GB2175790A - Plucking device for poultry or game - Google Patents

Abstract

A plucking device for poultry or game which comprises two contra-rotating shafts (16,18) which may, for example, be inserted into the sockets of a handheld mixer (10) or into some other drive mechanism, the shafts having on their free ends rollers (20,22). These rollers are encased in a cover which not only serves to prevent the fingers of the operator passing into the nip of the rollers, but also holds the flesh of the bird back to produce a better plucking effect. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improved plucking device The present invention relates to an improved plucking device for plucking poultry or game.

On a commercial scale, poultry, such as chickens and turkeys, are plucked in large plucking machines which usually include a housing and one or more rotary shafts, the shafts carrying a large number of generally radially extending fingers which may have a corrugated surface. The action of the fingers is effectively to sweep the feathers from the poultry. Such devices are relatively expensive and are suitable only for operation on a large scale.

Furthermore, they are not very satisfactory at removing the small feathers from the legs of a bird.

In many instances, it is desirable to pluck a relatively small number of birds, for example after a game shoot. This is normally done manually and is a very laborious job. It was proposed in my earlier Application published under number 2138668 to provide a handheld device which could, for example, be mounted on a handheld domestic mixer and comprises two contra-rotating shafts having, at their free ends, rubberlike rollers which form a nip and which, upon contra-rotation and when applied against the body of a bird, pull the feathers out. While this was generally satisfactory, it is felt that improved results could be achieved.

It is now proposed, according to the present invention to provide a poultry or game plucking device comprising a pair of driven contra-rotating shafts each shaft having a roller at the same axial location on each shaft, said rollers having their cylindrical peripheral surfaces adjacent or abutting, to form a nip, and a cover encompassing at least a portion of the peripheral cylindrical surface of said rollers and leaving a gap therebetween in the vicinity of said nip.

Such a construction has two main advantages. Firstly, it prevents the fingers of the operator becoming caught in the nip of the rollers and, more importantly, it prevents the flesh of the bird from passing into the nip, since the cover presses against the flesh and acts to provide a reaction force so that the feathers are more effectively pulled out.

The device can be made relatively inexpensively and operates in a particularly effective manner. When the two rollers are placed against the feathers of the bird, the feathers are pulled between the rollers and are plucked out in a most effective manner. Rather surprisingly, it has been found that the action of plucking the birds does not produce a cloud of feathers, but rather a neat pile of feathers on the downstream side of the nip of the two rollers.

Advantageously, the rollers are formed with a surface which is adapted to grip the feathers as they pass therethrough. This may take the form of a knurled surface, but in a preferred construction the rollers are provided with a rubber or rubber-like surfacing. In a convenient construction, the rollers are substantially identical.

The cover preferably has a first gap at the entry side of the nip and a second gap on the side of the rollers remote therefrom, the second gap advantageously being significantly larger than the first.

If the rollers have a greater axial length then the plucking operation can be faster and if this is done, preferably at least one guard bar extends across the gap which is in the vicinity of the inlet side of the nip. This guard bar will further assist in preventing the flesh of the bird being drawn into the nip.

For further safety and to prevent the feathers from tangling round the shafts the cover may include portions which extend axially along said shafts.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, the following description is given, merely by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view, from one side, of one embodiment of poultry plucking device according to the present invention; and Figure 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of a portion of the device of Fig. 1, from the other side.

The illustrated poultry plucking device includes a handheld domestic mixer 10 of conventional design. The mixer has two contrarotating shaft sockets 12,14 which can be caused to rotate, preferably ar a variable speed, by a motor within the mixer 10. The controls for the mixer will normally be at the top and cannot therefore be seen in the drawing. The motor may be provided with a facility for reversing the direction of rotation of the sockets, e.g. a reversible motor or a reversing gearbox.

Inserted into the sockets 12,14 are two shafts 16,18 which are keyed at their ends by keys (not shown) which cooperate with suitable members within the sockets 12,14 to retain releasably the shafts 16,18 and to provide a positive drive action for these shafts.

On the free ends of the rollers, at the same axial location, are two rollers 20,22. These rollers are generally cylindrical and are provided with a rubber or rubber-like surfacing at least on their cylindrical peripheral surfaces.

The rollers 20,22 are partly encompassed in a cover indicated by the general reference numeral 30. This includes a base 32, having a peripheral wall 33 with a groove 34, and two sleeve portions 35,36 through which the shafts 16,18 pass. The remainder of the cover has a top 37 which may be provided with bearing recesses 38,39 for the ends of the shafts 16,18 and part-cylindrical parts 40,41 which define therebetween an inlet gap 42 adjacent the entry to the nip 43 between rollers 20,22 and a rather larger outlet gap 44 on the opposite side of the rollers. A rim 45 adjacent the free ends of each of the parts 40,41 is engageable with the groove 34 to hold the remainder of the cover in place. A curved guard bar 46 extends centrally across the inlet gap 42, adjacent roller 20.

The edges 47 of the parts 40,41 which define the inlet gap, and the edges 48 thereof, which define the outlet gap are chamfered.

In use, a bird indicated schematically at 24 is positioned adjacent the rollers 20,22 and the motor is turned on, so that the rollers contra-rotate as indicated by the arrows. With the rollers in engagement with the feathers, the feathers themselves are pulled from the flesh of the bird and some feathers 25 are illustrated again schematically passing through the nip of the rollers. As mentioned earlier, rather surprisingly as the feathers are pulled from the bird they are deposited in a neat pile on the downstream side of the rollers 20,22.

It has been found that the plucking device of the present invention does not cause any bruising of the flesh of the bird.

The parts 40,41 prevent the flesh of the bird from being pulled through the nip and the chamfered edges 47 assist in this. Also the guard bar 46, which is preferably provided when the rollers 20,22 have a substantial axial length further assist. The guard bar and parts 40,41 also prevent the operators fingers from accidentally entering the nip. The chamfered edges 48 help to strip the feathers from the rollers 20,22. Should any feathers enter the cover, the rims 45 can be disengaged from the groove 34 and the remainder of the cover removed. When the shafts 16, 18 have been disengaged from sockets 12,14, they can be pulled, together with their rollers 20,22, from sleeve portions 35,36 for cleaning.

Claims (8)

1. A poultry or game plucking device comprising a pair of driven contra-rotating shafts each shaft having a roller at the same axial location on each shaft, said rollers having their cylindrical peripheral surfaces adjacent or abutting, to form a nip, and a cover encompassing at least a portion of the peripheral cylindrical surface of said rollers and leaving a gap therebetween in the vicinity of said nip.

2. A poultry or game plucking device comprising a motor unit driving a pair of contrarotating shaft sockets, a pair of shafts, each shaft having a keyed end operatively engageable in a separate one of said sockets, a roller at the same axial location of each shaft, which location is spaced from the keyed end of the shaft, said rollers having their peripheral cylindrical surfaces adjacent or abutting, when the shafts are engaged in the sockets, to form a nip, and a cover encompassing at least a portion of the peripheral cylindrical surface of said rollers and leaving a gap there-between in the vicinity of said nip.

3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cover has a first gap at the entry side of the nip and a second gap on the side of the rollers remote therefrom.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the second gap is significantly larger than the first.

5. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one guard bar extends across the gap which is in the vicinity of the inlet side of the nip.

6. A device according to claim any preceding claim, wherein the cover includes portions which extend axially along said shafts.

7. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the motor unit includes means to drive said shafts so that said rollers contrarotate in one rotational sense and a reverse gear arrangement enabling said rollers to contra-rotate in the opposite rotational sense.

8. A poultry or game plucking device substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.