Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1327 ~34
AUTOMATIC ANIMA~ BRISKET ~UTTING
This invention relates to the handling of animals and, in
particular, to apparatus for automatic processing of animals as
in abattoirs, boning plants, etc.
In Australian Patent Specification Nos, 35,992/84 and
19,034/88, an animal processing line is described which includes
an animal lead up race, capture and stun assembly, and hock and
horn removal stations located after the animal has been stuck.
The carcass is then ready for manual or automatic dressing and
boning operations.
One of the operations carried out on a carcass during
dressing and boning operations is cutting of the brisket to
`~ assist in the removal of viscera from the carcass. This is
usually carried out under direct manual control which adds to
the processing costs per carcass. In Australian Patent
Specification No. 31,317/84 there is described an automatic
apparatus for cutting the brisket of a carcass suspended by the
, forelegs. The apparatus includes a circular saw which is
lowered and moves downwardly from the neck region through the
brisket and abdomen. There is still substantial risk of cutting
1 20
'.t viscera with this apparatus. Also a circular saw can easily
stall due to an increase in resistance. Also circular saws can
be difficult to guide. Furthermore a circular saw creates a
substantial amount of bone dust requiring removal and also there
` 25 is a significant loss of saleable body weight due to the width
` of brisket and tissue cut out by the saw.
~l It is an object of the present invention to provide
-~ automatic carcass processing apparatus which is capable of
efficiently and effectively automatically cutting the brisket of
the carcass with minimal risk of damaging the viscera and
preferably with minimal loss of body weight.
According to the present invention there is provided an
apparatus for automatically processing an animal carcass, the
~, apparatus comprising carcass locating means for locating and
holding the rib cage and brisket of a carcass against
substantial movement, brisket shearing means for cutting the
, brisket with a shearing action, the shearing means comprising a
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shearing blade and a reaction member which cooperates with the
shearing blade to create the shearing action as the shearing
blade is moved relatively towards and away from the reaction
member, drive means for advancing the shearing means relative to
the carcass so that the shearing blade and the reaction memberare located on opposite sides of the brisket, the drive means
further advancing the shearing means in use along the brisket in
the general longitudinal direction of the carcass and moving the
shearing blade relatively towards and away from the reaction
member to shear the brisket and the covering tissues.
The drive means is preferably operative to advance the
shearing means along the brisket from the end of the brisket
nearer the abdomen and towards the neck end of the brisket,
.,:
The reaction member may be pivotally movable relative to
the brisket about a rear end of the reaction member whereby the
'~! ' reaction member generally follows the contours of the brisket
,~during advance of the shearing means,
The drive means is preferably operative to advance the
shearing means in a series of steps, the drive means firstly
advancing the shearing means with the shearing blade and
reaction member separated, secondly stopping the advancing
movement and effecting a cut of the brisket, and thirdly opening
the shearing blade for a further advancing movement, this
`sequence being repeated until the brisket has been cut along its
,125 entire length, the reaction member moving pivotally about its
-1rear end during the advancing movements of the shearing means so
as to generally follow the contour of the brisket.
The reaction member may comprise an anvil member, the
shearing blade being operative to cut downwardly onto an upper
reaction surface of the anvil so as to achieve the shearing
action between the shearing blade and the anvil. The upper
reaction surface of the anvil may be resilient so as to yield as
the shearing blade approaches and comes into contact with the
anvil thereby enabling complete severing of the brisket and
covering tissues.
Preferably the reaction member is arranged to be brought
-into the animal carcass on the inside face of the brisket, the
shearing blade being maintained external to the carcass and
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being pivotally movable relative to the reaction member to
achieve the shearing action.
Preferably the carcass locating means includes means for
supporting the carcass in an inverted position with the spine
located beneath the carcass throughout the brisket cutting
operation whereby the viscera fall away from the brisket
internally of the carcass thereby providing a substantially
clear inside face of the brisket along which the shearing means
is advanced.
At the processing station, the equipment can be thoroughly
cleaned and/or sterilized for reuse so as to prevent cross
contamination of carcasses. To this end, the design of such
~' equipment takes into account the need for thorough cleaning.
Possible and preferred features of the present invention
will now be described with particular reference to the
accompanying drawings. However it is to be understood that the
, . . .
features illustrated in and described with reference to the
drawings are not to be construed as limiting on the scope of the
' invention. In the drawings:
'~ 20 FIGS. 1 to 4 show details of an automatic brisket cutter
~` according to the present invention.
' ..~1
In an abattoir live animals are brought from holding
yards, separated and isolated, immobilized, stunned and stuck.
After bleeding and removal of hocks and horns, manual hide
prearation may take place. While the carcass is inverted, hide
is released from the legs and under body to depend at the
carcass sides in preparation for further removal automatically
at a later stage along the line as described in patent
specification No. W0 89/05584. The legs are then shackled and
the shackles are engaged with overhead rails so -that, with a
suitable drive, which may be similar to existing chains, the
carcass is drawn upwardly to an elevated position for further
processing. Manual operations continue to prepare the carcass
for head removal, hide removal and evisceration. This may
include severing the head hide; removal of the muzzle; recordal
of tooth number; removal of the tongue; and complete the
clearing of the oesophagus, trachea and arteries from the
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thoracic cavity. The tongue and then the head may be passed to
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a separate conveyor to be separately processed. Head removal
may be an automatic operation utilising apparatus described in
PCT specificiation No. Wo 89/05584.
Also at the rear end of the carcass, a series of manual
operations may be carried out to prepare for aitchbone cutting,
hide removal, evisceration and splitting. This may include
rumping; mark and strip the tail; remove tail bush; remove the
pizzle and erector muscles; clear and pull the rectum and bung
; (sphincter); and bag the anus.
Automatic operations may begin after the manual
- 10 preparation steps and stations enabling this are described in
PCT Specification ~o. W0 89/05584. After most processes, the
carcass is split by a suitable means such as a band saw or
rotary saw which is described below. Inspection may be
undertaken at various stages with condemned carcasses ejected
from the line. Trimming may proceed with further inspection
after carcass splitting. Carcasses requiring further trimming
may be eject~d from the line to enable further processing.
Finished carcasses may be fed off onto a storage line when
carcasses are washed, inspected, etc. on their way to chiller
rooms of the usual character. Inspection is undertaken as usual
with those carcasses that require it being ejected for a
rewash. Decontamination may be undertaken with grading being
performed when necessary. The front leg may be released to
allow the carcass half to hang from its back leg. The removed
shackle might be fed back to the head of the line automatically.
In the following description, there is set out a
~, particular preferred structure for a processing station where
briskets are cut. The actual placement of this station along a
processing line of the above described character may be varied
according to particular objectives.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, to prepare the carcass 183 for
evisceration, the brisket 20 is desirably cut open. The carcass
is best presented for brisket cutting when orientated
horiæontally, suspended by the four legs following hide removal
and prior to evisceration.
The automation of brisket cutting may be achieved with the
carcass 183 and its brisket 20 positioned centrally below a
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shearing means 21. The centralising, cutting, and indexing m~y
be performed in a thirty second cycle time. The carcass 183 may
travel transversely into the brisket cutting station and can be
stopped upon triggering a sensor, The brisket 20 may then be
centralised with locating means 186 comprised by a vee-shaped
~ 5 clamp pad acting directly on the brisket region. The carcass
183 may remain clamped until the cutting cycle is completed.
Gutting may be achieved, as described below with reference
to FIGS. 1 to 4, by an hydraulic knife edge shear blade 189 that
can cut open the brisket 20. Such a cutter is suitable because
it can cut through both meat and bone to eliminate the
traditional marking cut along the brisket centre line. In
operation, a shear reaction member 188 is dropped into a marking
' cut, through the belly between the brisket 20 and the pizzle,
` stopping when it is below the line of the brisket 20. The
shearing means 21 can then traverse forward a preset distance so
that the brisket 20 is between the blade 189 and the reaction
member 188. The blade 189 then acts to cut, open, and traverse
forward to the next preset cutting point. The shearing means 21
unit may be free to pivot through say 60C (about axis 22),
, 20 dampened by a pneumatic cylinder to enable following the brisket
contours. As the reaction member 188 runs along the underside
;' of the brisket 20, the shearing means 21 can pivot, keeping the
~; cutting blade angle at a minimum. The shear blade 189 is best
advanced the full length of the previous cut before stopping for
the next so as to locate the blade 189 in the toe of the
previous cut, preventing a miscut. The cycle may be complete
; after typically, three cuts (see FIG. 4), and the unit may be
....
- then removed for cleaning and sterilization ready for the next
' carcass.
In FIG. 1, carcass 183 is suspended by shackles 184 and
185, belly up with the carcass centralised by a locating means
186 described below with the reference to FIG. 2. A shearing
means 21 is lowered through a belly cut wi~h reaction member 188
dropped below the brisket 20 when the shearing means 21 may be
advanced with blade 189 open, to an initial cutting point when
blade 189 is closed to shear through the brisket 20. By opening
the blade 189 and advancing the unit 187~ a number of cuts may
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132743~
be made as the unit advances forwardly to complete a cut through
the entire length of the brisket.
In FIG. 2 is shown a perspective view of the jaws 191, lg2
~ of locating means 186 of FIG. 1 which may pivot downwardly about
!`' 5 point 190 until jaws 191 and 192 contact the carcass as shown in
,~ FIG. 1. The locating means comprises a pair of downwardly
dependent, rotably mounted arms 193 and 194 with a pair of
' plates as shown attached at their forward end to establish
'' contact with the carcass and centralise the brisket 20 with the
shearing means 21.
FIG. 3 shows the shearing means 21 in greater de-tail. The
brisket 20 of a carcass 183 is scissored between shear blade 189
,~ and a reaction member 188 by action of a hydraulic cylinder (not
shown) acting on arm 195 so as to turn blade 189 in support
15 blocks 197 about pivot 196. The reaction memeber 188 acts as an
anvil onto which the blade 189 cuts. The anvil is fitted with a
Ralloy insert 198 for engagement of the cutting blade 189 at the
~ closure of the blade 189 at the completion of a cut. The insert
;l 198 is resilient to yield as the blade 189 approaches and comes
into contact with the anvil to enable complete cutting of the
brisket 20 and covering tissues and without splintering.
It is to be understood that various alterations,
.;
modifications and/or additions may be made to the features of
, the possible and preferred embodiment(s) of the invention as
herein described without departing from the spirit and scope of
the invention.
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