AU602166B2

AU602166B2 - Carcass gripper

Info

Publication number: AU602166B2
Application number: AU78679/87A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Heinrich Lindert
Original assignee: Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud Baader GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud Baader GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1986-09-23
Filing date: 1987-09-18
Publication date: 1990-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 2007-09-18
Also published as: HUT52335A; AU7867987A; DE3632187A1; BR8704863A; SU1595327A3; JPS63146743A; HU204224B; DD264139A5; EP0261420A1

Description

602166 CUOMJON WLALTIJ 1' AUSTR41 Ab Patents W'L 1952 RXJD.- I3ALER SmL- GO COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED:- "CARCASS GRIPPER" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- '1k) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a processing apparatus for poultry bodies, pieces of meat or the like, comprising a revolving conveying chain carrying holding devices.

2. Objects of the Invention i It is a main object of the invention, to provide an 4 apparatus for the rapid, reliable and complete severing of pieces of meat from the skeleton of such poultry bodies. It is a further object of the invention to suggest an apparatus suitable for automatic processing, so that a time-consuming and therefore wage-intensive, manual processing can be avoided. It is yet another object of the invention to improve manual processing by reliable fixing of the meat and holding the same in its position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an apparatus including a revolving conveying chain carrying holding devices, these objects are achieved accord- A ing to the invention in that each holding device comprises gripping arms for securing the poultry body. Thereby, a

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i poultry body positioned fixedly by the gripping arms for processing purposes can be processed automatically by further parts of the apparatus in such a way that the pieces of meat are separated from the skeleton. In the case of manual meat severing, clean skeleton surfaces from which the meat 2 2 1 has been severed completely are obtained. It is also pos- {i sible in this case to cut off meat pieces which are termed double or butterfly fillets.

K Preferably, each holding device is designed as a bogie or chassis with a fixed gripping arm and a gripping arm cooperating therewith and which can pivot about a pivot axle located on the bogie. The pivotable gripping arm can be pivoted towards the fixed gripping arm, so that a chicken body previously impaled on the fixed gripping arm is clamped and thus tightly secured with the aid of the pivotable gripping arm. The meat can now be separated from the bone by means of paring knives. For example, it is possible to cut off the poultry breast with and without skin in the installation.

Through the use of the coiveying chain, a belt conveyor path is obtained, at the end of which chicken breast fillets fall away laterally onto conveyor belts. The residual bones i drop into a separate container or onto a separate conveyor belt.

1 i 20 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which by way of illustration schematically show preferred embodiments of -3- Ii 3 the present invention and the principles thereof and what now are considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the scope of t'ie appended claims. In the drawings Fig. I shows a part of the processing apparatus or installation in a vertical section extending in the conveying direction of the conveying chain with a side view of the conveying chain and the bogie of a holding device; j f Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross-section through the apparatus along line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a side view of a poultry body resting on its back and arranged for processing in the apparatus, only the skeleton being shown in the shoulder area.

A processing apparatus or installation according to the invention comprises a plurality of holding devices movable along a fixed machine frame 10, each of which holding de- 4 r L j I i i rl C i; -4vices is equipped with a fixed gripping arm 12 and a pivotable gripping arm 13 for receiving a poultry body 14. The latter is so prepared for processing that in its shoulder area there is a cavity 15. With its back side 16 facing downwards, its breast side 17 facing upwards and with said cavity leading, the poultry body 14 can be impaled or saddled on the fixed gripping arm 12 in the direction of travel of the holding device. For this purpose, the fixed gripping arm 12 ends in an engagement or slip-on tip 18. The poultry body 14 is secured by swinging upwardly the pivotable gripping arm 13, which is mounted such that it can be pivoted upwards about a pivot axle 19 arranged on the fixed gripping arm 12.

The surfaces of the fixed gripping arm 12 and of the pivotable gripping arm 13 facing each other are provided with serrations or ribbings 20, which, when the poultry body 14 is being secured, penetrate slightly into the skin or

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i meat and thus prevent that the poultry body will slide off Si" therefrom. The pivotable gripping arm 13 is arranged with i i 20 its mounting end in a central recess 21, through which extends the pivot axle 19.

Each holding device includes a bogie or chassis 11 which is guided on the machine frame 10 in the following manner. A conveying chain 22 is guided movably above the machine frame 10 in the direction of the arrow. It is sur- I -i 5 rounded by two parallel side walls 23, which are attached to the machine frame 10 with the aid of screws 24. The bogies II are arranged in the gap between the side walls 23. On its underside, each bogie is connected to a link of the conveying chain 22 by means of a connecting support 25, the latter being attached to the corresponding support shoe 26 of the chain link. In the shown embodiment, this attachment is a i welding connection. The attachment between the connecting support 25 and the bogie 11 is effected in a detachable manner with the aid of screws 27, so that the bogie 11 can i o 0,be disassembled. Thus, the conveying chain 22 pulls the bogie 11 in the direction of the arrow.

ii ?:The support of the bogie 11 is performed by means of 4 ,laterally projecting rollers 28. In the present embodiment there are two rollers 28, which have a common rotation axle 29. This extends through the bogie 11. This roller 28 supports against a rollerway 30, which is located in a guide recess 31 of the associated side wall 23.

Ceti On the underside of the pivotable gripping arm 13 there 20 is attached a U-shaped support yoke 32, which, by its legs ,i and via sliding shoes 33, is supported against the horizontal surfaces of the two side walls 23. With the aid of a pressure rail 34, which starts and finishes in a lifting slope 35 and a run-off slope, respectively, and which is arranged on the respective horizontal surface of a side wall 6 Li> 6 23, the pivotable gripping arm 13 can be swung upwardly when the sliding shoes 33 of the support yoke 32 arrive on the lifting slope of both parallel pressure rails 34. Thus, the open position of the gripping arms 12, 13 is dependent on the travel of the bogie 11 along the machine frame 10. When the sliding shoes 33 have left the lifting slope 35 and have arrived on the horizontal surface region of the pressure rail 34, the partial closing process of the gripping arms 12, 13 is completed, the poultry body 14 impaled on the fixed gripping arm 12 is secured and can now be processed during the movement along the pressure rail 34. After processing, it is possible to reset the gripping arms 12, 13 with a greater open position again by means of the run-off slope located at the end of the pressure rail 34 by swinging 15 downwardly the pivotable gripping arm 13, so that the skeleton of the poultry body 10 may now be stripped from the i fixed gripping arm 12.

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Claims

1. Processing apparatus for poultry bodies, meat pieces and the like, including at least one holding device for securing the poultry body or the like and carried by a revolving conveying chain to revolve therewith, wherein said at least one holding device includes a fixed gripping arm and a movable gripping arm pivotable about a pivot axis on said fixed gripping arm, said gripping arms constituting a pair of tongs.

2. Processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fixed gripping arm and said movable gripping arm are mounted on a bogie.

3. Processing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said gripping arms each have an engagement surface provided with serrations.

4. Processing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said fixed gripping arm terminates in a slip-on tip.

Processing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said moveable gripping arm is adapted to move within a central recess of said fixed gripping arm substantially perpendicularly with respect to said moving direction. if 8

6. Processing apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, and including at least one pressure rail fixedly arranged with regard to said revolving conveying chain, said pivotable gripping arm cooperating with said pressure rail over at least a portion of advance movement of said at least one holding device, whereby said moveable gripping arm is pivoted towards said fixed gripping arm.

7. Processing apparatus as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS Fifth DAY OF April, 1990. S NORDISCHER MASCHINENBAU RUD. BAADER GMGH CO KG BY PIZZEY COMPANY PATENT ATTORNEYS \-0