EP1198177A1

EP1198177A1 - Method for removing skin from the body and/or parts of the body of animals, and device therefor

Info

Publication number: EP1198177A1
Application number: EP00951369A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter Groth
Original assignee: Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud Baader GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud Baader GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1999-07-12
Filing date: 2000-07-08
Publication date: 2002-04-24
Also published as: US6579164B1; PL353282A1; JP2003504039A; AU6433600A; AU769496B2; WO2001003509A1; BR0012395A; CA2375766A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for removing skin from the bodies of animals, preferably the bodies of fowls, and a device for implementing said method. Known devices comprise skin-removing rollers, designed to enable height adjustment via a control cam. Said devices, however, have the disadvantage of not enabling the rollers to be accurately positioned on the bodies of animals of different shapes, in particular on bodies with curves. The invention aims at supplying a device and a method ensuring optimal positioning enabling the skin to be removed without damage. This is achieved by the fact that the inventive device comprises skin-removing rollers with two degrees of freedom, thereby enabling said rollers to be optimally positioned, independently of the size of the animal body.

Description

Process for skinning carcasses and / or carcass parts and device for carrying them out

The invention relates to a device for skinning carcasses and / or carcass parts, preferably poultry, which can be moved in a straight line relative thereto, comprising at least two skinning rolls which are arranged parallel to one another and extend essentially in the direction of movement and rotate in opposite directions about correspondingly oriented axes of rotation, at least one roll drive for the Skinning rollers and a receptacle for mounting the skinning rollers, the receptacle in a processing machine being arranged in a height-adjustable plane which is perpendicular to the plane spanned by the two roll axes of rotation and is determined by the vector of the linear movement. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for skinning carcasses and / or carcass parts.

Devices of the generic type are used for skinning carcasses and / or parts of carcasses, in particular for skinning poultry carcasses, the skin usually still being arranged almost completely on the body when entering the skinning device. For example, US Pat. No. 4,459,721 discloses a skinning device in which two skinning rollers which can be driven in opposite directions pull off skin from animal bodies, namely from poultry bodies. The skinning rollers are supported on both sides and can be driven by a common drive. The known device is designed as a hand-held device and as such can only be integrated into an automated poultry processing machine with very great effort or not at all. A major problem is that the complete detachment of the skin from usually curved poultry carcasses can only be done by turning or tilting the poultry carcass over the skinning rollers, which is difficult in an automated poultry processing machine with saddle conveyors that move in a straight line or cannot be realized at all. Another disadvantage is that the removal of the skin removed from the animal body by the bilateral storage of the Skinning rollers often cause problems because the peeled and separated ones

Skin can get caught in the device and block it.

Another device with the features of the preamble of claim 1 is known from DE 37 36 401. This device also has the disadvantage that an exact positioning of the skinning elements or skinning rollers on the animal body is only possible inaccurately. Another disadvantage is that the selection of a point of application of the skinning rollers on the animal body is not freely selectable. The rigid arrangement of the skinning rollers leads to unsatisfactory skinning results, particularly in the case of curved carcasses to be processed.

In known methods for skinning poultry carcasses in particular, the poultry carcasses are guided over the skinning rollers. The rollers grip the skin and pull it away from the body, the fixed distance and the rigid position of the rollers causing damage to the animal body and in particular the fillet. With the known methods, only carcasses with very similar geometries can also be processed, the point of attack of the rollers on the carcass being determined by the predetermined position. This leads to time-consuming and expensive retooling work when processing carcasses of different geometries.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a device which enables automated skinning of carcasses and / or carcass parts with exact positioning of the skinning rollers, regardless of the carcass size. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to propose a method with which animal bodies and / or animal body parts can be skinned automatically and independently of the respective body size without damaging the animal body and / or the animal body part.

This object is achieved together with the features of the preamble of claim 1 in that the receptacle or the skinning rollers have an additional degree of freedom such that they can be pivoted about an axis which is perpendicular to the height adjustment plane. This ensures that the skinning rollers can be optimally positioned on the animal body or on animal body parts, and in places that, depending on the carcass z. B. may be in the neck or abdomen. Because the skinning rollers can be moved in two degrees of freedom, an individual adaptation to the animal body to be processed regardless of its size is possible and automated production within a processing machine can be easily realized since the animal bodies are still transported in a straight line through the skinning device on a saddle , while skinning is carried out by the skinning rollers "traversing" the contour of the animal body. In particular, the pivoting movement enables the skinning roller to be tracked, so that areas of the animal body which are trailing in the direction of transport are also attacked with the skinning roller on the animal body and / or parts of the animal body can.

In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the receptacle is designed to be resiliently evasive, such that the skinning rollers can be adjusted automatically to different sized carcasses and / or carcass parts. As a result, it is possible in a surprisingly simple way to achieve an optimal skinning position and thus an improved skinning result, since the carcass and / or carcass parts themselves control the movement of the skinning rollers. The resilient arrangement further ensures that carcasses of different sizes can be processed one after the other and without retrofitting.

A further preferred embodiment of the invention has skinning rollers which are provided with a control mechanism which enables the skinning rollers to be lifted, so-called controlled, from the poultry carcass, so that skinning rolls and carcasses only come into contact at the positions at which they Touch is also desired.

Advantageously, the skinning rollers are only mounted on one side, namely overhung in the receptacle in an inlet area of the carcasses in the skinning device. This ensures that the separated skin is easily removed in an outlet area, since the free ends of the skinning rollers allow easy stripping. Another advantage is that the skinning rollers are easily accessible, for example for maintenance purposes or the like. Furthermore, the object on which the invention is based is achieved by a method having the following method steps:

- Transporting the carcasses and / or carcass parts, the carcasses and / or carcass parts running onto a casserole element to determine their position,

- Aligning the skinning rollers by pivoting about an axis (32) through the animal body itself, in accordance with the detected position and the size of the animal body and / or animal body parts,

- Detection of the skin by the skinning rollers with subsequent control of the skinning rollers from the animal body and / or parts of the animal body,

- removing the skin by transporting it over the skinning rollers and simultaneously rotating the skinning rollers in opposite directions,

- Accumulation of the carcasses and / or carcass parts or skin thereof on a cover, by means of which the skin is completely torn off and stripped off by the skinning rollers.

The method according to the invention ensures damage-free, automated skinning of animal bodies, since the skinning rollers are only moved to capture or attack the skin on the animal body. By controlling it immediately after the skin has been captured, the meat / fillets sitting under the skin are protected by the distance from the skinning rollers.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention result from the subclaims and the description. A preferred embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. It shows

1 is a schematic representation of the skinning device;

2 shows a more detailed illustration of the device according to FIG. 1,

3 shows a front view of the device according to FIG. 1 with an arrangement of the skinning rollers in three possible positions, 4 shows a front view according to FIG. 3 with a ramp plate and cover,

5 shows a section through the drive area of the skinning rollers,

6 shows a detail in the area of the cover,

7 is a side view of FIG. 6,

8 is a plan view of the skinning device with a fixed swivel flange,

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the skinning device with pivotable

Swivel flange, and

Fig. 10 is a front view of parts of the skinning device with means for

Terminating.

The exemplary embodiment shown schematically in FIG. 1 shows a poultry processing machine 15 with a device 1 for skinning poultry bodies 2. The structural body 2 is seated on a clamp saddle 3 and, in the exemplary embodiment shown, is located in the feed area of skinning rollers 4 and 5. The skinning rollers 4, 5 become driven via a chain drive 6 in connection with a chain wheel 7 and the drive pinion 8, the chain wheel 7 and the drive pinion 8 being connected to one another via a chain 14 and being operatively connected. The transmission of the drive power, namely the rotation on the output shaft of a drive 19 to the skinning rollers 4, 5, takes place via a skinning roller drive pinion 20 which is arranged obliquely below the skinning roller 5 and is operatively connected to it or is in engagement with it ,

The elements of the device 1 for skinning the poultry bodies already described are arranged within a housing of the poultry processing machine 15, the poultry processing machine 15 being a filleting machine, for example. Such poultry filleting machines usually have an endless one Saddle feeder, which enables continuous and automated processing of the carcasses.

The skinning rollers 4 and 5 are mounted in the area of a receptacle 18 which is designed as a long swing. Inside the receptacle 18, the skinning rollers 4 and 5 are only supported on one side. Due to the floating mounting of the skinning rollers 4 and 5, the ends of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 opposite the mounting form quasi free ends. The receptacle 18 is adjustable in height. The height adjustment takes place in a height adjustment plane which is perpendicular to the plane spanned by the two roller axes of rotation 31 and 32 and is determined by the vector of the linear movement, namely the direction of transport. The pivoting takes place about an axis of rotation 32 of the drive 19, the axis of rotation 32 being arranged parallel to the axis of rotation 30, 31 of the rollers. In other words, the receptacle 18 is pivotably arranged on the roller drive 19 for the purpose of height adjustment, such that the receptacle 18 and thus the skinning rollers 4 and 5 move up and down on a circular arc path, namely essentially perpendicular to that of the roller rotation axes 30, 31 spanned plane 5 is movable (see Fig. 1).

In Fig. 2 it can be seen that the receptacle 18 is fixedly but detachably to the housing of the drive 19 by means of a swing spring 9 with screws 12. The rocker spring or tension spring 9 is operatively connected to a rocker spring adjusting screw 10 and a rocker spring abutment 11 communicating thereto. The spring tension ensures that the receptacle 18 is arranged in an upper, so-called initial state in a state in which no animal body 2 is in the area of the skinning device is. The receptacle 18 is deflected downward by the poultry body 2 arranged on the clamp saddle 3 in a draw-in area of the skinning rollers 4 and 5, in accordance with the size of the poultry body. This elastic suspension has the advantage that a poultry body 2 moved in the direction of the saddle pushes the entire device 1 for skinning the poultry body under itself and the skinning rollers 4 and 5 are inevitably guided into a suitable skinning position. The clip saddle plate 13 to which the clip saddle 3 is fixed and that of their ^¬ is turn secured to an endlessly circulating chain conveyor is only indicated schematically above the saddle bracket 3 in FIG. 2. The drive 19 of the skinning device and thus the receptacle 18 can be rotated or pivoted about an axis 22 on the housing of the poultry processing machine 15 such that the axis of rotation 22 becomes the roller pivot point of the skinning rollers 4, 5. This creates an additional degree of freedom for the skinning rollers 4 and 5. The skinning rollers 4 and 5 can be changed in their spatial position in such a way that they can perform pivoting movements with respect to their horizontal axis of focus. These pivoting movements can usually take place in an angular range from 0 ° to 45 °, based on the horizontal position. Such a change in the position changes the point of attack of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 on the animal body, at which the skin of the animal body reaches the feed area of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 for the first time. With certain carcasses it is advantageous to pull the skin in already in the neck area, whereas with other carcasses it is more advantageous to grasp the skin in the area of the breast, for example.

The receptacle 18 or the skinning rollers 4 and 5 have an overrun element 16 on their side located upstream in the transport direction of the poultry body 2, namely in an inlet area. The casserole element 16 designed as a baffle plate facilitates the “threading” of the poultry carcasses 2 into the area of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 and at the same time detects the position of the carcasses to be skinned the animal body can be facilitated by an inclined position of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 against the transport direction (see FIG. 4) The exact position of the animal or poultry body can be determined with the ramp element 16, since the animal body itself the movement of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 controls for capturing the skin During transport of the poultry carcasses 2 over the skinning rollers 4 and 5, which have helical teeth, the skin is pinched and finally separated by a cover 17 (described later). The skin is perforated by the skinning process, bruised and torn.

To further improve the skinning result by detaching the skin from the body without damage, it is provided that immediately after the poultry skin has made contact with the overrun element 16, the receptacle 18 with the skinning rollers 4 and 5 is moved away from the poultry body 2 in order to prevent damage to the fillet. the. This movement vertically downwards, that is to say parallel to the height adjustment level, can be carried out, for example, by means of a compulsory steer / steer by means of a control curve. This control curve, which is described in more detail below, is set on the basis of morphological data in connection with a specific poultry bandwidth such that the largest poultry body determines the point at which the receptacle 18 is moved downward. In addition to the mechanical means for controlling the skinning rollers 4, 5 from the animal body 2, program-controlled alternatives can also be used.

In a further embodiment (not shown) it is provided that the dimensions of the poultry body 2 are determined by means of measuring elements so that, in cooperation with the receptacle 18 which is movable in space, the poultry skin can be detected at a suitable point and the breast skinner removed from the poultry body immediately thereafter move away.

In order to reliably ensure that the skin is removed from the skinning rollers 4 and 5, the cover 17, which strips the detached skin from the rollers 4 and 5, is arranged in a discharge region of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 located downstream in the transport direction. The one-sided mounting of the skinning rollers 4 and 5 in the receptacle 18 facilitates the removal of the skin and the maintenance and care or disassembly thereof.

The skinning process of poultry carcasses will be described in more detail below. The poultry body 2 moves in a straight line, namely following the saddle conveyor, towards a pair of skinning rollers 4, 5. The pair of rollers 4, 5 is located centrally under the poultry body 2. Due to the ramp element 16 and the preferably selected inclined position of the rollers 4, 5 (see FIG. 3), poultry bodies of different sizes can be skinned because of a "ramp formed by the ramp plate 16 "a contact or point of contact of the poultry surface with the skinning rollers 4, 5 is always reached. A large animal body 2 runs onto the rollers 4, 5 earlier than a small animal body. The evasion of the skinning rollers 4, 5 against the force of the spring 9 ensures that the pressure from the skinning rollers 4, 5 to the animal body 2 is not too high. The pressure is selected by the control of the rollers 4, 5 from the animal body 2. bar, up to a complete lifting of the rollers 4, 5 from the animal body

2. In other words, the evasive movement of the skinning rollers 4, 5 generated by the animal body 2 itself can be supported and even superimposed by a control, so that the skinning rollers 4, 5 stand out completely from the animal body 2. The control takes place about the pivot or pivot point of the receptacle 18, namely about the axis 32.

In order to support self-cleaning of the rollers 4, 5 and to prevent damage to the poultry surface, the control takes place before contact with the cover 17, which is arranged in the region of the free ends of the rollers 4, 5.

In addition to the rigid inclined position of the rollers 4, 5, it is also possible to pivot the rollers 4, 5 while the poultry body is being moved past, so that surface parts of the curved poultry body 2 are also reached which are trailing in the direction of transport. This skinning, also referred to as tracking, adapts individually to the respective dimensions of the poultry body 2 and leads to optimized and damage-free skinning results.

From FIGS. 8 to 10, further details on the movement sequences and their mechanical implementations can be seen. The device 1 is shown in FIG. 8, the entire device 1 being arranged on the processing machine 15 with a swivel flange 33. The drive shaft 34 for driving the skinning rollers 4, 5 is arranged within the swivel flange 33. The swivel flange 33 is firmly but releasably fastened to the processing machine with screws. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the flange 33 is fixed but adjustable. For the adjustment of the flange 33, it has elongated holes (not shown) which, when the screws are loosened, enable the entire device 1 including a frame 35 to be pivoted about the axis 22. As a result, an angular position of the skinning rollers 4, 5, as shown in FIG. 4, can be achieved. The pivot flange 33 is then fixed in this position. The cover 17 is arranged on the frame 35 in addition to the receptacle 18 in the inlet area of the device 1 in the outlet area. The frame 35 can be pivoted together with the receptacle 18 about the axis 32, as a result of which the skinning rollers 4, 5 can be adjusted in height. The same view of the device 1 according to FIG. 8 is shown in FIG. 9, the

Pivot flange 33 is arranged on the processing machine 15 so as to be rotatable or pivotable, in such a way that a pivoting movement of the skinning rollers 4, 5 about the axis 22 is possible during the processing of the carcasses. To implement the pivoting movement, the device has means 36, which in the example shown are designed as mechanical control means. The means 36 are actuated via a control cam, the movement of the control means 36 being transmitted to an inner flange 37 arranged within the swivel flange 33. The inner flange 37 itself is firmly connected to the entire device 1, so that the pivoting movement, triggered by the means 36, is transmitted directly to the frame 35 and thus to the skinning rollers 4, 5.

10 finally shows a means 38 for controlling the skinning rollers 4, 5 from the animal body 2. The mechanical means 38 are arranged above the device 1. The means 38 consists essentially of a shaft 39 which has clamping levers 40, 41 at both ends. The clamping levers 40, 41 extend parallel to the plane spanned by the axes of rotation 30, 31. At the free ends of the clamping levers 40, 41, tie rods 42, 43 are provided with articulated heads which run parallel to the height adjustment plane, but which extend in the opposite direction. The threaded rod 43 is moved up or down via a control cam (not shown) parallel to the height adjustment plane. This leads to a rotational or pivoting movement of the shaft 39 by means of the clamping lever 41. The rotational movement of the shaft 39 in turn leads to a translatory movement of the clamping lever 42, as a result of which the control is ultimately achieved. In addition to the mechanical control means shown, other solutions, for example program control, can also be used.

Claims

Expectations:

1. Device for skinning carcasses and / or carcass parts, preferably poultry, which can be moved in a straight line relative thereto, comprising at least two skinning rollers (4, 4) which are arranged parallel to one another and extend essentially in the direction of movement and rotate around correspondingly aligned axes of rotation (30, 31). 5), at least one roller drive (19) for the skinning rollers (4, 5) and a receptacle (18) for storing the skinning rollers (4, 5), the receptacle (18) being adjustable in height in a processing machine (15) in a height adjustment plane is arranged, which is perpendicular to the plane spanned by the two roller axes of rotation and is determined by the vector of the straight-line movement, thereby geke nn zeic hn et that the receptacle (18) or the skinning rollers (4, 5) have an additional degree of freedom , such that they can be pivoted about an axis (22) which is perpendicular to the height adjustment plane.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle (18) is arranged on a swivel flange (33), which in turn is fixed but adjustable on the processing machine (15).

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the pivot flange (33) has elongated holes, such that it can be fixed in a pivot position.

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle (18) is fixed to an inner flange (37) which is rotatably or pivotably arranged on the processing machine (15).

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the inner flange (37) via mechanical control means (36) is pivotable.

6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receptacle (18) is pivotally arranged on the roller drive (19) for its height adjustment.

7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receptacle (18) is designed to be resilient, in such a way that the skins roll (4, 5) are automatically adjustable to different sized carcasses (2) and / or carcass parts.

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skinning rollers (4, 5) are pivotable about an axis (32) which is arranged parallel to the axes of rotation (30, 31) of the skinning rollers (4, 5).

9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skinning rollers (4, 5) are overhung in the receptacle (18).

10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a casserole element (16) is arranged in an inlet area of the carcasses (2) and / or carcass parts in the skinning device (1).

11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a cover (17) is arranged in an outlet area of the animal body (2) and / or animal body parts from the skinning device (1).

12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has means (38) for controlling the skinning rollers (4, 5) from the animal body (2) and / or from animal body parts.

13. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means (38) for the control are designed mechanically.

14. A method for skinning carcasses and / or carcass parts, comprising the following process steps: - Transporting the carcasses (2) and / or carcass parts, the carcasses (2) and / or carcass parts running onto a casserole element (16) to detect their position . - Aligning the skinning rollers (4, 5) by pivoting about an axis (32) through the animal body (2) itself, in accordance with the detected position and the size of the animal bodies (2) and / or animal body parts,

- Detection of the skin by the skinning rollers (4, 5) with subsequent control of the skinning rollers (4, 5) from the animal body (2) and / or parts of the animal body,

Pulling off the skin by transporting it over the skinning rollers (4, 5) and simultaneously rotating the skinning rollers (4, 5) in opposite directions,

- Accumulation of the carcasses and / or carcass parts or skin thereof on a cover (17), by means of which the skin is completely torn off and stripped off by the skinning rollers (4, 5).

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the skinning rollers (4, 5) pivot about an axis (22) which is perpendicular to the height adjustment plane of the rollers (4, 5), so that they are at any point on the animal body (2nd ) and / or can attack carcass parts.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the skinning rollers (4, 5) to avoid damage to the animal body (2) and / or part of the animal body are moved away immediately after the skin is detected from the animal body (2).

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the movement of the skinning rollers (4, 5) via mechanical control means (38).