Guillotine
Overview
The Guillotine is a servo-driven cutting system designed to cut continuous ropes of product accurately and repeatably. Product is carried on an 800 mm wide belt, providing capacity for a large number of parallel ropes across the working width.
The servo-controlled blade follows the conveyor speed, maintaining the selected cut length even when belt speed varies. Operators can also change the cut length during a production run, giving controlled product sizing without manual calculations.
Key Benefits
Wide Multi-Rope Capacity
Key figure: 800 mm belt width
The wide conveyor accommodates a large number of standard product ropes across a single cutting system.
Large Rope Capability
Key figure: Up to 25 mm diameter
Cuts standard product ropes up to 25 mm diameter while maintaining a controlled, repeatable cut.
Automatic Belt-Speed Matching
Key figure: Constant selected cut length
The servo-driven blade synchronises with the conveyor, maintaining the selected product length as belt speed changes.
Fully Safeguarded
Key figure: Interlocked access guarding
The cutting area is enclosed by interlocked guarding, providing safe access for cleaning and blockage removal.
Belt speed up to 12 m/min.
Minimum cut length of 10 mm, dependent on belt speed.
Maximum cut length can be set as long as the process requires.
Tool-less, reversible blade changes require no specialist tools and provide two usable cutting edges.
Integrated blade scrapers remove product that adheres to the cutting edge.
Adjustable hold-down bars stabilise product ropes and prevent them being lifted or dragged by the blade.
Servo-Driven Cut Control
Adjustable Blade Motion
Hold-Down Bars and Scrapers
Safe Access and Fast Recovery
Servo control synchronises the conveyor and cutting mechanism, providing accurate control of product length and cut timing.
The controller automatically compensates for belt-speed variation, so the selected length remains consistent throughout the run.
Operators enter the required cut length directly, with no separate speed or timing calculations.
The blade path can be adjusted to suit the product and conveyor conditions.
A controlled walking motion follows the product during the cut, supporting a square end profile.
This minimises crushing, pulling and deformation as the blade passes through the rope.
Adjustable hold-down bars are set to suit the rope diameter and keep the product stable during cutting.
Scrapers positioned between the bars remove product from the blade and prevent carry-over.
Together they prevent lifting, dragging and displacement, keeping each cut piece aligned with the incoming rope.
The machine is fully guarded, with interlocked access to the cutting area for cleaning, maintenance and blockage removal.
Opening the guard safely disables the servo motor and blade before access is allowed.
Blockages can be cleared quickly and the process restarted without unnecessary upstream or downstream interruption.
How it Works
The Guillotine uses a reciprocating blade driven by a servo motor and controller through a cam mechanism. The cam and link arm generate a controlled figure-of-eight walking motion, allowing the blade to move with the product while cutting across the conveyor.
The controller matches blade movement to belt speed. The operator enters the required rope length, and the system calculates the timing automatically so each product rope is cut to the selected size without manual speed calculations.
If a blockage occurs, the interlocked guarding can be opened. This safely prevents the servo motor and blade from actuating, allowing the blockage to be removed quickly. Once the guard is closed, production can restart with minimal interruption to upstream and downstream equipment.
Technical Specifications
| Belt width | 800 mm |
| Maximum rope diameter | 25 mm |
| Minimum cut length | 10 mm (dependent on belt speed) |
| Belt speed | Up to 12 m/min |
| Food-contact materials | Fully food safe |
Applications
Cutting continuous treat ropes to a specified length ready for packaging or downstream processing.
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