A system for cutting blocks of cheese or other food product into chunks
includes conveyors for moving the blocks along an automated, continuous,
in-line processing path. A block cutter cuts the blocks longitudinally
and or vertically to provide one or more stacks of slabs which are
destacked by a vacuum transfer apparatus. A transverse cutter cuts the
individual slabs to create chunks of cheese or other food product. The
conveyors include a stack conveyor located in the processing path for
conveying successive stacks of slabs from the block cutter to the product
destacking apparatus in succession, and a slab conveyor located in the
processing path for conveying successive slabs from the product
destacking apparatus to the transverse cutter. A trim cutting module
includes a rotating mechanism that rotates a block during the trim
operation, allowing trim to drop to a trim disposal conveyance.