Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Method and Apparatus for Processing Fish Heads
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a method and an apparatus for cutting
tongues,
cheeks and belly flaps off fish heads.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Improved catching techniques and increased catch has led to diminished fish
stocks and
reduced catches which requires improved utilization of the catch. Icelandic
inventors
have since 1981 developed machines for processing of heads. In the year 1986
there
appeared a machine compression reinforced beam in the mouth of the head
beneath
its gum with a transfer wheel above. This transfer device was parried gum
beam. In
1987 there was introduced a spiked chain above the gum beam, which lengthened
the
transfer track. Above the gum beam there were two knives which formed a 60
degree
angle and cut the headbone from the head resulting in a product called
"cheeks" or
"faces" including the tongue, both cheeks, the jaw 6 and all adjacent bones.
Thus it is
known today to process large cod heads, heads of up to 5 kg, where a cut is
made
between the collar bones (belly flaps separated).
Salmon has a small head, at most 1 kg, the tongue is small and the cheeks are
small,
while the belly flaps of the front part are relatively large where a cut has
not been made
between the collar bones (belly flaps connected on the underside). In 1990
there were
designed three machines for processing front parts of salmon, a machine for
cutting and
skinning fish from the nape, a machine for cleaning head bone, backbone, gills
and
organs from the front part, involving a U-shaped, reinforced beam, where the
gills and
organs were moved into the U-shape and along the beam, and a machine for
processing
belly flaps from the front part with an intact collar bone (collar bone tie
not cut), where
the beam is U-shaped with a knife at the tip that cuts its way through the
head beneath
the tongue. There the gill flaps and cheeks are elevated with sloping planes
and the
belly flaps cut off with horizontal knives at the topmost edge of the beam.
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CA 02067551 2002-04-23
Further it is known to manually cut tongues and cheeks from a head. This
however is
a time consuming job that does not pay and is not worth the effort.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a method and a machine for
mechanically cutting
tongue and cheeks especially from large cod heads and even belly flaps from
front
parts. Such machine has not existed heretofore.
The machine involves a transport track in which a transport guide beam or
"gum" beam
is located in the mouth of the head under its gum. Above the head is a
transport
mechanism, for example a spiked chain, which moves the head alo~~ng the gum
beam.
This much of the mechanism is known.
The machine involves horizontal knives for cutting the tongue and vertical
knives for
cutting the cheeks and belly flaps. The jaw of the head is held up to the gum
beam with
the jaw rod and the tongue is pushed down below the tongue knives with a stick
which
is moved down from the gum beam. The belly flaps are held up and away from the
tongue knives with the belly flap rods. A step on the belly flap rods supports
the rear
part of the belly flaps, while the collar bone is cut. The jaw is cut apart
with jaw knife and
it falls off the end of the gum beam. The machine as a whole is illustrated in
general in
FIG. 8, which shows the front part of the fish on its way through the machine.
More particularly, and in accordance with one aspect of the invention, there
is provided
a fish head processing machine for removing portions from a fish head having a
mouth,
wherein the portions include a tongue, cheeks, jaws, gill flaps and belly
flaps, the fish
head processing machine comprises:
a transport guide beam extending through said mouth of said ifish head to
guide
the fish head during movement along the transport guide beam;
a transport mechanism in the form of a spiked chain which presses a headbone
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CA 02067551 2002-04-23
of the fish head against the transport guide beam and moves the fish head
along the
guide beam in a longitudinal direction of motion; and
a plurality of cutting knives, each of which lies in a plane parallel to the
direction
of motion of the fish head to cut the portions from the fish head;
the plurality of cutting knives including at least one horizontal tongue
cutting knife
located beneath the transport guide beam to cut the tongue from the fish head.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method
for
removing a tongue, cheeks and belly flaps from a fish head and for cutting a
jaw of the
fish head comprising the steps of:
mounting a fish head on a transport guiding beam by inserting the transport
guiding beam through the mouth of the fish head;
moving the fish head along the transport guiding beam in a direction to
further
insert the transport guiding beam through the mouth of the fish head;
providing a plurality of cutting knives each disposed in a plane parallel to
the
transport guide beam;
holding the belly flaps and collar bones up towards the transport guide beam
with
a resilient force;
pressing the tongue down below the transport guide beam; and
making a horizontal cut with at least one of the cutting knives ~Nhile the
fish head
is moved along the transport guide beam; whereby
the tongue is cut from the fish head and falls into a vat for tongues.
The machine and its method of operation will now be described in greater
detail with the
following figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a cod head.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a head or front part on the beam.
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FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along line 3--3 in FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 shows a front part on the gum beam from the side.
FIG. 5 shows the tongue cutting knives from the side.
FIG. 6 shows the tangue cutting unit of F1G. 5 from above.
FIG. 7 shows the tongue cutting unit in the direction of motion.
FIG. 8 shows the sequential stations for cutting off the tongue, belly flaps
and
cheeks and for cutting apart the jaw of a fish head.
FIG. 9 is a front cross-section of the gum beam.
FIG. 10 is a front view of the head during jaw cutting in FIG. 8.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The invention involves a method and machinery for cutting tongues, cheeks and
belly
flaps from a fish head or the front part of the fish. The head 1 is put
upright on a known
reinforced beam 13 underneath a springy spiked chain 20 which moves the head 1
along the beam 13, first towards the horizontal knives 18 which cut the tongue
7 from
the head 1 and then to vertical knives 33 which cut the cheeks 8 and the belly
flaps 10
from the head 1. Above the tongue knives 18 are jaw rods 19 which hold the jaw
6 up
to the beam 13 adjacent to the tongue knives 18. Inside the beam 13 is a stick
15, which
can be driven down from the beam 13 to the tongue 7 in a cutting position
whereby the
tongue 7 is pushed down below the tongue knives 18. The head 1 hits a sensor
23,
which activates the power source 14 of the stick 15. The belly flaps '10 of
the front part
1 are held up by belly flap rods 22, which lie underneath the collar bones 11
and keep
the belly flaps 10 from the tongue knives 18. Cheeks 8 and belly flaps 10 are
cut off with
two vertical cheek knives 33. Behind the cheek knives 33 on the belly flap
rods 22 there
is a vertical step 32 which supports the belly flap 10 white the knife 33
cuts. The jaw 6
is then cut apart with the jaw knife 34 which is foremost on the beam 13 and
goes up
into jaw 6 underneath. One of the jaws 6 then falls down a sliding chute 35
which moves
the head 1 up and off the beam 13 and then falls into a vat for bones.
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FIG. 1 shows cod head 1 with attached belly flaps 10, a so-called front part
including,
headbone 2, gum 3, the end of backbone 4, mouth 5, jaw 6, tongue 7 , cheek 8,
gill flaps
9, belly flaps 10, collar bone 11 and collar bone tie 12.
FIG. 2 shows the head 1 or the front part from the side on the beam 13. Inside
the beam
there is a pneumatic piston 14 which drives the stick 15 down throuigh the
opening 16
to the tongue 7 and presses tongue 7 down below the level of the tongue knives
18. The
jaw 6 is held up to the beam 13 and away from the knife 18 with the jaw rods
19. The
stick 15, which has a circular arc configuration, glides in circular arc
channel guides 40
in symmetric Nylon T"" blocks 17. Basically, this mechanism involves a stick
15 which is
hidden inside the beam 13 or beside it and can be pressed or driven out of
beam 13 to
the tongue 7 to move tongue 7 below the tongue knives 18 to place the tongue 7
in a
cutting position.
FIG. 3 shows a section along line 3--3 in FIG. 2. The gum 3 of the head 1
rests on the
beam 13 and is pressed down towards beam 13 and is moved along beam 13 by the
spiked chain 20. Reference numeral 5 indicates the mouth and numeral 8
indicates the
cheeks. The jaw rods 19 keep the jaw 6 up to the beam 13 and away from the
tongue
knives 18.
FIG. 4 shows the front part or head 1 on the beam 13 from the side. The spiked
chain
drives the front part 1 or head in direction 21. The head 1 hits the sensor
23, which
20 is connected to the activator 24, which activates the power source of the
piston 14 which
drives the stick 15 down to the tongue 7. The belly flap 10 with the collar
bone 11 and
the earbone 25 is held up from the knives 18 by the belly flap rods 22 so that
the belly
flaps 10 and the collar bones 11 do not hit the knives 18.
FIG. 5 shows from the side the tongue knives 18 driven by bevel gear drive 26
and
sprocket 30. The bevel gear drive 26 and jaw rods 19 are fastened to a plate
27, which
is fastened to and can rotate around the axle 28 for moving the knives 18 to
and from
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the beam 13 depending on the size of the heads 1. The unit is connected to a
spring 37
which holds its loose end up and presses the jaw rods 19 to the jaw 6. The
front part of
29 of the rods 19 turn downwards and the the side (FIG. 6) for guiding the
head 1 into
the gap between the rods 19 and the middle of the head 1 under the spiked
chain 20.
FIG. 6 shows the tongue cutting unit in FIG. 5 as seen from above and the
tongue 7 in
cutting position. Above the knives 18 are the jaw rods 19, and on them rests
the jaw 6.
The stick 15 drives the tongue 7 down between the jaw rods 19 and the knives
18 make
the cuts 31 around the tongue. Reference numeral 38 indicates a portion of the
tongue.
F1G. 7 shows the tongue cutting unit in the direction of motion 21.
FIG. 8 shows the front part or head 1 on its way through the machine along
beam 13,
where the belly flap rods 22 keep up the belly flaps 10.
The first station (right side) of FIG. 8 shows the front part or head 1 during
the tongue
cutting.
The next station of FIG. 8 shows the front part or head 1 after the tongue
cutting.
The third station of FIG. 8 shows the front part or head 1 where the cheek 8
has been
cut off with the cheek knife 33. The belly flap 10 and the collar bone 11 are
held by a
vertical step 32 on the belly flap rod 22, which prevents the collar bone 11
from falling
back along with the belly flap 10 and thus avoids the knife 33. Beneath the
head 1
adjacent to the cheek knives 33 there is a plane or horizontal table 39 with a
slit for the
knives 33, which restrains the lowerside of the cheek 8 when it is cut,
.against the friction
of the knives 33 with the cheek 8. The plane 39 is movable up and down to
adjust for
the size of heads 1 and cheeks 8. In the figure, the plane 39 is shown beneath
the
cheek 8.
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CA 02067551 2002-04-23
The leftmost station in FIG. 8 shows the front parts or head 1 after the jaw 6
has been
cut apart when the jaw knife 34, and the head 1 has moved up along the slide
35, from
where the head 1 moves off the end of the beam 13 and falls into a vat (not
shown) for
offal.
FIG. 9 shows a cross section of beam 13 in front of the cheek knives 33 in
FiG. 8. The
step 32 holds against pressure of the knives 33 when cutting the collar bones
11.
FIG. 10 shows the head 1 during jaw cutting in FIG. 8. The jaw knife 34 cuts
the jaw 6
apart and goes into the beam 13 through the opening 36 in the beam 13.
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