WO1991015958A1

WO1991015958A1 - Apparatus and method of boning meat

Info

Publication number: WO1991015958A1
Application number: PCT/DK1991/000104
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gert Holm
Original assignee: Gh Maskinteknik A/S
Priority date: 1990-04-20
Filing date: 1991-04-18
Publication date: 1991-10-31
Also published as: DK210090A; DK210090D0

Abstract

An apparatus (1) for simple and effective removal of ribs (2) from bellies (3) is constituted by three rotary parallel rollers (7, 8, 9) and a separating plate (6) mounted between two of the rollers (8, 9). The bellies are conveyed by frictional engagement and during a change of direction downwards between the rollers (7, 8). The ribs (2) tend to proceed straight ahead (17) and by means of frictional engagement is pulled or pushed along the upperside of the separating plate (6). The engagement of the ribs between the roller (9) and the plate (6) prevents said ribs from being pulled downwards having the meat adhering to the cartilagious tissue between the ribs and meat.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD OF BONING MEAT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing ribs from the bellies of slaughtered animals, preferably from pigs, and compris- ing a member for separating the bones from the meat, a conveyor belt or the like for conveying said bellies to the separating member, and pulling means comprising three rotary parallel rollers for pulling the bellies past the separating member simultaneously with conveying a change of the direction to the bellies thereby causing them to follow a part of the periphery of the first roller, wherein the rollers are arranged so as to be mutually resiliently displaced towards and away from each other, the first roller having the upper generatrix of its cylinder surface positioned substantially in the same plane as that of the conveyor belt, and arranged for a firm frictional engagement with the belly during the separation of the ribs.

An apparatus of the above-mentioned type is disclosed in European pa¬ tent application No. 319,090. In this apparatus the bellies are con¬ veyed on a conveyor belt while retained thereon by means of a number of cords. The bellies are conveyed onto a guide roller, the cords ar¬ ranged over the width of the bellies conveying to the bellies a change of direction about the guide roller, while the rigid ribs continue straight ahead between the cords. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises a striker mechanism which is intended for striking the ribs from the belly. However, this apparatus has proved disadvantageous due to an insufficient removal of the ribs which proceed to further meat pro¬ cessing operations while adhered to the meat by the cartilaginous tis¬ sue. Consequently, the use of said apparatus requires a permanent con¬ trol and a time-consuming manual removal of the ribs from the bellies passing through the apparatus.

DK patent application No. 4360/87 also discloses an apparatus of the above-mentioned type. However, this apparatus is relatively complicat¬ ed as five rollers/wheels are required. Furthermore, the use of tubes serving as direction changing members may cause that the ribs to be wedged resulting in a poor removal of the ribs. This is due to the fact that these may adhere to the cartilaginous tissue and proceed with the meat to further meat processing operations. It is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the above-mentioned type which makes it possible to overcome the above- mentioned drawbacks and which provides a simple construction permit¬ ting a safe removal of the ribs without any wastage of meat.

According to the invention this is obtained with an apparatus which is characterized in that the second roller is arranged substantially in the same horizontal plane as the first roller, and being arranged to support the belly during its frictional engagement with the first rol- ler during the separation of the ribs, that the third roller is ar¬ ranged substantially vertically above the first roller and arranged for a frictional engagement with the bones during the separation, and that the separating member comprises a first plate mounted between two ^" of said rollers.

Thus, an apparatus is obtained which partly permits a simple pulling mechanism which consists of three rollers only. When positioned be¬ tween two of the rollers, the plate-formed separating member will en¬ sure that the boned bellies are conveyed one direction along part of the periphery of the first roller on one side of the separating member while the ribs proceed straight ahead on the other side of the separat¬ ing member. Due to the engagement of the ribs between the third roller and the separating member or the second roller after the boning process the ribs are prevented effectively from continuing to adhere to the bellies. Thus the ribs are pulled out of their bone fascie without removing any meat adhering thereon. According to an advantageous embo¬ diment the separating member comprises two plates, the first plate being mounted tangenitally to the third roller in order to guide the ribs and bellies on each side while the further plate pivots about the periphery of the third roller to ensure a correct orientation of the belly between the first and second roller.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of removing ribs from bellies of slaughtered animals, preferably pigs by using an apparatus as explained above, said method comprising at least a partial cutting open of the bone fascie in the longitudinal direction of the ribs and placing the bellies on the conveyor belt so that the longitudinal di¬ rection of the ribs points in the direction of movement of the con¬ veyor belt, characterized in that the cartilaginous tissue between the ribs and the meat is partially severed with a cut parallel to the up¬ perside of the belly or exposed by cutting open the part of the bone fascie covering the cartilaginous tissue, which severance or exposure are effected along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the ribs before the bellies are introduced into the apparatus.

By means of this method an especially effective separation of the ribs is obtained. As the cartilaginous tissue is partly severed or is ex¬ posed in advance, the ribs will easier proceed straight ahead when a change of direction is conveyed to the belly. When the cartilaginous tissue is partly severed or exposed, it is essential that the part of the bone fascie located inside the belly is not damaged due to the risk of damaging the meat. Furthermore, a separation is obtained in which no meat is removed together with the ribs. Thus, the method pre- sents a particularly advantageous use of the apparatus according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the appa¬ ratus according to the invention, Fig. 2 shows a side view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows a side view of a further embodiment of an apparatus substantially corresponding to the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

It is noted that the drawing shows principle outlines and only com¬ prises the elements necessary for understanding the invention in view of the prior art which is disclosed in European patent application No. 319,090 and/or DK patent application No. 4360/87.

Fig. 1 shows an apparatus 1 for removing ribs 2 from the bellies of slaughtered animals, preferably from pigs. The bellies 3 are conveyed to the apparatus by means of a substantially horizontal conveyor belt 4 (cf. Fig. 2) running about an end roller 5. The apparatus 1 compri- ses members for pulling the bellies 3 past a plate-formed separating member 6 in the form of three rotary, parallel rollers, viz. a first separate toothed roller 7 located in immediate continuation of the conveyor belt 4, a second smooth roller 8 located at a lower level than the toothed roller 7, and a third roller 9 constituted by a rub¬ ber roller which is intended for a frictional engagement with the ribs 2 which are located at the upper side of the belly 3. The smooth rol¬ ler 8 may be provided with protruding ribs (not shown) at its cylinder surface. The plate-formed separating member inclines downwards tangen- tially to the rubber roller 9. The toothed roller 7 is mounted in sphe¬ rical bearings or in any other manner causing a displacement 10 towards and away from the rubber roller. The smooth roller 8 is also mounted in spherical bearings or in any other ways causing a displacement 11 towards and away from the toothed roller 7. The rubber roller 9 which is pivotally mounted, may pivot about the axis 12 of the toothed rol¬ ler 7. The different motions of the rollers 7,8,9 permit an adjustment according to the various thicknesses of the bellies 3.

A belly having the cartilaginous tissue between the ribs 2 and the meat 14 partially severed or exposed with a cut parallel to the upper side of the belly and performed along the line 15 perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the ribs is introduced into the appara¬ tus. The toothed roller ensures a firm frictional engagement with the belly 3. The belly 3 is imparted a downward orientation in the direc- tion indicated by the arrow 16 due to its firm engagement with the rubber roller 9 and the smooth roller 8. The rigid ribs 2 to which this curved change of direction is not imparted will proceed in a straight forward direction indicated by the arrow 17. This causes the ribs 2 to be conveyed along the upper side of the separating plate 6 where they frictionally engage with the rubber roller 9. Thus, the rubber roller 9 will contribute to pulling the belly 3 forward.

As the ribs are wedged against the upper side of the separating plate and as the cartilaginous tissue between the ribs and meat is severed in advance, an effective separation is obtained, the ribs thus moving in the dirction indicated by the arrow 17 and the boned bellies 3 in the direction indicated by the arrow 16.

As will appear form Fig. 1 the bellies are positioned so that the ribs extend substantially perpendicular to the rollers 7,8 and 9. Further¬ more, the belly is advantageously positioned in such a manner that the cartilaginous ends of the ribs first engage with the rollers of the apparatus 1, thereby ensuring a. firm engagement with a major part of the belly 3 before the start of the energy consuming work required to separate the ribs by engagement with the plate 6.

The separating plate 6 may be connected to a vibration unit (not shown) which conveys a reciprocating movement to the plate in order to faci- litate the separation of the ribs by the striker impact exerted on the ribs by the front edge of the separating plate 6. Moreover, at the upperside the separating plate 6 may be provided with a roller (not shown) which is intended for wedging the separated ribs against the rubber roller thereby allowing the resistance against the advancing of the ribs at the upper side of the separating plate 6 to be minimized.

Even though the apparatus is preferably intended to be positioned in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 it is, however, possible to perform an angular turn thereof. However, it should simply be ensured that the mutual position of the elements of the apparatus is maintain¬ ed and it is also advantageous that the separating plate 6 inclines downwards, thus causing the ribs to slide out of the apparatus solely due to the influence of the gravity.

Fig. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of the apparatus. This embodi¬ ment is a variation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus, the same reference numbers will be used to designate identical or corre¬ sponding parts and only one explanation will be given of the elements which distinguish the two variations.

The rubber roller 9 is mounted in a frame 25. The rubber roller is mounted with each end resiliently suspended for displacement 26 in guideways (not shown) in the frame. The distance between the rubber roller 9 and the toothed roller 7 may thus be adjusted to varying thicknesses of the bellies. The separating plate 6 in this embodiment is arranged to be withdrawn from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the positon shown in Fig. 5. Thus a further plate 27 may be pivot down along the under side of the rubber roller 9 to ensure an initial ori¬ entation of the bellies in the direction 16 (see Fig. 2) between the toothed roller 7 and the smooth roller 8. After the belly has been conveyed a correct downwards orientation, the further plate 27 is pivoted back by a withdrawal of the piston in the cylinder unit 28 which is pivotally connected to the frame 25 via a joint 29. Via arms 30 the second plate is connected to the shaft 31 of the rubber roller. It is noted that^'the arms 30 may be omitted by a suitable mounting of the further plate 27 in a suspension (not shown) ensuring the movement of the plate along the underside of the rubber roller. When the further plate 27 is pivoted back, the separating plate 6 is directed into the position shown in Fig. 2 where it operates in the same manner as de¬ scribed in connection with this Figure.

The use of the further plate 27 results in a mechanical and thus very effective orientation of the bellies irrespective of the rigidness, thickness and rate of feeding the bellies. Thus it is possible to use the apparatus under varying working conditions.

It is preferred that all three rollers are driven, but the apparatus can also operate even if only two rollers, e.g. the first one 7 and the third roller 9 or the first one 7 and the second roller 8, are driven. Furthermore, it is noted that it is possible to use any other type of roller than toothed rollers or rubber rollers provided a suf¬ ficiently firm frictional engagement with the bellies is ensured to allow the bellies to be pulled through the apparatus without damaging the meat.

The present apparatus allows elimination of wastage in the form of meat removed with the ribs by way of an effective separation of the ribs from the meat. The extraction of the ribs from the bone fascie without the ribs and the bone fascie being cut loose of the meat al¬ lows the removal of completely clean ribs, thus resulting in an op¬ timum separation.

Claims

C L A I M S :

1. An apparatus (1,18) for removing ribs (2) from the bellies (3) of slaughtered animals, preferably from pigs, and comprising a member for separating the bones from the meat, a conveyor belt or the like for conveying said bellies to the separating member, and pulling means comprising three rotary parallel rollers (7,8,9) for pulling the bel¬ lies past the separating member simultaneously without conveying a change of direction to the bellies thereby causing them to follow part of the periphery of the first roller, wherein the rollers (7,8,9) are arranged so as to be mutually resiliently displaced towards and away from each other, the first roller having the upper generatrix of its cylinder surface positioned substantially in the same plane as that of the conveyor belt (4), and arranged for a firm frictional engagement with the belly (3) during the separation of the ribs (2), c h a r a c - t e r i z e d in that the second roller (8) is arranged substantially in the same horizontal plane as the first roller and being arranged to support the belly (3) during its frictional engagement with the first roller (7) during the separation of the ribs, that the third roller (9) is arranged substantially vertically above the first roller and arranged for a frictional engagement with the bones during the sepa¬ ration, and that the separating member (6) comprises a first plate (6) mounted between two of said rollers.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the first roller is a separate toothed roller (7) located in con¬ tinuation of the conveyor belt, that the second roller is a smooth roller (8) which may be provided with protruding ribs at its cylinder surface, that the third roller is a rubber roller (9), that the first plate (6) is mounted between the smooth roller (8) and the rubber rol¬ ler (9) so as to substantially incline downwards tangentially to the rubber roller in order to direct the ribs along the upper side (17) to engage with the rubber roller while the boned belly is pulled downwards (16) by engagement with the toothed roller and the smooth roller.

3. An apparatus according to claims 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the separating member comprises a further plate (27) arranged to pivot along the underside of the rubber roller (9) to engage with the belly before the first plate (6) engages with said belly.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the separating member furthermore comprises a roller mounted at the upperside of the plate immediately behind the front edge of the plate, said roller being arranged to wedge the separated ribs against the rubber roller.

5. An apparatus according to any of the claims 2,3 or 4, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the separating member is connected to a vibrator unit arranged to impart a reciprocating movement to the separating member in the tangent plane.

6. An apparatus according to any of the claims 2-5, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the rubber roller is mounted in a frame (25), that

^* each end is resiliently suspended for displacement in guideways in the frame, that the second plate (27) is connected to arms (39) for pivot¬ ing around the shaft (31) of the rubber roller, and that the further plate is connected to a cylinder-piston unit (28) having its other end connected to the frame.

7. A method of removing ribs (2) from bellies (3) of slaughtered ani¬ mals, preferably pigs, by using an apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, said method comprising at least a partial cutting open of the bone fascie the longitudinal direction of the ribs and placing the bellies on the conveyor belt so that the longitudinal di- rection of the ribs points in the direction of movement of the con¬ veyor belt, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the cartilaginous tissue between the ribs and the meat is partially severed with a cut parallel to the upperside of the belly or exposed by cutting open the part of the bone fascie convering the cartilaginous tissue, which severance or exposure are effected along a line (15) perpendicular to the longitudi¬ nal direction of the ribs before the bellies are introduced into the apparatus (1,18).

8. A method according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that, after the exposure or partial severance of the cartilaginous tissue the belly is broken or folded for initial separation of the ribs, and that the bellies are so orientated that the cartilaginous ends of the ribs face the travelling direction, thus causing them to be introduced first into the apparatus.

9. A method according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the exposure of the cartilaginous tissue is effected for a greater number of the ribs, and that the partial severance of the cartila¬ ginous tissue is effected for a minor number of the ribs.

10. A method according to claims 7 or 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the exposure or the partial severance of the cartilaginous tissue of a rib is performed simultaneously with cutting open of the bone fascie.