Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
l. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for aligning fish
lying on their side and ~onveyed perpendicular to their lingi-
tudinal axis into the position required for decapitationhaving a brake shoe provided with a catching edge which
slides on the fish body and means for displacing the fish
in the direction of their tail end.
2. Description of Prior Art
DE-PS 2 619 217 discloses an apparatus in which
the fish which are conveyed transverse to their longitu-
dinal axis come into co-operating engagement with an ali-
gning disc which displaces the fish in the direction of
their tail portion by engaging their snout by means of
sprung head pushers. A brake shoe is lowered in synchro-
nism with the passage of the fish on to the latter so ~;that the braking edge of the brake shoe rests upon the
flank of the fish. During the course of displacement by
the head pushers the rear edge of the gill cover reaches
the catching edge of the brake shoe so that the displace-
ment movement of the fish is stopped. In the positionthus reached the decapitation stroke is carried out.
With this device it is found that with this
manner of alignment the desired position can hardly be
achieved, at least not with the required exactness. The
cause of this is that the pressure of the braking edge
against
--1--
~.
.~, .
,
: , . , ~,
li~
the fish must on the one hand have such a value that the
fish is pressed in behind the gill flap so that its rear
edge runs securely against the brake shoe and on the other
hand should be kept as low as possible since the displace-
ment must occur under the action of this engaging force.If the engaging force of the braking edge against the fish
is so set that the gill cover edge runs securely against
the brake shoe then the displacing force must be corres-
pondingly high. This entails, however, the danger that
the gill cover is compressed or even torn so that a pre-
cise positioning is no longer possible. The considerationof these two opposing requirements is satisfactory when
processing freshly caught fish, but when processing fish
having a softer consistency it is observed that the rear
edge of the collar bone or the point of connection of the
breast fins function as an opposing edge. This has the
consequence that the fish does not reach its optimum deca-
pitation position and therefore the decapitation stroke
occurs with an unacceptably high loss of valuable fish
meat.
3. Object of the Invention
It is therefore a main object of the invention to
devise an apparatus which in a simple manner enables a
reliable and precise positioning of fish into their opti-
mum position for the decapitation stroke.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is pro-
- vided an apparatus for aligning fish in the position requi-
red for decapitation, said apparatus including means for
conveying said fish lying on their side in a first or con-
veying direction essentially perpendicular to their longi-
tudinal axis, a brake shoe having a catching edge adapted to
-2-
,
. : , , , , i ,~ ,
- .
slide along the body of said fish, and means for displa-
cing said fish in a second or tail direction essentially
perpendicular to said first direction, wherein a guide
track is associated to said catching edge of said brake
shoe upstream of said brake shoe when seen in said second
direction of the longitudinal axis of the fish and forms
a first unit with said brake shoe, said guide track having
a guide edge directed, in use, toward said fish, and being
spaced by a few millimetres in height over at least part
of its length with respect to said catching edge, said
catching edge and said guide edge together defining a gap
extending in said first direction.
The advantàges achieved thereby reside particu-
larly in that the.breast.fins which generally lie against
the flanks of the fish are loosened from the fish body
during the displacement of the fish by means of the cat-
ching edge, are erected against the surface defining the
gap between the brake shoe and the guide track and are
guided in the gap with a lateral engagement of the joints
of the breast fins, which safely absorb the-displacement
pressure, with the catching edge of the brake shoe.
For the purposes of enabling the adjustment to
varying sizes of fish the brake shoe can be constructed
to be vertically yieldable i.e. yieldable in height. The
guide edge of the guide track can also be formed rounded
in order to ensure an unimpeded sliding of the same on
the fish~flank.
The construction of the brake shoe in which the
entry end of the catching edge is arranged before the
entry of the guide edge of the guide track ensures that
the.breast _
:
-3-
:- . :
:
, ~
fin is loosened from the fish body before its entry
into the gap between the brake shoe and guide track so
that it can stand up in the said ~ap during the further
displacement of the fish.
In order to facilitate and accelerate the erecting
of the breast fins preferably there is provided a first
roller vertically yieldably disposed above the conveying
means, this roller being spaced from the brake shoe in
a direction opposed to the conveying direction, being
rotatable about an axis extending substantially parallel
to the conveying dlrection, and having a periphery of
which a part, in use, is directed towards the fish, this
part of the periphery moving, in use, in a direction
opposed to the displacement direction.
The arrangement of a second unit comprising a second
brake shoe and second guide track essentially in the surface
or plane carrying the fish approximately opposite the first
unit comprislng the first brake shoe and flrst gulde track
permlts an lncreased securlty of the posltionlng to be
achieved by simultaneously guiding the two opposing breast
~:: fins and furthermore makes possible a decapitatlon stroke
extending accurately perpendlcular to the backbone of the
fish.
To $mprove this effect further, a second roller is
arranged below the plane receiving the fish in a positlon
opposite to the first roller, this second roller being
', ! ~ ' ' ' '
li:~q
rotatable in a direction opposed to the direction of
rotation of the flrst roller. Advantageously the
periphery of the first and second roller may be provided
with a roughened surface, whereby the gripping effect
of the roller on the breast fin is improved. The
roughening can be provided by means of a fine grooving,
toothing or the like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWII~GS
Other and further objects of the present invention
will be apparent from the following description and claims
and,are illustrated in the accompanying schematic drawings,
which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of
the present invention and the principles thereof and what now
are considered to be the best modes contemplated for applyinq
these principles. Other embodiments of the invention
embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used
and structural changes may be made as desired by those
skilled in the art without departing from the present in-
vention and the scope of the appended claims.
In the drawings
Fig 1. is a portion of a decapitatlon device
embodying one upper roller only and shown
in axonometric representation,
Fig 2 shows a slightly altered embodiment of the
device at a lar~er scale but comprising two
rollers, with a fish in the position a~ter
- . , ... :
::~: :
: :: : .
' ',: : ' '
.
,. '': ~ - :
1~31~64
running under the rollers for aligning the
fins, and
Fig 3 shows a portion of a device according to Fig 2,
with a fish in the position after entry of the
breast fins into the gap between the brake
shoe and the guide track, resp. into the sup-
port plane.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In a frame, which is not shown, there is an
endlessly rotatable conveyor l driven in a suitable man-
ner comprising a chain of conveyor trays 2 with each of
which there is associated a synchronously moving head
support 4. Laterally adjacent to the pathway of the
head supports 4 there is a known per se snout track 3
lS and, following this, a known type of rotary table 5 dri-
ven to rotate in synchronysm with the conveyor~ l ser-
. .
ving as a displacement means which carries spring bias-
sed elements 6 each of which engages the snout of one of
the flsh 15. A gap 7 is left between the conveyor trays
2 and the head supports 4, into which gap the decapita-
tion knife 8, which is only schematically illustrated,
extends. Above the conveyor trays 2 a roller 9 is arran-
ged in the vicinity of the gap 7 which rotates about an
axis parallel to the conveying direction of the fish and
is vertically yieldable about a swivel axis l9. The di-
rection of rotation of this roller 9 is so chosen that
the speed
,~ .
~ -6-
~3~ 6~
vector of its periphery directed towards the fish 15 is
in the direction of the head 17 of the fish. The periphery
of the roller 9 is roghened e.~. by the provision of
fine grooves. Directly behind the roller 9 there is
situated upstream of the decapitation knife 8 above the
fish pathway a brake shoe 11 mounted vertically yieldably
about a pivot axis 20 and in the form of a plate perpendi-
cular to the surface on which the fish are received
with a catching edge 12 directed towards the fish. At
the junction between the roller 9 and the brake shoe 11
the latter is adapt~d to the cylindrical shape of the
roller so that in this region the brake shoe 11 has a
similar profile as the periphery of the roller 9. In the
direction of the displacement of the fish 15 before the
brake shoe 11 and parallel to it there is situated a guide
track 13 having a rounded guide track edge 14 directed
towards the fish and arranged higher by a few millimetres
with respect to the catching edge 12 of the brake shoe 11,
so that the distances of the catching edge 12 and the
track edge 14 to the reception surface for the fish differ
from each other. The end of the guide track 13 directed
against the conveying direction of the fish is set back
with respect to the entry end of the bxake shoe 11.
According to Flg. 2 there is arranged a second roller 10
of the same surface structure as roller 9 and rotating
in an opposite direction to it below the reception sur-
face for the fish. In this case the reception surface is
_ ~ _
~æ
1~3~
arranged as a surface 23 fixed to the machine and above
which there slide conveying elements for transporting
the fish, which non-shown elements are driven to rotate
endlessly. The lower roller 10 is arranged opposite to
the upper roller 9 and extends with its periphery through
an aperture 21 in the reception surface 23 so that its
periphery is closely adjacent to the latter. As may be
taken from Fig. 3 the aperture 21 tapers in the conveyin~
direction to form a gap 22 the width of which corresponds
essentially to that of the gap 7, and of the space be-
tween the brake shoe 11 and the guide track 13.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:
The fish 15 to be treated are so presented to the con-
tinuously driven conveyor 1 that they come to lie on
their side with their snout contacting the snout track 3,
their trunk resp. rear body portion 16 in the conveyor
tray 2 and their head 17 on the headsupport ~. Whilst
being conveyed the fish 15 come, as shown in Fig. 1, under
the roller 9 driven in rotation about an axis parallel
to the conveying direction which begins to erect the
breast fins 18 by virtue of its gripping ability which
is enhanced by the fine toothing on the periphery. By
reason of the engagement of the ish with the snout
track 3 the fish 15 retains its position. Thus prepared,
the fish when conveyed further runs under the catching
edge 12 of the brake shoe 11 so that at least the tip
.i~ 6
- ~, ;` ~. . .. ` . ~
,` . .... .
. .
. .
, - ~ ..
of the breast fin 18 which has already been loosened from
its position close to the trunk 16 is erected and rests
against the inner surface of the latter. Whilst the
fish subsequently comes into the region of the guide
edge 14 of the guide track 13 it is displaced in the
direction of its tail by the displacement element 6.
As a consequence of this the breast fin 18 erects
further against the inner surface of the brake shoe 11,
as seen in Fig. 3, until the catching edge 12 enga~es
the point of connection of the breast fin with the
trunk 16. The growing reaction to the displacement
can no longer be overcome by the dlsplacement element 6
so that the fish stays in this position. Thus the guide
track 13 prevents the fish from sprlnging back when the
displacement element 6 moves away from the fish shortly
before the decapitation process.
When the rollers are provided in pairs according to
the embodiment of Fig. 2 and 3 by using a second roller 10,
the erection of the lower breast fin is performed in the
gap 22, in an analog manner to the above described function
- of the brake shoe 11.
