Equipment for Cutting Small Pieces of Semi-Finished Meat Products
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Equipment for cutting small-piece semi-finished products is continuously being improved. This article describes how the main machines work and how they are built. The K6-FMG machine (Figure 1) is a continuous-action unit consisting of a frame, a drive, a loading hopper, two spiral augers, and a cutting mechanism.
The cutting mechanism of the K6-FMG includes levers, crossbars with knives, and guide frames. The knives perform a reciprocating motion in the slots of the knife frame and cut the raw material into longitudinal strips, while a sickle-shaped knife slices off the pieces. The mechanism is enclosed by double-leaf doors, one leaf of which is interlocked with a limit switch.
When the doors are opened, the limit switch shuts the machine off. 
During cutting of the raw material, the muscle tissue is barely deformed and the pieces separate almost completely from one another. The lower the temperature of the meat, the more regular the shape of the resulting pieces.
The temperature of the raw material rises by an average of 1 °C after cutting. The design of the K6-FMG machine allows the cut raw material to be discharged onto a conveyor belt or into a trolley. The discharge height is 810 mm. 
How does the K6-FM2-G machine cut the product into cubes?
The K6-FM2-G machine (Figure 2) cuts the product into cubes. It consists of a frame on which all the mechanisms and controls are mounted, including a feed mechanism made up of a loading hopper and a working auger; an auger drive mechanism comprising an electric motor, a gearbox, and a chain drive; knife frames and a knife-frame drive mechanism consisting of an electric motor, a V-belt drive, and a crank-and-rocker mechanism; a cutting knife and its drive mechanism, which includes a two-speed electric motor, a V-belt variator, and a worm gearbox; and protective-and-starting equipment.
The working auger is driven by an electric motor (rated at 5.5 kW with a shaft speed of 970 rpm) through the gearbox and chain drive. The same electric motor drives the knife frames into reciprocating motion through the V-belt drive and the crank-and-rocker mechanisms.
The cutting knife receives its motion from an electric motor (rated at 18 kW with a shaft speed of 950 [1450] rpm) through the V-belt variator and the worm gearbox. Stepless adjustment of the cutting-knife speed is achieved by changing the effective diameter of the variator's driving pulley.
The clearance between the cutting knife and the frame body is adjusted with a special screw. The minimum clearance is no more than 0.5 mm. 
How does the device for cutting small-piece natural semi-finished products work?
The device for cutting small-piece natural semi-finished products (Figure 3), developed by B. V. Kulishov, consists of a cutting mechanism and two raw-material feed mechanisms. The raw material is fed simultaneously onto two oppositely positioned platforms.
The knives in Kulishov's device operate cyclically, moving into and out of the cutting zone automatically through the interaction of the knife projections with the surface of a profiled cam. The feed mechanism is a drum fitted with spikes, kinematically connected to the knife drive. Raw material is fed into the cutting zone through the interaction of the drum spikes with the knife.
Reliable contact is guaranteed because the drum is mounted on a swinging rocker that limits its travel against a support. The cam is made in two parts. While one part of the cam withdraws the knives from the cutting zone, the other part holds the knives against spontaneous withdrawal at the moment of cutting.
During cutting, the drums of the feed mechanisms remain stationary and press the product against the platforms. The efficiency of the device is determined by how well the synchronous operation of the cutting and feed mechanisms is ensured.
To achieve this, the duration of the kinematic cycle is calculated on the basis of the required throughput. Machines of both batch and continuous action are also manufactured for cutting small-piece semi-finished products. 
