| abstract |
A system (10) for analyzing and trimming pork belly and other three-dimensional food and non-food products, including a conveyor (12) for conveying workpieces (WP) to be trimmed through a scanning system (14) prior to subsequent workpiece slicing ), the scanning system (14) is used to scan the workpiece (WP) to determine the physical characteristics of the workpiece, including, for example, the three-dimensional shape of the workpiece and the position of the work on the conveyor. The cutting station (16) trims the workpiece (WP) into a desired two-dimensional shape representing the optimal shape of the workpiece, which seeks to maximize the slice obtained from the workpiece while maintaining the desired level of quality of the slice. The slicing station uses a high-speed cutter or slicer to divide/slice the workpiece into sections/slices that have been simulated by a processing system (18) employing a processor or computer (20). |