IE40063L - Tongs for stunning animals - Google Patents

Abstract

1477310 Slaughtering animals HAVERHILL MEAT PRODUCTS Ltd 14 Oct 1974 [23 Oct 1973] 49348/73 Heading AIM In a stunning tongs, an impulse generator is operated, in timed relation to the actuation of a primed movers acting oh the arms of the tongs, to apply an electrical impulse of predetermined waveform, frequency, and voltage simultaneously with the contact of the electrode heads on the animal's head, and to apply a steady current through the animal's head for sufficient time to enable slaughtering. In an embodiment, the prime mover is a pneumatic cylinder 10 actuated by a trigger 8 which also closes acontact a in a switch 26 in the electronic timing circuit of Fig. 4. After a time interval determined by the.values of capacitor C2 and resistor Rl a relay contact RL/1 closes and applies the output from a variable frequency generator 35 to the electrode heads 12, 13 on the arms 6, 5 of the stunning tongs, The relay contact RL/1 opens after a time interval, determined by the values of resistors R2, R4 and capacitor C3, controlled by the adjustable resistance R4. The timing circuit may also be actuated by a switch 37. A suitable stunning voltage is of the order of 150 volts at a frequency in the range 20 cycles/sec to 2 megacycles/sec. The prime mover may also be a solenoid device, a servomotor, or a hydraulically operated cylinder. [GB1477310A]