Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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" APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING SEA-RRODUCE
IN A NET~SOCK FOR DRYING "
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
. This invention relates to apparatus ~or packaging
sea-produce, such as fish, Fish heads~ back-strips and
other sea produce into a net sock for drying.
The object of the present invention is to provide a
device for nettirlg fish heads, or other sea produce as
mentioned above in an automatic and simple manner, and which
requires a minimum of operator intervention.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the ;nvention apparatus for packaging sea-
produce in a net sock comprises: a conveying means having an
inlet and an outlet the conveying means conveying said sea-
produce From said inlet to said outletj feed means in communi-
cation with the inlet of the conveying means for feeding the sea-
produce ~o the inlet of the con~eying means; and net sock holding
means coupled to the outlet of the conveying means an~ including net
receiving means for receiving an elongated sea-produce receiving net
3 sock, and -for permitting the elonga~ed net sock to be gradually
released from the net receiving means as it fills with sea-produce
conveyed to the net sock by the conveying means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the em~odiment of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 3 is a cross-section along lines III-III in Fig. 2 showing
inner portions of the illustrated embodiment.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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ReFerring to the drawings, the apparatus oF the present
invention comprises an inlet chute 7 wh-ich opens down into a
cylindrical conveying means 1. The cylindrical conveying means
1 comprises an endless conveying chain 3 passing through a
groove or e70ngated opening in the bottom cylindrical member 1
(see Fig. 2). The chain 3 extends from underneath said chute 7
to an outlet end of the cylinder 1. The chain 3 has upwardly
extending spades or lugs 10 fixed thereto and is operatively
driven by a motor 2~ The motor 2 drives the chain 3 by means of
a chain whee1 20 coupled to the output shaft oF the motor and a
second chain wheel 21 driven from chain wheel 20 via an inter-
mediate chain or drive belt 22. Chain wheel 21 is connected via
a shaft 23 to a chain wheel 24 which drives endless chain 3 by
means of~ ~or example, cogs, as is well known in the art. More
than one chain, For example two chains as seen in Fi~. 2~ can be
provided, the respective chains passing throLIgh respective groo~es
or elongated openings in the cylinder 1. The chains may be driven
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by separate chain wheels, such as chain wheel 2~ the separate
chain wheels being all connected to shaf-t 23. At the other end
of the endless chain 3 are idler wheels 25, one provided For each
chain, ~hich are mounted to a shaft 26 via bearings 4. Intermediate
chain supports 9 are preFerably provided to prevent sagging of the
chain between the chain wheels 2~,25. Alternatively, additional idler
chain wheels could be provided in place of the respective chain
supports 9 shown in Fig. 2.
At the outlet end of the cylindrlcal member 1 is a net receiving
cylindrical extension or housing 11 extending outwardly from the
cylinder 1 and receiving thereon an elongatecl net 12~ called here-
after "a net sock" 12. The net sock 12 is bunched up or loaded
onto the outer surface of cylindrical extension '11, as indicated at 8.
In operation, tile sea produce, such as fish heads are fed via
a conveyor 30 to the chute 7, and fall down through the chute 7 to ~he
inlet end of the con~eyor 1. The fish heads ~or other sea-produce~
are pushed by the spades or lugs 10 of the endless chain 3 (which
travel in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 1) alons the conveyor
cyl;nder 1 through the net-receiving cylindrical extension 11 and out
into the expandible net-sock 12 which is arranged on the outsicle of
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the extension cylinder 11, as described above. The net~sock
containing the sea-produce ls stuffed with the sea-produce by
means of the moving chain 3 and it is either pushed o~f of the
extension cylinder 11 by means of the pressure produced by the
moving chain 3, or may be pulled off by an operator as the ne~-sock
becomes filled with sea-produce. The net-sock 12 containing the sea-
produce then may be along a table or other receiving member 40 ~here
the con-tents of the net-sock can be divided into suitable sizes and
the ends may be closed off, e;ther autornatically or by means of an
o operator. Fig. 3 sho~s at the right hand end of the net-sock 12 how,
for example, the filled net-sock may be sub-divided into suitable sizes.
As seen in the drawings, a ring-shaped member 50 is preferably
provided around the cylindrical extension 11 and spaced a smal1 dis-
tance from the outer surface of cylindrical extension 11. In use,
~; the net-sock 12 passes between the cylindrical extension 11 and the
ring member 50 in order to regulate the outward feeding of the net-
sock 12 under pressure of the feed;ng chains 3 or under pulling
pressure by an operator. T~he ring member 50 is preferably retairlecl
in place by elongated arms 51 (one placed on either side of the ring 50),
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which arms 51 are anchored to the conveyor 1, for example by
welding, or other me~ns. Alternatively, the arms 51 can be
anchored along cylindrical extension 11. The ring 50 and arms
51 regulate the feeding of the net-sock 12 and preven'cs the bunched
portions 8 from bein~ inadvertently plllled off oF the cylindrical
extension 11 during operation of -the device since the bunched
portion cannot, pass between the ring 50 and the outer surfac.e of
cylindrical extension 11.
The chute 7 may be replaced by other -feed inlet devices which
are mounted so as to communicate with khe intake opening of the
conveyor 1. For example, if the equipment is connected to another
fish processing appara'tus,conveyors or the like may be provided to
feed the processed fish .produce into the iniet of tile conveyor 1,
whieh will then in turn -Feed the produce by means of chains 3 and
spades or lugs 10 into ~he ne~-sock 12 loaded on the extension 11
connected to the outlet end oF the conveyor.
The geared motor 2 is shown arranged on a frame which is
fixed at the bottom of the cylindrical conveyor 1. Th.is arragenlent
may be modified, as should be apparent to those skilled in ~he art.
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Various modifications can be made to the embodiment
illustrated and described hereinabove. For example, the
conveyor 1 and/or the extension member 11 need no-t be
cylindrical. They may be rectanyular~ oval or any other
S suitab1e shape, as desired. Also~ the endless chain
conveyor 3 can be replaced with a conveyor belt, similar
to corlveyor belt 30, having lugs or other produce-moving
protrusions thereon to provide the proper pressure to force
produce into the net-sock 12. Various further modifications
can be made within the scope of the invention as defined by
the appendecl claims.
