1982-02-22
1984-09-04
Abercrombie, Willie G.
17 52, A22C 2100
Patent
active
044688385
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a bird cutting plant.
Some known bird cutting plants comprise an endless conveyer from which the birds to be cut are suspended for transport to one or more cutting stations where the birds are cut up by manual labour. The birds are suspended from the conveyer with their backs or breasts facing outwardly from the conveyer, and the workers are facing these parts of the birds.
Also known are automatic cutting machines in which cutting means substantially continuously cut up a bird introduced into the machine by a conveyer so that mixed bird parts are obtained after the cutting operation, and this necessitates a subsequent sorting operation which is especially inconvenient if identical bird parts are to be packed and marketed. Furthermore, these known machines are of a complicated and inflexible construction causing the different cutting operations to be dependent upon one another.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic bird cutting plant producing uniformly cut and automatically sorted bird parts at different locations along the path of motion of a bird conveyer and readily permitting variation of the bird cutting operations.
According to the invention, the bird cutting plant comprises an endless conveyer with equidistantly spaced apart bird suspension means from which the birds are suspended upside down for transport through at least one cutting station. Each suspension means includes two yokes secured to the conveyer and adapted to receive the birds' lower legs, the connecting line of said yokes extending transversely of the direction of movement of the conveyer, and the spacing between said yokes along said connecting line being sufficient to make said yokes hold the lower legs of a bird suspended in this manner stretched apart, but at the same time hold the bird freely swingable, in the conveying direction, on the distal enlarged end portions of the lower legs, said yokes including guide means adapted to guide the cut bird parts out of the yokes only when subjected to a force acting against the direction of the force of gravity. The cutting stations are provided with cutting means adapted to cut the birds in symmetrically specular disposition in a plane including the conveying direction. At least said one cutting station is adapted to bipartition the bird before the bird's body and legs are cut at any subsequent cutting stations.
The invention will be described in more detail in the following, with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a chicken cutting plant and in which
FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing an endless conveyer with cutting stations.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are front and side views, respectively, showing the suspension means according to the invention.
FIGS. 3A and 3B show a chicken bipartitioning station.
FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C show a breast cutting station.
FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C show a leg cutting station.
FIG. 6 shows a leg lift-off station.
FIG. 1 shows an endless chain 1 having a drive pulley 2 and a guide pulley 2' for driving bird suspension means 3 equidistantly secured to the chain, from a suspension station I to a lift-off station VI, via intermediate stations II-V. These stations will be described in more detail in the following.
The suspension means 3 (best shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6) are essentially rigidly secured to the chain 1 by means of a pin 4 and are guided in their path of motion on an overlying frame 5 by means of rollers 6 connected to said suspension means. The suspension means include a bar 7 located underneath the chain and positioned at right angles to the path of motion of said chain (or the chain itself). Secured to the ends of said bar is one leg 9 of an approximately U-shaped yoke 8. In this embodiment, the plane of the U is at approximately 45.degree. relative to the part of the chain 1 which lies behind it in the direction of movement, and the bottom part 10 of the U is bent forwardly through approximately 90.degree. from the said plane. The other free leg 11 of the U-shaped yoke has an outwardly bent
REFERENCES:
patent: 3639945 (1972-02-01), Duncan et al.
patent: 3708829 (1973-01-01), Klevgard
patent: 3778867 (1973-12-01), Sindler et al.
patent: 3837045 (1974-09-01), Blacker
patent: 3943600 (1976-03-01), Cramer
patent: 4019223 (1977-04-01), Baker
patent: 4071924 (1978-02-01), Meyn
patent: 4251901 (1981-02-01), Thomas
Sjostrom Stig
Thornqvist Allan
Abercrombie Willie G.
Dority Julian W.
Meyn Machinenfabriek, B.V.
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