CA1085016A - Fish processing machine - Google Patents
Fish processing machineInfo
- Publication number
- CA1085016A CA1085016A CA277,153A CA277153A CA1085016A CA 1085016 A CA1085016 A CA 1085016A CA 277153 A CA277153 A CA 277153A CA 1085016 A CA1085016 A CA 1085016A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- fish
- machine
- receiver
- guide
- scanning device
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
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- Processing Of Meat And Fish (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:
A fish processing machine comprising upper guide means and lower guide means to guide fish, with their mesial planes substantially vertical, along a substantially horizontal conveying path between the guide means, the guide means being provided with guide edges directed towards the path and with slots forming a substantially vertical guidance zone for the tail fins and at least the dorsal fins of the fish, and a scanning device for mea-suring the lengths of the fish to be processed, the scanning device being arranged within the region of the guides and effective with respect to the mesial planes of the fish and comprising a trans-mitter to transmit wave signals and a receiver to receive and register the wave signals reflected by the fish.
A fish processing machine comprising upper guide means and lower guide means to guide fish, with their mesial planes substantially vertical, along a substantially horizontal conveying path between the guide means, the guide means being provided with guide edges directed towards the path and with slots forming a substantially vertical guidance zone for the tail fins and at least the dorsal fins of the fish, and a scanning device for mea-suring the lengths of the fish to be processed, the scanning device being arranged within the region of the guides and effective with respect to the mesial planes of the fish and comprising a trans-mitter to transmit wave signals and a receiver to receive and register the wave signals reflected by the fish.
Description
The present invention relates to a fish processing ma-chine, in particular a machine with a fish conveying path, fish guides above and below the path, and with a scanning device.
In our German (Fed.Rep.) Patent Specification No. 865 525 t:here is disclosed the use of electrical or other wave forms, for example light beams, for the scanning of fish and for bring-ing about an orienting thereof according to control impulses derived from the fish belly and back position.
- It is also known from French Patent Specification No.
1 423 344 to use light sources and photocells to scan fish and to carry out sorting of the fish into kinds on the basis of the quantity of reflected light.
Whereas in the case of German Patent Specification 865 525 it is a matter of measurement of light intensity, in the case of French Patent Specification 1 423 344 the integral of the reflected light quantity over the transit time of the fish must be used as a control quantity. Both kinds of measurement take place statically and therefore do not enable the length of a fish to be accurately measured.
It is one of the main objects of the present invention to render it possible to measure, for the purpose of controlling the tools and guides of a high-performance fish processing machine, the overall length of longitudinally conveyed fish, from their head ends to their tail ends, whithin a tolerance of less than 0.5~.
According to the present invention there is provided a fish processing machine comprising upper guide means and lower guide means to guide fish, with their mesial planes substantially vertical, along a substantially horizontal conveying path between the guide means, the guide means being provided with guide edges directed towards the path and with slots forming a substantially vertical guidance zone for the tail fins and at least the dorsal : .
iO~S016 fins of the fish, and a scanning device for measuring the lengths of the fish to be processed, said scanning device being arranged within the region of the guides and effective with respect to the mesial planes of the fish and comprising a transmitter to transmit wave signals and a receiver to receive and register the wave signals reflected by the fish.
Such a machine will enable fish to be measured, indepen-dently of their size, kind or conveying speed, with a greater degree of accuracy than previously.
Preferably, the scanning device comprises a receiver selectably equipped for the checking of a pulsed or continuous scanning signal in the form of light beams of electrical or electro-magnetic waves, sonic waves or ultrasonic waves. By this means, not only is the meas~ring adaptable to different kinds end shapes of fish, but also different atmospheric or processing requirements for the fish can be taken into account.
Preferably, the receiver consists of an ultrasonic sensor, whereby accurate measuring is possible notwithstanding wet-ting of the transmitter and receiver.
Advantageously, the transmitter and the receiver are combined into a reflex scanner, which may facilitate their mount-ing and arranging relative to each other and simplify cable guidance.
Preferably, the transmitter and/or the receiver is or are provided with optical means for the focussing of the scanning signal to be transmitted or checked, and for preference the rays in a scanning beam transmitted by the transmitter ancl/or the rays in a scanning beam received by the receiver are parallel, the beams being so directed as to include an acute angle therebetween.
This arrangement enables a defined measuring region to be esta-blished.
The beams advantageously have a spatial reflex zone at S~16 their intersection, the reflex zone being disposed in the regionof the guidance zone and extending above and below the guide edges of the upper or lower guide means. By this arrangement, the measuring region may be confined in its width to the guidance zone and extended to the necessary height for measuring of the tail fin and head end of the fish.
The scanning device is preferably arranged in the pro-ximity of the end of and on a cOnstituent deflectable guide ele-ment of the upper guide means, whereby a small increase in height of the relfex zone is possible. For preference, the guide element carrying the scanning device, or a guide element adjacent thereto, is provided with a cutout for the beams, which enables operation of a reflex scanner on a closed chain of upper guide elements.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Fig. 1 is a schematic partial side elevation of a fishprocessing machine according to the said embodiment; and Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-section, to an enlarged scale, of the machine of Fig. 1, in the region of a scanning device thereof.
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a fish pro-cessing machine comprising a generally horizontally extending conveying path 11 for fish, the fish being conveyed along the path in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. Underneath the path 11 is arranged a lower or belly side guide 2, which is interrupted near its lefthand end to accommodate a pair of bclly filleting knives 13, while above the path 11 is arranged an upper or back side guide 3 consisting of chain-like articulated guide elements 31, 32, 33 and 34. Longitudinal displacement of the guide 3 is resisted by a guide arm 36, which is pivotable about a stationary pivot axis 37 and the free end of which engages a joint 35 ~ -3-lU85016 connecting the two guide elements 32 and 33. By means of abutments (not shown) fixed in the-16)~350~6 machine, both the guide arm 36 and the guide elements 31 to 34 are prevented rom sinking downwards, Rigidly connected to the guide element 32 is a scanning device 4 by means o an upwardl~ projecting support 41, which extends perpendicular~y to the guide element 32 and at its upper end carries a scanner head 42 in the form of a reflex scanner 47. The reflex scanner 47 comprises a trans~itter 44 adapted to transmit a beam 46 of infrared rays and a receiver 43 responsive to a similar beam 45, the transmitter and the receiver being so inclined relative to each other that the beams 45 and 46 include an acute angle 49 therebetween and defined to reflex zone 48.
To enable scanning by the beam 46 of each fish undergoing processing by the machine, for example the fish 5 shown in Fig. 1, the guide element 33 has a cutout 3~.
As shown in Fig. 2, the lower or belly guide 2 and the upper or back guide 3 define between them a guide slot 21 by means of their upper guide edges 22 and 23 resp. their lower guide edges 301 and 302, the latter having an upward slot limitation element 304. The g~ide slots, which are disposed one above the other, together define a guidance zone 12 for guidance therein of the tail fin 52 and dorsal fins 53 of each fish 5, and optionally the ventral fins of the fish or the belly spokes of its skeletal structure. Also indicated in Fig. 2, laterally adjacent to the path 11, are the inner pulleys 14 of a pair o conveyor belts.
In operation of the processing machine, a beheaded and gutted fish S is conveyed belly lowermost through the belly filleting knives 13 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, and is provided by these knives with belly filleting incisions which cut free its belly spckes, ~he lower half of the lea~ing 1~850~6 tai:L fin 52 and the cut ree be~ly spokes are yuided in the guide slot o the bell~ guide 2, while the upper half of the tai:L fin 52 and the darsal fins 53 are held laterally under check by the guide elements 31 to 34 o the back guide 3, which ride on the back o the fish.5. When the leading end of the tail fin 52 reaches the reflex zone 48, which is defined by the intersecting beams 45 and 46, the infrared beams 46 reflected thereby along the path of the beams 45 triggers a signal in the receiver 43, the signal being registered as an entry impulse. The time e~apsing, or the counted number of pulses or the like, between this entry impulse and the passage of the trailing end of the fish represents an exact measure-ment of the overall length o the fish and can be stored or used directly as a control value for the tools and guides.
The sensitivity region in the machine is defined by the reflex zone 48, which effectively has the form of a very slen-der or pressed flat ellipsoid, the width of which covers the guide slot 21 and the height of which should cover a region above the guide edges 301 and 302 up to the limitation 304 .
and a somewhat larger region below the guide edges 301 and 302 of the guide 3.
Of course, the geometrical form o the reflex zone may vary and depends mainly on the cross section of the beam resp. the focussed beams 46.
In our German (Fed.Rep.) Patent Specification No. 865 525 t:here is disclosed the use of electrical or other wave forms, for example light beams, for the scanning of fish and for bring-ing about an orienting thereof according to control impulses derived from the fish belly and back position.
- It is also known from French Patent Specification No.
1 423 344 to use light sources and photocells to scan fish and to carry out sorting of the fish into kinds on the basis of the quantity of reflected light.
Whereas in the case of German Patent Specification 865 525 it is a matter of measurement of light intensity, in the case of French Patent Specification 1 423 344 the integral of the reflected light quantity over the transit time of the fish must be used as a control quantity. Both kinds of measurement take place statically and therefore do not enable the length of a fish to be accurately measured.
It is one of the main objects of the present invention to render it possible to measure, for the purpose of controlling the tools and guides of a high-performance fish processing machine, the overall length of longitudinally conveyed fish, from their head ends to their tail ends, whithin a tolerance of less than 0.5~.
According to the present invention there is provided a fish processing machine comprising upper guide means and lower guide means to guide fish, with their mesial planes substantially vertical, along a substantially horizontal conveying path between the guide means, the guide means being provided with guide edges directed towards the path and with slots forming a substantially vertical guidance zone for the tail fins and at least the dorsal : .
iO~S016 fins of the fish, and a scanning device for measuring the lengths of the fish to be processed, said scanning device being arranged within the region of the guides and effective with respect to the mesial planes of the fish and comprising a transmitter to transmit wave signals and a receiver to receive and register the wave signals reflected by the fish.
Such a machine will enable fish to be measured, indepen-dently of their size, kind or conveying speed, with a greater degree of accuracy than previously.
Preferably, the scanning device comprises a receiver selectably equipped for the checking of a pulsed or continuous scanning signal in the form of light beams of electrical or electro-magnetic waves, sonic waves or ultrasonic waves. By this means, not only is the meas~ring adaptable to different kinds end shapes of fish, but also different atmospheric or processing requirements for the fish can be taken into account.
Preferably, the receiver consists of an ultrasonic sensor, whereby accurate measuring is possible notwithstanding wet-ting of the transmitter and receiver.
Advantageously, the transmitter and the receiver are combined into a reflex scanner, which may facilitate their mount-ing and arranging relative to each other and simplify cable guidance.
Preferably, the transmitter and/or the receiver is or are provided with optical means for the focussing of the scanning signal to be transmitted or checked, and for preference the rays in a scanning beam transmitted by the transmitter ancl/or the rays in a scanning beam received by the receiver are parallel, the beams being so directed as to include an acute angle therebetween.
This arrangement enables a defined measuring region to be esta-blished.
The beams advantageously have a spatial reflex zone at S~16 their intersection, the reflex zone being disposed in the regionof the guidance zone and extending above and below the guide edges of the upper or lower guide means. By this arrangement, the measuring region may be confined in its width to the guidance zone and extended to the necessary height for measuring of the tail fin and head end of the fish.
The scanning device is preferably arranged in the pro-ximity of the end of and on a cOnstituent deflectable guide ele-ment of the upper guide means, whereby a small increase in height of the relfex zone is possible. For preference, the guide element carrying the scanning device, or a guide element adjacent thereto, is provided with a cutout for the beams, which enables operation of a reflex scanner on a closed chain of upper guide elements.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Fig. 1 is a schematic partial side elevation of a fishprocessing machine according to the said embodiment; and Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-section, to an enlarged scale, of the machine of Fig. 1, in the region of a scanning device thereof.
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a fish pro-cessing machine comprising a generally horizontally extending conveying path 11 for fish, the fish being conveyed along the path in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. Underneath the path 11 is arranged a lower or belly side guide 2, which is interrupted near its lefthand end to accommodate a pair of bclly filleting knives 13, while above the path 11 is arranged an upper or back side guide 3 consisting of chain-like articulated guide elements 31, 32, 33 and 34. Longitudinal displacement of the guide 3 is resisted by a guide arm 36, which is pivotable about a stationary pivot axis 37 and the free end of which engages a joint 35 ~ -3-lU85016 connecting the two guide elements 32 and 33. By means of abutments (not shown) fixed in the-16)~350~6 machine, both the guide arm 36 and the guide elements 31 to 34 are prevented rom sinking downwards, Rigidly connected to the guide element 32 is a scanning device 4 by means o an upwardl~ projecting support 41, which extends perpendicular~y to the guide element 32 and at its upper end carries a scanner head 42 in the form of a reflex scanner 47. The reflex scanner 47 comprises a trans~itter 44 adapted to transmit a beam 46 of infrared rays and a receiver 43 responsive to a similar beam 45, the transmitter and the receiver being so inclined relative to each other that the beams 45 and 46 include an acute angle 49 therebetween and defined to reflex zone 48.
To enable scanning by the beam 46 of each fish undergoing processing by the machine, for example the fish 5 shown in Fig. 1, the guide element 33 has a cutout 3~.
As shown in Fig. 2, the lower or belly guide 2 and the upper or back guide 3 define between them a guide slot 21 by means of their upper guide edges 22 and 23 resp. their lower guide edges 301 and 302, the latter having an upward slot limitation element 304. The g~ide slots, which are disposed one above the other, together define a guidance zone 12 for guidance therein of the tail fin 52 and dorsal fins 53 of each fish 5, and optionally the ventral fins of the fish or the belly spokes of its skeletal structure. Also indicated in Fig. 2, laterally adjacent to the path 11, are the inner pulleys 14 of a pair o conveyor belts.
In operation of the processing machine, a beheaded and gutted fish S is conveyed belly lowermost through the belly filleting knives 13 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, and is provided by these knives with belly filleting incisions which cut free its belly spckes, ~he lower half of the lea~ing 1~850~6 tai:L fin 52 and the cut ree be~ly spokes are yuided in the guide slot o the bell~ guide 2, while the upper half of the tai:L fin 52 and the darsal fins 53 are held laterally under check by the guide elements 31 to 34 o the back guide 3, which ride on the back o the fish.5. When the leading end of the tail fin 52 reaches the reflex zone 48, which is defined by the intersecting beams 45 and 46, the infrared beams 46 reflected thereby along the path of the beams 45 triggers a signal in the receiver 43, the signal being registered as an entry impulse. The time e~apsing, or the counted number of pulses or the like, between this entry impulse and the passage of the trailing end of the fish represents an exact measure-ment of the overall length o the fish and can be stored or used directly as a control value for the tools and guides.
The sensitivity region in the machine is defined by the reflex zone 48, which effectively has the form of a very slen-der or pressed flat ellipsoid, the width of which covers the guide slot 21 and the height of which should cover a region above the guide edges 301 and 302 up to the limitation 304 .
and a somewhat larger region below the guide edges 301 and 302 of the guide 3.
Of course, the geometrical form o the reflex zone may vary and depends mainly on the cross section of the beam resp. the focussed beams 46.
Claims (12)
1. A fish processing machine comprising upper guide means and lower guide means to guide fish, with their mesial planes substantially vertical, along a substantially horizontal conveying path between the guide means, the guide means being provided with guide edges directed towards the path and with slots forming a substantially vertical guidance zone for the tail fins and at least the dorsal fins of the fish, and a scanning device for measuring the lengths of the fish to be processed, said scanning device being arranged within the region of the guides and effec-tive with respect to the mesial planes of the fish and comprising a transmitter to transmit wave signals and a receiver to receive and register the wave signals reflected by the fish.
2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scanning device comprises a receiver responsive to a pulsed or continuous scanning signal in the form of light beams.
3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scanning device comprises a receiver responsive to a pulsed or continuous scanning signal in the form of electromagnetic waves.
4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scanning device comprises a receiver responsive to a pulsed or continuous sonic scanning signal.
5. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scanning device comprises a receiver responsive to a pulsed or continuous ultrasonic scanning signal.
6. A machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the receiver comprises an ultrasonic sensor.
7. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scanning device comprises a transmitter and a receiver combined to func-tion as a reflex scanner.
8. A machine as claimed 7, wherein the scanning device is adapted to scan with an optical signal and at least one of the transmitter and the receiver is provided with optical means to focus the signal.
9. A machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least one of the transmitter and the receiver is adapted to transmit or receive a signal beam composed of parallel rays, the transmitter and receiver being so arranged as to transmit and receive signal beams which include an acute angle therebetween.
10. A machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein the trans-mitter and receiver are so arranged as to transmit and receive signal beams which intersect in the guidance zone and define at their intersection a spatial reflection zone which extends above and below the guide edges of the upper or lower guide means.
11. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper guide means comprises at least one deflectable guide element ex-tending along the conveying path, the scanning device being mounted on said one of the guide elements and being disposed in the pro-ximity of the end of said guide element.
12. A machine as claimed in claim 11, wherein the guide element supporting the scanning device or a guide element adjacent to that element is provided with a cut-out for the passage there-through of the scanning signal.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA277,153A CA1085016A (en) | 1977-04-27 | 1977-04-27 | Fish processing machine |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA277,153A CA1085016A (en) | 1977-04-27 | 1977-04-27 | Fish processing machine |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1085016A true CA1085016A (en) | 1980-09-02 |
Family
ID=4108520
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA277,153A Expired CA1085016A (en) | 1977-04-27 | 1977-04-27 | Fish processing machine |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1085016A (en) |
-
1977
- 1977-04-27 CA CA277,153A patent/CA1085016A/en not_active Expired
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |