FR2571934A1 - Device for boning the hooves of Bovidae, particularly of cattle - Google Patents

Abstract

The device comprises a support member 6 on which the hoof may be held by lateral clamping members, two sets of jaws 12, 17-20, 21 for seizing the scraps and a third movable set of jaws 30, 31 for removing the bone, a set of cutters being mounted so as to be transversely movable relative to the frame of the device in order to make the cuts while the hoof is held on its support 6.

Description

 The present invention relates to a device for treating the feet of cattle, not-an.ricnt of cattle.

 For the purposes of the present invention, the term “cattle feet” means the part of the leg which extends from below the joint or the hock and which terminates at the hoof.

 A particularly delicate operation in the treatment of cattle feet, for example in slaughterhouses, consists of boning the feet in order to separate the bony parts from the flesh which have a nutritional value.

 In general, these operations are carried out manually, only parts of these operations such as planing being carried out using machines.

 However, provision has already been made, in particular in the European patent 0012 088 and the French patent 2443208, for the applicant's processes and devices which lend themselves to a high degree of automation of these operations.

 In fact, the boning process comprises two series of steps, namely a series of notching steps, in which one cuts properly, preferably according to the notching process described in the aforementioned European patent, the bovine foot. and a series of boning steps in which the two flaps obtained by the notching operations are separated by tearing from the bone. In a French patent application not yet published on the date of filing of this application, filed on April 19, 1983 under number 83.06 364, the applicant has described notching and tearing processes for flaps which can be carried out automatically and the present invention proposes to provide an improved device capable of implementing these processes in particular and allowing to automate the whole treatment of the foot of the bovid, including, if desired, the operation of unseating, the only manual operation, moreover easy to automate also, consisting in the initial placement of the foot in the device.

 The object of the invention is to provide a foot treatment device capable of being completely automated.

 Another object of the invention is to provide a device which allows the tearing of the flaps under conditions of optimal efficiency.

 Another objective of the invention is to provide a device for tearing off shreds on which it is easy to adapt or add notching means.

 The subject of the invention is a device for treating the feet of cattle, and in particular cattle, in which a foot is maintained provided with notches forming a lower flap and an upper flap or more exactly, seen in the direction of the animal. , an anterior-superior flap and a postero-inferior flap, characterized in that it comprises a support member on which the foot can be held by clamping means, devices comprising two sets of jaws each assigned to one flaps, one of the sets of jaws being movably mounted to tear off the flap of the tab while the latter is held on the support and the other set of jaws being fixedly disposed to maintain the flap while a third set of jaws grips the bone and moves it away from the support, causing the remaining flap to be torn off.

 Advantageously, the set of jaws intended to carry the bone is animated by a circular movement having a large radius.

 Advantageously, the support device and the jaws, as well as the clamping means, are arranged so as not to hinder the passage of a set of knives moving transversely relative to the foot of the bovid held on its support and coming, in their movement, to make different cuts.

 Preferably, the device also comprises a pair of catching knives capable of being driven with a movement, preferably in rotation, on either side of the foot and in a substantially longitudinal direction so as to bring together a posterior notch. -lower forming a first flap and an antero-superior notch forming a second flap.

 Advantageously, the postero-lower flap, preferably oriented upwards, is gripped by a movable set of jaws while the antero-superior flap is gripped by a fixed set of jaws, the third set of jaws intended to clamp the 'bone on the side of the fixed set of jaws, substantially in the extension of ltos to come grab it and then withdraw it in a movement preferably substantially tangential to the direction of the foot.

 In a preferred embodiment, the tab fixing means which cooperate with the support comprise the first clamping means capable of holding the foot on the side of the first flap and second clamping means, independent of the first, capable of coming to grip the foot on the side of the second flap.

 Preferably, these clamping means are composed of two sets of jaws arranged on either side of the foot.

 In a particularly advantageous manner, the device according to the invention is mounted on a frame arranged in a plane, for example vertical, the two sets of movable jaws, namely the first set and the third set, as well as the movable jaw of the fixed set is move in this plane while the clamping means of the foot move transversely relative to said plane in which the foot is held. In this case, when the device comprises a set of knives, the latter is preferably mounted on a carriage sliding transversely, that is to say perpendicular to this plane.

 Thus, in a particularly interesting preferred embodiment of the invention, the foot is first placed on a small support, by its front face, the first clamping means coming to clamp it and immobilize it on the support. substantially opposite it so as to leave a large foot space cleared, on either side of the foot, between the support and said clamping means. Then the knives, preferably four in number, are advanced and come, without being obstructed by said clamping means and by the support, to make the different notches.

When the cuts are made, the first and second sets of jaws tighten the free ends of the flaps, the postero-lower flap preferably being lifted away from the foot by the presence of a ramp on the knife, which presents him to his set of jaws. At the end of the withdrawal of the knives, the first clamping means are preferably withdrawn, after which the rotational movement of the catching knives is caused while the foot remains held by its flaps. After this operation, the second clamping means are used which tighten the foot at its antero-inferior end and the first set of jaws which tears off the first flap is actuated. Then the bone, released from the first flap, is taken. , by its upper end thanks to the third set of jaws and the second clamping means are moved aside then the bone is taken away while the second flap remains held by the set of fixed jaws.

The flaps and the bone are preferably removed automatically by any means of removal,
Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will appear on reading the following description, given by way of nonlimiting example and referring to the appended drawing in which:
Figure 1 shows a schematic elevational view of a device according to the invention, the notching knives not being shown.

 FIG. 2 represents a view on an enlarged scale of the central part of this device.

 Figure 3 shows the foot on its support with its different notching lines.

 Figure 4 shows a partial cross-sectional view at the foot showing the clamping means and the take-up knives.

 FIG. 5 represents an elevation view of the foot with the notching knives in action.

 Figure G shows a cross-sectional view of the foot with the notch knives moving towards the foot.

 Figure 7 shows a top view of the notching knives.

 The device shown comprises a vertical frame with, from a base not shown, uprights 1,2 each composed of two parallel bars and joined by horizontal crosspieces including a lower cross member 3 and a middle cross member 4 also each composed of two bars parallel spaced and joined from place to place by spacers.

 On the lower cross member 3 is welded a vertical base 5 having at its upper part a support member formed by a plate 6 slightly chamfered on the left side. On the central crosspiece 4, near the upright 2, is welded a bearing 7 provided with an axis 8 around which pivots, being driven by a jack not shown, an arm 9 carrying a second arm 10 formed of two parallel welded bars at 11 on either side of the arm 9. At the lower end of the arm 11 is fixed a first jaw 12, welded at 13 and carrying teeth 14. An extension 15 extending from the arm 10 carries an axis 16 around which can pivot a second jaw 17 provided with teeth 18, this jaw being able to be moved towards or away from the jaw 12 by means of a jack 19 articulated on the one hand on the jaw 17 and on the other hand at the end of the arm 9. The jaws 12 and 17 form the first set of jaws intended to grip the postero-inferior flap.

 The base 5 has, slightly below the support plate 6, a fixed jaw formed by teeth 20 which cooperate with a second movable jaw 21 provided with teeth 22, carried by an arm 23 articulated at 24 on the cross member 3 and capable of 'be pushed back towards the fixed jaw 20 thanks to a jack 25 articulated between the jaw 21 and the upright 1.

 Between the bearing 7 and the upright 1 is disposed a bearing 26 fixed on the cross-member 4 to present an axis 27 around which an arm 28 is formed formed by two parallel bars and spaced from one another so as to allow passage between them the arm 9 with its welded arm 10 and the various elements that it carries, the bearing 26 actually having two flanges provided with pins so as to also leave a free internal space allowing the passage of the arm 9. The arm 28 has at its end an arm 29 making an elbow with the arm 28 and ending in a fixed jaw 30 turning back and extending in a direction more or less parallel to the arm 28. This jaw 30 is preferably suitably provided with teeth. Opposite the jaw 30 extends a jaw 31 also provided with suitable teeth and articulated at 32 on the arm 29 so as to be able to be brought closer and apart from the jaw 30 by means of a jack 33 articulated between the jaw 31 and the arm 28 , The whole arm 28, of the arm 29 and of the jaws 30 and 31 which can pass into the space situated between the two spaced apart parallel bars which make up the upright 1 and the two parallel and spaced apart bars which make up the crosspiece 4. The arm 28 can be pivoted around axis 27 by an articulated cylinder (not shown).

 The device also includes first clamping means seen in FIG. 4 and comprising, on either side of the vertical vertical plane of the device, a lever 34 articulated around a lower horizontal axis parallel to the vertical plane, 35, in order to be able to be approached or removed from the vertical plane in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 4. This lever 34 supports at its upper end two fingers 36 perpendicular to the horizontal plane and which we see the trace in Figures 2 and 5. This device also includes second clamping means also formed by two levers 37 also articulated on horizontal axes parallel to the axes 35, located at about the same location and each carrying a single finger this time 38 which can also be seen in Figure 2 . We see that the two pairs of fingers 36 come to grip the tab above the plate 6 and at a certain distance, while the fingers 38 come to grab the tab outside the plate and d in a position horizontally closer to it.

 Suitable jacks allow the levers 34 respectively 37 to be actuated.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 3, we see the traces of the notches which must be determined on the leg A. it is in fact a postero-lower notch 39 practiced in
The lower end 40 which has been removed, this notch being formed in an osteochondrial part and crossing the foot right through to form an end 41 of the first flap.

 A second notch of great antero-superior length 42 also crosses the foot right through, tangentially to the bone 43. The notches 39 and 42 are joined, on either side of the foot, by two non-traversing catch notches 44 having the shape of an arc of a circle. Finally, it is advantageous to provide a postero-superior transverse notch or incision 45 and an antero-lower transverse notch 46.

 The notches 39, 42, 45 and 46 are intended to be made by a set of knives mounted on a single carriage or independent carriages (not shown), these knives moving simultaneously and in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane of the device as seen in Figure 6, the projection of the knives on the vertical plane being shown in Figure 5 where we see the foot being cut. If we refer to Figures 2 and 5, we see that no obstacle hinders the passage of the knives when, the clamping means 36 clamping the foot, the clamping means 38 are retracted and the set of jaws 12 , 17 is moved away in the high position. The notching carriage carries a triangular horizontal knife 47 intended for making the notch 42, preferably starting towards the middle of the tab to enlarge the notch towards the upper end of the tab. . It also includes a vertical knife 48 intended to make the notch 45. An inclined knife and having an initial chamfer, 49, is intended to make the notch 39 while a also inclined knife 50 makes the notch 46. We see that the leading edge of the knife 50 is first chamfered and its purpose is, by contacting the antero-lower end of the tab, before the knife 49, to push the tab up around its articulation, after which the knife 49 enters the tab in the correct position shown in FIG. 5.

 In order to produce the two connecting notches 44, the device comprises, mounted around a horizontal axis 51, two levers 52 wedged on this axis and having at their upper end an articulation parallel to the vertical plane, 53, around which can pivot an arm 54 which has a knife 55 the tip of which is oriented towards the tab A. Elastic means such as a spring tend to pivot the assembly of the lever 54 and of its blade 55 in the direction of the tab with a force of pressure determined. The levers 52 are first in a retracted position and from there can rotate clockwise so that the two knives 55 end up contacting the foot practically at the end of the notch 42 and the rotation brings them up to at notch 39, after which they are returned to their original position.

 Preferably, the knife set further comprises a narrow horizontal knife 56, disposed substantially towards the middle of the foot and intended to produce a transverse notch in the shape of an inverted T, of small size and vertically cutting a tendon part of the foot, situated against the posterior aspect of the bone, towards the middle of the foot.

The operation of the device is as follows
Initially the second set of jaws 20, 21 is open as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the third set of jaws 30, 31 is open as shown in FIG. 1 and the arm 28 is in its position in FIG. 1. The jaws 12, 17 of the first set are open and distant from the plate 6, the arm 9 being in the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1. The fingers 36 and 38 are distant from the vertical plane formed by the frame.

 The operator then places the tab, holding it by its upper end, on the support plate 6 and the two levers 34 switch to the position in FIG. 4 in which the two pairs of fingers 36 come to hold the foot.

 The carriage carrying the four knives 47, 48, 49 and 50 is then advanced. The knife 50 first raises the lower end of the tab then the knife 49 comes into contact with the tab, the end of which is thus grasped and cut while the knives 47 and 48 make their incisions. At the end of the advance of the knives, the antero-infiltrator flap saw its end 57 detach and fall down while the flap 41 is held by the knife 49 in the position shown in FIG. by the jack 25 the jaws 20, 21 on the flap end 56.

 Simultaneously the jaw 17, which was completely open, moves towards the jaw 14 and the teeth 18, suitably profiled, shave the upper face of the knife 49 and grip the flap 41 yes, title is tight in the set of movable jaws 12, 17.

 The knife carriage then recovers and releases the knives out of the notches, r knife carriage then continues its withdrawal to its rest position.

 The clamping fingers 36 are then moved aside, the foot remaining only held by the jaws 12, 17 and 20, 21.

 The levers 52 are then actuated as described above and the knives 55 come to make the two catch notches 44. At the end of this operation, the levers 52 tilt in the opposite direction and the knives are retracted into their rest position.

 The arms 37 are then made to pivot so as to bring the two fingers 38 into their clamping position where they clamp the end of the foot at the level shown in FIG. 2, leaving free the flap 41, this flap being always held by these jaws 12, 17.

 Once the clamping fingers 38 in place, the arm 10 is pivoted upward, causing the tearing of the flap starting at its end 41 and continuing up to the level of the notch 45, this cui separates from the bone 43 all the part of the flesh located above the notches 39, 44 and 42. When arriving in the high position, the jaws 12 and 17 open and the flap of flesh is evacuated.

 The fingers 38 are then moved apart so that the foot remains held only by the jaws 20, 21.

 The arm 28 is then brought back down, the jaws 30 and 31 being open to come to be disposed on either side of the foot, the jaw 30 coming to be disposed under the foot which it raises very slightly at the end of its rotational movement when it arrives in the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1.

The jaw 31 closes under the action of the jack 33, then the arm 28 rocks in the opposite direction and rises, taking the bone in a tangential movement relative to the direction of the foot and therefore of the bone, which separates the 'bone with flap 57. Arrived in the high position, the jaws 30 and 31 stecartent and the bone is evacuated.

 During this time, the jaw 21 moves apart and the flap 56 is evacuated.

 It can be seen that the invention allows total automation of the notching and separation of the flaps. Experience shows that the device works remarkably despite variations in the morphology and size of the legs of cattle from the slaughterhouse.

 We also see that with the construction shown in the drawing, it is possible to carry out, if desired, on the same device, unseating operations by bringing from right to left in the direction of the shoe of the stripping cylinders and then by spreading them horizontally in the vertical plane. Similarly, it is possible to carry out de-spotting operations by shearing, leaving the trace of de-spotting 57. During the de-spotting operation, the foot remains held by the fingers 36 while, during the de-spotting operation, it remains held by the fingers. 38.

 Although the invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment, it is understood that it is in no way limited thereto and that it can be made various modifications without departing from its scope and of his mind.

Claims (12)

 1) Device for treating the feet of cattle, especially cattle, in which a foot (A) is maintained provided with notches forming an antero-superior flap (57) and a postero-inferior flap (41), characterized in that 'it comprises a support member (6) on which the foot can be held by clamping means (36, 38), the device comprising two sets of jaws (20, 22 - 12, 17) each assigned to one flaps (57, 41), one of the sets of jaws (12, 17) being movably mounted to tear off its flap (41) from the foot while the latter is held on the support (16), and the other set of jaws (20, 22) being fixedly arranged to hold its flap (57) while a third set of jaws (30,  31) comes to grip the bone and move it away from the support (16) causing the tearing of the remaining flap.  2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the set of jaws (30, 31) intended to remove the bone is animated with a circular movement over a large radius and starting in a direction substantially tangential to the position of the foot.  3) Device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the foot is arranged horizontally, the postero-lower flap (41) being oriented upward to be gripped by said movable jaw set (12, 17 ) while the anterior-superior flap (57) is oriented downwards to be grasped by the fixed set of jaws (20, 22), the third set of jaws intended to clamp the bone (30, 31) being side of the fixed jaw set,  4) Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the clamping means comprise first clamping means (36) capable of clamping the part of the foot corresponding to the postero-lower flap and second means (38 ) likely to squeeze the foot at the antero-superior flap.  5) Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a substantially vertical frame with a cross (3) on which is mounted a base (5) supporting the support means (6) and a second upper crosspiece (4) carrying an articulation axis for a lever means (9, 10) supporting the first movable jaw set (12, 17) and its actuation means (19), and a second axis of articulation - for arm means (28, 29) supporting the movable jaw set (30, 31) for the removal of the bone as well as its actuating means (33), at least some of said frames and arms , being made with parallel bars spaced so as not to hinder the movement of the assembly.  6) Device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises a set of knives (47, 48, 49 and 50) intended to move transversely relative to the device to cut the foot during that it is gripped by clamping means (38) disposed outside the path of said knives.  7) Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said knives comprise a knife (47) for producing the antero-superior flap (57) by making a notch (42) along the antero-superior part of the bone, and a knife (49) intended to make an osteochondrial notch (39) in the anterior-posterior end of the foot.  8) Device according to claim 7, characterized in that it further comprises a knife (48) substantially perpendicular to the first knife. (47) for making a transverse notch (45) at the postero-upper part of the foot and another knife (50) substantially transverse to the second knife (49) for making a transverse notch (46) at the antero-lower part of the foot and causing the foot to tilt in the direction of the knife (49) for the osteochondrial notch (39).  9) Device according to one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that it further comprises a knife (56) intended to cut the tendon part situated towards the posterior face of the bone substantially towards the middle of the foot .  10) Device according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that it further comprises a pair of take-up knives (55) intended to connect on either side of the foot, the notches (39 , 42) of the two flaps and animated by a substantially rotary movement.  11) Device according to claim 10, characterized in that said catching knives (55) are mounted on a pivoting lever (52) at the end of which they are carried by a lever (54) pivoting in the direction of the foot and biased towards this by elastic means.  12) Device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the clamping means comprises fingers (38) capable of coming to clamp the antero-lower part of the foot leaving free the posterior flap of the foot.