This invention relates to a slicing apparatus for slicing relatively firm foodstuffs such as cheese and the like.
There are various proposals in the prior art for such cutting devices. Among them are provisions for wire strand cutters secured to holders whereby vertical movement of the holder will cause the wire strand to pass through and slice portions of cheese blocks and the like. One such proposal is found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,796,212 in which a wire strand is attached between the legs of a U-shaped holder. One end of the U-shaped holder is secured to a baseboard provided with a groove located under the wire strand. When the holder is pivoted downwardly, the wire strand passes through the foodstuff and then into the groove in the baseboard and a slice is cut thereby. Another suggestion is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,037,856 which utilizes wire strands held taut by means of a rotary wheel for passage through the item to be sliced. U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,817 discloses a cutting device which has a base for supporting the foodstuff to be cut. A U-shaped bar is arranged transversely of the base in such fashion that when the bar is pivoted downwardly about a vertical plane, the wire strand is moved through the foodstuff ultimately into a slot existing transversely of the base. In this patent the one end of the wire strand is attached to a pivotable lever which is moveable to positions which are approximately at right angles to each other. One leg of the U-shaped bar is secured to this lever and the other leg is loosely accommodated within a passageway in the base which traverses the slot. The other end of the wire strand passes through the slot and passageway in the base and is looped around the leg of the U-shaped bar which is in the passageway. Thus, the U-shaped bar is prevented from moving out of the passageway by its engagement with the looped wire.
When the lever is moved to a position at right angles to the base, the wire strand is slack and the end of the U-shaped bar in the passageway may be removed therefrom for removal and replacement of the wire. When the end of the wire is looped around the leg of the U-shaped bar in the passageway, movement of the lever to a position substantially parallel with the base places the wire strand under tension and it may then be used for cutting purposes.
While the aforesaid arrangement does satisfactorily cut foodstuff when the wire is taut, there are certain problems presented. In the first instance, a certain amount of difficulty may be encountered in looping the wire strand around the leg of the U-shaped bar extending through the passageway because the slot in the base is necessarily quite narrow and looping the wire around the leg of the bar must be made blindly. Furthermore, if the loop is not relatively taut around the leg of the bar which is loose in the passageway it may be possible to move the bar relative to the slot and thereby interfere with the effectiveness of the slicing operation. In addition, because of the loop and lever arrangements, the length of the wire must be predetermined within relatively strict tolerances in order to move from a slack position to a taut position upon pivotal movement of the lever.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing problems while nevertheless providing a slicing structure which is effective and easy to assembly. In addition, the replacement of the slicing wire strand may be effected in a simple and expeditious manner with the structure parts being maintained in a fixed position devoid of any possibility of slippage with relation to each other.