NZ247341A - Preparation of a french rack by removing meat from rib ends with water jet cutters - Google Patents

Description

A473+I N.Z. po->.t 2 5 MAR 1994 j i received ~~j NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No.: 247341 Date: 5 April 1993 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Improvements in/or Relating to Methods of Preparing French Racks and/or Apparatus Used Therefor We, ADVANCED FOODS OF NZ LTD, a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand of Cook Street, Waipukurau, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- 247 34A This invention relates to methods of preparing french racks and/or apparatus used therefor.

French racks as used in this specification and the food industry describe cuts of meat formed from a meat and bone section cut from the ribs and vertebrae of an animal carcass, normally lamb, although it is not intended to limit the invention to a rack formed from any particular animal. The rib section is prepared with the bone connecting the ribs removed or substantially removed allowing individual rib chops to be easily separated, normally after cooking. The french rack (sometimes identified as a french cut or crown roast) has the meat and tissue removed from the top portion of the individual rib bones. French racks can be used in a variety of dishes and are popular with chefs worldwide.

French racks are a premium cut of meat but preparation in the past has been labour intensive requiring a skilled butcher with a knife to clear and clean the rib tips.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for preparing french racks which will be less labour intensive and allow the rib tips to be cleaned quickly and effectively.

Accordingly in one aspect the invention consists in apparatus for use in preparing french racks, said apparatus comprising positioning means adapted in use to locate a prepared carcass rib section relative to rib bone extremities, first water jet cutting means operable to form a cut line in the meat and tissue at the position beyond which the rib bone ends are to be cleared, and second water jet cutting means delivering a plurality of substantially parallel water jets to clear to the rib ends of meat, fat, collagen and membrane to an acceptable degree to produce from the rib section a french rack.

In another aspect the invention may broadly be said to consist in a method of preparing french racks, said method comprising the steps of positioning a prepared rib section relative to the rib ends so that the rib section is exposed to a first water jet cutting means to form a cut line in the meat, fat, collagen and membrane beyond which the rib bone ends are to be cleared and directing a second water jet cutting means in the form of a plurality of substantially parallel water jets to clear the rib ends of meat, fat, collagen and membrane with a cutting and peeling action.

One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 is an alternative form of apparatus; Figure 3 is a detailed pictorial view of the operating components in the apparatus; Figure 4 illustrates the meat rib section being located in the apparatus; Figure 5 diagrammatically illustrates the cutting action of the present apparatus to clean the rib tips and form the french rack; 3 - 247341 Figure 6 shows the rib section formed into the french rack being removed from the apparatus; and Figure 7 is an exploded view of the operating components employed in the apparatus as depicted in Figure 1.

The apparatus for forming the french cuts is normally installed in a boning room of a freezing works or abattoir. The operating apparatus 1 is mounted on the boning room or other meat processing area and receives a supply of high pressure water through a line 2. The high pressure water is diagrammatically represented as coming from a supply line 3 through appropriate filter banks 4 and 5 and a storage tank 6 before being delivered through a high pressure pump 7 driven by an electric motor 8, all located in another area, for example a floor above.

The apparatus 1 comprises a stainless steel casing 9 supported on a stainless steel frame and legs 10 with a slot 11 through which the rib section can be placed to be processed to form the french rack. The operator stands to one side of the apparatus and has a control lever 12 actuated by the knee to turn on and off the high pressure water jets used in the apparatus to process the rib section into a french rack. Waste water from the apparatus is discharged through an effluent drain 13.

The apparatus may be produced in different configurations and an alternate configuration is illustrated in Figure 2. In this case the apparatus 14 has a water supply 15 delivered under high pressure in the same manner. A slot 16 is provided in an inclined front face of the apparatus and in this instance the slot is associated with a carriage which will traverse the rib section being processed along the track 17 past fixed high pressure water jets which are arranged essentially in a configuration that will be explained below.

It will therefore be seen that the invention may be reduced to practice in a number of ways but it is necessary to ensure that the rib section being processed is moved past the high pressure cutting water jets either by moving the water jets relative to the rib section or by moving the rib section relative to the water jets.

The prepared section of rib is supported on a holder 45 which is accessible through the slot 11. The relative location of the holder and water jets determines the length of the cleared section of the rib bones. This distance is adjustable.

In the apparatus as depicted in Figure 1 the water jets are arranged to move on a carriage. A first set of opposed water jets 18 and 19 are designed to cut the meat, fat and tissue or membrane in a line beyond which the rib bones are to be cleared. This action is diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 5. The arrangement as shown in Figure 4 has the jets 18 and 19 mounted so that they operate from either side of the rib section.

The meat, fat, collagen and membrane beyond the cut formed by the jets 18 is removed by a second set of high pressure water jets operating at an angle to the rib section. The second set of jets is delivered from a pillar 20 on one side and pillars 21 and 22 on the opposite side. These pillars are diagrammatically represented in Figure 5 under the reference 20. Each pillar 20, 21 and 22 produces a plurality of parallel jets 24, with the jets operating in planes that are parallel or substantially parallel to the rib bones being cleaned but impacting the rib bones at an acute angle to remove with a clearing and peeling action the meat, fat, collagen and membrane leaving the rib ends clear.

Thus, with reference to Figures 4-6, it will be seen that a rib section 25 is placed by an operator 26 into the slot 11. The jets 18 cut the line 27 in the meat, fat and tissue but not the bone and the plurality of jets 24 extending from the columns 20 clean the rib bone ends 28 of all or substantially all meat, fat, collagen and membrane. The french rack 29 so formed is then removed by the operator 26.

This method of operation is very fast and able to be performed by an operator without any special skills. To achieve satisfactory and fast cleaning it is necessary for the inclined plurality of jets to be at em acute angle relative to the rib bones of between 42° and 50° and in the preferred example illustrated the setting will be between 45° and 47°.

The operator will place the rib section with the membrane side, that is the inner rib cage, which will be impacted by the parallel jets from the two columns 22 and 21. A satisfactory cleaning job may be achieved with only one column of parallel jets on each side but the speed of operation would be impaired.

The number of jets in each column will depend upon the length of rib bone tip to be cleaned and the speed of operation. We have found that for satisfactory operation there needs to be a number of jets (from seven to 15) but this is given by way of example only and a particularly effective cleaning action over the length found normally acceptable by the market is achieved with 13 jets. These jets are mounted in a cut back corner of the column and comprise high pressure water jets of an acceptable design. The interior of the column is hollow and supplies to the jets water under high pressure.

It is of course important to use a water pressure which will achieve the cleaning action as quickly as possible while not damaging the rib bones. The inclined action of the parallel jets cleans the bones with a cutting and peeling action and we have found that this is particularly effective both in the speed of processing achievable and the quality of the finished french rack.

Another significant aspect of the invention is the water deflectors. The jets, if they do not impact the lamb rack being processed, will impact a deflector and the angle of contact turns the jets downwardly. These deflectors significantly reduce the noise of operation from the apparatus. With reference to Figure 3 a deflector 30 is provided for nozzle 18. A deflector 31 is provided for nozzle 19. A wider deflector 32 is provided for 247341 the twin columns 21 and 22 and a deflector 33 is provided for the jets directed from column 20.

As broadly indicated above, the embodiment of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 holds the rib section in position and the jets are moved on a carriage.

The general configuration of the carriage is illustrated in Figure 7 in an exploded view. End plates 34 and 35 are supported on the frame of the unit 1 and carry four parallel bars 36,37,38 and 39. The top bars 37 and 38 operate as guide rails for bearing blocks 40, 41, 42 and 43 which are fixed by suitable attachment screws to the undersurface of a plate 44 on which are mounted the operating jets 18, 19,20, 21 and 22.

A holder 45 is positioned to receive and locate the rib ends relative to the jets when the rib section 25 is placed through the slot 11. The holder 45 has an open section on the sides to allow the passage of the water jets to fully clean the rib bone ends.

The holder 45 is adjustably supported on adjustment screws 47 and 48 and the adjustment is made manually. The adjustment may be controlled by pneumatic cylinders operating to move the holder preferably between the set position to allow the apparatus to operate with two lengths of rib ends cleaned.

A pneumatic cylinder 46 is operatively connected to reciprocate the plate 44 from which the water jets operate. Water connections are of course made to the water jets and appropriate control componentry is incorporated so that when an operator activates the lever 12 the water jets will be activated and the carriage will be reciprocated to clean the rib ends as diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 4-6. The apparatus will continue a reciprocating cycle until the operator releases the control 12 when the cleaned french rack 29 is duly processed.

The apparatus as illustrated has been designed to form french racks from rib sections of lamb carcasses but the invention as indicated above has application to form french cuts from any animal carcass from which french racks would be required. 2+734-1

Claims (19)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for preparing french racks, said apparatus comprising positioning means adapted in use to locate a prepared carcass rib section relative to rib bone extremities, first water jet cutting means operable to form a cut line in the meat and tissue at the position beyond which the rib bone ends are to be cleared, and second water jet cutting means delivering a plurality of substantially parallel water jets to clear the rib ends of meat, fat, collagen and membrane to an acceptable degree to produce from the rib section a french rack.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the positioning means comprise a holder into which the rib bone ends of the prepared rib section being processed may be placed with relative movement between the holder and the first and second water jet cutting means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the water jets travel relative to the positioned rib ends.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rib ends travel relative to the water jets.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 2-4 wherein the access for positioning the rib section to be processed is through a slot in a housing encasing the apparatus.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the first water jet cutting means comprises opposed high pressure cutting water jets adapted in use to cut meat, fat, collagen and membrane and operable substantially normal to the prepared rib section when positioned for processing.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said water jet cutting means deliver a plurality of substantially parallel jets inclined to the rib bones to remove with a cutting and peeling action the meat, fat, collagen and membrane.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the plurality of jets are directed in parallel planes which are in use substantially normal to the rib bones with the jets impacting the rib bones at an acute angle of between 42° and 50°.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the jets are adjusted to impact the rib bones taken on a mean positioning of substantially 45° to 47°.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the second water jet cutting means has between 9 and 15 parallel jets.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein 11 to 13 jets are provided at each water jet cutting means. 247341

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each water jet cutting means comprises a column or pillar having an internal bore communicating with a plurality of jet nozzles to deliver the parallel cutting jets.

13. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the second water jet cutting means has a greater number of water jets on one side than the other.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein there are two water jet stations on one side and one water jet station on the opposite side.

15. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the water jets when not impacting the rib section to be processed impinge upon an inclined deflecting surface directing the water downwardly towards waste.

16. Apparatus for use in preparing french racks when constructed, arranged and operable substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. A method of preparing french racks, said method comprising the steps of positioning a prepared rib section relative to the rib ends so that the rib section is exposed to a first water jet cutting means to form a cut line in the meat, fat, collagen and membrane beyond which the rib bone ends are to be cleared and directing a second water jet cutting means in the form of a plurality of substantially parallel water jets to clear the rib ends of meat, fat, collagen and membrane with a cutting and peeling action.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17 wherein an operator positions the prepared rib section and activates the water jets with relative movement between the rib section and water jets to perform the cutting and cleaning action.

19. A method of preparing french racks when performed substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying draw1'""0