CA1153170A - Device for the beheading of fish - Google Patents
Device for the beheading of fishInfo
- Publication number
- CA1153170A CA1153170A CA000379215A CA379215A CA1153170A CA 1153170 A CA1153170 A CA 1153170A CA 000379215 A CA000379215 A CA 000379215A CA 379215 A CA379215 A CA 379215A CA 1153170 A CA1153170 A CA 1153170A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- fish
- plane
- decapitating
- symmetry
- receiving troughs
- 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
Landscapes
- Processing Of Meat And Fish (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:-The invention relates to an apparatus for mechanically decapitating fish, in which fish tying on one of their sides are conveyed transversely and decapitated by a wedge-shaped cut by means of a decapitating tool. In order to perform an exact symmetrical and economical decapitating cut independently of the respective size of the fish to be processed the decapitating tool is mounted pivotably about a pivot axle extending in the plane of symmetry of the same and parallel to the conveying direction of the fish. The adaptation proceeds automatically through a pair of centrally synchronised feeler rails which are borne on the housing carrying the knives of the beheading tool.
Description
~153~7~ , BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention The inventlon concerns an apparatus for mechanically decapi--tating fish which are conveyed transversely to their longi-tudinal axis and lying on one of their sides in receiving troughsof a trough chain, by means of a beheading or decapitating tool which is arranged closely beside one end of the receiving troughs and consists of a pair of rotatingly driven circular knives which are arranged symmetrically to each other, include an angle with each other and are aligned by their plane of s~mmetry to be nearly parallel to the plane of a bottom surface of the receiving troughs, as well as a pair of feeler rails which are arranged symmetrically to the plane of symmetry of the circular knives and di~placeable synchronously bv the fish against the force of a spring.
1. Field of the Invention The inventlon concerns an apparatus for mechanically decapi--tating fish which are conveyed transversely to their longi-tudinal axis and lying on one of their sides in receiving troughsof a trough chain, by means of a beheading or decapitating tool which is arranged closely beside one end of the receiving troughs and consists of a pair of rotatingly driven circular knives which are arranged symmetrically to each other, include an angle with each other and are aligned by their plane of s~mmetry to be nearly parallel to the plane of a bottom surface of the receiving troughs, as well as a pair of feeler rails which are arranged symmetrically to the plane of symmetry of the circular knives and di~placeable synchronously bv the fish against the force of a spring.
2. Descrlption of the Prior Art A beheading apparatus of that kind is known from German Letters Patent 11 28 617. In this device, a co-ordination of the planes of symmetry of the fish, of the feeler rails termed as gill guides in that publication, and the beheading knlves takes place independently of the thickness of the respective fish thereby, that at least the smaller fish are raised from their support by means of the lower of the two gill guides in the region of the beheading cut to be performed. This is achieved in consequence of the synchronisation of the gill guides in the alignment of thelr plane of symmetry in that of the beheading .~
. . .
.
.. .
~lS~7~) knives through the lower guide. Each trouah is provided with a conveying shoulder which supports the fish at its spine and is constructed to be fitting this. During the positioning of the fish by means of the gill guides, the fish, by reason of the frictional resistance at the guide edges of the gill guides and after engagement of the beheading knives additionally through their cutting resistance, is pressed against the conveying shoulder and is located there in respect of its height position in consequence of the prismatic construction of the conve~ing shoulder. By reason of this location of the spine, the fish in the course of its alignment tends to rotate, for which its back - line forms the rotational axis. Beyond that, the retention of the fish merely in the gill guides has the efect that the re-maining fish body sags downwardly. An exact symmetrical cut guidance of the wedge-shaped decapitating cut is therefore not to be attained for most of the fish sizes to be processed. This, however, is a pre-requisite for an economical cut guidance, for whlch it should ne~ertheless be made certain that undesired com-ponents, such as bone remnants, which could obstruct further mechanical processing or the removal of which requires additional work effort, are cut off with the head.
From the DD-PS 128 669 there is known a further decapitatinq apparatus, in which the fish, seized conveyingly by means of en-training members, slide transversely to their longitudinal axis on a support surface. In the region of decapitating knives per-forming a wedge-shaped cut, the fish runs between a pair of syn-chronised head guides. Support elements engaging through the ,~.
' 7~
.
support surface are connected with the lower one of the head guides. This ha~ the effect that the fish is aligned by its plane of symmetry to that of the wedge-cut beheading knives in correspondence with the respective setting of the head guides determined by the thicknecs of the fish. Although the disad-vantageous sagging of the fish body is thereby avoided, theremaining recited defects are, however, also to be found in this known devlce.
. . .
.
.. .
~lS~7~) knives through the lower guide. Each trouah is provided with a conveying shoulder which supports the fish at its spine and is constructed to be fitting this. During the positioning of the fish by means of the gill guides, the fish, by reason of the frictional resistance at the guide edges of the gill guides and after engagement of the beheading knives additionally through their cutting resistance, is pressed against the conveying shoulder and is located there in respect of its height position in consequence of the prismatic construction of the conve~ing shoulder. By reason of this location of the spine, the fish in the course of its alignment tends to rotate, for which its back - line forms the rotational axis. Beyond that, the retention of the fish merely in the gill guides has the efect that the re-maining fish body sags downwardly. An exact symmetrical cut guidance of the wedge-shaped decapitating cut is therefore not to be attained for most of the fish sizes to be processed. This, however, is a pre-requisite for an economical cut guidance, for whlch it should ne~ertheless be made certain that undesired com-ponents, such as bone remnants, which could obstruct further mechanical processing or the removal of which requires additional work effort, are cut off with the head.
From the DD-PS 128 669 there is known a further decapitatinq apparatus, in which the fish, seized conveyingly by means of en-training members, slide transversely to their longitudinal axis on a support surface. In the region of decapitating knives per-forming a wedge-shaped cut, the fish runs between a pair of syn-chronised head guides. Support elements engaging through the ,~.
' 7~
.
support surface are connected with the lower one of the head guides. This ha~ the effect that the fish is aligned by its plane of symmetry to that of the wedge-cut beheading knives in correspondence with the respective setting of the head guides determined by the thicknecs of the fish. Although the disad-vantageous sagging of the fish body is thereby avoided, theremaining recited defects are, however, also to be found in this known devlce.
3. Object of the Inventlon It is an e~sential object of the invention to provlde a decapitatlng apparatus for fish, whlch makes a wedge-shaped decapitating cut extending exactly symmetrically to the plane of ~ymmetry of the fish and thus an extremely economical de-capltation possible.
SUMMARY OP THE INVENTION
According to the lnvention this object is achieved by an apparatus for mechanically decapitating fish which are conveyed transversely to their longitudinal axis and lying on one of their ~ldes in receiving trough~ each having two opposing lateral end portions and a bottom ~urface, of a trough chain, by means of a decapltatlng tool which is arranged closely beside one of said lateral ends of the receiving troughs and comprlses a pair of rotatingly drlven clrcular knlve~ which are arranged ~ym-metrically to each other, lnclude an angle with each other and are aligned by thelr plane of symmetry to be nearly parallel to the plane of a bottom surface of the receiving troughs, a palr of feeler rails being arranged symmetrically to the plane of . .
7~.~
symmetry of the circular knlves and displaceable synchronously by the fish against the force of a spring, ln which apparatus the decapitating tool is mounted displaceably in height together with the pair of feeler rails in respect of the position of the plane of symmetry of the circular knives relative to the plane of the bottom surfaces of the receiving troughs.
By this association of the feeler rails with the decapi-tating tool it is achieved in a simple manner to bring the planes of symmetry of the fish and of the decapitating tool as well as the feeler rails into congruency at least at the cutting location, i.e. to attain a wedge-shaped decapitating cut extending exactly centrally in the fish without the fish changing its position in the receiving troughs.
According to a preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the lnvention, the decapitating tool can be mounted to be pivotable about a pivot axle which is disposed essentially in the plane of symmetry of the circular knives and arranged essentlally parallel to the plane of the same. This construction makes an automatic adaptation of the decapitating tool to the respective fish size with very llttle stressing of the fish body through the feeler forces of the pair of feeler rails possible.
In order to ~ecure a largely symmetrical course of the wedge-shaped decapitating cut over the entire fish cros~-section, it is advantageouR to arrange the bottom surfaces of the receiving troughs in such a manner that they are inclined to be rising in ''` `~ ~ ' , 3L1~i3~70 the conveying direction of the troughs relative to the conveying plane. By making the spacing between the decapltating tool and the respective end of the receiving troughs settable, apart from the possibility of the setting of the device to optimum yield, it is also made possible, if deslred, for example, to leave the collar bones on the rump or to cut them off with the head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the followlng description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying schematic drawings, which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the present lnvention and the principles thereof and what now are considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying these principles.
Other embodiments of the inventlon embodying the same or equi-valent prlnclples may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departlng from the present invention and the scope of the suqpended claims.
In the drawings Fig. 1 is an axonometrlc representation of an apparatus accordlng to the lnvention, and Pig. 2 is a cross-section through the apparatus in the region of the decapltatlng tool.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An endless, rotatingly driven trough chain 1 of lndlvldual receiving troughs 2 for transportlng flsh transversely to thelr ~: :
1~53~7V
longitudinal axis is arranged in a not illustrated machine frame.
The receiving troughs 2 are provided with an entralning shoulder 3, which projects up from a bottom surface 4 of the troughs 2 and forms a laterally dlrected and open prismatic cross-section, the opening dlmension of which becomes smaller towards one end of the receivlng trough 2. The broader end 5 of the receiving troughs 2 15 guided past a decapitatlng tool 6, whlch comprises a palr of circular knives 7 approaching each other closely and ar-ranged lncllned to each other. The end of the entralnlng shoulder 3 is adapted to the angle of the clrcular knlves 7 opening towards the receiving troughs. The clrcular knlves 7 are borne by a housing 8 and driven ln sultable manner to be rotating ln an opposite sen~e to each other, the housing 8 belng mounted to be pivotable around a plvot axle 9 arranged parallel to the con-veylng directlon of the receiving troughs 2 and essentially in the plane of thelr bottom surfaces 4. Dlsposed on the housing 8 there is a palr of feeler rall~ 10, which are constructed in the manner of sklds and mounted to be pivotable synchronously in opposite ~ense to each other immediately beside the surfaces of the circular knlves 7 remote from the receiving troughs 2 and ln their planes around axles 11 and 12 parallel to the pivot axle g. The feeler ralls 10 are retained in thelr narrow set-tlng by the force of a tension spring 13. The spacing of the circular knlve~ 7 rom the ends of the entrainlng shoulder 3 facing them ls arranged to be settable by a correspondlng mount-ing of pivot bearlngs 14 carrying the pivot axle 9. The re-celving troughs 2 are accompanied at thelr side facing the de-capitatlng tool 6 by a row of spikes 15, the respective spacings 7~
of which correspond to the pitch o the trough chain 1. It is the object of the spikes 15 to locate the fish to be processed in its eye cavity.
The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows:
~ fish, which is placed on the bottom surface 4 of a receiving trough 2 of the trough chain 1 with the back towards the en-training shoulder 3, subject to location by its eye cavity by means of a spike 15, is conducted towards the decapitating tool 6. Shortly before arrival at the same, the fish enters between the pair of skid-shaped feeler rails 10, which are urged apart by the fish body. In consequence of the mounting of the feeler rails 10 and the mutual synchroniqation, the housing 8 carrying the circular knives 7 of the decapitating tool 6 are pivoted along in dependence on the respective thickness of the fish in such a manner that the contact point of circular knives 7 is each time brought lnto the plane of symmetry of the fish and the wedge-shaped decapitating cut extends exactly in this.
The spikes 15 can be fastened in a known manner on a separate chain and for the purpose of obtaining the neck flesh rotate delayed relative to the mould chain 1, but they can, however, also run along synchronously dlsplaced so that already on the introduction of the flsh, the head thereof is located in the neck position. In both cases, a known per se mounting 16 is re-quired in each receivlng trough 2, which mounting is driven out by controlling, in the receivlng trough respectively to be loaded and freed only shortly before reaching the decapitating tool 6 so that the fish is supported by spring force from the belly side.
. - 8 -.
' ,. ` ~ ~ ' ~:
:
~1S~7~) In a further embodiment, the spacing of each spike 15 from the decapitating tool 6 can be controlled rom the respective setting of the feeler rails 1~. The latter can then also be mounted in such a manner that their pivot plane extends per-S pendicularly to the plane of symmetry of the decapitating tool 6.
For setting the spacing of the circular knives 7 from theends of the entraining shoulder 3 facing them the pivot bearings 14 carrying the pivot axle 9 are associated with setting means 17 depicted in Fig. 2. These setting means may be acted upon either manually or mechanically and allow the mounting 14 to be shifted either to the left or to the right to change, i.e., increase or reduce said space.
., .
.
,: :
SUMMARY OP THE INVENTION
According to the lnvention this object is achieved by an apparatus for mechanically decapitating fish which are conveyed transversely to their longitudinal axis and lying on one of their ~ldes in receiving trough~ each having two opposing lateral end portions and a bottom ~urface, of a trough chain, by means of a decapltatlng tool which is arranged closely beside one of said lateral ends of the receiving troughs and comprlses a pair of rotatingly drlven clrcular knlve~ which are arranged ~ym-metrically to each other, lnclude an angle with each other and are aligned by thelr plane of symmetry to be nearly parallel to the plane of a bottom surface of the receiving troughs, a palr of feeler rails being arranged symmetrically to the plane of . .
7~.~
symmetry of the circular knlves and displaceable synchronously by the fish against the force of a spring, ln which apparatus the decapitating tool is mounted displaceably in height together with the pair of feeler rails in respect of the position of the plane of symmetry of the circular knives relative to the plane of the bottom surfaces of the receiving troughs.
By this association of the feeler rails with the decapi-tating tool it is achieved in a simple manner to bring the planes of symmetry of the fish and of the decapitating tool as well as the feeler rails into congruency at least at the cutting location, i.e. to attain a wedge-shaped decapitating cut extending exactly centrally in the fish without the fish changing its position in the receiving troughs.
According to a preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the lnvention, the decapitating tool can be mounted to be pivotable about a pivot axle which is disposed essentially in the plane of symmetry of the circular knives and arranged essentlally parallel to the plane of the same. This construction makes an automatic adaptation of the decapitating tool to the respective fish size with very llttle stressing of the fish body through the feeler forces of the pair of feeler rails possible.
In order to ~ecure a largely symmetrical course of the wedge-shaped decapitating cut over the entire fish cros~-section, it is advantageouR to arrange the bottom surfaces of the receiving troughs in such a manner that they are inclined to be rising in ''` `~ ~ ' , 3L1~i3~70 the conveying direction of the troughs relative to the conveying plane. By making the spacing between the decapltating tool and the respective end of the receiving troughs settable, apart from the possibility of the setting of the device to optimum yield, it is also made possible, if deslred, for example, to leave the collar bones on the rump or to cut them off with the head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the followlng description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying schematic drawings, which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the present lnvention and the principles thereof and what now are considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying these principles.
Other embodiments of the inventlon embodying the same or equi-valent prlnclples may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departlng from the present invention and the scope of the suqpended claims.
In the drawings Fig. 1 is an axonometrlc representation of an apparatus accordlng to the lnvention, and Pig. 2 is a cross-section through the apparatus in the region of the decapltatlng tool.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An endless, rotatingly driven trough chain 1 of lndlvldual receiving troughs 2 for transportlng flsh transversely to thelr ~: :
1~53~7V
longitudinal axis is arranged in a not illustrated machine frame.
The receiving troughs 2 are provided with an entralning shoulder 3, which projects up from a bottom surface 4 of the troughs 2 and forms a laterally dlrected and open prismatic cross-section, the opening dlmension of which becomes smaller towards one end of the receivlng trough 2. The broader end 5 of the receiving troughs 2 15 guided past a decapitatlng tool 6, whlch comprises a palr of circular knives 7 approaching each other closely and ar-ranged lncllned to each other. The end of the entralnlng shoulder 3 is adapted to the angle of the clrcular knlves 7 opening towards the receiving troughs. The clrcular knlves 7 are borne by a housing 8 and driven ln sultable manner to be rotating ln an opposite sen~e to each other, the housing 8 belng mounted to be pivotable around a plvot axle 9 arranged parallel to the con-veylng directlon of the receiving troughs 2 and essentially in the plane of thelr bottom surfaces 4. Dlsposed on the housing 8 there is a palr of feeler rall~ 10, which are constructed in the manner of sklds and mounted to be pivotable synchronously in opposite ~ense to each other immediately beside the surfaces of the circular knlves 7 remote from the receiving troughs 2 and ln their planes around axles 11 and 12 parallel to the pivot axle g. The feeler ralls 10 are retained in thelr narrow set-tlng by the force of a tension spring 13. The spacing of the circular knlve~ 7 rom the ends of the entrainlng shoulder 3 facing them ls arranged to be settable by a correspondlng mount-ing of pivot bearlngs 14 carrying the pivot axle 9. The re-celving troughs 2 are accompanied at thelr side facing the de-capitatlng tool 6 by a row of spikes 15, the respective spacings 7~
of which correspond to the pitch o the trough chain 1. It is the object of the spikes 15 to locate the fish to be processed in its eye cavity.
The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows:
~ fish, which is placed on the bottom surface 4 of a receiving trough 2 of the trough chain 1 with the back towards the en-training shoulder 3, subject to location by its eye cavity by means of a spike 15, is conducted towards the decapitating tool 6. Shortly before arrival at the same, the fish enters between the pair of skid-shaped feeler rails 10, which are urged apart by the fish body. In consequence of the mounting of the feeler rails 10 and the mutual synchroniqation, the housing 8 carrying the circular knives 7 of the decapitating tool 6 are pivoted along in dependence on the respective thickness of the fish in such a manner that the contact point of circular knives 7 is each time brought lnto the plane of symmetry of the fish and the wedge-shaped decapitating cut extends exactly in this.
The spikes 15 can be fastened in a known manner on a separate chain and for the purpose of obtaining the neck flesh rotate delayed relative to the mould chain 1, but they can, however, also run along synchronously dlsplaced so that already on the introduction of the flsh, the head thereof is located in the neck position. In both cases, a known per se mounting 16 is re-quired in each receivlng trough 2, which mounting is driven out by controlling, in the receivlng trough respectively to be loaded and freed only shortly before reaching the decapitating tool 6 so that the fish is supported by spring force from the belly side.
. - 8 -.
' ,. ` ~ ~ ' ~:
:
~1S~7~) In a further embodiment, the spacing of each spike 15 from the decapitating tool 6 can be controlled rom the respective setting of the feeler rails 1~. The latter can then also be mounted in such a manner that their pivot plane extends per-S pendicularly to the plane of symmetry of the decapitating tool 6.
For setting the spacing of the circular knives 7 from theends of the entraining shoulder 3 facing them the pivot bearings 14 carrying the pivot axle 9 are associated with setting means 17 depicted in Fig. 2. These setting means may be acted upon either manually or mechanically and allow the mounting 14 to be shifted either to the left or to the right to change, i.e., increase or reduce said space.
., .
.
,: :
Claims (4)
1. Apparatus for mechanically decapitating fish, said fish having a head end, a tail end, two sides opposing each other intermediate said head end and said tail end, and a longitudinal axis extending between said head end and said tail end, said apparatus including a. conveying means for conveying said fish in a conveying direction and defining a conveying plane, comprising a trough chain of receiving troughs having two end portions and a bottom surface to receive and convey said fish lying on one of said sides with their longitudinal axis essen-tially transverse to said conveying direction, and b. Decapitating means arranged at a close spacing beside one of said end portions of said receiving troughs and comprising pairwise arranged rotatingly driven circular knife means and feeler rail means, wherein said knife means are arranged symmetrically with respect to each other, including an angle with each other and being aligned by their plane of symmetry to be nearly parallel to the plane of said bottom surface of said receiving troughs, said feeler rail means are arranged symmetrically to the plane of symmetry of said knife means and displaceable synchronously by said fish against the force of spring means, and said knife means are mounted displaceably in height together with said feeler rail means in respect of the position of said plane of symmetry of said knife means relative to said plane of said bottom surface receiving troughs.
2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said decapi-tating means is mounted to be pivotable around a pivotable axle, which is disposed essentially in said plane of symmetry of said knife means and arranged essentially parallel to the plane of the same.
3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottom surfaces of said receiving troughs are arranged in such a manner that they are inclined to be rising in said conveying direction relative to said conveying plane.
4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said spacing between said decapitating means and said end of said receiving troughs is settable.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000379215A CA1153170A (en) | 1981-06-08 | 1981-06-08 | Device for the beheading of fish |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000379215A CA1153170A (en) | 1981-06-08 | 1981-06-08 | Device for the beheading of fish |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1153170A true CA1153170A (en) | 1983-09-06 |
Family
ID=4120166
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000379215A Expired CA1153170A (en) | 1981-06-08 | 1981-06-08 | Device for the beheading of fish |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1153170A (en) |
-
1981
- 1981-06-08 CA CA000379215A patent/CA1153170A/en not_active Expired
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| EP0054060B1 (en) | Bird cutting plant | |
| DE3854204T2 (en) | Device for the automatic splitting of carcasses. | |
| CA1256780A (en) | Device for cutting off the tail of slaughtered poultry | |
| CN107666830B (en) | Device and method for automatically obtaining fish flesh from decapitated and eviscerated fish | |
| AU619215B2 (en) | Wing joint severing | |
| US9259013B2 (en) | Method and system for automatically deboning poultry breast caps containing meat and a skeletal structure to obtain breast fillets therefrom | |
| US5618230A (en) | Device for cutting up wings of poultry bodies | |
| US4536919A (en) | Breast processor | |
| CA1199760A (en) | Method and device for beheading fish | |
| US4389750A (en) | Device for the beheading of fish | |
| US3232412A (en) | Apparatus for bringing into upright belly-dosal position fish transported resting on one side | |
| US4507824A (en) | Device for filleting beheaded fish | |
| CA1153170A (en) | Device for the beheading of fish | |
| EP1018891B1 (en) | Method and apparatus for fish processing | |
| MY100508A (en) | Squid trimming apparatus | |
| US3972091A (en) | Device for severing the heads of fishes | |
| CA1057012A (en) | Method of fixing a fish as to the position thereof in a fish processing machine and a machine for performing said method | |
| GB2156197A (en) | A fish-beheading apparatus | |
| RU2075158C1 (en) | DEVICE FOR CUTTING CARBON FISH WITH OPEN ABDOMINAL CAVITY | |
| CN110785083A (en) | Transport device and method for transporting poultry carcasses, and device and method for slicing poultry carcasses | |
| SU923348A3 (en) | Method and apparatus for oriented feeding of fish to fish-dressing machine | |
| US3885270A (en) | Method and device for severing the heads of fishes | |
| GB2097237A (en) | Fish beheading apparatus | |
| WO1989007892A1 (en) | A method for transferring fish fillets between two conveyor belts and a device for accomplishing the method | |
| US20240180178A1 (en) | A machine for filleting fish |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |