Branson Ultrasonics has been cutting food products since the early
1970s. Back then we cut things such as Napoleon snacks, and we even
tried to shuck oysters. We used ultrasonic blades sharpened on one side
attached to a hand-held device.
Today, Branson has food manufacturing customers all over the world
cutting products such as cakes, pies, granola bars, cheese, pizza
dough, confectionery products, bread, gum, candy and even licorice.
Clean cuts through multiple layers produce visual appeal. Fillers, such
as nuts or raisins, are cut cleanly and produce less fragmentation than
with conventional cutting methods. Depending upon the type of product,
ultrasonics can even be used to reshape and reform. Advantages range
from increased blade life to cleaner product cut surfaces, to the most
important: reduced down time for cleaning.
The ultrasonic blades vibrate 20,000 to 40,000 times per second to
achieve minimum surface friction between them and the product being
cut. This means no special coatings are required, and the product does
not remain on the blade surface, such as happens in a static blade
design. The cuts are clean and the product does not smear through
layers. 20 kHz ultrasonic blades can cut as deep as 5 ½" and up to 14"
in width, while slitting blades can slit product down to ½" on centers
and span 8" to 10" across. Recent studies show that higher frequencies
(30 and 40 kHz) work best with hot or sticky products, while also
providing quieter operation.
Systems can be cleaned in-place with the use of titanium and stainless
steel components. Typically the cleaning down time is cut by 70% to 90%
as compared to conventional blades. Ultrasonic equipment is adaptable
to existing equipment with minor modifications, or custom cells can be
integrated into new system designs. Power supply designs can vary from
standard enclosures to 19" rack mounts with multiple power supplies to
special industrial design panel mount designs. Special ultrasonic
converters, used to convert electrical energy into mechanical motion,
specifically designed for the food industry, with hermetically sealed
stainless steel housings and titanium output drivers. These specialty
converters can be located up to 100 feet away from the power supply and
cleaned in-place with caustic and non-caustic chemicals and foams.
Typical system components include the ultrasonic "stack" with cutting blades (left) and the ultrasonic power supply.
For information in ultrasonic Food Processing, Click Here.
Branson Ultrasonics has been cutting food products since the early
1970s. Back then we cut things such as Napoleon snacks, and we even
tried to shuck oysters. We used ultrasonic blades sharpened on one side
attached to a hand-held device. 
Typical system components include the ultrasonic "stack" with cutting blades (left) and the ultrasonic power supply.
