US3795942A

US3795942A - Flexible finger support

Info

Publication number: US3795942A
Application number: US00185694A
Authority: US
Inventors: E Crane
Original assignee: INT AGRI SYSTEMS
Current assignee: FOOD CRAFT HOLDINGS Inc; INT AGRI SYST INC US; INT AGRI SYSTEMS
Priority date: 1971-10-01
Filing date: 1971-10-01
Publication date: 1974-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 1991-03-12

Abstract

A flexible finger support for use with a mechanized poultry picking apparatus, the support being formed from relatively thin metallic stock as is the current custom. An open-ended tubular member is affixed to the support at each of the locations thereon where it is desired to position a flexible picking finger. The tubular member functions to increase the contact area between the finger and the support to retard breakage of the finger at the support-engaging shoulder thereof.

Description

limited States Crane l ateiit I191 Mar. 12, 1974- FLEXIBLE FINGER SUPPORT [75] Inventor: Edward .1]. Crane, Ottumwa, Iowa [73] Assignee: International Agri-Systems, llnc., Ottumwa, Iowa [22] Filed: Oct. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No: 185,694

52 us. Cl ....."17/'i1.1 R [51] Int. Cl. A221; 21/02 [58] Field ofSearch 17/11, 11.1 R, 45, 47

[56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,300,157 10/1942 Hunt 17/ll.1 R 2,543,372 2/1951 Mueller l7/l1.1 R 3,557,942 1/1971 Crane l7/1 l.l R

3,599,278 8/1971 Crane 17/11.] R

Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-D. L. Weinhold Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Price, Heneveld, Huizenga & Cooper 5 7] ABSTRACT the finger at the support-engaging shoulder thereof.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to flexible picking finger supports suitable for use with mechanized poultry picking apparatus and, more particularly, to a finger support embodying means for retarding finger breakage at the support-engaging sections thereof.

It has been customary, in the past, to form flexible picking finger supports for poultry picking machines from metallic stock. This pastconvention has dictated the forming of an aperture or hole in the stock at those locations on the support where it was desired to position a flexible picking finger.

The material from which the supports are fabricated, ordinarily, is relatively thin due to a desire to economize upon the weight of the support, its cost and the like. The boundaries of the finger receiving apertures therefor have also been relatively thin.

The picking fingers are attached to the support by means of a reduced-diameter shoulder portion which is received by the aperture. The finger is expanded on either side of this reduced diameter shoulder portion to retain it in attachment with the support. Difficulties have been encountered in the past because of a tendency of the finger to shear off at its reduced-diameter portion even though the actual poultry-contacting portion of the finger was relatively new. This difficulty, it is believed, has been caused primarily by the rather short length of the shoulder or neck portion, the rather thin nature of the surrounding support material and, thus, the tendency for stresses to localize at a rather confined section of the finger.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a poultry picking support wherein the previously existing tendency for stresses to localize at a relatively small section of the picking finger will be eliminated.

It is an object of this invention, more particularly, to provide a support of the general type described wherein the contact area between the finger and the support is substantially increased and, yet, wherein the overall weight and amount of material required to make the support do not vary significantly from previously available supports.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned objects of this invention are accomplished by improving the conventional picking support to include an open-ended tubular member fixedly mounted to the support at those locations whereat it is desired to position a flexible picking finger. The tubular member has an axial length exceeding the thickness of the support and forms an elongated aperture through the support adapted to receive and retain a flexible picking finger therewithin, thereby increasing the otherwise available contact area between the support and the finger affixed thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a conventional or prior art picking support and drive mechanism therefor;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view taken from the interior side of a support embodying the teachings of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along plane III- -III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, plan view of a modified embodiment of this invention employing a means to prevent the picking fingers from rotating with respect to the support during use;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along plane VV of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along plane VI-VI of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring initially to FIG. 1 which illustrates a typical prior-art picking support 10 such as shown in this inventors prior US. Pat. No. 3,551,942 issued Jan. 5, 1971, the conventional support includes a body section 1 1 containing a plurality of apertures 15. The body section 11, of course, is hollow on the interior thereof and any conventional means is provided for gaining access to the support interior to replace picking fingers.

The support illustrated in FIG. 1 has been fabricated from sheet metal having a thickness of approximately Vs inch. The various flexible picking fingers 12 are retained on the support by pulling the finger through an aperture and allowing the necked-down or reduced diameter portion thereof to nest in the aperture with the head abutting the back side of the support and the expanded upper section of the finger abutting the exterior of the support.

The picking support 10 is affixed to a shaft 13 driven from a suitable gear box 14. The support in operation, is rotated adjacent and across from a number of similar supports and the birds to be defeathered are conveyed between the supports. As the bird comes into contact with the fingers on a particular support, the feathers of the bird are wiped away as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the novel support structure 20 is similar to that described in conjunction with FIG. 1 with the exception that at each of the finger receiving apertures there is provided an open-ended tubular member 21 having a flared shoulder 27 formed integrally therewith. The tubular member 21 has an axial length 22 which exceeds substantially the thickness of the material from which the support 20 is fabricated. The thickness of member 22, for example, might be in the neighborhood of A: inch and the axial length 22 of tubular member 21 approximately inch.

The tubular member may be affixed to the support material 22 in any conventional fashion. The components, ordinarily, will both be fabricated from metallic stock and may be welded together at the exterior periphery of shoulder 27 and, where desirable, the boundary between the exterior surface of support 22 and tubular member 21.

The picking finger 30 is pulled through the aperture in tubular member 31 from the interior thereof until the head 33 snubs against the shoulder 27. The neckeddown portion 31 of picking finger 30 is sized in length such that when the head 33 is in such abutment, the expanded portion 34 of the upper finger extremity will expand over the opposite extremity of tubular member 21 to retain the finger in position.

It is desirable, it should be noted, to provide a fillet at both extremities of the neck 31 of rubber picking finger 30 and, additionally, to round the interior extremities of the tubular member 21 in the manner shown to accommodate the fillet 32. This fillet has been found to increase the breaking strength of the fingers substantially by minimizing localized stressing of the neck portion of the finger which has been found to be present if a sharp corner is provided.

The tubular members 21 will be provided, of course, at each location ordinarily on the picking support 20 where it is desired to position a finger. In utilization of the apparatus, they will function to prevent localized over-stressing of the neck portion of the finger reducing substantially the possibility that a particular finger will be sheared off at the neck section even though the picking portion thereof remains in good working condition. The shoulder 27 will provide a firm base for the under surface of head 33 and, additionally, prevent feathers from collecting between the finger head and the support interior. The instant invention functions, thus, not only to reduce breakage of the fingers but, additionally, to permit a particular picking apparatus to function efficiently over relatively prolonged periods of time without the necessity for frequent shut-down and finger replacement.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 through 6, there is illustrated a modified form of the instant invention. This particular embodiment is adapted for utilization in situations where it is desirable that the finger not be permitted to rotate with respect to the support. This desire is encountered, ordinarily, in the usage of those styles of picking fingers which are flattened toward their picking extremities as opposed to being entirely symmetrical about a central axis.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6 is designed for utilization with a picking finger 60 having a head 62 which is generally rectangular in shape (see FIG. 4). The embodiment includes an open-ended tubular member 50 mounted on the support 22' furnishing the advantages discussed in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3. Member 50 includes a cylindrical section 51 and a flared shoulder 57. In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 through 6 there are included two segmented circular metallic rails 52 which, as illustrated, may conveniently be formed integrally with the member 50. The parallel faces of the rails are spaced, of course, a slightly greater distance than the corresponding dimension of the finger head 62 which is to seat thereinto.

The embodiment of FIGS. 4 through 6 positively prohibits any turning of the finger once it has been placed in position in the support since any such tendency will be resisted by the abutment of the parallel portions of head 62 against the rails 52. Such prevention is accomplished, as noted previously, while retaining the advantages of the enlarged contact area between the support and the finger, thereby eliminating localized stresses as discussed previously.

The embodiment of this invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6 does not, as shown, include the filleted portions between the finger, neck, head and body portions discussed previously in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3. It may be desirable in many situations, however, to provide such filleted boundaries on the finger and conforming surface configurations on the member 50.

While preferred embodiments of this invention have been described in detail, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments may be conceived and fabricated without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Such other embodiments are to be deemed included within the scope of the following claims unless these claims, by their language, expressly state otherwise.

I claim:

1. A flexible finger support for use with a mechanized poultry picking apparatus, said support being hollow, formed from relatively thin material and having a plurality of apertures therein for receiving and retaining flexible picking fingers, at least one of said apertures comprising an open-ended tubular member fixedly mounted to said support and communicating between the hollow interior and exterior thereof, said tubular member having an axial length substantially exceeding the thickness of said support, said member forming an elongated aperture through said support adapted to receive and retain a flexible picking finger therewithin thereby increasing the otherwise available stress contact area between said support and the finger affixed thereto.

2. The support as set forth in claim 1 wherein the interior axial extremities of said member are rounded.

3. In combination with the support set forth in claim 2, a flexible poultry picking finger having a head, a necked-down portion adapted to be received within and retained by said member, and an enlarged upper finger extremity, the length of said necked-down portion being approximately equal to the axial length of said tubular member.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein said necked-down portion is filleted at each of its extremities providing a rounded transition between said necked-down portion, said head and said upper finger extremity.

5. In combination with the support set forth in claim 1, a flexible poultry picking finger having a head, a necked-down portion adapted to be received within and retained by said member, and an enlarged upper finger extremity, the length of said necked-down portion being approximately equal to the axial length of said tubular member.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said necked-down portion is filleted at each of its extremities providing a rounded transition between said necked-down portion, said head and said upper finger extremity.

7. The support as set forth in claim 1 which further includes means for preventing rotation of a finger installed in said tubular member with respect to said tubular member.

8. The support as set forth in claim 7 wherein said preventing means comprises a pair of spaced rails affixed to the interior extremity of said member.

9. In combination with the support as set forth in claim 8, a flexible picking finger having a head adapted to nest between said rails when said finger is installed in said tubular member on said support.

10. The support as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tubular member has an axial length of approximately inch.

Claims

10. The support as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tubular member has an axial length of approximately 3/8 inch.