Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
~ he invention relates to an apparatus for aligning fish
by transferring fish whlch are presented for conveying wlth
their longitudinal axis in an approximately vertlcal orienta-
tion and their tail downwards into a horizontally aligned
position with reference to their head-tail attitude including
at least one pair of conveyor belts ~uided substantially
parallel to one another, engaging the flanks of the fish and
~o conveying these in a conveying direction extending sub-
stantially transverse to thelr longitudinal axis.
2. Description of Prior Art
When mechanically processlng fish lt has been found that,
particularly with longitudinally orientated working steps, as
for example when filleting, handling the fish in their swimming
attitude, that is to say, in the head-tail attitude, results in
the most favourable conditions for carrying out such working
steps, whereas with transversely orientated working steps, as
for example when decapitating, a vertical alignment, that is to
say, head upwards and tail downwards, has shown itself to be
advantageous. Coupling these working steps therefore requires
a device with whose help the fish can be transferred from their
vertical into their horizontal orientation. A typical decapi-
tating device which processes fish in a vertical attitude is
25 disclosed in German Patent 11 77 783 in which the fish are
conveyed by a pair of horizontally guided conveyor belts
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engaging the flanks of the head and of the rump whilst hanging
and being supported at the lower edges of the gill flaps or
the projection of the breast fins. After the decapitation
the parts of the fish are cut free in such a way that the
bodies or rumps fall out of the apparatus under the action of
gravity. In this manner they can be fed to an oblique or
inclined conveyor arranged below the decapitating device which
lifts them up to the loading level of the subsequent processing
machine and thus compensates for the loss of height which has
occurred.
Furthermore, German Patent 12 92 819 discloses a decapitating
apparatus delivering the fish longitudinally orientated in
which each fish is transported to the decapitating apparatus
in an inclined disposition with its head downwards by means
of three pairs of conveyor belts engaging it on its flanks.
After the decapitation the fish rump is transported further
merely by the central pair of conveyor belts and whilst being
conveyed is rotated into a longitudinal position in which its
decapitation surface is directed forwardly. By means of this
apparatus fish of small to medium size can be further trans-
ported aligned with regard to their head-tail attitude, and
additionally an alignment may be achieved with regard to their
belly-back attitude if the fish are fed uniformly with reference
to the position of their back or belly also. The processing
of larger fish is, however, not possible with such an apparatus.
In addition it is not ideal from the ergonomic point of view.
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OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an essential object of the invention to
provide an apparatus which simply and whilst requiring the
minimum space enables the transfer of even large processed
fish hanging vertically aligned into a horizontal alignment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided
an apparatus for aligning fish, said fish having a head
end, a tail end, flanks, a rear portion intermediate said
head end and said tail end and a longitudinal axis
extending between said head end and said tail end, said
apparatus including two first conveying means, said two
first conveying means being adapted to engage said flanks
of said fish and thereby to convey said fish in a conveying
direction with said longitudinal axis of said fish
extending substantially vertically and said tail end lower-
most, said apparatus further including a pivotable flap,
and a biaising means connected to said pivotable flap,
said flap being positioned below said first conveying
means and extending upwards to point where, in use, it
is engaged by said rear portion of said fish, said flap
being pivotable in said conveying direction about a pivotal
axis extending transverse to said conveying direction by
engagement of said flap with said rear portion of said
fish against a force exerted by said biasing means, said
two first conveying means extending substantially parallel
to one another up to said flap but diverging after said
flap in said conveying direction, resilient support means
being associated with the divergent portions of said two
first conveying means.
The advantages which may be achieved thereby reside
primarily in the fact that without a substantial change of
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level the fish may be brought along a short pathway out of
e.g., a hanging head-tail attitude adopted for decapitatlon
into their longitudinal attitude. The resiliently supporting
diverglng continuation of the conveyor belts results in an auto-
matlc adaptation to the slze of the relevant fish in such amanner that its centre of gravlty when the fish is released
by the conveyor belts comes to lie on the other side of the
flap which ensures its reliable turn-over into the longitudlnal
attitude.
For reasons of constructional s~mplicity in connection
with the last mentioned advantageous feature, the conveyor
belts immediately behind the flap in the conveying direction
can be acted on by resiliently yieldable pressure rollers.
In order to achieve a correct guiding of the fish the
flap is preferably arranged in its initial position approximately
vertically and for the same purpose its side directed towards
the rump of the fish can be constructed concavely.
The arrangement of a moved conveying surface immediately
behind the flap in the conveying direction and approximately
in the plane of its axis make possible the further conveying
of the fish after its release by the conveyor belts which diverge
in this region.
The conveyor belts can be provided with engagement means
with which the fish is engaged positively or frictionally to
convey it.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other and further objects of the present invention will
be apparent from the following description and claims and
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are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which by way of
illustration schematically show a preferred embodiment of
the present invention and the principles thereof and what now
are considered to be the ~est modes contemplated for applying
these princlples. Other embodiments of the lnvention 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 invention and the scope
of the appended claims.
In the drawings
Figure 1 is an axonometric view of part of an apparatus
in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is a scrap el~vation of the apparatus in
operation shortly before the arrival of a fish;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 after the transfer
into the longitudinal attitude has been commenced;
and
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 at the moment of
completion of the transfer into the horizontal
attitude.
~ESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A pair of conveyor belts 1 provided with engagement means
2 and synchronously driven by suitable means are arranged on a
machine frame, which is not shown. The conveyor belts are
guided around guide rollers 4 of which only two are shown and
are guided by means of pressure rollers 5 each of which is
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yieldable against the force of a spring 6 in such a manner
that the parts of the conveyor belts 1 lying upstream of the
pressure rollers 5 in the conveying direction extend parallel
to one another and behind the pressure rollers 5 there is a
diverging section 3. Directly in front of the pre~sure rollers
5 and below the plane of the conveyor belts 1 a flap 7 is
arranged symmetrically with regard to the plane of symmetry
of the apparatus and pivotably about a horizontal pivotal axis
8 extending transversely to th~ conveying direction against the
force of a spring 9. The flap 7 extends up into the pathway
of the rump portion 12 of conveyed fish 11 and its surface
directed towards the approaching fish 11 is of concave form
in the direction of its longitudinal extent. Downstream of
the flap 7 there is a conveying surface 10 moved in the con-
veying direction of the conveyor belts 1 and situated approxi-
mately in the plane of the pivotal axis 8.
The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows:
A fish, processed in e.g., a decapitating machine and
hanging with its tail downwards is conveyed out of the pro-
cessing zone by means of the conveyor beltq 1 engaging itsflanks. Depending on how the flsh 11 is presented, its rump
portion 12 contacts the flap 7 with its belly or back and is
guidingly supported by the concave surface of the flap. In
the course of its further movement, the fish begins to leave
its vertlcal attitude as a result of the retention effect of
the flap 7 and the conveying engagement acting above the flap 7.
The flap 7 tilts against the force of the spring 9 in dependence
on the position of the rump portion 12 of the fish, and a
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relative movement between the flap 7 and the fish 11 begins
which finally xesults in the fact that the centre of gravity
of the fish that was origlnally in the vicinity of the flap
7 rises up above the latter. In the meantime, the fish has
left the vicinity of the pressure rollers 5 and the conveying
engagement of the conveyor belts which was previously firm
begins to be loosened as a result of the divergence of the
latter. This process continues until the fish 11 is released
which results in the fish 11 which is now aligned nearly hori-
zontally (see figure 3) coming onto the conveying surface 10under the action of gravity. The tail portion of the fish,
which is the first to be released by the conveyor belts 1 or
was never even gripped due to its smaller thicknes~ compared
with that of the belly or head regions, is thus pushed up-
wardly by the flap 7 by virtue of the force exerted by thespring 9 so that the fish 11 always achieves the desired
horizontal attitude (see figure 4). The flap 7, the pressure
rollers 5 and the angle of divergence of the conveyor belts 1
are so dimensioned and arranged with respect to one another
that the release of the fish always occurs regardless of its
length or width only when its centre of gravity has taken up
a position which ensures a reliable changeover into the
horizontal attitude. The automatic adaptability of the apparatus
to differing sizes of fish is thus due to the fact that a
larger or thicker fish is always released later than a smaller
or thinner one.
