WO2012025115A1

WO2012025115A1 - Apparatus and method for processing of dead animal bodies and/or pelt

Info

Publication number: WO2012025115A1
Application number: PCT/DK2011/000083
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kurt Pedersen; Anders Møller SKOUGAARD
Original assignee: 4M Globe Management Ltd.
Priority date: 2010-08-27
Filing date: 2011-07-14
Publication date: 2012-03-01
Also published as: EP2609222A1; DK2609222T3; EP2609222B1; DK177216B1; DK201000757A

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method of operating an apparatus (1) for processing of dead animal bodies and/or pelts, said apparatus comprising a drum (2) for tumbling said dead animal bodies and/or pelt, said drum (2) comprising a first compartment (9, 9a) having an inlet (5) and an outlet (8), and a second compartment, wherein said apparatus (1) is configured for selectively driving the drum (2) in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction around a longitudinal symmetry axis (A) of the drum (2), and wherein said one or more fixed transportation units (10) are fixed to an inner surface of the compartment and are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the drum towards said outlet (8), during rotation of the drum (2) with said second rotation direction. Also, the invention relates to use of such an apparatus.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING OF DEAD ANIMAL BODIES AND /OR PELT

The invention relates to a method of operating an apparatus for processing dead animal bodies and /or pelts, an apparatus for processing of dead animal bodies and /or pelts, and or use of an apparatus for processing dead animal bodies and /or pelts.

Background

When dead animals are put down to retrieve their pelt, the animal bodies and pelts needs to be processed before they can be utilized in e.g. clothing. Tumblers are often used in connection with the processing of the bodies and pelts such as e.g. mink pelts.

For example killed furred animals are often laid for cooling before the skinning takes place. In such cases it is necessary to carry out a mechanical handling of the dead bodies before the skinning of the animal bodies to remove stiffness in the bodies.

Also, a tumbling of the bodies may take place after the animals are killed, and is preferably carried out together with a liquid-absorbing granular material such as e.g. sawdust. This tumbling of not-yet cooled bodies removes e.g. saliva, urine, faeces and other impurities from the bodies.

Furthermore, tumbling of animal pelt after skinning of the bodies has taken place may be performed to remove leftovers of e.g. fat and meat on the skin side of the pelt. Still further, animal pelt may be tumbled with the pelt side outwards (often the pelt is tubular shaped), before they are arranged for drying.

Often, tumbling of animal bodies and pelts as described above often comprises use of a liquid-absorbing granular such as e.g. sawdust during the tumbling. An apparatus for processing of dead animal bodies is known from e.g. WO

2008/101505. This document discloses a tumbler for tumbling of dead animal bodies, where the tumbler is divided into sections into which the bodies are transferred by a conveyor unit extending through the tumbler, to facilitate a continuous processing of dead animal bodies by means of a non-batch method.

However this apparatus suffers from several drawbacks which the present invention solves. The invention

The invention relates to a method of processing dead animal bodies and /or pelts, said method comprising the steps of: loading one or more dead animal bodies or pelts into a compartment within a drum by use of an inlet, rotating the drum in a first rotation direction so as to process the content of the compartment, and rotating the drum in a second rotation direction reverse to the first rotation direction, so as to transport the content of the compartment towards an outlet of the

compartment by means of one or more fixed transportation units fixed to an inner surface of the compartment. By controlling the transportation direction of the content in the compartment of the apparatus alone by shifting between two opposite rotation directions, an easy way of transporting the content in the compartment is achieved. Furthermore, the fixed transportation units facilitates that substantially no moving parts are necessary inside the compartment(s) of the drum, and the drum can be kept in a substantially horizontal position during the processing and unloading. This is advantageous in that a more reliable and cost efficient apparatus can be achieved. Thus, the movement of the bodies or pelts in a compartment of the drum is determined alone by means of the rotation direction and a mechanical impact on the content by means of the fixed transportation unit(s). Furthermore, the fixed transportation unit(s) facilitates a further function, namely to induce mechanical forces on the bodies and/or pelts, to process the bodies/pelts.

It is understood that by the term pelt is to be understood especially mink pelt from the skinned mink bodies.

It is furthermore understood that the transportation unit(s) may induce forces in other directions to the content of the compartment(s) of the drum, but that it/they will also act with a force in the longitudinal direction of the drum. In an advantageous aspect of the method, the method may comprise that said one or more transportation units are further arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment in the longitudinal direction of the drum away from the outlet when rotating the drum with said first rotation direction. This is especially advantageous in situations where the compartment comprises an inlet in one end of the drum and an outlet in another end of the drum, and/or in general to assure that no bodies and/or pelts is unloaded from the compartment too soon. In a further advantageous aspect of the method, the said drum comprises a second compartment and a partition wall between the first compartment and the second compartment in the drum, the second compartment comprising an outlet and one or more fixed transportation units fixed to an inner surface of the second compartment and being arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment in the longitudinal direction of the drum towards said outlet, during rotation of the drum with said first rotation direction, wherein the outlet of the first compartment is arranged in the partition wall for moving the content of the first compartment to said second compartment, said method further comprising the subsequent step of rotating said drum with said first rotation direction so as to unload said second compartment.

Alternatively, the content may e.g. be transported to the second compartment by means a pipeline, an opening in an outer wall of the drum and/or apparatus which leads the content of the first compartment to the second compartment by means of a predefined path, e.g. comprising a further processing step such as further cleaning of the animal bodies and /or pelts or the like. In general, it is to be understood that the content of the first compartment may be transported to the second compartment of the drum/apparatus automatically by means of any other suitable method and/or technical means by amending the rotation direction ad disclosed in this document.

This is advantageous in that the content of compartments of the drum in an advantageous way can be moved from compartment to compartment for processing, sorting and the like.

It is of cause understood that also transportation units of the second compartment in an aspect of the invention may be arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment in the longitudinal direction of the drum, away from the outlet of the second compartment, when rotating the drum with the second rotation direction.

It is furthermore understood that the drum may in other aspects of the invention comprise even more compartments such as three, four or five compartments, and that the transportation unit(s) of the compartments are arranged to induce forces alternating in different directions of the longitudinal direction of the drum, so that the content will be processed in each compartment until the rotation direction of the drum is shifted again.

An an aspect of the method according to the invention, the method comprises the step of rotating said drum in said first rotation direction and/or said second rotation direction in one or more predefined time periods.

The amount of time for rotating the drum in the first rotation direction and the second direction is preferably determined based on one or more timer functions comprising a predetermined time for rotating the drum, e.g. a first timer function with a predetermined time for rotating the drum in the first rotation direction, and another timer function with another predetermined time for rotating the drum in the second rotation direction. For example, the first timer may be set to approximately 10 to 20 minutes such as e.g. about 15 min, while the other timer may be set to e.g. 5 to 10 minutes or even less, to unload a compartment. In general it is understood that the apparatus may comprise any appropriate number of timer functions and that each timer function may be set to an appropriate value to facilitate sufficient and satisfactory processing of the pelts/bodies. Alternative or additionally to the time periods, a operator of the apparatus may manually shift rotation direction of the drum.

The invention furthermore relates to an apparatus for processing of dead animal bodies and /or pelts, said apparatus comprising a drum for tumbling said dead animal bodies and /or pelt , said drum comprising a first compartment having an inlet and an outlet, wherein said apparatus is configured for selectively driving the drum in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction around a longitudinal symmetry axis of the drum, and wherein said one or more fixed transportation units are fixed to an inner surface of the compartment and are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment in the longitudinal direction of the drum towards said outlet, during rotation of the drum with said second rotation direction.

It is in general understood that the first rotation direction prevents/avoids the content of the first compartment from leaving the first compartment through the outlet, whereas the second rotation direction facilitates an automatic unload of the first compartment by use of the outlet due to the construction of the apparatus and the arrangement of the fixed transportation units.

The apparatus is advantageous e.g. in that it facilitates a more reliable and cost efficient apparatus. Advantageously, the said outlet may in an aspect of the invention comprise a catching arrangement arranged to automatically catch content of the compartment during rotation of the drum in the second rotation direction.

During rotation with the second rotation direction, the one or more transportation units of the drum brings the content in contact with the catching arrangement, thus facilitating an automatic unload of the compartment. The catching arrangement may be constructed with no moving parts, but it may also comprise a pivotable unit that pivots between two positions, one position in which unload through the outlet is not possible, and another in which unload of the compartment is facilitated when the transportation unit(s) brings the content in contact with the catching arrangement.

In a further advantageous aspect of the invention, the said outlet comprises a sorting arrangement with an outlet for automatically loading a granular material from the compartment back into the compartment during unload of the compartment. This is advantageous in that the granular material such as sawdust can be reused in the compartment. The outlet of the drum may be connected directly or indirectly to a suction arrangement. The indirect connection may comprise that a suction arrangement is connected to the compartment, and thus when activating the suction arrangement, the suction will also influent on the outlet for granular material of the catching arrangement. Likewise, the outlet may function by means of the gravity, i.e. the gravity facilitates that the granular material enters the outlet of the catching arrangement. In an aspect of the invention, the said one or more fixed transportation units comprises fixed plates extending outwards from the inner surface of the

compartment.

This solution has shown to be a cost efficient and effective embodiment of the transportation unit(s). the plates may comprise a plate with an angle so that the first part of the plate is fixed to the wall of the drum and the second part extends into the compartment. These plates have shown to be advantageous and effective, especially in relation to processing of pelts such as mink pelts. It I of cause understood that the plates extend outwards into the compartment.

I a further aspect of the invention, said one or more fixed transportation units may comprise an arrangement at the inner surface of the drum forming a helical screw.

This has shown to be especially effective in relation to the processing of dead animal bodies, in that they are more heavy and hard to handle than the pelts. Also, such a screw (as with the plates) facilitates an advantageous mechanical effect on the pelts or bodies.

In an aspect of the invention, said one or more transportation units comprise a first surface arranged so as to act on the content of the drum with a force towards said outlet of the compartment, and a second surface arranged with an obtuse angle in relation to the inner surface of the compartment.

Thus, the bodies may more easily slide over the transportation unit to spare the bodies/pelts, when the drum rotates to process the pelts/bodies.

Advantageously, the said apparatus may in an aspect of the invention comprise a suction arrangement for sorting the content of a compartment of the drum. Fine granular material such as sawdust may be harmful to human bodies, e.g. to the respiratory passages of the human body. The suction arrangement helps to create a more healthy working environment, and also it may facilitate reuse of the granular material by loading the material into a bag or the like for later use, or to keep it in the compartment for reuse.

In an aspect of the invention, the said suction arrangement is arranged to shift between at least two predetermined levels.

This may be advantageous in that the first level may be set to create a slight vacuum in the compartment(s) of the drum, and when the second level is utilized, the suction arrangement helps to empty the compartment.

In an advantageous aspect of the invention, said inlet is arranged in the same end of the drum as said outlet.

This is advantageous in that the transportation units may be arranged to induce a movement on the content towards the inlet/outlet when the drum rotates in the second rotation direction, but not in the other direction. Also, a more simple construction of the drum may be facilitated in this way, and may make more room for an outlet of the suction arrangement in the other end of the drum. Furthermore, the apparatus may in this way be arranged with the other end up against e.g. a wall. Advantageously, in an aspect of the invention, said inlet and said outlet is the same opening. This is advantageous due to construction and operation reasons in that both the inlet and the outlet of the drum in this way may be arranged e.g. substantially in the centre of the end of the drum. Thus, the inlet and outlet is always in the same position during rotation of the drum In an advantageous aspect of the invention said drum comprises a second

compartment and a partition wall between the first compartment and the second compartment in the drum, the second compartment comprising an outlet and one or more fixed transportation units fixed to an inner surface of the second compartment and being arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment in the longitudinal direction of the drum towards said outlet, during rotation of the drum with said first rotation direction, wherein the outlet of the first compartment is arranged in the partition wall for moving the content of the first compartment to the second compartment.

This is advantageous in that the more compartments facilitates different processing of the pelts/bodies, sorting of the content and the like. Also, this is facilitated in an advantageous way in that no moving parts are arranged inside the

compartments/drum. Experiments have shown that this construction is especially advantageous in relation to the processing of pelts, but it may also be used for the processing of dead animal bodies. It is in general understood that the one or more fixed transportation units of the first and second compartments of the drum preferably are arranged to selectively induce a movement of the content of the compartment towards a first end or a second end of the drum dependent on the selected rotation direction of the drum, during rotation of the drum. In a further advantageous aspect of the invention, said one or more fixed

transportation units of the second compartment are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment in the longitudinal direction of the drum away from said outlet, during rotation of the drum in said second rotation direction. Thus, it is assured that the content of the second compartment, when entering the compartment from the first compartment, is kept away from the outlet of the second compartment. The outlet of the second drum is preferably arranged in the end of the drum substantially at the centre of the drum. It may furthermore be advantageous in that a catching arrangement substantially as the one that may be arranged at the outlet in the first compartment may also be utilized at the outlet of the second compartment.

Alternatively, the outlet of the second compartment may be a door in the end of the drum, which may be opened manually or automatically when the drum starts to rotate in the first direction again to unload the second compartment. This may make it unnecessary to hold the content of the second compartment away from the outlet during a rotation in the second rotation direction in that the door will shield the outlet of the second compartment. Advantageously, said second compartment may in an aspect of the invention comprise a plurality of perforations in the wall of the drum so as to facilitate a sorting of the content in the second compartment.

Hereby, when granular material and pelts or bodies enters the second compartment, the granular material (e.g. sawdust) is sorted from the pelts/fur during rotation of the drum by means of the wall with the perforations, and into a storage, to be discarded or reused. The wall with the perforations thus acts as a sieve/filter. It is understood that the second compartment may also be connected to a suction arrangement to enhance working environment and the sorting of granular material from the bodies/pelts.

In an aspect of the invention, said apparatus comprises a gate arrangement for a granular material, said gate arrangement being fixed to an inner surface of the drum at the end of a compartment of the drum, and being operable between an open and a closed position, wherein said gate arrangement in an open position is arranged to automatically grab said granular material from the bottom of said drum by means of an inlet of the gate arrangement, and transport said granular material to a higher position due to the rotation of the drum so as to automatically unload said granular material trough an outlet of the gate arrangement when the gate arrangement is in an open position.

This has turned out to be advantageous in relation to removal of remaining granular material in the compartment. The transportation unit(s) transports the granular material to the gate arrangement when the drum rotates in the same direction as when unloading the drum for pelts or dead animal bodies, and thus the granular material is automatically brought into contact with the gate arrangement which preferably is arranged in the same end as the outlet of the compartment. However, the gate arrangement may also in another embodiment be arranged in the other end, and the transportation units may in this case be arranged to transport the granular material in this direction during rotation of the drum in the first rotation direction.

In an aspect of the invention, said gate arrangement in an open position is arranged to automatically unload said granular material through the said outlet of the first compartment during rotation of the drum in the second rotation direction. It is advantageous due to e.g. construction considerations to utilize the same outlet as used for unloading pelts or fur, especially if the outlet is arranged substantially in the centre of the end of the drum. In advantageous aspect of the invention, an apparatus according to any of the claims 5-19 comprises a control system for operating the apparatus according to a method of any of claims 1-4.

The control system may e.g. comprise a user interface, a control unit for controlling movable parts of the apparatus, time limits etc, and any other appropriate part(s) of the drum in an advantageous manner.

Furthermore, the invention relates to use of an apparatus according to any of claims 5-20 for processing of animal bodies and/or pelts.

Figures

The invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which: fig. 1 illustrates a part of an apparatus for processing of especially dead animal bodies according to an embodiment of the invention, seen in perspective from an inlet end of the apparatus, fig. 2 illustrates a part of an apparatus for processing of especially dead animal bodies according to an embodiment of the invention seen in perspective from the other end of the apparatus, fig. 3 illustrates a part of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the

invention, comprising a suction arrangement, illustrates a part of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention for processing of especially pelts, where the apparatus comprises two compartments, fig. 5 illustrates a part of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention for processing of especially pelts, seen in perspective, fig. 6 illustrates a part of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention for processing of especially pelts, seen in perspective from the other end, fig. 7 Illustrates an embodiment of a method of operating an apparatus

according to an embodiment of the invention, fig. 8 Illustrates another embodiment of a method of operating an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, figs. 9-10 illustrates an embodiment of a gate arrangement according to an

embodiment of the invention, and fig. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a sorting arrangement according to an

embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description

Fig.1 and fig. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus 1 comprises a drum 2 with a

compartment 9. Preferably, the drum 2 is substantially horizontally arranged and is a cylindrical drum, but other appropriate geometrical shapes and arrangements of the drum 2 may also be utilized. Preferably, the drum 2 is set to rotate inside a casing of the apparatus (not illustrated in any drawings) to achieve safety for the operators, to achieve hygienic advantages and to cover e.g. electrical drive arrangements for the drum, and other parts of the apparatus 1 that may be advantageous to cover. The rotation of the drum 2 may be achieved by means of e.g. a belt drive, by means of one or more wheels on which the drum rests, by means of toothed wheels or the like. The casing of the apparatus, drive arrangement for rotating the drum and the like are not illustrated to ease understanding of the drawings.

As illustrated, the drum 2 comprises a compartment 9 with an inlet 5 and an outlet 8 in an end 3 of the drum 2, and a transportation unit 10. In this case, the transportation unit 10 comprises a fixed helical screw fixed to the inner surface of the compartment, but it may also comprise one or more plates fixed to the inner surface of the compartment 9 and arranged with an angle in relation to the longitudinal direction of the drum as described later on. The drum 2 is arranged to be rotated around its centre axis CA extending in the longitudinal direction LD of the drum 2.

The fixed helical screw is in this embodiment formed with a first surface 12 and a second surface 13 with an obtuse angle in relation to the inner surface of the compartment. The first surface 12 of the transportation unit 10 is arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment 9 in the longitudinal direction of the drum towards the outlet 8 during rotation of the drum 2, when rotating the drum 2 in the second rotation direction. E.g. by the surface 12 being arranged substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the drum 2.

As illustrated, the compartment 9 may optionally further comprise substantial parallel elevations 17 extending in the longitudinal direction of the drum 2 to further facilitate a mechanical processing of the content of the compartment. The parallel elevations 17 may have the same height as the transportation unit(s) 10 or it may have a different height. When the drum 2 rotates with a first rotation direction, in fig 1 indicated with the arrow L, the content of the drum (e.g. dead animal bodies and preferably also a granular material such as sawdust) is circulated and processed in the compartment 9 and slides of the second surface 13 substantially without being forced in the longitudinal direction LD of the drum 2. This also results in advantageous mechanical processing of the pelt /bodies.

Then, when the drum 2 rotates in the second reverse direction as indicated by the arrow R, the surface 12 of the transportation unit 10 transports the content towards the outlet 8 of the compartment 9. The compartment of the drum of fig. 1 and 2 may be connected to a suction arrangement 14 as illustrated in fig. 3. This suction arrangement 14 facilitates the establishment of a suction action to remove saw dust from the interior of the drum 2. The suction arrangement 14 may be operateable between different levels, e.g. a. first suction level e.g. between about 30% to 50% of the maximum possible suction, and a second level between 80% and 100% suction. The first level may be utilized during processing of the animal bodies or pelts to create a better and healthier working environment, in that e.g. saw dust may be harmful to the health. Thus the first level facilitates that a significantly reduced amount of sawdust unintentionally leaves the compartment 9 of the drum 2 during processing of the content. The second level may be utilized to remove sawdust from the compartment 9, 9a, e.g. for being replaced with new, cleaner sawdust. The second level may for example be automatically initiated when unloading the compartment 9.

Fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention, where the drum 2 is seen from the side. The drum 2 comprises a first compartment 9a, and a second compartment 9b, where the second compartment 9b comprises a plurality of perforations in the wall of the drum 2, to allow a granular material such as sawdust to be sorted from the pelt in the second compartment 9b. The perforations 16 may comprise a plurality of thru-holes in a plate of the drum 2, it may comprise a mesh or the like. Fig 5 illustrates the drum 2 of fig. 4 seen in perspective, where a section of the drum wall is removed from the drawing to facilitate a view inside the first compartment 9a. The first compartment 9a comprises an inlet 5 for inletting of pelts from skinned animals and a granular material. The first compartment likewise comprises a plurality of transportation units 10, in this embodiment of the invention in the form of plates fixed to the inner side of the compartment and arranged with an angle in relation to the longitudinal direction LD of the drum 2.

The plates 10 induce a movement of the content of the first compartment 9a in the longitudinal direction LD of the drum 2 towards the end of the drum comprising the inlet 5, during rotation of the drum 2 with the first rotation direction. Likewise, the plates induce a movement of the content of the first compartment 9a in the longitudinal direction LD of the drum towards the outlet 8 of the first compartment 9a, during rotation of the drum 2 with the second rotation direction.

Thus, since the transportation units 10 are arranged to prevent the content from leaving the first compartment 9a during rotation in the first direction, the content stays in the compartment 9a to be processed. Then when shifting to the second rotation direction, the content is transported towards the outlet 8 in the partition wall 7 by means of the transportation units 10 in the first compartment 9a. The outlet 8 in the partition wall 7 preferably comprises an automatic catching arrangement 11. This catching arrangement 11 comprises a catching part 19 extending substantially opposite to the outlet 8 to the inner surface of the side wall of the drum 2. In the present example, the catching part 19 is fixed to the side wall as illustrated at the point PI, and the catching part 19 comprises a part with a surface arranged with a distance to the partition wall 7 to facilitate that content of the compartment 9a can enter between the partition wall 7 and the part with the distance to the partition wall 7. The catching arrangement 11 furthermore preferably comprises a screening part/wall 20 to facilitate that the catching arrangement only can catch content of the first compartment when rotating with the second rotation direction, i.e. when the transportation units 10 transports the content of the first compartment 9a towards the outlet 8 of the first compartment 9a. Thus, when rotating the drum 2 in the first rotation direction, the screening part/wall 20 covers for the outlet 8, and when rotating the drum with a second rotation direction, the catching part 19 facilitates automatic catching of the content of the first compartment 9a when the transportation units brings the content to the catching arrangement. The screening part/wall 20 acts as a guide of the catching arrangement 11 when rotating the drum 2 in the second rotation direction, so as to help to guide the content through the outlet 8.

Especially when the catching part 19 is located at a lower position during the rotation of the drum 2, it will catch pelts and sawdust. The catching arrangement 11 holds the grabbed content during the further rotation of the drum 2, and when the catching part 19 reaches a higher point due to rotation of the drum 2, the content of the catching arrangement 11 will, due to gravity, automatically slide/move from the catching arrangement 11, through the outlet 8 of the first compartment 9a and into the second compartment 9b. The outlet 8 of the first compartment 9a in the partition wall 7 in this embodiment thus acts as an inlet for the second compartment 9b.

Fig. 6 illustrates the drum 2 of fig. 4 and 5 seen in perspective, where a section of the drum wall is removed from the drawing to facilitate a view inside the second compartment 9b. As illustrated, the wall of the drum 2 of the second compartment 9b comprises perforations in the wall to facilitate a sorting of the content of the drum. The content may comprise pelts and a granular material such as sawdust. Thus, when rotating the drum 2, the granular material leaves the second compartment through the perforations, especially at the lower area of the drum during rotation, and is in this way sorted from the pelts. As illustrated, the second compartment comprises transportation units 10b. In this example, the transportation units 10b comprise e.g. plates fixed to the inner side of the compartment and arranged with an angle in relation to the longitudinal direction LD of the drum 2. The transportation units 10b of the second compartment 9b deviates from the transportation units 10 of the first compartment (see fig. 5) in that they are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment 9b in the longitudinal direction of the drum 2 towards the outlet 6 of the second compartment 9b, during rotation of the drum 2 with the first rotation direction. As illustrated, the outlet 6 of the second compartment 9b may comprise a catching arrangement 22 substantially similar to the catching arrangement 11 of the first compartment 9a, however with the catching part arranged to catch content when rotating the drum in the first rotation direction. Alternatively or additionally, the end 4 of the drum 2 with the outlet 6 may comprise a door to be opened and thus automatically unloading the pelt from the second compartment 9b when rotating the drum in the first rotation direction.

Preferably, at least in embodiments where the outlet 6 of the second compartment 9b comprises a catching arrangement 22, the transportation units 10b are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment 9b in the longitudinal direction of the drum 2 away from the outlet 6 of the second compartment 9b, during rotation of the drum 2 with the second rotation direction. This may however not be necessary if for example the outlet 6 in another embodiment of the invention comprises a door (not illustrated) covering the outlet 6 when the drum rotates with the second rotation direction, or if the end of the drum 4 may be removed during unload the drum. In such a case, the transportation unit(s) 10b of the second compartment may comprise e.g. an obtuse angel as illustrated in figs 1 and 2, to avoid or reduce a movement of the content towards the outlet 8 from the first compartment 9a during rotation of the drum in the second rotation direction. Likewise, the outlet 8 in the partition wall 7 from the first compartment 9a may be arranged substantially at the centre of the partition wall 7 as illustrated in fig 5 and 6, so that the centre axis CA of the drum 2 extends through the outlet 8. However, the outlet 8 may also be arranged at other locations in the partition wall 7.

It is in general understood that the transportation unit(s) 10, 10b may comprise a screw arrangement such as a helical screw, it may comprise plates as disclosed in e.g. figs. 5 and 6 or any other appropriate fixed arrangements which facilitates inducing a force on the content of a compartment of the drum, dependent on the rotation direction of the drum 2.

In general, it is to be understood that the apparatus 1 may comprise any appropriate arrangement(s) facilitating (preferably) automatic unload of the animal bodies or pelts through the outlet 6, 8 when the transportation unit(s) 10, 10b transport the pelts or animal bodies towards the outlet 6, 8. E.g. a catching arrangement 11 as described later on, a sorting arrangement 31 as disclosed later on which may further be connected to a catching arrangement 11 , or any other appropriate arrangements in general. Likewise, the apparatus as described in relation figs. 5 and 6 may comprise a suction arrangement 14 (not illustrated in the figures) for enhancing the working

environment. Also this suction arrangement may be arranged to facilitate a suction to remove sawdust from the second compartment 9b. In e.g. such a scenario, the second compartment 9b does not necessarily comprise the perforations 16, although a combination of the suction arrangement 14 and the perforations 16 to remove sawdust may also be utilized in combination, and has turned out to be advantageous in combination.

The operation of the drum 2 disclosed with two compartments 9a, 9b in figs. 4, 5 and 6 is described in relation to the flow chart of fig 7 in the following. At step SI, the drum 2 of the apparatus 1 is set to rotate with the first rotation direction, preferably by means of a control system (not illustrated), and pelts and a granular material such as sawdust is loaded into the first compartment through the inlet 5. The pelts are thus processed and are kept away from the outlet 8 due to the fixed transportation units 10 in the first compartment 9a.

The drum 2 is set to rotate with the first rotation direction until a timer Tl runs out. Then the drum 2 is shifted (preferably automatically) to rotate with the second rotation direction in step S2. This initiates that the fixed transportation units 10 of the first compartment 9a starts to induce a movement of the content of the compartment 9a in the longitudinal direction LD of the drum 2 towards the outlet 8 of the first compartment 9a. When the content of the first compartment 9a, i.e. the pelts and the granular material, reaches the catching arrangement 11 , the content of the first compartment 9a is automatically loaded into the second compartment 9b.

When the granular material and the pelts reaches the second compartment 9b, the granular material is sorted from the pelts through the perforations in the wall of the drum of the second compartment 9b. It is understood that the drum 2 continues to rotate with the second rotation direction during a time period given by a timer function T2, to facilitate sufficient removal of the granular material from the pelt in the second compartment 9b and emptying of the first compartment 9a. During rotation with the second rotation direction, the transportation units 10b may induce a movement of the pelts of the second compartment 9b towards the partition wall 7. When the timer T2 runs out, the drum 2 is set to rotate with the first rotation direction again. This initiates that the fixed transportation units 10b of the second compartment 9b starts to induce a movement of the content of the compartment 9b in the longitudinal direction LD of the drum towards the outlet 6, thus facilitating an automatic unload of the compartment 9b, e.g. by means of a catching arrangement 22, an opening of a door in the end 4 or the like. Fig. 8 illustrates a way of operating the drum of figs. 4, 5 and 6, to facilitate a faster processing of the pelt.

Step SI and Step S2 and the timer functions Tl, T2 of fig. 8 are substantially similar to those of fig. 7 as described above. However, when the timer function T2 in fig. 8 runs out and the drum 2 starts to rotate with the first direction again to unload the second compartment 9b, a new batch of pelt and granular material can be loaded into the first compartment 9a. The unloading of the second compartment 9b and the processing of the content of the first compartment will thus be performed for the same amount of time defined by the timer Tl . This facilitates a faster and more cost efficient method in that processing of the content of the first compartment 9a and unloading of the second compartment 9b may be performed in the same step.

Especially during such an operation, it may be advantageous that the apparatus 1 comprises indication means such as a display, a lamp and/or acoustic means which are activated when the unloading of the second compartment 9b takes place.

Also, the apparatus 1 may in an embodiment of the invention comprise a one or more further compartments/storages (not illustrated) with an automatically operated gate that is automatically opened when the second compartment 9b starts to be unloaded. Such a further compartments/storages (not illustrated) may also be utilized in relation to operating the apparatus as disclosed in fig. 7. Thus, a new batch of sawdust and pelts may automatically be loaded into the first compartment 9a from the one or more compartments/storages at the right time, to ensure sufficient processing of the pelts. E.g., the one or more further compartments/storages may comprise a first further compartment with sawdust (e.g. also comprising a dosing arrangement for dosing the amount of sawdust to be loaded into the first compartment 9b) and a second further compartment with a batch of pelts. E.g. in such an embodiment, the apparatus 1 may comprise at least two inlets 5, one for sawdust and one for the pelts, but it may also be the same inlet 5. A non-limiting example of an overall system including one or both embodiments as disclosed in figs 1-8 may be as follows. The dead animal bodies are tumbled in an apparatus as disclosed in figs. 1-3. Thereafter, the animal bodies are skinned, and the pelts are tumbled with the skin side facing outwards, e.g. by means of an apparatus as disclosed in relation to figs. 4-8. After this, the furred side of the pelts is arranged to face outwards, and the pelts are again processed in an apparatus as disclosed in figs. 4-8 e.g. another similar apparatus or the same apparatus. After this tumbling, the pelts are arranged for drying. Such a system may comprise one or more suction arrangements to transport the pelts from apparatus to apparatus. For example, a pipe with a vacuum may be utilized for transporting the pelts to e.g. a storage as described above at the apparatus for processing/tumbling the pelts with the furred side facing outwards. Such a pipe may also facilitate turning of the pelts inside out, if the end of a pelt is arranged around the inlet of the pipe. Likewise, a suction arrangement including one or more pipes may be utilized for transporting the pelts directly and automatically from the outlet 6 of the apparatus to the drying facility.

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate a more detailed view of a gate arrangement 18 for granular material such as sawdust, as illustrated in fig. 2. This gate arrangement 18 may be advantageous to implement in the compartment 9a of embodiments of the apparatus 1 as disclosed in figs. 4, 5 and 6, and especially in the compartment 9 of

embodiments of the apparatus 1 as disclosed in figs. figs. 1 and 2, for emptying the compartments 9, 9a of sawdust.

The gate arrangement 18 comprises a movable part 23 with a plate or the like for covering the outlet 25 of the gate arrangement 18 in a closed position, where the movable part 23 is rotatable around an axis AX1 inside a casing 27. In the embodiment of fig. 8, the gate arrangement 18 is in a closed configuration. The gate arrangement 18 is arranged up against the inner wall surface of the drum 2 (the same surface that comprises the transportation unit(s)), e.g. to be substantially in abutment with the inner surface of the wall of the drum 2, so as to facilitate that the sawdust can enter through one or more inlet(s) 24 of the gate arrangement 18 near the inner wall surface of the drum 2.

The gate arrangement 18 is arranged at the end of the drum 2 at the same end as the outlet 8 of the first compartment 9, 9a. When the drum 2 rotates with the first rotation direction, a part 30 of the casing not comprising inlet(s) 24 will meet the content of the drum 2 during rotation. When the drum 2 rotates with the second rotation direction to unload the first compartment 9, 9a, by means of the

transportation unit(s) 10, the inlet(s) 24 of the gate arrangement 18 will allow sawdust to enter into the gate arrangement through the inlet(s) 24. When the plate of the movable part 23 is arranged in a closed position as illustrated in fig. 9, the sawdust will stay in the gate arrangement 18 and will not be able to be unloaded through the outlet 25 of the gate arrangement 16. When the plate of the movable part 23 is arranged in an open position as illustrated in fig. 10, the sawdust collected by the gate arrangement 18 can leave the gate arrangement through the outlet 25. Thus, when the gate arrangement 18 during rotation in the second rotation direction has collected a granular material such as sawdust from the lower part of the drum 2, the sawdust is due to the rotation of the drum 2 transported to a higher location. At the higher location, the sawdust in the gate arrangement 18 leaves the outlet 25 of the gate arrangement 18 due to gravity, and falls down onto a surface (not illustrated in fig. 8 or 9) arranged at the outlet 8 of the compartment 9a, 9b, thereby utilizing the outlet 8 for the pelts or animal bodies as an outlet for sawdust to be exchanged.

It is to be understood that the gate arrangement 18 may also in other embodiments be utilized together with another outlet (not illustrated in any drawing) especially designed for unloading sawdust from the compartment 9, 9a.

The shifting between an open and closed configuration of the gate arrangement 18 may be achieved by means of a manually operated handle 26, by means of automation or the like. As illustrated in figs. 9 and 10, the movable part 23 is rotatable around an axis AX1 between an open position and a closed position, and is guided by a guiding part 28 for guiding a guided part 29 of the movable part 23 of the gate arrangement 18. It is understood that the gate arrangement 18 as disclosed in figs. 2, 8 and 9 is not necessarily limited to use in an apparatus 1 for processing dead animal bodies and /or pelt, but may be utilized within several other areas for emptying a compartment of a drum for content. Fig. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a sorting arrangement 31 for sorting granular material from the pelts or dead animal bodies during unload of the pelts or dead animal bodies. This embodiment has however shown to be especially relevant to the apparatus 1 as disclosed in figs. 1 and 2 in relation to unload of dead animal bodies. The sorting arrangement 31 is arranged at the outlet 8 of the compartment 9, and comprises an outlet for leading the sawdust back to the compartment 9. The sorting arrangement comprises a pivotable part 33, e.g. a plate, which is pivotable around an axis AX2. When the pivotable part 33 is pivoted to the position as shown in fig. 10, the sorting arrangement is ready to unload the animal bodies from the compartment 9. The animal bodies are transported to the outlet 8 by means of the transportation unit(s) (not illustrated in fig. 11), and enter the sorting arrangement 31 , onto the part 31. The outlet 32 is of a size that prevents the dead animal bodies from blocking the outlet 32 and from entering the outlet 32. The sawdust thus slides down the plate 33 and through the outlet 32 (preferably at least partly by means of the gravity) and back into the compartment 9 as indicated by the arrow AR1, whereas the animal bodies continues to be unloaded from the compartment 9 as indicated by the arrow AR2.

When the pivotable part 33 is pivoted to a closed position (not illustrated) it may help to guide animal bodies into the inlet 5. If the apparatus 1 comprises a suction arrangement 14 for facilitating suction in the compartment 9, this suction

arrangement 14 may also help to suck the sawdust through the outlet 32. The sorting arrangement may also facilitate a blocking function preventing animal bodies from entering the outlet during rotation of the drum 2 in the first rotation direction.

At least if the apparatus 1 comprises a gate arrangement 18 as described in relation to figs. 9 and 10, the sorting arrangement 31 may comprise a receiving surface for receiving the sawdust from the gate arrangement 18. In this case, if the pivotal part 33 of the sorting arrangement receives the granular material from the gate arrangement 18, the outlet 32 of the sorting arrangement may be covered by a part (not illustrated), so that the granular material does not return to the compartment 9.

In general, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be adapted in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention, as specified in the claims. Furthermore, it is to be understood that two or more embodiments and/or features illustrated in the figures may also be combined in a multitude of varieties to achieve different embodiments not directly described in this document.

List

1. : Apparatus for processing dead animal bodies and/or pelt

2. : Drum

3. : First end of drum

4 : Second end of drum

5. : Inlet

6. : Outlet from second compartment

7. : Partition wall

8. : Outlet from first compartment

9a : First compartment

9b. : Second compartment

10. : Transportation unit(s)

11. : Catching arrangement

12. : first surface of transportation unit

13. : Second surface of transportation unit with obtuse angle

14 : Suction arrangement

15. : Further catching arrangement

16 : Perforations in the wall of the drum in the second compartment.

17. : Parallel elevation fixed to the inner surface of a compartment of the drum.

18. : Gate arrangement for granular material such as sawdust.

19. : Catching part of catching arrangement at outlet of first

Compartment

20. : Screening part/wall of catching arrangement.

21. : part of catching arrangement with a surface arranged with a

distance to the partition wall.

22. ; Catching arrangement of outlet in second compartment

23 : Movable part of gate arrangement

24 : Inlet(s) of gate arrangement

25 : Outlet(s) of gate arrangement

26 : Manually operateable handle of gate arrangement Casing of gate arrangement.

Guiding part of gate arrangement

Guided part of movable part of gate arrangement

Part of casing of gate arrangement, meeting the content of the compartment during rotation in the first rotation direction Sorting arrangement of outlet.

Outlet of sorting arrangement for granular material.

Pivotal part of suction arrangement.

Claims

1. A method of processing dead animal bodies and /or pelts, said method comprising the steps of: loading one or more dead animal bodies or pelts into a compartment (9, 9a) within a drum (2) by use of an inlet (5), rotating the drum (2) in a first rotation direction so as to process the content of the compartment (9, 9a), and rotating the drum (2) in a second rotation direction reverse to the first rotation direction, so as to transport the content of the compartment (9, 9a) towards an outlet (8) of the compartment (9, 9a) and into a second compartment (9b) of said drum (2) by means of one or more fixed transportation units (10) fixed to an inner surface of the compartment (9, 9a).

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said one or more transportation units (10) are further arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment (9, 9a) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the drum (2) away from the outlet (8) when rotating the drum (2) with said first rotation direction.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said drum (2) comprises a partition wall (7) between the first compartment (9a) and the second compartment (9b) in the drum (2), the second compartment (9b) comprising an outlet (6) and one or more fixed transportation units (10b) fixed to an inner surface of the second compartment (9b) and being arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment (9b) in the longitudinal direction of the drum (2) towards said outlet (6), during rotation of the drum (2) with said first rotation direction, wherein the outlet (8) of the first compartment (9a) is arranged in the partition wall (7) for moving the content of the first compartment (9a) to said second compartment (9b).

4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising the subsequent step of rotating said drum with said first rotation direction so as to unload said second compartment (9b).

5. A method according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, said method comprising the step of rotating said drum (2) in said first rotation direction and/or said second rotation direction in one or more predefined time periods.

6. An apparatus (1) for processing of dead animal bodies and /or pelts, said apparatus comprising a drum (2) for tumbling said dead animal bodies and /or pelt, said drum (2) comprising a first compartment (9, 9a) having an inlet (5), an outlet (8), and a second compartment (9b) wherein said apparatus (1) is configured for selectively driving the drum (2) in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction around a longitudinal symmetry axis (A) of the drum (2), and wherein said one or more fixed transportation units (10) are fixed to an inner surface of the compartment and are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the compartment in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the drum towards said outlet (8) and into said second compartment (9b), during rotation of the drum (2) with said second rotation direction.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said outlet (8) comprises a catching arrangement (11) arranged to automatically catch content of the compartment (9, 9a,) during rotation of the drum (2) in the second rotation direction.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein said outlet (8) comprises a sorting arrangement (31) with an outlet (32) for automatically loading a granular material from the compartment (9, 9a) back into the compartment (9, 9a) during unload of the compartment (9, 9a).

9. An apparatus according to claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein said one or more fixed transportation units (10, 10b) comprises fixed plates extending outwards from the inner surface of the compartment.

10. An apparatus according to any of the claims 6-9, wherein said one or more fixed transportation units (10, 10b) comprises an arrangement at the inner surface of the drum (2) forming a helical screw.

11. An apparatus according to any of the claims 6-10, wherein said one or more transportation units (10, 10b) comprise a first surface (12) arranged so as to act on the content of the drum (2) with a force towards said outlet (6) of the compartment, and a second surface (13) arranged with an obtuse angle in relation to the inner surface of the compartment.

12. An apparatus according to any of the claims 6-11, wherein said apparatus comprises a suction arrangement (14) for sorting the content of a compartment (9, 9a, 9b) ofthe drum (2).

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said suction arrangement (14) is arranged to shift between at least two predetermined levels.

14. An apparatus according to any of claims 6-13, wherein said inlet (5) is arranged in the same end of the drum as said outlet (6).

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said inlet (5) and said outlet (6) is the same opening.

16. An apparatus (1) according to any of the claims 6-15, wherein said drum comprises a partition wall (7) between the first compartment (9a) and the second compartment (9b) in the drum (2), the second compartment comprising an outlet (6) and one or more fixed

transportation units (10b) fixed to an inner surface of the second compartment (9b) and being arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment (9b) in the longitudinal direction of the drum (2) towards said outlet (6), during rotation of the drum (2) with said first rotation direction, wherein the outlet (8) of the first compartment (9a) is arranged in the partition wall for moving the content of the first compartment (9a) to the second compartment (9b).

17. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said one or more fixed

transportation units (10b) of the second compartment (9b) are arranged to induce a movement of the content of the second compartment (9b) in the longitudinal direction of the drum (2) away from said outlet (6), during rotation of the drum (2) in said second rotation direction.

18. An apparatus according to claim 16 or 17, wherein said second compartment (9b) comprises a plurality of perforations (16) in the wall of the drum so as to facilitate a sorting of the content in the second compartment (9b).

19. An apparatus according to any of the claims 6-18 comprising a gate arrangement (18) for a granular material, said gate arrangement (18) being fixed to an inner surface of the drum (2) at the end of a compartment (9, 9a) of the drum (2), and being operable between an open and a closed position, wherein said gate arrangement (18) in an open position is arranged to automatically grab said granular material from the bottom of said drum (2) by means of an inlet (24) of the gate arrangement (18), and transport said granular material to a higher position due to the rotation of the drum (2) so as to automatically unload said granular material trough an outlet (25) of the gate arrangement (18) when the gate arrangement (18) is in an open position.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said gate arrangement (18) in an open position is arranged to automatically unload said granular material through the said outlet (8) of the first compartment (9, 9a) during rotation of the drum (2) in the second rotation direction.

21. An apparatus (1) according to any of the claims 6-20 comprising a control system for operating the apparatus according to a method of any of claims 1-5.

22. Use of an apparatus (1) according to any of claims 6-21 for processing of animal bodies and/or pelts.