US2731664A - Rotary-acting fowl tendon puller and leg severer - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 24, 1956 s. B. OSBORNE 2,731,664

ROTARY-ACTING FOWL TENDON FULLER AND use SEVERER Filed March 4, 1953 INVE N TOR $70,497 B. OSBORAE- BY a ,Qo-od United States PatentO ROTARY-ACTING FOWL TENDON PULLER AND LEG SEVERER Stuart B. Osborne, Medway, Mass.

Application March 4, 1953, Serial No. 340,212

2 Claims. (Cl. 1711.3)

This invention relates to a rotary-acting fowl tendon puller and leg severer, particularly for use in severing the legs and pulling the tendons out of the upper joints of turkeys and other like fowl.

In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood, I have disclosed a single embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the apparatus constituting the fowl tendon puller and leg severer;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical, transverse section taken through the functioning part of the apparatus and showing one leg of the fowl positioned for severance just below the joint and the other leg of the fowl supported upon the outer surface of the power-driven rotary member, the severing edge of which is about 90 anterior to the severing position;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section similar to Fig. 3, but representing the rotary member turned forward somewhat in excess of 180 from the position shown in Fig. 3, and representing the severed portion of the leg as about to be ejected and also representing the tendons as being drawn along behind and still connected to the severed leg portion;

Fig. 5 is a view generally similar to Figs. 3 and 4, but representing the severing edge of the rotary member as just making severing contact with a leg of the fowl, and also representing guarding means that may be provided to safeguard the hand of the operator; and

Fig. '6 is a detail, in section, on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5 and broken away, showing said guarding means.

Devices for pulling the tendons from the upper joints of fowl have, so far as I am aware, always been characterized by a movement or movements in a straight line. In contrast therewith I have by my invention provided a preferably power-driven rotary member supported upon its preferably driven shaft and having a long, arcuate-shaped face that is provided with a dull, cutting, leading edge, and which arcuate-shaped face is rotated, continuously if desired, past the correspondingly shaped upper face of a fixed block or base, the upper front, transverse inner edge of which is a dull cutting edge. Thus the rotatable member may be described as rotatably nested within but slightly spaced from said block or base.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof, there is provided by me a fixed block or base member 1 of any suitable material, and having a concaved or arcuately shaped upper face 2. The block or base 1 should be of substantial weight so that it holds its position upon a table such as 2 or other supporting framework or even upon the floor upon which it may be placed. Therefore, the block or base 1 may be of suitable hard wood, thus constituting a solid member, or it may be of some suitable metal, such as cast iron or steel, in which case it is desirably not solid, but the bottom portion of the fixed block or base 1 should be sufiiciently thick to prevent it being readily displaced in operation, if a table-like support is not provided. If desired, it may be provided at its bottom with laterally projecting flanges, having openings through which securing screws such as 2" may be inserted to hold the block or base firmly in place either to the floor or to the table or other support 2'.

The arcuate face 2 is represented as extending through 180, thus providing horizontal, transverse, narrow end faces 3 and 4, the former of which is provided with a dull, cutting inner edge 5, extending along the entire transverse extent of the block or base 1.

Suitably supported midway between the upper transverse faces 3 and 4 of the block or base 1 is a shaft 6, supported in any suitable manner, and if desired, in

\ uprights 6', 6' rising from the block or base 1, and preferably located at the same horizontal plane as the said faces 3 and 4, so that the face of the rotary member 7, to be described, is concentric with the arcuate upper face 2 of the block or base 1 and moves in a path concentric with said arcuate face 2. Such shaft 6 is driven from any suitable source of power, and preferably at a slow speed, so as to give the operator plenty of time to present the fowl, held in his hands, and lay it on the transverse end face 3 so that the legs-that is,

the portions thereof that are to be severed by the rotating member-extend inward, perpendicular or normal to the dull cutting edge 5. For the purpose I have represented a gear motor 6" and a power transmission belt or band 6".

Upon the" shaft 6 is fast the rotating metallic member 7, provided with a radial, wide arm 8, terminating in a long arcuate face 9 that preferably extends, as shown, throughout substantially and terminates in two transversely extending terminal faces 10 and 11. The two arcuate faces 2 and 9 are concentric.

The edge 12 of the transversely extending face 11 is a dull cutting edge and acts against or closely against the dull cutting edge 5 of the arcuate face 2 of the fixed block or base 1. In effect, the rotary member 7 is rotatably nested with the member 1, but slightly spaced from the said arcuate face 2 of the block or base 1.

There is a sufiicient gap or space between the arcuate face 2 of the block or base 1 and the concentric arcuate face 9 of the rotary member 7, which gap or space is narrow enough, as for example, about A to /1 of an inch, or slightly more, to permit and provide for the shearing of the two legs of the fowl, preferably one after the other, but is such as to allow the tendons of the fowl to be grasped by the leading edge of the rotary member 7 and to be pulled out of the upper joints of the legs by the continued rotary movement of the member 7 without such tendons being cut by the shearing edge 5 of the block or base 1 and the edge 12 of the arcuate face 9 of the rotating member 7. The legs are sheared, preferably one after the other, and the tendons are pulled in the same operation or operations. The cut-off legs are either one after the other or together forced downward, around, and then upward in a quite long path, and are ejected along with the pulledout tendons at the face 4 as is indicated in Fig. 4.

The edge 5 of the face 2 of the block or base 1 and the edge 12 of the rotating member 7 constitute severing aws.

Sufficient space is provided as a gap between the arcuate faces of the block or base 1 and the rotating member 7, as, for example, between /B to of an inch as stated. This may vary for different sizes of fowl. This construction and relation of parts make certain that the severed legs are carried around between such faces 2 and 9 along with the pulled-out tendons.

The shaft 6 may, as already described, be driven by any suitable means, as for example by a small electric or other motor 6", the speed of which may be set very low. If desired, the shaft 6 might even be manually rotated, as by providing a crank handle on one end of said shaft 6, in which case the motor 6" and the table 2' may be omitted, or the motor could be used alternatively.

The radial length of the arm 8 from the axis of the shaft 6 to the arcuate face 9 of the rotating member 7 may be such as is found most suitable, as for example, six to eight inches. In any event, the two arcuate faces 2 and 9 must be concentric. My invention is, however, not limited to any particular size or proportion of parts. Also the width of the rotatable member 7 and of the fixed block or base 1. may be such as is found in operation to be most suitable. it might be desired to make the width great enough so that two fowls, suitably held, may be operated upon at the same time, side by side.

The speed of operation of the shaft 6 must be such as to permit the withdrawal of the body of one fowl and the positioning of the next one before the cutting edge 12 moves up, over and down to meet the dull cutting edge 5 and so act upon the next fowl, or between the severing operations of the two legs if they are separately presented as indicated in Fig. 3.

The length of the arcuate faces 2 and 9 is such as to provide for a long pulling movement upon the tendons of the upper joints of the fowl. For example, if the rotatable member 7 has a radius of but 6 in. and the arcuate faces are of semi-circular extent an effective linear pull distance of at least 18 in. is had, along the circumferential path defined between said faces.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the rotatable member or part 7 has the form of an arm 8 extending from the shaft 6, such arm merging into the .prolonged arcuate face 9 that is received within the arcuate face 2 of the block or base stationary member or part 1.

If desired, and as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, I may provide a guard indicated generally at 13 in said figures, and which consists of transversely extending elevations 14, between which are suitable spaces 15 into any one of which a leg of the fowl may be placed. This construction guards the fingers of the operator. This guard may be held in place by screws, one of which is represented at 16 in Fig. 5.

I have shown the part of the face 9 of the rotary member 7 which is in advance of the radial arm 8 as of much greater length than the following part which terminates at the end 11, but my invention is not limited to suchconstruction, which, however, applies the power very directly to the cutting edge 12.

Having thus described a single embodiment only of the invention, I desire it to be understood that although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic sense and not for purposes of limitation, and that the scope of the invention is set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An automatic turkey-leg severing and tendon pulling machine comprising, a basal fixed element having a parti-cylindrical axially elongate upwardly open troughlike cavity presenting a concave working face of substantial circumferential linear extent and having substantially diametrically opposed entrance and exit ends, a cooperative rotary element formed with a convex face of like circumferential linear extent but of lesser radius and having leading and trailing ends, means for rotatively mounting the rotary element upon a horizontal axis concentrically with the fixed element for continuous revolution of the convex face along past and in closely spaced parallelism with the concave face, said spacing being substantially less than the thickness of the average leg to be severed and drawn, power means to drive the rotary element continuously in one direction, the entrance end of the concave-faced cavity and the leading end of-the rotary element having cooperative dull rounded edge formations adapted for crush-shearing but non-tcndon-severing interaction upon a turkey-leg inserted into the cavity in advance of the revolving rotary element, and the leading end of the rotary element being formed to engage behind and to push the sheared leg portion through the cavity and simultaneously to pull the attached upper leg tendons along through the circumferential and linearly extensive channel defined between the then opposed concave and convex faces of the fixed and the rotary elements and then to eject the leg and tendons at the exit end of the cavity;

2. A leg severing and tendon pulling machine according to claim 1 wherein the convex rotary element is extended circumferentially in the trailing direction through substantially of arc and provides a blocking surface acting to exclude the upper leg portion from entering the cavity during a tendon-pulling operation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 6, 1930-

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