AU578626B2 - Method and apparatus for meat processing - Google Patents

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEAT PROCESSING This invention concerns a method and apparatus for preparing meat products especially blended meat products.

Various methods and machines are commonly used to prepare precut slabs of minced beef for the hamburger market. It is also known to manufacture meat loaf by filling moulds with meat cut into cubes by hand, and adhering the whole mass by filling the interstices of the mass with gelatin. This produces a loaf which when sliced reveals colour variation and areas of gelatin. While these products give the butchers an opportunity to blend a number of different cuts of meat into the final product the customer is thought to prefer an identifiable cut of meat even though it is more expensive to convert a carcase to produce that result. This invention seeks to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing a meat product of uniform size and weight made of the same cuts or a blend of cuts.

The method aspect of this invention provides a method of manufacturing a blended meat slab comprising charging a chamber progressively with blended meat against a continuous resistance which is sufficient to cause the blended meat to compact substantially uniformly, to assume the shape of the chamber and to naturally adhere as a mass, and ejecting the mass from the chamber as a self-supporting chamber-shaped slab. The formation of the slab may be followed by a cooling phase, preferably to a temperature below 0°C, in order to harden the slab sufficiently to withstand a subsequent slicing operation in which the slab is reduced to multiple slices and optionally further treatment such as the application of breadcrumbs or cereal coating.

The chamber charging step may be preceeded by one or more blending steps in which meat is crushed by passage through a chamber containing a close-fitting

SUBSTITUTE SHEET auger. It is not essential that crushing should be accompanied by the shearing action of an auger and other shearing mechanisms should be equally acceptable if they tear up the tissue and promote the expulsion of tissue liquid which causes the meat to mutually adhere in the slab forming stage.

The apparatus aspect of the invention provides means for forming a blended meat slab, comprising an elongate tubular chamber closed at one end by a removable gate, a piston disposed within the chamber and adapted for longitudinal movement relative thereto, an aperture extending through the piston, means to introduce blended meat into the chamber under pressure through the said aperture, meat introduction means to allow relative movement of the piston away from the gate as the blended meat is introduced into the chamber while maintaining a continuous pressure on the blended meat and meat ejection means to induce relative movement therebetween in the opposite direction to eject a slab from the chamber when the gate has been opened.

Preferably the chamber is charged with prepared meat by a pump or other pressurising device, for example a sausage machine filler, by coupling the filling machine directly to the aperture in the piston. This pump or other pressurising device may in turn be supplied by a blender which incorporates a barrel and a close-fitting auger.

The drive means may comprise a hydraulic circuit including a drive ram linked to the piston, a restrictor for resisting the charging movement of the chamber ram and a pump for supplying pressure to move the drive ram and the chamber ram in unison in order to discharge the chamber.

The gate may be articulated in order to execute a first motion which separates the gate from the adhering meat and a second motion in which the gate swings clear of the discharge end of the chamber. Thus the first motion is axial and the second motion is arcuate.

One embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a diagram of the chamber and hydraulic circuit;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the stand which supports the components shown in Fig. 2.

Referring now to Fig. 1, carcases of lambs are boned out and selected cuts 2 are placed into the hopper 4 of a first auger grinder 6 where the meat undergoes a primary blending and discharges into the hopper 8 of a second auger grinder 10 where it is joined by a small proportion of customary mix 12 of cereal, spice and colouring if desired dispensed from a hopper 14. The second grinder 10 discharges into a sausage machine filler 16 which supplies the reciprocating chamber 18 with ground meat and cereal mix. The chamber is mounted on stand 20 in order to be at the same working height as the filler 16. The chamber discharges slab 22 which is shown in perspective at 24 which slab is then cut into slices 26 which are coated with crumbs before being packed.

Referring now to Figs. 2, and 3 the outlet 28 of the sausage machine filler is coupled to a horizontal stainless steel tube 30 which constitutes the charging duct of the chamber 18. It terminates in a piston 32 with a capsular cross-section, surrounded by a rubber seal 34. The chamber 18 is also made of stainless steel and the piston 32 is a slide fit therein but the chamber is equipped with two pairs of wheels 36 (see Fig. 1) which ride on a pair of horizontal runners fixed to the top of stand 20.

OMPI ^NATl The free end of chamber 18 is closed by a gate 38 consisting of a plug 40 with an eye 42. A V-section gate hinge 44 is mounted at one end on the chamber and supports at the opposite end a handle 46 which tilts a release cam 48 in and out of engagement with eye 42. The chamber 18 is connected by a strap 50 to one end of ram 52 the opposite end of which is connected to the stand 20. One side of the ram 52 is connected to the output of a hydraulic pump 54 by conduit 56. The opposite side of the ram is connected via conduit 58 and orifice 60 to the input of the pump 54. A ball valve 62 actuated by pedal 64 blocks the return of hydraulic oil to the pump 54 causing the ram to slide the chamber in the discharge direction when the gate 38 has been opened. When the sausage machine filler is full of ground meat the operator closes the gate 38 and pressurises the machine. Ground meat is forced through the tube 30 into the chamber 18 at about 85 psi causing the latter to slide in the charging direction drawing with it ram 52 and encountering reaction at the orifice 60. When the chamber is full, the operator releases the gate and depresses the pedal 64 causing the ball valve 62 to direct oil pressure to the ram 52 in the discharge direction. The slab is discharged for slicing and packaging.

Clearly the meat can be formed as a cylinder or a block or any convenient shape to suit the market requirement. The slab retains its shape during all subsequent handling operations and this is thought to be the result of the compaction of the forming stage.

Claims (12)

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a blended meat slab comprising charging a chamber progressively with blended meat against a continuous resistance which is sufficient to cause the blended meat to compact substantially uniformly, to assume the shape of the chamber and to naturally adhere as a mass, and ejecting the mass from the chamber as a self-supporting chamber-shaped slab.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the ejected slab is cooled to harden the slab and is then sliced.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the blended meat is introduced into the chamber through an aperture in a piston slidable longitudinally in the chamber, the blended meat being introduced under sufficient pressure to force the piston away from an end wall of the chamber as the blended meat is introduced into the chamber and to thereby provide the continuous resistance to the charging of the blended meat into the chamber.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the blended meat is ground or otherwise finely comminuted prior to being charged into the chamber.

5. A method of manufacturing a blended meat slab substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. A means for forming a blended meat slab, comprising an elongate tubular chamber closed at one end by a removable gate, a piston disposed within the chamber and adapted for longitudinal movement relative thereto, an aperture extending through the piston, means to introduce blended meat into the chamber under pressure through the said aperture, and meat introduction means to allow relative movement of the piston away from the gate as the blended meat is introduced into the chamber while maintaining a continuous pressure on the blended

OM WI NA meat and meat ejection means to induce relative movement therebetween in the opposite direction to eject a slab from the chamber when the gate has been opened.

7. Means as claimed in claim 6 in which the piston is stationary and the movement means are such that the chamber is moved relative to the piston.

8. Means as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 in which the meat introduction means comprises a pump or like pressurising means to force the blended meat into the chamber and resistance means to resist relative movement between the piston and the chamber.

9. Means as claimed in claim 8 in which the meat ejection means comprises a hydraulic or pneumatic ram.

10. Means as claimed in claim 9 in which the hydraulic ram is a double acting ram and in which the side of the ram which is not active is ejecting the slab from the chamber includes an outlet having a restricted orifice and constitutes the resistance means.

11. Means as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 10 in which the gate is connected to the chamber such that when it is opened it will execute a first motion axially of the chamber to separate the gate from the slab in the chamber and a second motion in an arc to move the gate clear of the path of the slab to be discharged from the chamber.

12. Means for forming a blended meat slab substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.