JPH0789839B2 - Meat processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meat processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a meat processing apparatus, there is known a machine for cutting soft muscles existing in meat such as beef and pork to obtain soft meat. This type of conventional meat processing apparatus has a movable base that can be moved back and forth on a base, one needle mounting member that is arranged above the moving path of the movable base, and a needle mounting member that is vertically installed. And a crank mechanism that reciprocally drives the needle mounting member in the vertical direction. In such a meat processing device, a movable table on which a lump of meat is placed is intermittently moved at regular intervals in a state in which a needle mounting member including a large number of needles is vertically moved at a constant cycle. To move forward. Then, the needle mounting member is lowered toward the movable table that has been intermittently stopped, a large number of needles are inserted into the meat on the movable table, and the muscles existing in the meat are cut.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional meat processing apparatus, one needle mounting member is moved up and down at a constant cycle, and the movable table on which the meat is placed is moved at regular intervals. Since it is moved forward intermittently, it is impossible to properly cut the muscles having different eccentric positions depending on the meat species, site, etc. of the meat. That is, the needles are uniformly inserted into the meat on the movable table at regular intervals, and in each lump-shaped meat, the insufficiently inserted part and the excessively inserted part of the needle are mixed with the unevenly distributed muscles, and the whole As a result, you cannot obtain good quality meat.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional technical problems, and has a structure in which a base and a movable front and back on the base are provided. A movable table on which the meat mass is placed, a support table that is located above the base table and that is movable up and down, and a needle mounting member that is provided on the support table by arranging a plurality of them in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the movable table, A large number of needles hung vertically on each needle mounting member and between the support and each needle mounting member are provided, and only the needle of the predetermined needle mounting member among the needles of the needle mounting member is attached to the meat mass. The meat processing apparatus includes an elevating and lowering drive device for individually elevating and lowering each needle mounting member to a predetermined position so as to be inserted, and a reciprocating drive device for vertically reciprocatingly driving a support base.

[0005]

Operation: At the beginning, the movable table is located at the rear end of the base, and the meat block such as beef and pork is placed and supplied on the movable table. The support is at top dead center. Drive the front-back drive from this state,
Move the movable table forward. When the tip of the lump of meat reaches below the needle, the drive of the front-rear drive device is once stopped. Next, the reciprocating drive device is driven to drive the support base downward. Along with the lowering of the support base, the needle attachment member and the needle are integrally lowered, the needle is inserted into the meat block, the muscle is cut, and the bottom dead center is reached. Then, by the operation of the reciprocating drive device, the support base, the needle mounting member, and the needle ascend and return to the top dead center. When the support base reaches the top dead center, the front-rear drive device is driven to move the movable base forward by a predetermined length. In this way, the reciprocating drive device is driven at a constant cycle while intermittently advancing the movable table, and the muscles of the meat are sequentially cut by the needle.

When cutting the muscle of the above-mentioned meat chunk, if the needle attachment member corresponding to a portion of the plurality of needle attachment members having less muscle of the meat attachment is driven in advance by driving the lifting drive device, Only the other needle attachment member descends sufficiently, and only the needle is inserted into the meat block to cut the muscle. In this way, the needles are inserted only in the portions of the lump of meat in which many muscles are unevenly distributed, and the muscles are cut, so that meat of good quality as a whole can be obtained.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 14 show one embodiment of a meat processing device. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a base, which is provided on a base 3 via a plurality of columns 2. On this base 1, a movable base 4 which is movable back and forth (left and right in FIG. 1) is arranged. The movable table 4 has a pair of front wheels 4a rotatably on its front shaft, and has a pair of rear wheels 4c rotatably on its rear shaft 4b as shown in FIGS. 4a,
4c rolls on the rail 1a on the base 1. Further, the pair of brackets 4d for supporting the rear shaft 4b on the movable table 4 each have a hook portion 4e extending downward, and the movable table 4 is a base 1
When the hook 4e moves to the front end of the
The movable table 4 is tilted downward by being locked to the support shaft 10a supporting the movable table 4, so that the meat mass 48 on the movable table 4 can be dropped into the carriage 50.

The movable base 4 is driven in the front-back direction on the base 1 by the front-rear drive unit 5 shown in FIG. The front-rear driving device 5 is attached to the lower surface of the base 1 and is driven to rotate in the forward and reverse directions, a drum 8 rotatably supported on the lower surface of the base 1, and a rotational driving force of the servo motor 6. Reduction gear device 7 for decelerating and transmitting to the drum 8, and pulleys 10 and 12 rotatably supported at the front and rear ends of the base 1, respectively.
And both pulleys 10 and 12 and the wire 14 wound around the drum 8. Both ends of the wire 14 are coupled to the rear shaft 4b of the movable table 4. Then, the servo motor 6
As the drum 8 is decelerated and rotated via the reduction gear device 7, the movable table 4 fixed to the wire 14 moves on the base 1 in the front-back direction.

On both sides of the front side portion of the base 1, a pair of guide rods 16 and 1 are arranged at a predetermined distance in the front and back.
8 is erected, and one support base 2 is attached to the tubular guide members 20 and 22 in which the vertical movements are guided by the respective guide rods 16 and 18.
4 corners of 4 are supported. Then, the support 24 is
The guide members 20 and 22 are vertically guided by the guide rods 16 and 18, respectively.

A plurality of needle mounting members 26, 27, 2 are mounted on the support base 24 via respective elevator drive devices 32.
8, 29 are arranged. The lifting drive device 32 is configured by a double-acting pneumatic cylinder device, and each cylinder 32
The needle attachment members 26, 27, 28, and 29 are joined to the tips of the piston rods 32b. Then, by supplying pressure air from a pressure air source (not shown) to the upper chamber or the lower chamber of each cylinder 32a, each piston rod 32b is driven back and forth, and needle mounting members 26, 27, which are integral with each piston rod 32b, Two
8 and 29 can be individually driven up and down to a predetermined position.

The needle mounting members 26, 27, 28 and 29 are
As shown in FIG. 2, four pieces are arranged in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the movable table 4, and an assembly of a large number of needles 30 is vertically provided on each needle mounting member 26, 27, 28, 29. . Thus, by the operation of the elevating / lowering drive device 32, only the needle 30 of the predetermined needle mounting members 26, 27, 28, 29 out of the plurality of needle mounting members 26, 27, 28, 29 becomes the chunk 48. Can be adjusted to be plugged in. In addition,
As shown in FIG. 4, the needle attachment members 26, 27, 28, 29 have front and rear arm portions 26a, 27a, 28a, 29a.
Are slidably fitted onto guide rods 50 described later to stabilize the posture. Further, the lower end of the needle 30 is crushed at the front and back so as to be sharp as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and the central portion is recessed so that the muscle is easily received.

The predetermined raising / lowering positions of the needle mounting members 26, 27, 28, 29 can be fixed to the cylinders 32a by a locking device 36. The lock device 36 is provided in each cylinder 32a as shown in FIG.
The lock cylinder 37a is swingably connected to the outer wall of the cylinder by a pin, and one end of the piston rod 37b of the lock pneumatic cylinder device is pin-connected to the cylinder 32a. The bell crank 37c is pin-connected to the outer wall of the lower end of the bell crank 37c, and the protrusion 37d is fixed to the other end of the bell crank 37c. When pressurized air is supplied to the upper chamber of the lock cylinder 37a, the piston rod 37b moves forward and the bell crank 37c swings, and the projection 37d forms a plurality of recesses 32c formed in each piston rod 32b of the lifting drive device 32. Since it is engaged with any of the above, the amount of protrusion of the piston rod 32b can be fixed. If pressurized air is supplied to the lower chamber of the lock cylinder 37a, the recess 32c of the protrusion 37d
Is disengaged.

A reciprocating drive device 34 for reciprocally driving the support base 24 in the vertical direction is provided. Reciprocating drive device 34
In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotary drive source 34a, which is driven to rotate at all times, the reduction gear device 34b, and the rotary drive source 34, are constituted by a crank mechanism.
clutch brake 34c interposed between a and the reduction gear device 34b for connecting and disconnecting the driving force by the rotary drive source 34a and braking, and is arranged on both sides of the reduction gear device 34b and reduced by the reduction gear device 34b. Pair of cranks 34d that are driven to rotate, and the lower end portion of each crank 34d.
The connecting rod 34e is rotatably pin-coupled to d, and the upper end portion thereof is swingably pin-coupled to the support base 24.

Therefore, by rotating the pair of cranks 34d from the bottom dead center state shown in FIG. 2 by the rotary drive source 34a via the clutch / brake 34c and the reduction gear device 34b, a pair of connect-groins are formed. Do 34
support 24 guided by the guide rods 16 and 18 via e
Is smoothly driven upward. Then, when the support base 24 reaches the top dead center, the clutch of the clutch / brake 34c is cut and the brake is braked so that the support base 24 can be held at the upper end, and then the clutch / brake 34c.
When the clutch is connected and the braking operation of the brake is released, the support base 24 descends and reaches the bottom dead center.

Further, each needle mounting member 26, 27, 28,
The 29 needles 30 are each provided with a meat suppressing plate 38 having a large number of pores through which the needles 30 are inserted. Meat restraint plate 38
The height position with respect to each of the needle mounting members 26, 27, 28, 29 and the needle 30 can be adjusted by the adjusting mechanism 40. That is, the meat suppressing plate 38 having the needle 30 inserted is
As shown in FIG. 4, the needle attachment members 26, 27, 28, 29 are respectively engaged with the front and rear arm portions 26a, 27a, 28a, 29a via a pair of support rods 42 and a tubular member 44. An opening 44a is formed in the tubular member 44, and a lever 46 with a claw is attached to the tubular member 44 with its intermediate portion pin-connected. On the other hand, each support rod 42 has a plurality of annular grooves 42a formed at predetermined intervals in the axial direction.

Then, the claw portion of the lever 46 with a claw is inserted through the opening 44a, and the claw portion is inserted into the annular groove 42a at an appropriate position.
The tubular member 44 is locked to the support rods 42.
Since the tubular member 44 is externally fitted and fixed to the upper end of the needle mounting member, the height position of the meat suppressing plate 38 with respect to the needle 30 in the state where the tubular member 44 is in contact with the upper surfaces of the arm portions 26a, 27a, 28a, 29a of the needle mounting members Can be adjusted. The arm portion 44b of each tubular member 44 is slidably fitted onto a guide rod 50 arranged in parallel with the guide rods 16 and 18, and the support rod 4 is supported.
2 and thus the posture of the meat suppressing plate 38 is stabilized.

Next, the operation will be described. Initially, the movable base 4 is located at the rear end (the left end in FIG. 1) on the base 1,
On the movable table 4, a meat mass 48 of beef, pork or the like is placed and supplied. The support 24 is at the top dead center, and this position is held by the clutch / brake 34c. From this state, the front-rear driving device 5 is driven, and the movable table 4 is moved forward by the wire 14. When the tip of the meat piece 48 reaches below the needle 30, the driving of the front-rear driving device 5 is temporarily stopped. Next, the clutch / brake 34c is switched to drive the reciprocating drive device 34 to drive the support base 24 downward.
With the lowering of the support 24, first, the meat suppressing plate 38 comes into contact with the upper surface of the meat block 48, and the descending of the meat suppressing plate 38 is stopped.
Further, the support base 24 and the needle mounting members 26, 27, 28, 2
9 and the needle 30 descend together, the needle 30 is inserted into the meat mass 48, the muscle is cut, and the bottom dead center is reached. At that time, each arm 26a, 27a, 28a, 29a slides with respect to the support rod 42.

Then, by the operation of the reciprocating drive device 34, the support base 24, the needle mounting members 26, 27, 28, 29 and the needle 30 are raised and returned to the top dead center. Needle attachment members 26, 2
After 7, 28 and 29 have been raised to the predetermined positions, the tubular member 44 is locked to each of the arm portions 26a, 27a, 28a and 29a, so that the meat suppressing plate 38 is also returned to the raised position. When the support base 24 reaches the top dead center, the clutch / brake 34c is switched and operated, the front-rear drive unit 5 is driven with the support base 24 held at the upper end, and the movable base 4 is directed forward by the wire 14. Moves for a specified length. In this way, the reciprocating drive device 34 is driven at a constant cycle while giving intermittent movement to the movable table 4, and the muscles of the meat mass 48 are sequentially cut by the needle 30.

When cutting the muscle of the meat piece 48, the meat piece 48 among the plurality of needle attachment members 26, 27, 28, 29 is cut.
Of the needle attachment members 26, 27, which correspond to the less streaked part of the
28, 29, for example, if the two needle mounting members 26, 27 on the left side in FIG. 2 are preliminarily raised by driving the lifting drive device 32, only the two needle mounting members 28, 29 on the right side will be Sufficiently descends, and only the needle 30 is inserted into the meat block 48 to cut the muscle. Each needle attachment member 26, 27, 2
The predetermined raising and lowering positions of 8 and 29 are fixed to each cylinder 32a by a locking device 36. In this way, the needle 30 is inserted and the muscle is cut only in the portion of the meat mass 48 where many muscles are unevenly distributed, so that meat of good quality as a whole can be obtained.

When the cutting of the muscle of the meat piece 48 is completed, the front-rear driving device 5 is driven to sufficiently move the movable base 4 forward by the wire 14. When the movable table 4 is moved to the front end of the base 1, the hook portion 4e is locked to the support shaft 10a, the movable table 4 is inclined forward, and the meat mass 48 on the movable table 4 falls into the carriage 50. .

9 to 14 show an example in which the insertion positions of a large number of needles 30 into the lump of meat 48 are moved by the drive of the front-rear drive unit 5, and the arrow A in the drawing indicates the movable table 4. Indicates the direction of travel. FIG. 9 shows a drop position of the needles 30 by one operation of the reciprocating drive device 34. The distance between the front and rear of each needle 30 is 6.3 mm, and the distance between the left and right needles is 5.75 mm. The space between the needles 30 adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction is 2.875.
mm, and the diameter of the needle 30 is 2.5 mm. Figure 1
0 means that the movable table 4 is returned backward by 9.45 mm by the front-rear drive device 5 to the drop position (2) of the second needle 30 with respect to the drop position (1) of the first needle 30. Show. FIG. 11 shows that the movable base 4 is moved after the first fall position (1) of the needle 30 and the second fall position (2) of the needle 30 are formed in the same manner.
Is moved forward by 4.73 mm to be the dropping position (3) of the needle 30 for the third time. FIG. 12 shows a state in which the movable table 4 is moved backward by 2.37 mm from the dropping position (3) of the needle 30 for the third time to be the dropping position (4) of the needle 30 for the fourth time. FIG. 13 shows the fourth fall position (4) of the needle 30,
The movable table 4 is moved forward by 4.73 mm to the fifth drop position (5) of the needle 30. FIG. 14 shows a state in which the movable table 4 is advanced by 3.94 mm to the sixth dropping position (6) of the needle 30 with respect to the fifth dropping position (5) of the needle 30.

In this way, the drive of the servomotor 6 of the front-rear drive unit 5 is controlled in the forward and reverse directions to sequentially determine the drop positions of the needles 30 between the drop positions of the needles 30 and to increase the meat density by high density. 48 muscles can be cut. The movable table 4 is
It suffices that the lump of meat 48 be placed and moved back and forth, and it may be configured by a belt conveyor.

[0023]

As can be understood from the above description,
According to the meat processing apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of needle attachment members are arranged in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the movable table, and only the needle of the predetermined needle attachment member is inserted into the meat block to cut the muscle. As a result, the uneven distribution of muscles can be cut well. As a result, it is possible to obtain a meat of good quality as a whole by appropriately cutting the muscles which have different uneven distribution positions depending on the meat species, region and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a partially cut-away view of a meat processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a main part of the meat processing apparatus, which is partially cut away.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a locking device of the same.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the adjustment mechanism by partially cutting it out.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the main part of the movable table by partially cutting it out.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a part of the movable table, which is partially cut out.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the main part of the needle.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing the main part of the needle.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of needle movement in the same manner.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of needle movement in the same manner.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a movement example of the needle.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of moving the needle in the same manner.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of needle movement in the same manner.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of moving the needle as well.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Base, 4: Movable base, 5: Front-rear drive device, 6: Servo motor, 24: Support base, 26, 27, 28, 29: Needle attachment member, 30: Needle, 32: Lift drive device, 34: Reciprocating drive device, 36: locking device, 38: meat suppressing plate, 40:
Adjustment mechanism, 48: lump of meat.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base, a movable base on the base that is movable back and forth and on which a chunk of meat is placed, a support that is located above the base and that is movable up and down, and a movable base. A plurality of needle mounting members arranged on the support base in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the needles, a plurality of needles hung vertically on each needle mounting member, and provided between the support base and each needle mounting member, Of the needles of the needle mounting member, only a needle of a predetermined needle mounting member is inserted into the meat block, and an elevating and lowering drive device for individually elevating and lowering each needle mounting member to a predetermined position, and a support base in the vertical direction. A meat processing apparatus, comprising: a reciprocating drive device that reciprocally drives.