Automatic Cutting Machine for White-Feta Type Cheese

Construction Certification

The machines are certified according to the Greek and European standards on machinery safety and electromechanical compatibility of low voltage (CE). The company applies the 9001: 2015 quality assurance system certified by Lloyds Register Hellas during the production phase. In addition, electrical circuits and consumers will be compatible with the site’s electricity network.

All sheets are cut in a modern LASER metal cutting center.
The components are created in modern CNC machining centers.
The sheets will be manufactured on a modern CNC bending machine.
The welding process will be done by applying materials compatible with construction materials to avoid creating pores.

Description Machine

The automatic cutting machine is designed for cutting white cheese in slices of exact size.

Technical description:

The design process of the cutting machine was also focused on making it resistant to environments with high humidity and oxidization.

The following materials were used:

Stainless steel AISI304 and AISI316 with excellent corrosion resistance properties
Hydrophobic polymers
Lightweight aluminium alloys

With components that suit the intended application:

Fully protected motors
Weight measurement systems with the desired specifications
IFM position sensors – LEUZE measuring sensors
Safety valves and safety equipment manufactured by SICK
Conveyor belts are manufactured out of Kevlar and polyurethane
Protective screens are manufactured out of Plexiglas

Dynamic System:

The dynamic system is the core essence of the equipment. It combines high quality components with cutting-edge software and robust control platforms. All servomotors of the unit are manufactured by SIEMENS whilst all step motors are manufactured by FESTO. The cutting machine also features the SIMOTION pneumatic-engine technology developed and manufactured by SIEMENS. Finally, the whole arrangement is controlled from a SEMENS touch monitor.

HOW IT WORKS

Feeding conveyor

The unit features an automatic feeding conveyor that transfers cheese blocks to cut. The conveyor has a capacity of 7-8 cheese blocks. The capacity of the conveyor can be altered in order to suit different needs.
Measurement System of Geometric Characteristics of a Cheese Block.

Special measurement for fast, reliable and more efficient track measurement using metric sensors for multiple track scanning.
Weight Measurement conveyor

New weighing conveyor for cheese blocks with stainless-steel motor.
Cheese blocks are transferred by the feeding conveyor to the weight measurement conveyor. The weight measurement conveyor takes measurements for one cheese block at a time in order to log specific and accurate weight values. In addition, the time delay and the speed of the weight measurement conveyor can be adjusted from the control monitor, located on the control panel of the unit. The standard deviation of the measurements is of order of 2gr.
Conveyor for alignment and standby process before cutting

It is the conveyor that aligns the piece before cutting and acts as standby for the piece to be fed to the next cutting tape.
Cutting Conveyor

In the cutting conveyor, the piece is inserted, held with pneumatic jaws from the sides and from above and pushed forward to be cut. The knife works with a specially made blade with the possibility of rejecting the piece after cutting.
Exit Line
The procedure here consists of several steps and there is a wait for an extra supplement every time a piece is found to be missing weight. In addition, this line can change the angle it runs on, depending on the piece that is being chopped every time so that it can be secured that the piece will fall normally and in a straight line.
CUTTING SPEED

The chopping speed of the machine is calculated in a theoretical basis and for perfect conditions as far as pieces are concerned and with attention to their weight.
Especially:
The previous table is a result of the theoretical calculation and for pieces that got specific dimensions. Changes on the speed and dimensions can affect the percentage of acceptable pieces. The numbers we posted concern pieces of humidity about 54 to 56 percent, usually feta type.

CHOPPING PROGRAM
Pieces are chopped according to the predefined weight and with the potential of changing the desirable weight, which can help in avoiding the existence of any remainders and especially remainders that cannot be managed. So, if it has been chosen that pieces of 200gr should be cut in order to assemble a bigger piece of 1820gr, the machine will prepare 9 pieces of 202.2gr and will not prepare the remainder of 20gr which is not manageable anyway. If the desirable piece is of 1780gr, the machine will prepare 9 pieces of 197.8gr. This program can secure that remainders and supplements will be the least possible, so that chopping losses will be lower. In addition to these all, the feedback function of the machine is taken into further consideration according to the statistics that are being gathered by the weight controller.
Remote control
This has to do with the ability to control the machine remotely. Technical parts and components. The machine is equipped with all the components that are needed, either electric or mechanic, to achieve the best production and precision rates.
Technical parts and components
The machine is equipped with all the components that are needed, either electric or mechanic, to achieve the best production and precision rates.
WEIGHT CONTROLLER

Produced by a German company and can achieve the chopping of 110 pieces per minute
Checkweigher HC-M-WD-4000-3
Products are cut in slices
Dimensions: L110 x B150 x H30mm
Weight: max 500gr
Exit speed: max 110 pieces/min
Mixed weight range: 3750gr
Basic type of Checkweigher
GWR of 1gr in 7500gr/ max offload ability 250 pieces/min / 1s>100mg
Biomechanical Weighting of cells through V4A with steel jacket
Protection class IP 69K
Law of Electromagnetic force of restoration (EMFR)
Cable Bridge for weighting cells without producing
All components consist of stainless steel V2A / 304
Projection and function:
Screen with the ability of rotation and angle changing with a jacket of stainless steel and graphics that can show colors on a TFT touch screen of 10.4”. Separate buttons produced by Piezo, functioning for start, stop and recovery (IP 69K)
Signs for all data that concern the production
Enhanced graphics/ arithmetic show of all production data
Ability to change between normal and enhanced show
Main menu and statistics can be modified by the user
Help functions concerning the main menu and all error messages
Memory that can store up to 100 products
Error messages are shown as simple text and are recorded on error calendar
Automatic erasing of the weight difference after each piece is weighted
Calculation of the average number of pieces
Interference with the chopping machine and correction of the variables of each chopping processes
Measurement of the pieces according to the prepacked products (e-weight)The offer stands for this specific machine that has been shown to you during your visit.(two bands that will be connected to the packing machine are included in the offer)Previous prices include delivery and placement of the machine but also training of the staff upon the use of this specific item.

Mechanical rejector

Rejection of the pieces that do not comply with the borders that have been chosen is achieved through a specially designed rejector which works using a suitable serve engine, so that rejection reply will be instant and fast.
Extra Equipment
Conveyor Transfer Live With Infinite Band 3500mm Length (Conveyor that Leads to packing Machine)

Technical description:
• Made of AISI 304 stainless steel.
• The base of the film will be made of 4mm thick sheet metal
• The legs of the tape will be made of solid Φ 35mm and at the bottom there will be adjustable legs.
• The conveyor belt will be infinite blue and 150mm wide. There will be a guide at the bottom of the movie.
• The transmission will be on the edge of the movie. The drive shaft will be stainless steel with a special tread surface on the outside so that the conveyor belt does not slip. The shaft on one side will be mounted on the motor and on the other in a stainless-steel bearing.
• The motor will be specially made with stainless steel housing for greater durability in a dairy environment.
• The end of the tape will be split with special arms to fit the tape on the packaging machines.Conveyor Transfer Live With Infinite Band (Conveyor for the Rejected Pieces)Technical description:
• Made of AISI 304 stainless steel.
• The base of the film will be made of 4mm thick sheet metal
• The legs of the tape will be made of solid Φ 35mm and at the bottom there will be adjustable legs.
• The conveyor belt will be infinite blue and 150mm wide. There will be a guide at the bottom of the movie.
• The transmission will be on the edge of the movie. The drive shaft will be stainless steel with a special tread surface on the outside so that the conveyor belt does not slip. The shaft on one side will be mounted on the motor and on the other in a stainless-steel bearing.
• The motor will be specially made with stainless steel housing for greater durability in a dairy environment.
• The end of the tape will be split with special arms to fit the tape on the packaging machines.
Additional Optional Equipment and Features
Stacking Conveyor for Slices

The stacking of the pieces is a process many customers need, so they can create packs of slices.
Software Extension so the Machine Can Create Stacks of Pieces
Vertical Alignment Conveyor With The Ability to Verticaly ReclinateConveyor for Pieces (Supplements) That Comes from The Center of The Cheese Block
This ability comes as an extension because with this adjustment we achieve to cut supplementary pieces from the center of the cheese block instead. This is very good for marketing reasons as the supplement piece is homogeneous. Software Extension for The Ability to Cut Supplements from The Center of The Cheese Block.