US2571042A

US2571042A - Blade for fowl-plucking apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2571042A
Application number: US720706A
Authority: US
Inventors: Calvin R Kemp
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1947-01-08
Filing date: 1947-01-08
Publication date: 1951-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 1968-10-09

Description

Oct. 9, 1951 c. R. KEMP BLADE FOR FOWL PLUCKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1947 INVENTOR.

60/1211: EIQ'mp.

ATI'OP/VEKS Oct. 9, 1951 c. R. KEMP 2,571,042

BLADE FOR FOWL PLUCKING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I 11 IN V EN TOR.

Calvin B ffe'mp A TTQLPNEYS' Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BLADE FOR FOWL-PLUQKIN G APPARATUS Calvin R. Kemp, Delaware; Ohio Application January 8, 1947, Serial No.: 720,706

3 Claims. 1

:My invention relates to blade'for fowl-plucking :apparatus. It has to do, more particularly, with apparatus for plucking or removing the feathers or down from various types of fowl such as chickens, turkeys,;geese or ducks.

This application is a continuation-in-part of .my opending application, serial No. 685,478,

ifiled July 22, 1946, now abandoned.

The-most commonly usedfowl plucking machine at the present. time includes a rotatable drum, which is driven at-high-speeds,-that car- .ries aplurality of individual plucking fingers extending radially from the surface thereof. These ingers are usually made of rubberso that they .are sufficiently flexible to bend, upon contact .withthe fowl, and exert a rubbing action on the fowlwhich plucks or rubs the feathers from the skin of the fowl.

It is an object of this invention to eliminate the .necessity of providingsuch a large number of individual fingers and to provide instead blades or .strips of flexible material, such as rubber, which extend for the completewidth of'the drum and which project substantially radially therefrom or outwardly at a suitable angle at circumferentially .blade or strip of the type indicated in the preceding paragraph which has a fowl-engaging edge so designed that it will effectively remove all feathers including those on therelatively small surfaces ortheiowl, such as the surfaces of the .legs, wings and neck and those frombetween the wings and the body ofthe fowl and between the legsand the body and other portions whichare not easily accessible.

Another object of my inventionis to .provide vmeansfor attaching the flexible blades to .the

drum so that the blades can be attached thereto easilyand quickly and be removed with ease when it is necessary to replace them becauseof wear.

Another :objectrof -my.-invention is to provide vmeans for attachingathe flexible blades to the .drum which is of .sucha'nature that the blades can be attached'to the drums of machinesnow commonly in use and which arenow provided with circuleropenings or sockets for receiving .oe inner ends of the fingers.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from vthe following description and appended claims when-considered in connection .with the accomvpanying-drawings forming a part ofthe specification wherein like reference charactersidesig- .nate corresponding parts inthe several views and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view, .partly broken away, of a machine in which my invention isembodied.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of the machine.

Figurev 3 is a perspective view of a-portiomof one of the ,flexible blades drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 is aview, partly in plan and partlyin section, of a portion of the drum drawn toanenlarged scale.

Figure 5 is an end view of a portion of a drum illustrating the action of. the flexible blades on ,a fowl held against the rotating blade-carrying 'drum.

Before explainingin detail the present invention, itis tobe understood that the inventionis .not limited in its application to the detailsiof construction and arrangement of parts illustrated .intheaccompanying drawings, since the invention'iscapable of other embodiments-and of being practicedor'carried out in various ways. -It isto be understood also that the phraseolog-y or terminology-employed herein, is for the purposeof description and-not of limitation.

In Figures 1 and 2, I have illustrated a fowl -plucking machine which in its general structure islike those'now commonly in use. Themachine includes acabinet l which contains a drum .2 that is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. The drum may be driven at suitable variable speeds by means of a driving mechanism.3.

According to my invention, instead of mount- .ing ,on the drum 2. largenumber of independent .flexible fingers,iI provide a setof flexible blades} of the vtypeshown in Figure 3, which .areattached tothe drum by the novel attaching means which Lprovideand which includes channel members 5.

The blades-.4 are preferably relatively; stiff yet .suflicientlyflexible or .yieldable to prevent .tear- .ing-or damaging of the skin of thefowl when they contact therewith while being carried by .the druml during the high speed rotation there- .of. ltispreferred to form the blades 4 from rubber, although other suitable materials might be used. The blades .4 are adapted tooextenjd. the full width of the drum. Each of the blades "has a laterallyv projecting attaching. flange 6 .on its lower edge and extending the full length thereof. ,The flange isjoined to the bodypor- .tionof thelolade by means of an inwardly taperresponding to the width of the drum 2.

ing upstanding section I which at its upper extremity is substantially the same thickness as the body of the blade. The body of the blade is provided on both faces or sides with a series of vertically spaced longitudinally extending parallel ribs 8 which extend the full length thereof. This arrangement of the ribs results in channels 9 being formed between the ribs. The outer surfaces and side surfaces of the ribs are arranged substantially at right angles relatively so that the ribs have fairly sharp edges and, consequently, will more effectively pluck the feathers.

In order to increase the efficiency of the blade 4 in plucking feathers from small surfaces of the fowl, such as legs and wings, and from relatively inaccessible surfaces, such as between the legs and body or wings and body, I provide a series of large notches or recesses H] at equally spaced intervals along the blade. These notches extend a considerable distance into the blade and, as a result, a plurality of longitudinally spaced outwardly extending fowl-engaging flexible projections II are formed on the outer edge of the blade. The faces of the projections H are provided with the ribs 8a and grooves 9a, corresponding to the ribs 8 and grooves 9 of the body of the blade. The extreme outer ends of the projections are tapered to a relatively sharp edge, as indicated at l2, and the two tapered P surfaces are provided with closely spaced parallel ribs [3, with notches formed therebetween,

the ribs being of small triangular cross-section with their sharper edges outermost. The two side edges [4 of the intermediate projections H are sharp and the edges converge towards each other slightly from the inner end of projections II to the outer end thereof so that the projections are of somewhat less width at their outer ends than at their inner ends where they are integrally joined to the body of the blade and have merging curved joining portions IS. The two end projections Ila are the same as the intermediate projections H with the exception t at the outer edge of each is a straight continuation of the corresponding end of the body portion of the blade.

The channel members 5 are of a length cor- They may be welded or otherwise secured to the drum, but in the example illustrated they are bolted to the drum, by means of the bolts [6 which extend through longitudinally spaced openings formed in the base thereof. These bolts are extended through openings H in the drum which are provided at circumferentially spaced intervals in longitudinal rows. If the blades are to be applied to machines of the type now on the market, the bolts H5, or similar bolts, may be passed through the openings in the drum which are provided for receiving the flexible fingers. After the channels are mounted on the drum, the blades 4 may be easily and quickly attached to the drum by inserting the flanges 6 through the ends of the channel members, the upstanding sections 1 passing through the slots [8 formed in the top wall of the channel members. The slot I8 in each channel member 5 extends the full length thereof and is of substantially the same width as the lower extremity of the tapered section 1 of the blade. The flanges 6 will fit snugly in the channel members and the sections 1 will fit snugly in the slots I8 thereof to prevent longitudinal sliding of the blades in the channel members. Thus, the blades 4 will be mounted upon the drum and will extend the full width thereof. The blades will extend radially from the drum at circumferentially spaced intervals. Whenever it is desired to remove any of the blades, due to wear or for other reasons, the flange 6 may be slipped from the end of channel member 5.

In the use of my invention, the drum is rotated at a relatively high speed in a clockwise direction, as shown in Figure 5. The fowl is held by the operator in contact with the blade-carrying drum. Upon contacting the fowl, the body of the blades will bend rearwardly and the ribs 8 will contact with the feathers and skin of the fowl and pluck the feathers. The thickened section I for attaching the body portion of the blade to the base or flange 6 will give the blade suflicient rigidity and resiliency that adequate rubbing force will be applied to the skin of the fowl to remove the feathers therefrom. The thinner body portion will result in suflicient flexibility that the body will bend adequately to provide sufficient contact of the forward side of the blade with the skin of the fowl. The projections II and Ila of the bladewill have more flexibility than the body of the blade. The notches l0 therebetween provide spaces in which the legs, Wings and neck of the fowl will enter as these notches correspond in shape to those parts of the fowl while the projections will at the same time remove the feathers from those sections of the body adjacent to the portions which have entered the recess. The ribs 8a on the faces of the projections will function in the same manner as the ribs 8 of the body of the blade. The sharp side edges H of the projections will remove pin feathers from the portions of the fowl fitting therein while the sharp outer edges l2 of the projections, carrying the closely spaced small ribs l3, will remove the pin feathers from the portions of the bird which they engage.

After continued use, the blades 4 may be removed and reversed so that the opposite sides thereof will contact the fowl.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided improved fowl plucking means. Because I employ blades rather than separate fingers, forming of the rubber plucking means is greatly simplified and the cost is, consequently, greatly reduced. Furthermore, the mounting of the small number of blades as compared to the large number of fingers on the drum and the removal thereof for replacement is greatly simplified. The fowl-engaging projections on the blade and the notches therebetween provide means for contacting the small surface of the fowl and the usually inaccessible surfaces thereof so that all of such surfaces are effectively cleaned of feathers.

Various other objects will be apparent from the preceding description, the drawings and the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A blade for use in fowl-plucking apparatus comprising a continuous strip of flexible material such as rubber, said strip being provided with alternate recesses and projections on its outer upper surface, said projections being flexible and adapted to contact certain portions of the fowl, said lower portion of the strip having continuous ribs forming channel-like portions, said flexible projection portions being substantially flat yet tapering upwardly, said projections having closely-spaced small alternating ribs and notches on their outermost upper edges for facilitating the plucking of feathers and hair from the smaller body portions of the fowl.

2. A blade according to claim 1 wherein the outer ends of the projections are of thinner cross section than the lower body portion of the blade so as to present less force to the fowl initially and wherein the lower portion of the blade is thicker in cross section to prevent the complete collapse of the blade as the fowl is forced thereagainst.

3. A structure according to claim 1 wherein the lower ends of the flexible projecting portions have an arc of rubber therebetween on which is formed the continuous ribs and channels adapted 15 to aid in removing the feathers of the fowl.

CALVIN R. KEMP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date D. 149,086 Norman Mar. 23, 1948 2,154,846 Heymann et. al. Apr. 18, 1939 2,271,551 Hoover Feb. 3, 1942 2,305,232 Barker Dec. 15, 1942 2,314,700 Hanshaw Mar. 23, 1943 2,350,656 Williamson June 6, 1944 2,358,693 DuPuy Sept. 19, 1944 2,412,108 Toti et al. Dec. 3, 1946 2,432,523 Johnson Dec. 16, 1947