Butchering – Viscera processing – Venting or opening preparatory to eviscerating
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-28
2001-11-06
Little, Willis (Department: 3643)
Butchering
Viscera processing
Venting or opening preparatory to eviscerating
C452S122000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312326
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method and device for making an incision in the skin of a slaughtered animal, in particular, but not limited to, an incision in the belly of a slaughtered bird. The invention also relates to a method and device for performing a subcutaneous operation.
DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
Methods and devices for opening the body cavity of a slaughtered bird by means of an incision are known from, for example, Dutch Patent Application No. 8,101,527, International Patent Application No. 96/34,533 and European Patent Application No. 761,100. The first two publications describe making a transverse incision in the belly skin of the bird, while the last-mentioned publication describes making an incision with a shearing device through the belly skin, which incision extends from an opening around the cloaca to the tip of the breast.
A drawback of the incisions made by means of the known devices is that at one or both ends thereof said incisions easily give rise to uncontrolled tearing, in particular if the skin is under tensile stress, which is the case, for example, in the region of the tip of the breast of the bird. The direction and the length of the tears are uncontrollable, so that it is a common occurrence, for example during the making of an incision running between the cloaca and the tip of the breast, for the tip of the breast situated near the end of the incision ultimately to become exposed as a result of a tear occurring. This is disadvantageous for the presentation when the bird is being sold, especially since the exposed fillet will become discoloured as a result. It is also disadvantageous for the hygiene of the bird, since the ragged edges of the tear encourage germ growth at that point.
Another drawback of the devices according to the prior art is that the position and the lengths of the incisions varies depending on the variations which always occur in the dimensions of the individual birds. The uniformity of the incisions which is necessary from the point of view of quality and which is required in the veterinary inspection therefore cannot be guaranteed.
Another drawback of the prior art is that when the tools used for cutting are being inserted under the skin the viscera situated under the skin, in particular the intestines, can easily become damaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art, and to that end the invention in the first place provides a method as described in the appended claims. By performing the skin processing operation, which comprises, for example, fitting a clamping element for clamping a piece of skin, treating a part of the skin thermally (preferably heating, but also cooling in some circumstances), optically or chemically (for example with glycerine or polyphosphate), applying a setting liquid (such as a melted fat) to a part of the skin, making a hole in the skin, or a combination of such skin operations, tearing at one end of an incision is counteracted or prevented entirely, so that the incision has a defined end.
The incision may contain a series of non-interconnected sub-incisions.
It is assumed below that the operation to prevent tearing at the end of an incision is making a hole in the skin.
The sequence of making an incision and one or more holes in the skin in principle is not important. However, if great cutting safety is required, and tearing must be avoided with a high degree of certainty, a hole is made in the skin before the incision is made. A short processing time is obtained if a hole is made in the skin substantially at the same time as the incision.
In order as far as possible to prevent peaks in tensile stress from occurring in the skin near a hole in the skin, the hole in the skin is preferably rounded.
A very suitable method of making a hole in the skin quickly and reliably is a punching operation. On the other hand, a hole in the skin can be obtained by drilling or cutting, such as laser or water jet cutting.
With a method of cutting away a part of the skin with the dimensions of the hole, leaving a residual connection, for forming the at least one hole in the skin, it is ensured that a piece of skin cut away in order to form a hole in the skin does not become detached from the slaughtered animal and fall into an undesirable place, such as into the carcass of the slaughtered animal, causing pollution or contamination there or leading to disruptions during subsequent automated slaughter operations. Furthermore, such an incision to form a hole in the skin does not involve a loss in weight yield of the eviscerated carcass.
In addition, a hole supporting element and/or an incision supporting element can advantageously be fitted subcutaneously through an opening in the skin during the making of at least one hole in the skin, or in order to support the skin during the making of the incision, respectively, thus, on the one hand, minimizing the risk of damage to the viscera situated near the incision and, on the other hand, ensuring a correct position of the skin in the abdominal region, during the performance of a skin operation.
Preferably, during making the incision, the skin is not tensioned.
When the incision contains a series of sub-incisions, preferably the skin parts between the sub-incisions are torn by the hole supporting element and/or the incision supporting element by moving such element through the skin area containing the sub-incisions.
If during the performance of a skin operation the carcass of the slaughtered animal is brought to above atmospheric gas pressure at least at the position of the skin operation, space is produced under the skin, so that, on the one hand, the risk of damage to viscera by tools used for the skin operation is reduced and, on the other hand, tools can be inserted under the skin, and be removed from under the skin, more easily.
For further protection of the viscera, such as in particular the intestines, a viscera protection element is inserted through the skin opening in the carcass preferably prior to or during the insertion of the hole supporting element and/or incision supporting element. Said viscera protection element can move viscera out of the path of a supporting element without damaging them, and can also shield said viscera from the supporting elements and other tools used for making a hole and an incision.
During the subcutaneous fitting of the hole supporting element and/or incision supporting element or the period that they have been fitted, the opportunity can be taken to break tissue connections in the carcass. This is an advantage during the subsequent evisceration, since the reduced mechanical resistance makes such evisceration easier to carry out. Moreover, in this way in the case of, for example, a bird it is possible to increase the weight yield of the eviscerated carcass by breaking the connections between the fat layer situated on the inside of the belly skin and the viscera such as the stomach, with the result that the belly fat remains attached to the carcass. During conventional evisceration a large part of the fat layer would remain connected to the viscera, in particular to the stomach, which also makes subsequent harvesting of the viscera more difficult.
Said tissue connections are preferably broken by means of at least part of the hole supporting element or the incision supporting element. For that purpose, said at least part of the hole supporting element or the incision supporting element is expediently elongated and performs a rotating movement under the skin.
The invention also provides a device as described in the appended claims. The advantages applicable thereto have already been described above.
Further details of skin processing means which are in the form of perforating means for making a hole in the skin are given below.
It is pointed out here that the hole(s) in the skin is (are) made simply and extremely reliably by a device having perforating means which comprise a hole supporting element to be fitted under the skin and a perforating element fi
Drabbels Bastiaan W.J.E.J.
van den Nieuwelaar Adrianus J.
van Harskamp Cornelis D.
Johnson Kristin L.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Little Willis
Stork PMT B.V.
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