WO1984001691A1

WO1984001691A1 - Apparatus and process for cutting slaughtered chickens into two parts

Info

Publication number: WO1984001691A1
Application number: PCT/NL1983/000043
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heinrich Willy Markert
Original assignee: Heinrich Willy Markert
Priority date: 1982-11-01
Filing date: 1983-10-31
Publication date: 1984-05-10
Also published as: NL8204220A

Abstract

Apparatus and process for cutting slaughtered chickens lengthwise into parts, in which the chickens (3) while hanging by their legs are delivered by way of a conveyor system (1) to a cutting device provided with a skewer (5) into which the chickens can be parted through their vent and abdominal cavity and with a circular knife (6) revolving about a horizontal axis and mounted on a longitudinal slit of the said skewer.

Description

APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR CUTTING SLAUGHTERED CHICKENS INTO TWO PARTS.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a process for cutting slaughtered chickens into two parts, in which the animals are suspended from a conveyor system and delivered to a treating station where the chickens are cut lengthwise into two parts.

In the industry which concerns itself with the supply of slaughtered chickens or parts thereof, possibly deep-frozen and/or ready-wrapped, it is customary to conduct the entire process in two distinctly separated phases. In the first phase the chicken is killed, stripped of feathers, intestines and head, and washed. This part of the process must be carried out by butchers, because it is difficult to mechanize. In consequence, this phase is labour-intensive and hence an expensive one. The second phase can only consist in the chickens being deepfrozen and wrapped up. In many instances, however, it is desirable to cut off parts from the chickens, for instance, the wings or the legs. If this operation were also to be performed by butchers, as was general practice so far, this second phase will surely also be very labour-intensive and hence expensive. As the second phase is concerned with clean, slaughtered animals, it allows of some measure of mechanization, which would mean a cut in costly man-hours. The invention relates to such a mechanized second phase and in particular to the division of a slaughtered chicken into two separate parts through a lenghtwise cut.

An apparatus for cutting slaughtered chickens lengthwise into two approximately equal parts is characterized in that the chickens, while hanging by their legs, are delivered by way of a conveyor system to a cutting device provided with a skewer into which the chickens can be pushed through their vent and abdominal cavity and with a circular knife revolving about a horizontal axis and mounted in a longitudinal slit of the said skewer.

As the chickens are suspended by their legs, they have their backs turned down and their vents pointed upwards, so that the skewer can readily penetrate the carcass; the force required for this action is derived from the conceyor system which moves on continuously. After a chicken has been divided into two parts by the apparatus according to the invention, the separate parts are removed from the means of suspension, either by hand or by a particular provision. The great advantage of an apparatus according to the invention is that the use of the skewer enables the slaughtered animals to be accurately centred, so that with a correct adjustment of the knife in the lengthwise slit of the skewer an exact division into two virtually equal halves is possible.

According to a particular embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention, the skewer is provided with a closed and rounded tip at the end where the chickens are delivered. By this design of the tip it is ensured that the skewer readily penetrates the vent.

The direction of rotation of the cutting knife is preferably chosen such as to be opposite to the direction of delivery of the chickens at the location of the cutting. In this connection, the axis of rotation of the knife lies preferably below the skewer.

In order to enhance the certainty that the slaughtered chickens are delivered truly to the tip of the skewer, a particular embodiment of the invention features a channel which slopes somewhat upwards towards the skewer and guides the hanging chickens to the skewer and the circular knife, the said channel running underneath the front end of the skewer and following the direction of delivery of the chickens, being disposed below the conveyor system.

The guidance of the chickens can be improved still further in one particular eribodiment of the apparatus according to the invention by installing two guide and support rods for the two chicken halves on either side of the knives and above the skewer. If these rods are disposed at the correct height above the skewer and stick out sufficiently in front of the knife on the front side, that is the side on which the chickens are delivered through the conveyor system, the chicken's breast, which is known to pertrude somewhat with a comb-shaped appearance, is guided between the two rods. An even greater certainty will thereby be obtained that the chickens are divided into two virtually equal halves. In a preferred embodiment, these two rods are connected together at the front with a slight rise relative to the skewer.

The chickens' breasts are thereby caught, as it were, between these ascending rods.

The invention will now be elucidated by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 presents a lateral view of an apparatus according to the invention, and

Figure 2 gives a plan view of the same apparatus. In Figure 1, the schematically shown conveyor system 1 is provided with means of suspension 2 for the chickens. For the sake of clarity, this conveyor system has not been represented in Figure 2. A fully prepared slaughtered chicken 3 hangs on the hook 2 and is moved by the conveyor in the direction of arrow 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes the skewer in a slit 7 of which the knife 6 rotates. As the chickens 3 are moved on by means of the conveyor 1 and the hook 2, the skewer 5 penetrates their vent and abdominal cavity, whereupon they are divided into two virtually equal parts by the knife 6. For a better guidance of the chickens 3, the apparatus of the invention is provided at the bottom with the upwards sloping channel 8, which may have raised edges, and at the top with a member 9 consisting of two rods, mounted on either side of the knife and the skewer and connected together at the front by a curved, turned-up part 10. The assembly of skewer, guide member 9, channel 8 and knife 6 is attached to a stand 11, which may also comprise provisions for aligning the knife, especially in such a fashion that it is disposed centrally in the slit and rotates in truly vertical position, and for mutual adjustment of the height of the various component parts; by these means it is ensured that a perfect division can be achieved at different sizes of the chickens supplied, which are generally graded by weight in categories of 400 grams each.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. Apparatus for cutting slaughtered chickens lengthwise into two approximately equal parts, characterized in that the chickens, while hanging by their legs, are delivered by way of a conveyor system to a cutting device provided with a skewer into which the chickens can be pushed through their vent and abdominal cavity and with a circular knife revolving about a horizontal axis and mounted in a longitudinal slit of the said skewer.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the skewer has a rounded tip at the end where the chickens are delivered.

3. Apparatus according to either one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the direction of delivery of the chickens is opposite to the direction of rotation of the cutting knife at the location of the cutting and that the axis of rotation of the knife lies below the skewer.

4. apparatus according to any one of claim 1 - 3, characterized in that underneath the front end of the skewer and following the direction in which the chickens are delivered, below the conveyor system a channel is disposed which slopes somewhat up towards the knife and guides the hanging chickens to the knife and guides the hanging chickens to the skewer and the circular knife.

5. apparatus according to any one of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that two guide and support rods for the two chicken halves are mounted on either side of the knife and above the skewer.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the guide and support rods are connected together and form a somewhat turned-up tip at the end where the chickens are delivered.

7. A process for cutting slaughtered chickens lenghtwise into two approximately equal parts with the aid of apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims.