Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A22—BUTCHERING; MEAT TREATMENT; PROCESSING POULTRY OR FISH
  • A22C—PROCESSING MEAT, POULTRY, OR FISH
  • A22C21/00—Processing poultry
  • A22C21/0023—Dividing poultry

Definitions

• the invention relates to an apparatus for cutting slaughtered chickens into parts, in which the animals are suspended by the legs from a conveyor system and moved along an endless line formed by a drive unit, reversing sheaves and treating stations.
• the known process results in bony parts being damaged during the cutting, bone splinters are left in the meat, which is undesirable.
• the known process has the drawback that it permits only a limited rate of processing of the animals.
• the cutting requires exposure of the animal to a reactive force, which implies that the animal is maintained in a certain fixed position during the cutting.
• the present invention provides a less complex apparatus of the sort mentioned in the introduction. This is accomplished because
• the sheaves turn the conveyor track through an angle of 180°.
• the cutting and the fixing means may be present round the circumference of 360° in a plurality, that is to say in a number that is an integer dividing 360°, within the limits of structural freedom.
• the requirement that the conveyor delivers the slaughtered chickens at the right distance and location must invariably be complied with.
• the examples of this patent application start from two sets of means, but in actual practice there is no such limitation.
• the movement which the cutting and the fixing means make is brought about by the fixed guiding means and the associated rollers, whilst the drive is provided by the reversing sheave which is itself actuated by the conveyor and associated drive unit.
• an appropriate reversing sheave may also serve as drive unit.
• the animals are preferably graded by weight in categories of about 400 grams before the operation. This means they are differentiated according to size. As animals of different sizes are processed, the distance of the conveyor relative to the fixing means should therefore be adjustable.
• Figure 1 presents a lateral view of an apparatus for splitting a slaughtered chicken across the breast (a breast splitter);
• Figure 2 presents a lateral view of a breast-meat cutter; and
• Figure 3 presents a lateral view of a so-called back stripper.
• Figure 1 shows a reversing sheave 1 acting as guide to the conveyor system which also drives the said sheave and from which slaughtered chickens are suspended on hooks.
• the arrangement is such that during operation a chicken to be dissected arrives in front of a fixing bracket 2.
• the fixing bracket 2 moves outwards round a spindle 3, the movement being brought about by co-operation between a guide 4 and a roller 5 which is connected to the fixing bracket 3 through a shaft.
• the sheave 1 turns the conveyor track through an angle of up to 180° and is connected to a number of co-revolving vertical guides 7 for vertically movable knives 6, whose cutting edges face the axis of rotation.
• each knife 6 is moved down and up again as the rollers which can bring about the vertical displacement are guided according to a track 9 which proceeds at a constant distance from the axis of rotation and has a roughly sinusoidal course over 180° and a horizontal course (not shown) over a further 180°.
• the fixing means 2 are split into two halves in such a fashion that the knives 6 can move in between and they are, during rotation, moved towards the axis, because the guide 4 for the associated rollers 5 is disposed in a horizontally eccentric position relative to the axis of rotation, such that the movement towards the axis takes place during the up and down movement of the corresponding knife 6.
• the knives 6 preferably have a knurled cutting edge.
• the embodiment according to Figure 2 comprises a breast-meat cutter whose mode of operation includes cutting of the ribs.
• the figure shows a reversing sheave 11 acting as guide to the conveyor system which also drives the said sheave and from which slaughtered chickens are suspended on hooks.
• the arrangement is such that during operation a chicken arrives in front of a fixing bracket 12.
• the sheave 11 is connected to the actual rotating cutting device through a telescopic cardan shaft 11'.
• the fixing bracket 12 moves inwards round a spindle 13, the movement being brought about by co-operation between a stationary guide 14 and a roller 15 which is connected to the arm of the fixing bracket 12 through a shaft.
• the bracket 12 acts in conjunction with a backrest 12' so as to hold the chicken fixedly in place.
• a knife 16 (for instance, a universal triitming knife) is moved down with its cutting edge following a certain path. This movement is brought about by the force exerted by a roller 18 which acts in conjunction with a stationary guide 19.
• the downward movement of the knife 16, which is in essence curved, is corrected to a more rectilinear movement by displacing the co-revolving fulcrum 17 of the roller spindle and the knife's arm away from the axis of rotation by means of a rigidly mounted eccentric 20 (hence also a guide).
• the ultimate position so obtained is shown in Figure 2 on the left-hand side with the corresponding reference numerals (a). As the second cutting device is disposed at an angle of 180° opposite the first one, the ultimate position again conforms to the initial position.
• the breast-meat cutter can in fact be described briefly as follows.
• the sheave reverses the conveyor track through an angle of up to 180° and is movably connected to a number of co-revolving knives and associated fixing brackets.
• every knife is moved down with its cutting edge by a co-operation between a roller and a stationary guide, this movement being corrected by a second guide (eccentric) which displaces the fulcrum of the roller spindle and the knife's arm away from the axis of rotation.
• a fixing bracket During the rotation on an axis, a fixing bracket has been moved inwards through the joint action of a stationary guide and a roller whose spindle is connected through a fulcrum to the fixing bracket which acts in conjunction with a backrest.
• the guides are designed such that fixing takes place before the knife cuts.
• the distance between conveyor system and fixing bracket is adjustable according to the size of the slaughtered animals also in this apparatus.
• the embodiment according to Figure 3 comprises a so-called back stripper, that is to say, an apparatus of the type according to the invention which is capable of removing the back meat.
• the figure shows a reversing sheave 21 acting as a guide to the conveyor system which also drives the said sheave and from which slaughtered chickens are suspended on hooks.
• the component parts are arranged in known fashion such that during operation the chickens to be processed arrive each in their turn with their breast facing the axis of rotation in front of a fixing bracket 22, 22', with leg spreader 22' ', 22'''.
• the sheave 21 is connected through a shaft 23 to a co-revolving drum 24 to which a number of co-revolving vertical guiding means 25, 26 are attached in order to permit vertical displacement of both the fixing bracket (s) 22 and one end of the arms 27, 27' on whose other end a stripping knife 28, 28' is rigidly mounted.
• a guide 29 for the rollers 30, 30' is capable, upon rotation of the drum 24, of moving the fixing bracket (s) 22, 22' connected to the rollers upwards along the guide rods 25, 26 against a spring pressure.
• the line generated by the stripping knives 28, 28' is, in addition, determined by the joint action of the rollers 32, 32' and a stationary guide 33, whilst the rollers 32, 32' are rigidly mounted on the end of the arms 27, 27' facing the knives.
• springs 34, 34' provide the requisite flexibility between the roller guides 30, 31, 31' and the ends of the arms 27, 27'.
• the springs 35, 35' which act in conjunction with the fixing brackets 22, 22' also promote flexibility.
• the back stripper can in fact be specified briefly as follows.
• the sheave 21 reverses the conveyor track through an angle of up to 180° and is connected to co-revolving vertical guide rods 25, 26, which guide the movement of the fixing brackets 22 with leg spreaders 22 as well as one end of the arms 27 on whose other ends stripping knives 28 have been mounted.
• the fixing brackets 22 and the ends of arms 27 are each displaced through the joint action of rollers 30 or 32 and guiding means 29 or 31 which remain at a constant distance from the axis of rotation, and they move simultaneously up and down the vertical guide rods 25, 26.
• This movement is constituted such that during rotation through the first 90° the fixing brackets 22 are in their lowest position and the arm is moved down, during rotation through the following 180° the fixing brackets are maintained in their topmost position and the ends of the arms 27, 27' remain in bottom position, whilst during rotation through the subsequent 90° the initial position is resumed.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Processing Of Meat And Fish (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=26645822

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (10)

• 1983
  • 1983-10-31 EP EP19830903422 patent/EP0125255A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1983-10-31 WO PCT/NL1983/000042 patent/WO1984001690A1/en not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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