Butchering – Miscellaneous
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-23
2001-10-09
Little, Willis (Department: 3643)
Butchering
Miscellaneous
C606S102000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299524
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the processing of slaughtered animals or parts thereof, in particular of fowl or parts of slaughtered fowl, and in particular to the industrial processing of such animals.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
As is known, the processing of fowl such as poultry, in particular chicken, in large quantities is mostly automated. It makes use of processing installations comprising a conveyor arrangement which forms a conveyor track for one or more retention members which can be moved along the conveyor track and are designed to carry a bird or one or more parts of birds. Located along the conveyor track are one or more processing stations where the passing bird undergoes processing, for example plucking of the feathers of the bird, making an incision in the bird, etc. An example of a known conveyor arrangement for such a processing installation is described in WO 93/13671, where the retention members are designed for carrying the chickens or chicken parts such as drumsticks and chicken quarters, while suspended from the tarsal joint of a leg.
In practice, the operation of these known automated processing installations is found to be disrupted more often than would be desirable as a result of the leg bone being fractured, usually at a short distance below the tarsal joint retained by the retention member. Thus the drumsticks in practice are taken to a deboning station where the meat is stripped off the drumstick suspended from its tarsal joint. For this purpose, a stripper is made to engage the drumstick near the retention member and is then moved downwards, so that the meat is stripped off. If the leg bone is broken, what will often happen is that instead of the meat being stripped off the bone, part of the drumstick will tear, near the bone fracture, off the part which comprises the tarsal joint and is retained by the retention member. This torn-off part then contains a bone, thus resulting in considerable problems both in the deboning station and in possible further processing stations, so that the installation has to be stopped more often than is desirable to clear the malfunction. Data from practical experience indicate that sometimes about
106
of the drumsticks presented to a deboning station will be subject to the above-described bone fracture.
A similar problem occurs in the processing of pigs, in particular the processing of pigs' legs, where boning takes place by machine and possible fracture in the leg bone can lead to considerable problems and damage, for example jamming of the deboning installation and the pig's ham becoming unsuitable for retail. In particular, the economic damage when a pig's ham is lost is much greater than that caused by the loss of a single drumstick of a chicken.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the abovementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides an apparatus according to claim
1
.
The bone fracture detection means may comprise, for example, an X-ray camera which is linked to electronic image processing means for processing the image obtained by the camera.
In another variant, the bone fracture detection means comprise a camera which records the shape of an animal or part of the animal and which is linked to electronic image processing means for processing the image obtained by the camera. For example, the image processing means are designed for determining the outer contour of the animal or animal part and to compare this with a predefined standard contour of an animal with an intact bone. This embodiment can be used, for example, to establish whether a wing of a slaughtered bird suspended in a conveyor arrangement by its legs is broken. If the wing is broken it will adopt a different position than if the wing is intact.
In an advantageous embodiment, the signalling means are linked to memory means for storing data regarding the animals or animal parts examined, these data then optionally being used for analytical purposes.
In another advantageous embodiment provision may be made for the signalling means to be linked to facilities positioned upstream of the fracture detection, which handle and/or process the animal, in particular to those facilities which may possibly cause a bone fracture. In particular, this refers to the operations of conveying the animals, where there is a risk of causing a bone fracture, particularly at those points where the animals or parts thereof are placed into a mechanized conveyor means or are transferred from the one mechanized conveyor means to another mechanized conveyor means.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the signalling means are linked to one or more processing facilities for the animal or part thereof which operate downstream of the fracture detection apparatus, so that the activity performed by said processing facility can be tailored to whether a bone fracture is or is not present. Thus it is conceivable for the animal or part thereof, in the event of a bone fracture, not to be processed in a mechanized fashion and to be passed to a station where manual processing takes place.
In a further variant, provision can be made for the bone fracture detection apparatus to be designed for processing a plurality of types of animals and animal parts, for example both for processing drumsticks and considerably larger chicken quarters of chickens. Preferably, means are provided for this purpose which are designed for observing what type of animal or animal part is being presented to the detection apparatus.
An advantageous embodiment of the inventive idea is described in. This arrangement is based on the idea that if no fracture is present in the relevant bone of the animal, this bone and the meat around it will behave as a single entity and will therefore overall exhibit the same reaction as a result of the mechanical load imposed. But if a bone fracture is present, those parts of the animal or part thereof to be examined which are situated on either side of said bone fracture will react differently to the imposed mechanical load. Since the imposed mechanical load is known it is therefore feasible (possibly by experiments) to establish what reaction will occur with an intact bone and in the event of what reaction the bone is fractured.
The mechanical load applied to the animal or part thereof to be inspected can take a variety of forms within the scope of the inventive thought. For example it is possible, by means of procedures involving simple construction, to apply a flexural load to the bone to be inspected, but a torsional load could also be generated. It is also possible for the bone to be inspected to be subjected to a tensile load or compressive load.
In an advantageous embodiment the observing means are designed for establishing, by observing a possible change of the relative orientation of the parts of the animal which are situated on either side of the possible fracture, whether there is a fracture. These observing means can comprise a camera, for example. Obviously, the mechanical load applied should not be so large that the bone to be inspected will fracture as a result of this type bone fracture detection. It may be advantageous, however, for the mechanical load to be such that a partially fractured bone will yet fracture completely or in any case will give rise to a distinctly observable change in the orientation.
The present invention is suitable for use in the processing of fowl and pigs, but obviously the invention can also be used in processing other slaughtered animals.
Advantageous embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention are described in the subordinate claims and in the following description with reference to the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5348009 (1994-09-01), Ohtomo et al.
patent: 5651363 (1997-07-01), Kaufman et al.
patent: 5774520 (1998-06-01), Bolotin
patent: 5873843 (1999-02-01), Draper
patent: 0 819 381 A1 (1998-01-01), None
patent: WO 93/13671 (1993-07-01), None
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Report Concerning Novelty Search of Internatio
Janssen Petrus Chr. H.
van den Nieuwelaar Adrianus J.
Van Happen Francis W. J.
Johnson Kristin L.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Little Willis
Stork PMT B.V.
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