Abstract: A high speed rotary knife adapted in operation to rotate adjacent to a perforated plate for severing foodstuff projecting from the plate perforations includes a holder component and a blade held thereby. Improved structure is provided for mounting the blade, which includes means defining a hole in the blade extending transversely with respect to a cutting edge on the blade, and an arbor extending into the hole and fitting loosely in the hole for retaining the blade on the holder component while enabling the blade to rock about a transverse axis for automatically leveling the blade with respect to the plate during assembly with the plate and operation. The arbor may be withdrawn from the hole sufficiently to release the blade for replacement thereof.

Abstract: A method of producing a radial arm-type cutter blade for a rotary meat grinder by way of certain particular successive operations involving stamping a blank to provide a plurality of radially and horizontally extending blank arms, bending the leading side marginal portions of the arms upwardly and outwardly along radial lines between the leading and trailing side edges of the arms, and shearing the outer side edge regions of the outwardly and upwardly bent leading side marginal portions of the arms.

Abstract: A meat grinder comprising a horizontally extending hopper-equipped casing, a stationary vertically extending perforated grinder plate at the discharge or outlet end of the casing, a rotary slicing knife in opposed and cooperative relation with the plate, and a rotary meat-impelling worm which feeds the meat product to be ground through the casing from the hopper to the plate and knife, and characterized by the fact that the grinder plate is provided in its forward or inner face with an involute spiral channel or groove into which bone fragments are swept under the influence of the rotating knife to the end that the thus captured bone fragments are caused to shift radially inwards toward the central portion of the plate where they are collected in a more or less closed chamber-like bone-receiving pocket in the form of a counterbore which is formed in and coaxial with the plate.

Abstract: A dual-phase meat grinder adapter which is capable of threaded reception over the open rear or discharge end of the usual feed channel of the casing of a conventional single-phase meat grinder and which, when so received, affords accommodation for a secondary perforated breaker plate through which relatively large meat segments issuing from the original or primary perforated breaker plate are further broken up into smaller segments. A rotary dual-edge knife between the two breaker plates effects shearing functions in conjunction with both breaker plates during operation of the meat grinder. Peripherally spaced clamping inserts are interposed in the threaded connection between the adapter body and the threaded rim at the discharge end of the feed channel of the grinder casing and function releasably to counteract the torque which is applied to the adapter body under the influence of the rotating knife and meat product within the grinder casing.

Abstract: A cutter blade of the radial arm type adapted for use in a rotary meat grinder, such blade being designed for cooperation with an opposed perforated grinder plate in such manner that the knife edges which are associated with it impel the sheared meat fragments circumferentially around the grinder plate in close proximity thereto for passage through the grinder plate perforations under the influence of the oncoming meat product.

Abstract: Sheets of material and more particularly irregularly shaped sheets, such as hides, fabric or plastic, are stacked on a platform by a structure which is positioned above the platform and to which the sheets are fed by a conveyor, into a pair of rollers which are pressed together to grip a sheet at the front edge of the sheet and drag it to the rear of the structure and release it onto a stack of sheets on the platform. The structure has a single continuous drive which carries the rollers and cams for closing and separating the rollers to grab and release the sheets at preselected points along the structure so that the sheets are laid one after another as they come up the conveyor in a stack on the platform.