Butchering – Conveyer – Transfer from one conveyor to another
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-26
2001-04-24
Little, Willis (Department: 3643)
Butchering
Conveyer
Transfer from one conveyor to another
C452S149000, C452S165000, C452S163000, C452S170000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220953
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a device and method for processing a slaughtered animal, which device consists of a carrier which is connected to an overhead conveyor and has a holding support for conveying at least part of a slaughtered animal, in particular a front half or a part thereof of a slaughtered bird, which holding support is provided with means for fixing the slaughtered animal or the part thereof on the holding support.
DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
Such a carrier is known from German Patent Application No. 4,008,719. A front half of a bird is clamped by means of a clamping mechanism (not shown in any further detail) on said carrier, which has an essentially cone-shaped holding support immovably connected to the overhead conveyor, following which, for filleting thereof, the forehalf is conveyed breast side down on the holding support past a number of processing stations for skinning and detaching and removing meat from the front half. For this purpose, the various processing stations are equipped with skinning and filleting tools, such as cutters and scrapers, which are moved relative to the front half in synchronism (in a manner not shown in any further detail) with the movement of the holding supports.
A disadvantage of the prior art described above is the complexity of the control system for the movement of the filleting tools, which leads to a filleting device which is susceptible to faults and requires frequent maintenance. Moreover, a cost-increasing accurate position detection of a holding support moving through a processing station is necessary for the correct timing of the movement of the filleting tools. On the other hand, for tools disposed in a fixed position along the path of the holding support, for example rollers for skinning the front half, the processing cannot be carried out in the optimum manner. Another disadvantage is the rigid arrangement of the overhead conveyor and the processing stations, which arrangement allows little flexibility in the routing of the filleting device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages.
To attain this object, the device according to the invention is characterized in that the carrier comprises a swivelling device which can interact with a control device disposed along the track of the overhead conveyor, in order to swivel the holding support. With such a design of the carrier, filleting tools and a skinning device can be disposed in an essentially stationary manner, and the holding support with the slaughtered animal or a part thereof situated thereon on the contrary can be moved not only on the usual path running essentially parallel to the overhead conveyor, but also relative to the skinning and filleting tools, in such a way that the desired processing operation is obtained in the optimum manner.
In the prior art, with processing devices disposed in a fixed position along the holding supports moving in a fixed path, it was often not possible to make such devices of the optimum technical design, since it was not permissible for some components, such as drive components, to go in the path of the slaughtered animal. An example of this is a skinning device which is shown in the abovementioned German Patent Application No. 4,008,719, the drive components of which had to be made too light. Owing to the fact that the holding support of the carrier according to the invention can swivel, it can be ensured in a simple manner that the slaughtered animal does not come into contact with components of processing devices, so that processing devices can be of the optimum construction.
In a preferred embodiment, the swivelling device is adapted for swivelling the holding support in a vertical plane. In practice, it is found that such a swivelling movement is not only easily possible, but also adequate for carrying out the filleting operations. However, it is also possible to design the swivelling device in such a way that the holding support can be swivelled in a horizontal plane, or can perform a combination of a horizontal and vertical swivelling movement, with the result that a filleting operation can be carried out in the optimum manner.
The carrier advantageously comprises at least one roller or pin with an axis extending essentially at right angles to the direction of conveyance of the overhead conveyor. Such rollers or pins can easily be operated or guided along the path of the overhead conveyor, in order to drive the swivelling device or to stabilize the carrier which is moving along. For the former application, the at least one roller or pin forms part of the swivelling device, and the at least one pin or roller can be moved essentially at right angles to the direction of the axis thereof by the control device for swivelling the holding support, while the carrier can interact with a control device which is provided with a curved slot for accommodating and operating the roller or pin. For the latter application, the carrier preferably comprises at least two rollers or pins fixedly bearing-mounted or fixed thereon, respectively, while the control device is provided with at least one slot for accommodating the rollers or pins, in order to stabilize the carrier.
In an expedient and cheap embodiment, the holding support is connected such that it can pivot at a first point to the carrier, and the roller or pin of the swivelling device is connected to a lever which at a second point is connected such that it can pivot to the holding support, which second point differs from the first point. This embodiment is particularly suitable for swivelling the holding support in a vertical plane, in which case the hinge axes are directed essentially horizontally and at right angles to the direction of conveyance-of the overhead conveyor.
In a preferred embodiment, the holding support is essentially elongated, while one end of the holding support can be directed in, or at an acute angle to, the direction of conveyance of the overhead conveyor. Said end can thus be swivelled both upwards and downwards.
In order to fix the slaughtered animal or the part thereof on the holding support, the latter is provided with at least one toothed cam which is movable relative to the surface of the holding support and is designed in such a way that under a biassing force, for example produced by a compression or tension spring, it can grip the inside of the slaughtered animal or part thereof, in particular in the region of the breastbone or the spinal column. The teeth are preferably barbed, so that, once a slaughtered animal or part thereof has been placed on the holding support, it can no longer be removed therefrom.
For a particularly reliable fixing of the slaughtered animal or the part thereof on the holding support, the carrier is designed in such a way that it can interact with pressing means disposed along the path of the carrier, in order to press the slaughtered animal or the part thereof onto the holding support. Such pressing means preferably comprise stops which are disposed along the path of the holding support and can be taken briefly into the path of the slaughtered animal or the part thereof.
After a filleting operation, the carcasses of the slaughtered animals are simple to remove from the holding supports, owing to the fact that the latter are provided on either side with slots extending essentially in the direction of conveyance when the holding support is in a particular swivel position, while the carrier can interact with cutting means which are disposed along the path of the carrier and extend almost to or into said slots, for severing a carcass situated on the holding support.
In another preferred embodiment, which is intended in particular for placing a breast part on a holding support, the fixing means of the carrier comprise a supporting element directed parallel to or forming an acute angle with the surface of the holding support, while the holding support contains a pin which is movable in its lengthwise direction, and one end of which can projec
Cornelissen Alberthus T. J. J.
van den Nieuwelaar Adrianus J.
Johnson Kristin L.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Little Willis
Stork PMT B.V.
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