248 in a cutting plane. Similar to the previous embodi- ments, the knives 214 have corrugated shapes to pro- duce food product slices with generally parallel cuts to yield food product slices having large-amplitude cross- sections. The construction, orientation, and operation of the knife assemblies and their components are similarto the embodiments representedinFIGS.5,8,11e,12,and 13calthough modifications maybe necessaryto accom- modate the cutting wheel design. 

[0039] From FIG. 19, it can be seen that the cutting apparatus singulatesand orients the food productbefore delivering the food product in a substantially vertical di- rection to the feed tubes 240, which are also shown as being vertically oriented. The generally vertical presen- tation of the food product is due to the substantially hor- izontal orientation of the cutting wheel 212. While the feed tubes 240 are shown as being oriented at about 90 degrees to the surface (plane) of the cutting wheel 212, it is foreseeable that other orientations could be used, depending on the angle atwhich cutsare desired through the food product. However, the cutting wheel212 ispref- erably disposed in the horizontal plane, and the feed tubes 240 are disposed at an angle of about 15 to about 90 degrees, preferably about 90 degrees, to the cutting wheel212.Furtherdetailsregarding the generalarrange- mentandoperation ofthe cutting apparatus represented in FIGS. 17 through 23 are disclosed in U.S. Patent Ap- plication Nos. 6,973,862 to Bucks and 7,000,518 to Bucks et al. 

[0040] While theinvention hasbeen described in terms of specific embodiments, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the impeller 10 and cutting head 12 could differ in ap- pearance andconstruction fromthe embodimentsshown in the Figures, the functions of each component of the impeller 10 and cutting head 12 could be performed by components of different construction but capable of a similar (though not necessarily equivalent) function, and various materials and processes could be used to fabri- cate the impeller 10 and cutting head 12 and their com- ponents. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims. However, embodi- ments are also described in the following number clauses: 

1. An apparatus for cutting food product, the appa- ratus comprising an annular-shaped cutting head (12) and an impeller (10) coaxially mounted within the cutting head (12) forrotation aboutan axisofthe cutting head (12) in a rotational direction relative to the cutting head (12), the impeller (10) comprising one or more paddles (16) circumferentially spaced along a perimeterthereof for delivering food product radially outward toward the cutting head (12), the cutting head (12) comprising one or more knife as- semblies arranged in sets spaced around the cir- cumference of the cutting head (12), each knife as- sembly comprising: 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

a knife (14)extending radiallyinward toward the impeller(10)in a directionopposite the rotational direction of the impeller (10), the knife (14) hav- ing a corrugated shape to produce a food prod- uctslice with generallyparallelcuts,wherein the food product slice has a periodic shape and a large-amplitude cross-section; and means (26,27) for securing the knife (14) to the cutting head (12). 

2. An apparatus according to clause 1, wherein the knife (14) comprises a cutting edge (48) having a knife tip(14a)and aradiallyinnermostlocalextremity (14b) that protrudes farther toward the impeller (10) than the knife tip (14a) by a distance of less than 0.1 millimeter. 

3. An apparatus according to clause 1, wherein the large-amplitude cross-section of the food product slice has an amplitude of about 2.5 to 9 millimeters. 

4. An apparatus according to clause 1, wherein the large-amplitude cross-section of the food product slice has an amplitude of about 3 to 7 millimeters. 

5. An apparatus according to clause 1, wherein the large-amplitude cross-section of the food product slice has an amplitude ofabout3.8 to 5.7millimeters. 

6. An apparatus according to clause 1, wherein the knife (14) and securing means (26,27) define a suf- ficiently low rake-off angle for the knife assembly to reduce through-slice cracking of the food product. 

7. An apparatus according to clause 6, wherein the rake-off angle for the knife (14) is less than 23 de- grees. 

8. An apparatus according to clause 6, wherein the rake-off angle for the knife (14) is less than 20 de- grees. 

9. An apparatus according to clause 6, wherein the rake-off angle for the knife (14) is about 17 degrees. 

10.An apparatus according toclause 1, wherein the knife (14)has a biasedbevelcomprising a bevel(54) that faces away from the impeller (10). 

11. An apparatus according to clause 10, wherein the bevel (54) of the biased bevel has a grind angle of about 7° to 11 °. 

12.An apparatus according toclause 1, wherein the paddles (16) of the impeller (10) are inclined at a positive angle. 

13. An apparatus according to clause 12, wherein the paddles (16) of the impeller (10) are inclined at a positive angle of between about 5° and 35°. 

14. An apparatus according to clause 12, wherein the paddles (16) of the impeller (10) are inclined at a positive angle of between about 8° and 20°. 

15. An apparatus according to clause 12, wherein the paddles (16) of the impeller (10) are inclined at a positive angle of between about 12° and 15°. 

16.An apparatus according toclause 1, wherein the paddles (16) of the impeller (10) comprise means (56) for absorbing impacts with the food product. 

