Butchering – Support – Carcass or portion suspended
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-28
2001-01-30
Little, Willis (Department: 3643)
Butchering
Support
Carcass or portion suspended
C452S179000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179702
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a suspended conveyor line of a poultry processing plant, wherein birds are suspended by their legs on shackles or poultry hanger assemblies, and the shackles carry the bird along a processing path where the birds are, for example, cut apart. More particularly, the invention relates to a rotary bird hanger assembly which can be rotated so as to present the bird in different positions to the cut up equipment, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
In modern poultry processing plants, chickens, turkeys and other birds raised for commercial slaughter are moved through a poultry processing line where they are sequentially defeathered, eviscerated, cut up, and packaged for shipment to wholesale and retail consumers. In such a plant, it is common for the poultry carcasses to be suspended by their legs from a suspended shackle conveyor. The conveyor typically includes a suspended conveyor rail and a series of bird support shackles, each of which includes a trolley for rolling along the conveyor rail and a bird hanger suspended below the trolley, with a drive chain connecting the shackles in equally spaced series. The bird hangers have a pair of spaced depending stirrups that are configured to receive and releasably hold the hocks of the birds.
With this arrangement, the workers can suspend birds by their legs or hocks from the shackles by slipping their hocks into the stirrups. The spaced suspension of the birds along the conveyor system allows the birds to be moved sequentially through the various processing stations, such as cut up machines, for serial processing of large numbers of the carcasses.
As poultry carcasses are processed at the various processing stations of the poultry line, the carcasses are turned to present the carcasses in various attitudes to the different processing machinery to accommodate each of the processing steps. In some of these stations, it is desirable to present the carcass breast first, and other stations back first, and still other stations side first. In order to turn the bird, poultry shackles have been developed which include a lower bird hanger that is rotatably mounted to the trolley assembly, and a turning gear mounted to the bird hanger. The turning gear typically has slots formed therein that engage turning pins spaced at predetermined intervals along the poultry processing path, so that when a slot of a turning gear reaches the turning pin, the turning gear “walks around” the turning pin, so as to rotate the bird hanger approximately 90°.
In order to keep the bird hanger from inadvertently rotating with respect to the trolley assembly, the turning gear typically includes flat surfaces about its periphery, and these flat surfaces are arranged to move adjacent guide rails extending parallel to and straddling the turning gear, so that no inadvertent turning of the bird hanger occurs. An example of this type of rotary shackle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,700.
While the above described rotary shackles have met with success in the poultry processing industry, there are times when a poultry conveyor system must be able to move the poultry shackles up and down inclines, around curves, and about combinations of curves and inclines. While the prior art turning gears and guide rails are effective to retain the bird hanger of a poultry shackle in an approximately fixed attitude along rectilinear runs of a conveyor system, the turning gears and their necessary guide rails are more difficult to construct and operate for movement of the shackles about curves and into inclines of the processing path, and the guide rails typically are interrupted at the positions along the path where the shackles negotiate a turn, etc. Therefore, it has been customary to move poultry shackles at certain intervals through a processing line without using the guide rails to maintain the poultry shackles in a fixed attitude.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,815 illustrates a rotary shackle assembly which has a spring loaded ball bearing that registers with a detent which tends to hold the shackle in a non-rotary position with respect to its trolley; however, the ball and detent arrangement provides only a light restraining force to the tendency of the shackle to rotate with respect to its trolley, and the absence of a firm lock does not solve the problem of inadvertent rotation of the poultry carcass with respect to its trolley during those spans of the trolley system where the shackle is being elevated or turned. Also, this type of system still requires the guide rails at the processing stations.
Thus, it can be understood that it would be desirable to have a releasable lock system for a rotary shackle of a poultry processing line, whereby the shackle can be freely rotated with respect to its trolley at predetermined positions along the processing line, and can be firmly held against rotation at all other positions along the processing line without the use of external guide rails.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, the present invention comprises a poultry processing conveyor system which includes a suspended conveyor track, a plurality of poultry hanger assemblies movable along the conveyor track by means of a continuous conveyor chain connected to each hanger assembly, and trolley assemblies connected to and supporting said conveyor chain and movable along the suspended track. The hanger assemblies each include a hanger support and bird hanger rotatably connected to the hanger support for carrying birds to be processed through a series of work stations. A turning gear is mounted to the bird hanger having slots formed therein for engagement with turning pins at predetermined positions along the processing line for turning the bird hanger with respect to the trolley assembly, to reorient the bird with respect to the direction of movement of the bird along the processing path. If desired, rectilinear guide rails are positioned along the path of the turning gear in the vicinity of a processing machine, so that the bird hanger, and therefore the bird suspended from the hanger, are stabilized in the rectilinear movement of the bird through the processing station, so that the work on the bird will not inadvertently rotate the bird hanger with respect to its trolley.
The bird hanger includes a lock collar having an inwardly facing circular track with locking notches formed at 90° intervals thereabout. The trolley assembly includes a cam actuated lock that has a pin for registering with one of the locking notches of the hanger. The cam actuated lock is engaged by cams at the turning stations along the processing line, so that each cam unlocks the hanger with respect to the trolley assembly. At the same time, the turning gear of the hanger engages a stationary pin along the processing line, and the turning gear tends to “walk around” the turning pin, so as to turn the hanger 90°. Once the hanger has begun its turning movement, the trolley advances beyond the cam, so that the cam lock is released and its locking pin moves back toward engagement of the inwardly facing surface of the lock collar and registers with the next locking notch of the locking collar, to firmly hold the hanger in its newly acquired position.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved poultry processing fine along which suspended poultry support shackles move in series, with the bird hangers of the shackles being rotatable with their supporting trolleys, and with the rotary positions of the bird hangers being stabilized both while the suspended bird of the shackle is being moved through a cut-up machine or other processing machine, and while the shackle is changing directions between processing stations, as by traversing inclines or curves along the processing path.
Another object of this invention is to provide a secure locking means engaged between the turning gear of a hanger and the hanger support, which is engagable by a cam to unlock the hanger from the hanger support at positions along the poultry pro
Little Willis
SystemateHolland, B.V.
Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley
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