Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various methods have been employed heretofore ~
in mechanically pulling the hides from meat animals, -
as a step in the processing of meat on a rapid produc-
tion basis. According to one method, as disclosed in ;
U. S. Patent 3,626,550, a carcass is suspended by the ~;
hind legs and mechanical means are provided for strip-
ping a loosened hide from the hindquarters toward the
head. In this patent, electric stimulus is employed
to cause carcass muscle contraction, which is said to ~`
stiffen the carcass and facilitate progressi~e removal
: of the hide from the body and the skull as a continu- ;-
ous operation. A somewhat similar operation is dis-
closed in the U. S. Patent 3,537,130.
The prior methods above mentioned have been em- `
ployed both with and without the aid of electric stimu-
lus, with varying degrees of success. In some forms
of mechanical apparatus for hide removal, the hide
stripping operation commenced at the skull and pro~
gressed toward the hindquarters. This usually entailed
a preliminary burden of skillful hand knifing at the
skull, as well as along the sides of the carcass, with-
out decreasing the liklihood of damage to the hide, ` -
flesh, and spine of the carcass. Such devices usually
; pulled the hide laterally then upwardly toward the hind-
quarters of the suspended carcass, as disclosed in a
general way by the drawings hereto appended.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION i'-
', In accordance with the present invention, the `
hides of a suspended carcass is slitted along the belly ,~
and throat of the carcass, whereupon with the use of a , '
"Jarvis" air knife or equivalent cutting or trimming
implement, flaps of hide are produced at opposite sides
of the carcass along substantially the full length there~
of in accordance with common practice. The carcass, sus- ~
pended from its hind legs, is conveyed to a hide puller ,-'~,' '
which comprises a plurality of moving upstanding hooks ,'5,!. ','"'.,,
which travel for a distance along a somewhat lateral ~' '
course, away from the spine of the carcass, and then ,
digress approximately vertically upwardly to an upper
limit of travel well above the point of suspension of ,~
the carcass.
`1~ A yoke member preferably in the form of a chain, ,'
with opposite fTee ends and an intermediate anchor por~
;~ tion, is used for pul~ing the hide progressively from ;~'
', ~ the skull and thereafter from the remainder of the car~
cass, as a selected hook of the hide'puller advances the ''
yoke member steadily from a lower or base position toward
' the upper limit of travel. ;~
'~ The opposite free ends of the yoke member are pro-
, ~ided with flap grippers or loops, which securely grip
opposite side flaps o the hide produced by an advance
' skinning of the forelegs and chest. The intermediate
or anchor portion of the yoke member is adapted to engage -~
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a traveling hook of the hide puller, by the simple act
of throwing the anchor portion over the upstanding end
of the hook.
During adrancement of the yoke member by a travel- -
ing hook as stated, the previously skinned forelegs of ~-
the animal are drawn away from said hook in a direction
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opposite to the direction of the initial hook advance-
ment. This withdrawal of the forelegs tends to arch the ;~
neck and spine of the carcass over the shoulders and back,
while the yoke member continues to advance and to eventu-
ally skin the skull clear of hide. Further advancement `
of the yoke member dehides the shoulders, back, and hind- `i
quarters progressively and usually without the need for ~ ~-
any knife work.
It has been determined that the procedure above .~ ,
outlined dehides the carcass without damage to the spine, i~ `
the hide, or the flesh of the carcass, and this is accom-
plished without the use of electric stimulus. It is be~
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lieved that contraction of the spine, rather than elonga~
tion or stretching thereof, results from arching the
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spine as stated, during detachment of the hide therefrom.
By eliminating or minimizing stretch, and possible tear-
ing of tissue or muscle connecting the vertebrae of the ;:! ' ' ~'
spine, the present invention ensures the production of `~
meat which will readily pass inspection and reach the rr~ '.' ~ :'
market in palatable condition.
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Additional advantages resulting from practice
of the present in~ention are that one man can be eliminated
at kill rates as low as 35 cattle per hour, and about
one pound o additional head meat is left on the car-
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;~ cass.
Another pronounced and important ad~antage is
: that an improved hide take-off from the upper back occurs
due to the inclination imparted to the carcass by the
stanchion, or secondary puller.
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BRrEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ~-
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Fig~ 1 is a side elerational view of a carcass
suspended from a conveyor before an up-pulling hide
puller, and showing a counterpuller in conjunction there- ~
with, the components being illustrated in a condition ~ -
free of stress.
. Fig. 2 is a side view similar to Fig. 1, show-
ing the carcass undergoing dehiding in accordance with
the teaching oE the present invention.
i DE~CRIPTION OF THE PREFERR~D EMBODIMENTS
A~ is usual, the meat processing plant includes
a conveyor system from which a multiplicity of carcasses
6 are suspended by the hind legs 8~ The head 10 and -~
forelegs 12 are lowermost, as shown. The conveyor sys
tem, denoted generally by the reference numeral 14, may
be conventional, and will serve to carry the carcasses
successively into position for removal of the hide 16.
Before reaching the hide remover or hide puller mechanism
20, the hide will have been slitted along the belly, and
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trimmed at the legs and shanks by means of a knife to ;~- -
provide flaps 18 at opposite sides o-f the carcass, the
flaps extending from the region of the jawbones to the -
rear of the hind leg shanks, approximately.
A conventional hide puller denoted generally by
the numeral 20 may comprise a heavy frame 22 in which is
journaled a series of sprockets or wheels 24, 26, 28,
over which is trained an endless chain or conveyor 30
that carries a plurality of outwardly extending hooks ~-
32 equally spaced along the chain. A curved guide rail
34 mounted upon the machine frame, guides the chain to
provide a substantially lateral section or reach 36, `~
and an upwardly directed section or reach 38. The chain
may be advanced upon the several sprockets by means of
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a motor 40 and speed reducer 41, or any suitable drive
;; mechanism9 in the direction of the arrow shown. The
hooks of the chain reach an elevation considerably above i
the suspension point of carcass 6.
The reference numeral 42 indicates a guide means ~ ,
for control of the hide undergoing removal, and forms ti.
- no part of the present invention.
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, At 44 is indicated a chain or equivalent flexi
ble element, formed as a yoke having two hide gripper - T
arms 46 and 48 divergent from an intermediate connecting
I portion 50. The free ends of arms 46 and 48 carry flap
- grippers to securely grip the foreleg hide flaps at 54.
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- The connecting portion 50 is adapted to engage a hook
~ such as 32 of the movable conveyor chain 30. The portion ;
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50 may be referred to as an anchor portion of the yoke
member~ The anchor portion 50 is easily and quickly - -
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placed manually in engagement with a hook 32, where it ;`
will remain until the hide has been stripped from the
carcass. The anchor portion disengages from the hook
after the detached hide is drawn upwardly under a hood ~ -
52 and falls by gravi~y at the rear of the hide puller.
In accordance with the present invention, there
- is provided in conjunction with the up-pull type pri-
mary hide puller, a secondary or auxiliary puller or
stanchion denoted generally by the numeral 60. Puller
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60 operates to draw the previously skinned forelegs 12
in a direction substantially opposite to the pull ini- ~ -
tially exerted upon the hide by hook 32
The secondary puller 60 comprises a base or
fixed platform 62 upon which is pivoted at 64 an inclined
stanchion 66~ the stanchion being provided along a por~
tion of its length with a series of studs or anchor mem-
bers 68 located at di~ferent distances from pivot 64. ;~
Members 68 furnish means for anchoring a pair of pull
chains 7Q, 70 to the stanchion, which chains at their
opposite ends 72 are secured about the forelegs 12, one
chain being attached to each foreleg. The attachments
at 72 may be formed by loops in the chains, to facilitate
and expedite securement and release of the leg connections.
The stanchion 66 may be swung about pivot 64 by "~
power means, between the inoperative full line position of
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Fig. 1 and the operative broken line position thereof. - -~
One form of power means is shown by way of example, as ,
a pneumatic cylinder motor 74 under the control of a
valve 76 located preferably near the attendant's station ~-
at the primary hide puller. The pneumatic cylinder may
have pivotal connections at 76~ 78 with the platform 62
and stanchion 66, respectively, for proper operation.
As shown, the secondary puller appears to employ ~ -
a single pneumatic cylinder operative upon a single up~
right stanchion member 66, which member 66 provides
anchorage for two identical oreleg chains 70, one being `~
attachable to each foreleg of the carcass. In practice ? `.,
howe~er, it may be desirable to construct the stanchion - -
as a rigid open frame having two uprights, such as 66, ~ ~
arranged in a common plane, and movable in unison by ~a'"' 1 .
two pneumatic cylinders each operative upon one of the
uprights. The open frame may be rectangular in form. --
It is important, of course, that the two cylinders operate ;
simultaneously to apply equal pull.ing forces to the two
29 foreleg chains.
OPERATION OF THE DEVICE ..
The carcass 6 is prepared in advance of the hide ~
removal operation, by slitting the hide lengthwise al~ng i -`
the belly, and knie-trimming the hide from the forelegs, ',',!~.~, .,
the hind legs and shanks, to form the longitudinal flaps ;~
18 along opposite sides of the carcass. The head 10 is
not to be skimled in advance, because the hide will be ~ ~
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peeled from the head incident to the pulling procedure,
with substantial advantage resulting.
The carcass prepared as stated, is conveyed ;~
` head down, to the vicinity of the primary and secondary
hide pullers, where an attendant attaches the skinned
forelegs by means of chains 70 to the forwardly inclined
stanchion 66, (see full lines 66 of Fig. l); also, the
yoke chains 46, 48 will be secured to the foreleg sîde
flaps at 54 at opposite sides of the neck or shoulders.
Then the attendant engages the intermediate anchor portion
50 of the yoke onto the nearest hook 32 of the primary
- hide puller. Hook 32 in advancing will exert an initial
lateral pull upon the side flaps at 54, by way of chain
sections 46 and 48. After said chain sections have
reached a state of tension, the attendant may manipulate
` valve 76 to effect pneumatic withdrawal of stanchion 66
to or toward the operative position of Fig 2.
As shown by Fig. 2, continued advancement of the
operative hook 32 laterally, effects remo~al of hide from ~-~
., 20 the shoulders and head 10, while the forelegs are drawn
in the opposite direction ~y the secondary puller. Fur-
ther advancement of hook 32, in upward direction, effects
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removal of hide completely from the back and rump, where-
upon the attendant may manipulate valve 76 to restore
stanchion 66 to the initial inoperative position, at
which the chains 70 free of stress, may be detached from
the forelegs of the carcass.
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It is here to be noted that the counterforce
imposed upon the forelegs of the carcass by the secondary `
puller 60, limits the extent to which the primary puller
may contort the neck, head and vertebrae of the spine,
as hook 32 proceeds toward and onto the upswing of its
ad~ancing movement One important effect of said counter-
force is evidenced by a clean and complete dehiding of
the head, without the aid of the trimming knife. The
head is cleanly dehided without objectionable tearing
of flesh or fat therefrom. Accordingly, there is suf-
fered no unnecessary loss of carcass weight, and the
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hide removed is found unusually clean and clear of un- -
wanted flesh.
Another important accomplishment of the instant
procedure, concerns the quality and appearance of the
meat produced. Heretofore it was considered necessary
to contract ~nd stiffen the spine and surrounding muscles
during dehiding, by applying electric stimulus or shock
` to the carcass, in order to preclude tearing, mutilation, ~5;
and discoloration of the carcass meat as the hide was
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stripped therefrom. The present invention renders un~
necessary the labor and expense of such electric stimu~
lation, as the same results are realized by the proper
application of pulling forces as herein taught,
It is believed that the opposing forces applied
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to the carcass by the primary and secondary hide pullers
as herein taught, result in a controlled inward flexing``
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(Fig. 2) of the spine which cramps and stiffens, rather .
- than stretch the vertebral structure and its supporting `
muscles and tissues, so that these parts may not readily
yield and tear apart under the stress of hide stripping.
Use of the method and apparatus herein dis-
~ closed minimizes the labor and expense of meat production,
; improves the quality and the appearance of meat produced,
and results in the production of high quality unblemished
hides on a major scale. By avoiding damage to the car-
cass in processing, this method facilitates and ex ~`-
pedites inspection and passage in the application of
health standards.
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