Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~oxdischer Maschinenbau Rud. Baader GmbH -I Co RG,
Geniner Strasse 249, 2400 Lubec]c 1, Germany
Device for Separating the Heads from Fish
The invention eoncerns a device for separating the heads
from fish whose gill cavity has been opened ventrally by a throat
cut, the device comprising a cutting device for separating the
head from the nape resp. the cranium by incision, said cutting
device including a cutting edge and a conveyor includiny at least
one conveying element for moving the fish against the cutting
device.
The shoxtage of the raw product fish going hand in hand with
an increase in the cost of labour makes it necessary to ensure
that this valuable protein carrier is mad e:Efective as efficiently
as possible Thus, within the demand for as full a use of this
raw product as possible att0ntion should be paid especially to
supplying as large a part of fish meat as possible in highly
qualitative form for human nutrition. Such a form of use is the
15 fish fillet
The so-calLed round cut for removing the head is known from
the pr3cess for producing klipfish - also known as salt fish and
stockfish (dried cod). In this round cut the cutting is per-formed
such that the bone arch ox the shoulder girdle limiting the gill
20 cavity towards the rump of the fish as well as parts ox the head
skeleton remain on the rump of the fish. The skeleton par-ts effect
in the desired way that the belly flaps are supported during the
spread storaye after the salting and the simultaneous drying so
that the fish rump form remains essentially stable. A device for
25 such a cutting can he taken from e.g. German Patents 395 455 and
20 58 165.
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Such a cuttillg perEormance, however, is not suitable as a
preparatory workirl~ step for gaining fillets since in this case
the named skeleton parts together with the fin roots of the pectoral
fins connected to the shoulder girdle and the pectoral fins them-
selves remain on the fillets.
The method applied for removing the head in the gaining of
fillets therefore uses in the known manner the cutting called a
wedge cut. In this type of cutting two cuts are performed start-
ing directly behind the pectoral fins and meeting in the plane of
symmetry of the fish and whose cutting planes are inclined with
respect to the plane of symmetry in order to gain the valuable
neck flesh as well. Such devices can be taken e.g. from Herman
Patents 11 77 783 and 11 28 617. The result is that the shoulder
girdle, together with the head, is separated from the rump of
the fish which can also be achieved by a clean cut, which, as can
he seen a.g. from German Patent 14 54 081, is guided diagonally
through the fish immediately behind the roots of the pectoral fins.
As can be seen from practice the possible yield of fish flesh
is unsatisfactory
Considering the above mentioned aspects of the importance
of fish meat as a protein carrier for human nutrition and the
effectiveness thereof in the form of fish fillets etc. as the
background o the present invention it is an essential object of
the latter to obtain fillets under those aspects represented
aboveO It is a more particular object ox the present invention
to keep the loss of fillet fish as low as possible by the kind
of head jut carried out.
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According to the present invention these objects
are achieved by a device for processing fish having at
least a head, a cranium in the region of said head, a
nape, a rump defining a ventral and a back side, and a
gill cavity opened ventrally by means of a throat cut
by separating said head from said rump, said device
comprising at least cutting device means defining cutting
edge means for separating said head by an incision starting
from said nape resp. cranium, and further comprising
conveyor means for conveying said fish against said cutting
device means and comprising at least one entraining element
being moved along a path of movement. The cutting device
means comprise knife means defining a cutting plane
which is arranged to cross said path of movement at an
15 angle, and further defining flanks, and wherein deviation
elements are arranged to cover said flanks in a manner
which leaves said cutting edge means free.
In general, the invention enables an improvement
in the yield with simultaneous guarantee of the "bonelessness"
20 of the fillets to be gained, the cutting occurring such
that for the time being the belly or ventral portion of
the shoulder girdle can remain on the rump of the fish
while the dorsal part of the shoulder girdle'is separated
together with the bones ~post-temporalia) forming the
25 connection to the head skeleton. The belly portion of
the shoulder girdle which remains on the rump can be scraped
or pared out very economically in a successive procedural
step. This step can be performed e.g. in a successive
filleting machine. The advantages thus achieved lie parti-
30 cylarly in that on one hand the separating cu-t can be
started well above the cranium and on the other due to
the increasing turning away resp. deviation of the head
and the pushing back of the head taking place with
increasing cutting a stretching of the muscle flesh over
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said bones forming the connection to the head skeleton
occurs which enables the economical separation of said
bones in the further procedu
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In a preferred embodiment of the device wi-th a conveyor
moving the fish by engagement in its gill cavity the deviation
element facing the head of the fish can be arranged with its
deviating surface essentially tangential to the path of the
contour of the conveying element of the conveyor facing the rump
of the fish.
The application of a circular knife makes a functionally
advantageous as well as an economical construction possible, the
arrangement of a bevel on the flank of the knife facing the head
of the fish and its positioning aLmost in the plane Oc the median
line between both deviation elements produciny an especially
convincing result.
Other and further objects of the present invention
will be apparent from the following description and claims
and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which by
way of illustrat.ion schematically show preferred embodiments
of the present invention and the principles thereof and
what now are considexed to be the best modes contemplated
for applying these principlesO 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 invention and the scope of the appended claims.
Fig. 1 shows a greatly s~nplified axonometrical represen-
tation of thy device,
Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation pointing to theworki~g process of the cutting device shortly aftex commenc~n2nt
of the beh~adin~ cut/
Fig. 3 shows a representation according to Fig. 2 shortly
before the completion of the beheading cut.
3,~3~3
In a not-shown frame oE a beheading machine Eor wish a cu-tting
device 1 is arranged comprising a knife 2 mounted fixedly on the
frame, driven in a suitable manner and formed as a circular knife.
Its Cutti.nCJ plane extends essentially perpendicular with respect to
a not-shown, essentially horizontal fish support into which a cut-
ting ~dgf 3 of the knife 2 penetrates. Flanks 4 of the la-tter are
covered by mean6 Qf the deviation elements 5 and 6 which are
fixedly arranged on said frame. These elements merely leave the
cutting edge 3 of the knife 2 free and are each at an angle of
approximately 25 to its cutting plane. The knife 2 has a bevel
7 at the flank 4 covered by means of the deviation element 5. I'he
plane of the deviatisn element 5 is essentially tangential to a
path 9 of a conveyQr 8 n The latter comprises a support arm 11 and
a V-shaped entraining element 12 at the free end of the support
arm 11 such that an outer contour 13 of the entraining element 12
runs just free with respect to the plane of the deviation element
5, the arm being driven to pivot about an axis 10 essentially
perpendicular tv the fish support.
The method of operation of the device is as follows:
A ish lying on its side on the fish support with its gill
cavity opened ventrally is pushed by supporting its back by means
of a not-shown resiliently yielding back support to reach with its
Jill cavity a position crossing the path 9 of the entraining
element 12~ This position can be controlled by means of a suit-
able feeling or detecting device, e.g. a feeling lever gripping
into the gill cavity. This feeling lever causes the pivoting of
the conYeyQr 8 out of its rest position in which it had been up
to now. The pivoting causes the penetration of the entraining
element 12 into the gill cavity of the fish, the entraininy of
the fish occurring without the danger of twisting by the support-
ing due to the V-shape of the entraining element 12. The fish is
guided to the knife 2 of the cutting device 1 in this manner. The
S knife 2 then cuts out the head of the fish becJinning immediately
below the cranium. In the further course of the beheading cut
the deviation elements 5 and 6 effert the pushing back or
deviating of the head and rump respectively with the result that
a stretching of the muscle flesh over the bones formiIlg the
connection to the head skeleton is achieved entraining with it
the shoulder girdle so that finally an economical separation of
the latter occurs in the region where said connecting bones
start. The parts of the shoulder girdle which, following this
processing, are still positioned on the rump of the fish can be
removed very economically in a known manner by a successive
operation before the fillets are gained from the bone skeleton.
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