1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting head mounting and support ring system for securing a cutting head to a food slicing machine.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Slicing machines for cutting food products, such as vegetables, nuts, and fruit, are well known in the art. A known apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,824 and comprises a main frame, a drive motor, a stationary annular cutting head fixedly attached to the main frame and having a series of circumferentially spaced cutter support segments each with a slicing blade mounted thereon, and a rotatable impeller surrounded by the cutting head and connected to a drive motor for rotation within the cutting head. The cutting head and the impeller are configured so that the impeller directsa food product outwardly against the slicing blades when the impeller is rotated within the cutting head.
In the known apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,824, a cutting head mounting ring located on the bottom of the cutting head is received on a fixed support ring of a slicing machine. The cutting head is gravitationally held on the support ring with axially extending pins serving to retain the support ring relative to the mounting ring. The cutting head is separated from the mounting ring for cleaning and maintenance simply by lifting the cutting head and mounting ring from the support ring.
In such known machines, it is necessary to often change the cutting head in order to replace or clean the cutting head and/or the slicing blades. Removal of