642,897. Fish dressing. ARENCO AKTIEBOLAG. Dec. 23. 1946. No 37711. Convention date, Dec 29, 1945. [Class 28(ii)] A fish dressing machine moves the fish relatively to a wedgeshaped spit 29 which enters the gill openings and bends the gill covers aside as it penetrates the fish; and a pincher 18 is closed about the gills close by the spit behind its free end 12. the spit and pincher 18 being then moved apart to pull out the gills while the fish is supported on the spit 29. The spit has a T or # cross-section, and its flanges 31, 54 taper to the free end 12. The rear end of the spit has a fixed support 28. The conveyer z has pockets 1 for the fish having in their bottom and side walls openings for the entry of the spit 29 and of the gill-removing clips 18 which latter are mounted on a rotor 7 and open to drop the gills in a shoot 9. The head of the fish is adjusted against'an adjustable gauge bar 11 and is raised by a plate 48 with a counterweight 51. Plates 46 on an endless belt 45 are vertically adjustable, press down on the back of the fish and cooperate with the plate 48 to open the gills as the fish is moved on to the flat end 12 of the spit 29. A guide bar 10 below the pockets 1 has inclined flutes guiding the advancing fish against the gauge bar 11. The rotor 7 on a fixed spindle 13 has flanges 14, 15 each carrying two rotatable spindles 16 carrying curved spring blades 17 each with a pincher leg 18. The spindles of each pair are interconnected by toothed segments 19. One spindle of each pair carries a coiled spring 20 tending to open the pinchers 18 and a rocking lever 21 with a roller 22 bearing on a cam disc 23 fixed on the spindle 13. When the toothed rim 24 of the flange 15 is driven by gears from the driving shaft 44, the pincher legs 18 are closed by the cam 23 as the legs move in a circular path to the upper position, where they grip the severed gills, and are opened by the spring 20 as they reach the lower position. The rotor 7 and spit 29 are vertically adjustable. The rotor is so geared that it revolves once while each pocket advances through two steps. The fish guts are also thus. removed, or may be removed as in Specification 477,725. When the spit is T-shaped, entrail-removing means operate at both sides of the vertical flange of the spit and may comprise scissors. The.legs 18 of the pinchers or scissors may be very crooked as in Specification 568,214. or they may have a slight curvature adapted to the branchial arch of the fish. The pinchers and scissors may move in a circular or non-circular e.g. rectangular path. Very crooked pincher legs may have narrow edges and rear walls so that the entrails slip off them easily. The conveyer pockets 1 comprise two side walls 56 each having a #-shaped cross-section and a yielding bottom plate 57. To the rear of each side wall is secured a yielding plate 59 with a front opening 60 facing an opening 34 in the lower part of the front of each side wall. The openings have tongues 58, 60. The bottom plate 59 has an opening continuous with openings 34 so that the gills when gripped may be drawn down. A fish fed over a plate 52 is held firmly by the yielding plates of the pocket and slides on the oblique flutes of the bar 10 until its head engages the gauge bar 11. Alternatively, a vertically adjustable bar 68 (Fig. 15) bears on the back of the fish and the bar 10 is replaced by a bar 69 with a curved end which raises the head of the fish, which is manually adjusted longitudinally against the gauge bar 11. In place of the bar 10, the fish may be longitudinally adjusted by pressure as in Specification 586,015. The fish may alternatively be advanced transversely or longitudinally individually or in groups, and the spit may be reciprocated into the gill openings. The legs of the pinchers may carry spits entering the gill openings, the pinchers then severing the entrails.