same as that of the stationary cutting members, a carrier for and at each end of said cutting member, and crank operated rotatable means for moving said carriers back and forth to operate said cutting member.

11. The combination with stationary cutting members, spaced apart and located in one plane, of a vertically moving platform adapted to force a block of butter through said cutting members, cutting means comprising a cutting member adapted to cooperate with said stationary members and movable only in a plane substantially the same as that of the stationary cutting mem bers, a carrier for and at each end of said cutting member, an endless belt secured to each of said carriers, and means for simultaneously moving said belts back and forth to operate said cutting member.

12. The combination with stationary cutting members, spaced apart and located in one plane, of a vertically moving platform adapted to force a block of butter through said cutting members, cutting means comprising a cutting member adapted to co6perate with said stationary members, and movable only in the plane thereof, a carrier for and at each end of said cutting member, an endless belt secured to each of said carriers, and rotatable means for simultaneously moving said belts back and forth to operate sald cuttmg member.

13. The combination with stationary cutting members, spaced apart and located in one plane of a vertically moving platform adapted to force a block of butter through said cutting members, a cutting member adapted to cooperate with said stationary members and movable only in substantially the same plane, a carrier for and at each end of said cutting member, an endless belt secured to each of said carriers, and rotatable means for simultaneously moving said belts back and forth to operate said cutting member, consisting of two shafts arranged belts are wound.

parallel to each other and a pulley on each end of each shaft around which pulleys said JOSEPH F. SCANLAN.

In presence RALPH J. SAOHERS. G. M. GRTNDLAY.

, Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patent Washington, D. G.

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