FR2571595A1 - Skinning and boning method and device used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for separating the skin and/or the bones from the meat of a slaughtered animal. According to the invention, a hollow needle 1 with an open sharp end is provided, and the sharp end 1a of this device is inserted into the inner surface zone between the skin and/or the bones and the main body of the meat and a pressurised fluid is injected through the hollow needle into this zone in order to form a dilatable bag (sac) of the fluid forcing the required separation. The invention applies particularly to the slaughter trade or to butchery.

Description

 The present invention relates to the skinning and / or boning of slaughtered animals, and in particular to large-scale commercial operations where large numbers of carcasses must be handled, skinned, prepared and / or boned in the earliest times. short possible and very economical.

 It is well known in the industry that the first stages of skin, fur or skin removal (here included by the term skin) take time and that it can frequently be difficult to perform the first separation with conventional methods using a knife, beating and pulling.

 Consequently, the object of the present invention is to provide a simple and effective means (particularly suitable for but not confined to animals with loose skin such as sheep, goats and deer) for rapidly effecting the separation of the skin. and at least some main areas of the carcasses of freshly slaughtered animals, and to greatly facilitate the subsequent removal of hides.

 Another object of the present invention further consists in providing a means for quickly and economically facilitating the removal of meat from the bone or bones of animal carcasses and / or parts.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a method is provided for separating the skin and / or bones from the meat of a slaughtered animal, comprising the steps of providing a hollow needle device with an acute open end and inserting the acute end of the needle to place this acute end in the internal surface between the skin and / or the bone and the main body of the meat, and to inject a fluid under pressure through
the hollow needle device in the surface
internal to form an expandable bag of forcing fluid
separation required.

According to a second aspect of the invention, provision is made
a method of separating the skin and carcass of a slaughtered animal comprising the steps of employing a hollow needle device with an acute open end connected to a source of pressurized fluid supply, inserting the acute end of the needle device through the skin from the outside so that this sharp end is in the inner surface area of the thin membrane between the skin and the main body ch-arnu of the carcass and injecting the fluid pressurized through the needle device to form an expandable bag in and over the inner surface area to separate the skin from the fleshy main body, and to break the skin to allow removal.

The invention will be better understood, and other objects, characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly during the explanatory description which follows, made with reference to the appended schematic drawings given solely by way of example illustrating several embodiments of the invention and in which:
- Figure 1 is a side view of a simple hollow needle device for the implementation of the invention;
- Figure 2 is a fragmentary and enlarged view illustrating the preferred sharpened end, looking in the direction of arrow A, of the needle device of Figure 1;
- Figure 3 is a side view illustrating another arrangement of the needle device and in particular of its handle support;
- Figure 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating the application of the needle device to the separation of the skin from a carcass; and
- Figure 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating the application of the needle device to the boning of a carcass portion.

 The present invention has the characteristic that the device used can be formed in a very simple and economical way by providing a straight and smooth tubular needle, generally indicated by arrow 1, which preferably is made of a resistant material easy to sterilize and to sharpen such as a small bore stainless steel tube, although it is contemplated that a rigid and resilient tubular plastic may be suitable for use with tender skinned animals. The needle device can be curved if preferred, but this is actually unnecessary and would increase the price.

In each case, the cost of training such a single needle device 1 will be minimum - and while such a device can be re-sharpened at its injection end for use over a longer period of time, its insignificant price makes it possible to throw it away and replace it early. Preferably, the needle device 1 has its two ends la, lb similarly sharpened so that the device 1 is reversible in the event that one end dulls and before throw it away or sharpen it
Preferably also the sharpened end 1a (or the ends 1a, 1b) is or are formed with a bevel at an acute angle longitudinally to the device 1 so that at least one side edge part lc (but preferably two edge parts lateral lc) is also acute so that it can be easily used or handled by an operator to make a small incision in a skin or hard skin to facilitate the insertion of the needle device through it in skin removal operations. It is however important to maintain the pressure of the fluid under the skin when implementing the skin separation method according to the invention, and therefore it is important that the skin is not widely split by the device or any another knife or cutting instrument before insertion of the needle device 1 and injection. pressurized fluid.

A complicated and expensive support for the needle device 1 is not necessary because the device can be dimensioned and arranged to fit in an extremely smooth part 2a of flexible pipe shown on the
figure 1 (if necessary a hose clamp 3
easy to tighten or release appropriately can be provided. to maintain the internal end portion lb
of the needle device), or an extreme connection
flexible hose; but it is envisaged that the pipe
fluid supply hose 2 can be provided
(as shown in Figure 3) of a simple handle 4 with which the needle device easily comes into engagement or from which it detaches easily (a quick release means can be provided) and if a flow control fluid is required, such a handle 4 can be provided with a valve means 5 started or stopped by a single button. A flow
fluid from the tip of the needle can however
being preferable to continuously clean the
extreme part of the needle of blood and animal matter while the device is in use.

Referring now to FIG. 4 of the drawings, an operator simply inserts the sharp end of the needle through the skin 6 of the slaughtered animal, from the outside and if necessary in the case of a skin hard, after making the small incision, so that the sharp end is placed under the skin 6 in or around the inner surface area 7 of the
fleshy main body 8 of the carcass and the area of
the thin membrane or adjacent film. Fluid under
pressure (which need not be particularly high for freshly slaughtered animals with soft or loose skin, such as sheep, goats and deer, and may be in the range of, for example, 0.7 to 2.1 pressure bars), crosses the device at
needle 1 to form a bag which rapidly expands itself, or else can be helped during its expansion, by working or external beating of the skin 6, to treat this internal surface area 7 by following the lymph to dilate and separating the skin 6 from the main body 8 of the carcass, thus making the skin 6 easy to remove simply by knife and pulling.

The needle device 1 is preferably initially inserted and the fluid injected into the hock and knee area and well away from any open cut in the skin 6 to avoid the escape of the fluid under pressure; but the needle device 1 can also be inserted in any other suitable zone requiring separation of the skin.

 The condition of fluid under pressure is of course not limited in any way to the 0.7 to 2.1 bars above mentioned and can be modified for any range or kind of animal carcass, in fact with the process applied to cattle freshly slaughtered, the pressure can be between 0.7 and 6.3 bars. Likewise, the method of the invention can be applied to slaughtered animals wholly or partially frozen beforehand or to parts thereof with a partial thaw (to a degree permissible under hygienic conditions) sufficient to soften the skin and fluid pressure can in such cases be in the upper range, for example, up to about 6.3 bar.

 The fluid used can be air, gas, water or other liquid and is preferably made sanitary or else sterile by any suitable means. A container or other supply of sterilizing agent is also preferably provided near the operator to allow periodic immersion and sterilization of the needle device 1 in use.

 Referring now to Figure 5 of the drawings, it is envisaged that the invention may likewise be applied to facilitate the boning of the carcass or cuts of meat by inserting the needle device 1 through the meat 9 and into the internal surface area 10 surrounding the bone 11 to inject the pressurized fluid into this area 10 to detach the meat 9 from the bone 11. Injections can be made in several areas and / or from opposite sides to obtain . complete detachment, in particular with fairly large carcass cuts.

 Thus, by the present invention, a large part of the commercial operations in slaughterhouses or in butchers can be carried out and / or greatly assisted and accelerated with a minimum of costs and without special skills. Since the operations are carried out in a safe and hygienic manner, they benefit both the worker and the employer.

Claims (11)

 1.- A method of separating the skin and / or bones from the meat of a slaughtered animal, characterized in that it comprises the steps of providing a hollow needle device (1) with an acute open end and in  squeeze the acute end (la) of the needle device to locate said acute end in the inner surface area between the skin and / or bone and the main body of meat, and inject a pressurized fluid through said a hollow needle device in said inner surface area to form an expandable bag of fluid forcing the required separation.  2.- A method of separating the skin from the carcass of a slaughtered animal, characterized in that it comprises the steps of employing a hollow needle device (1) with an acute open end connected to a source of food in pressurized fluid, insert the acute end of said needle device through the skin, from the outside, so that said acute end is placed in the internal surface area of the thin membrane joining between said skin and the fleshy main body of the carcass, and injecting the pressurized fluid through the needle device to form an expandable bag in and on said internal surface area to separate said skin from said fleshy main body, and to break the skin as required to allow removal.  3.- Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the aforementioned fluid is air or a gas made sanitary.  4.- Method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the aforementioned fluid is a liquid made sanitary.  5.- Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the aforementioned acute end of the needle device is beveled.  6.- Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the aforementioned needle device is sharpened identically at its two ends so as to be reversible when one end dulls.  7.- Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the aforementioned needle device is connected to a handle unit which is connected to a source of pressurized fluid supply.  8.- Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the aforementioned handle unit is provided with an on / off control valve for controlling the flow of the fluid.  9.- Method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the acute end of the needle is first inserted at the area of the hock and the knee of the carcass.  10.- Method according to any one of claims 2 to 9, characterized in that the acute end of the needle has a longitudinally bevel shape and is acute along at least a major part of said bevel shape and said acute beveled end is used in the case of solid skin as a knife edge to make a first small incision in said skin to facilitate insertion of the needle but without easily allowing the escape of the fluid under pressure through said incision during the initial separation steps.  11.- needle device to be used for implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a needle (1) having an acute open hollow end, a support body (4) , a control valve (5) and a flexible pipe (2) connecting it to a source of supply of a pressurized fluid.