GB599263A - Improvements in and relating to fish filleting machines - Google Patents

Abstract

599,263. Fish-filleting machines. ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES CO. March 21, 1945, No. 7163. Convention date, Aug. 22, 1944. [Class 28 (ii)] In a fish-filleting machine such as described in Specification 452,688, in which a fish is fed, tail leading and back down, past a lower pair of disc knives to cut fillets on each side up to the centre vertebra and having belly-side slitting knives 2 to slit from the tail up to the beginning of the belly, whereby the fillets remain attached to the central vertebra and to the ribs of the belly cavity, the fillets then being entirely separated by pushing the fish over a pair of spaced ribbing knives 10, the fish is held down as it is pushed along these knives 10 by yieldingly mounted hold-downs 36, 92 and 110 in tandem with sufficient pressure so that the knives 10 cut through the fillet attachments to the skeleton, but do not cut through the ribs. The hold-downs comprise preferably three pairs of plates converging downwardly and deflect the belly ribs and flesh outwardly to press them against the ribbing knives 10 during traverse of the fish, by means of pushing fingers 12 on conveyer chains. Each set of hold-downs is suspended at each top corner. To prevent the fillets from entering between the ribbing knives 10, fillet guides 200, Fig. 17, are provided which yield to accommodate the increasing thickness of the fillets such yielding being coupled to mechanism to lower the corresponding hold-downs of at least the last pair 110. Further guide plates 270 at the ends of the last hold-downs 110 press on the outer tips of the ribs as in Fig. 18, to bend them over to control the amount of rib flesh to be cut off. The fish is then projected against final cut-off knives 16, Fig. 1. The ribbing knives 10 are parallel at the front and gradually diverge upwardly and rearwardly. The three sets of hold-downs 36, 92 and 110 are coupled together at their ends. As the fish leave the belly side slitting knives 2 it is projected by supporting and rotating discs against a deflector 20 which urges the fish downwardly and directs it towards the first hold-down 36 which rises or falls in accordance with the size of the backbone. Thereafter, each hold-down adjusts the height of the succeeding hold-down as required by the position of the backbone. As the fish passes under the second hold-down, the partlysevered. fillet is guided by the flared end 204 of the fillet guide 200 so that it cannot swing outwardly, the increasing thickness of the fillet moves the fillet guide 200 outwardly, whereby an arm 220 moving outwardly moves a cam lever 230, thereby moving a slide 122 upwardly which transmits adjustment to the corresponding hold-down. Each plate 36 of the hold-downs has an outwardly extending flange 44 at the top edge tapering inwardly from front to the rear. A screw 88 on holddown 36 co-operates with slot 90 in the second hold-down 92 and similar connections are made between the second and third hold-downs. Specifications 589,509, 597,235, 597,237 and 597,238 also are referred to.