Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CRAB SHELL STRIPPING APPARATUS FOR EASILY REMOVING GILLS
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crab shell stripping apparatus for easily
removing gills, and more particularly, to a crab shell stripping apparatus for
easily
removing gills which reduces the number of manual operations required for
removing gills and reduces an operation failure rate and a loss of crab meat
caused
during operation by quickly and easily removing the gills by spraying high-
pressure
water to a crab with an abdominal shell and a dorsal shell removed.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Crabs, with about 4,500 species worldwide and 183 species in Korea, are
classified decapod crustaceans belonging to the phylum Euarthropoda due to
their ten
legs. The ten legs are functionally divided into a pair of claws and four
pairs of
crawling legs. Crabs vary in
their living environments and appearance
characteristics as much as a variety thereof. Since crabs have food-habits of
clearing bodies of dead marine life which fall to the bottom of a body of
water while
crawling on the bottom, crabs are also called marine sweepers.
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Such crabs are one significant fishery resource of Korea which has three
coastal
sides. Crabs arc steamed when they arc eaten, boiled in boiling water to
separate body
or leg meat, or marinated with soy source and the like and preserved to be
eaten. Due
to their unique slightly salty taste and flavor, their demand has grown such
that crabs are
being sold after being processed to have a variety of forms such as crab
sticks or various
types of frozen food.
However, to process crabs into a variety of processed food, it is necessary to
sort
meats of each part in a dorsal shell of a crab, which have different tastes.
For this, first,
an operation of separating each part of a crab has to be previously performed.
Accordingly, workers generally manually sort crabs by cutting the crabs into
bodies, legs, and claws one by one with a cutting knife such that a lot of
workforce is
necessary and workers are frequently wounded by shells of the crabs or the
knives while
the workers manually cut dorsal shells of the crabs with the knives.
Additionally, to alleviate an inconvenience caused by manual operations,
Korean Patent Publication No. 1997-0032404 discloses a processing apparatus
capable
of automatically processing crabs.
However, the above processing apparatus merely removes an abdominal shell or
a dorsal shell of a crab and cuts the crab, and thus a lot of problems occur
when
removing gills of the crab, which needs a largest number of operations in crab
processing.
In Korean Patent Publication No. 1997-0032404, gills are removed by installing
a rotating brush at a rear end of a shell stripping shaft which strips a
dorsal shell to
remove the gills. However, when a position of the rotating brush is too low,
gills may
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be completely removed but most of crab meat of a body is lost. When the
position of
the rotating brush is too high, the loss of crab meat may be reduced but gills
are
incompletely removed such that inconvenience of additionally performing an
operation
in which a worker has to sort crushed gill pieces one by one in a following
process
occurs.
This is because a part of gills in contact with a body of crab meat is formed
at a
lowest edge part of the dome-shaped body. Accordingly, a fundamental limit is
present
in optimization of operation by adjusting the position of the rotating brush.
In addition, since crabs vary in types and have different shapes and sizes, it
is
impossible to set the position of the rotating brush to be usable in all of a
variety of crabs.
Accordingly, in a current operation state, a shell stripping operation or a
body or
leg part cutting operation has been performed using an automated apparatus in
Korea
and other countries. I lowever, a gill removing process is manually performed
by a
worker due to a concern about the loss of crab meat and a high gill removal
failure rate.
According thereto, due to a working environment in which a large amount of
crabs has to be processed in a relatively short period of time, many workers
manually
remove gills of crabs with shells stripped in the shell stripping operation,
and thus
production costs increase and a production yield decreases in consideration of
a state in
which it is difficult to secure manpower and labor costs are increased.
[Prior Art Document]
[Patent Document]
Korean Patent Publication No. 1997-0032404
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to providing a crab shell stripping
apparatus
for easily removing gills capable of greatly increasing efficiency of removing
gills and
sharply reducing the number of operations and workforce by arranging a
plurality of jet
.. nozzles, which jet high-pressure water to a gill-attached part of a rear
end of a crab with
its shells stripped, on each of both sides and installing a shielding plate
for collecting the
jet high-pressure water and preventing jetting to other parts.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an
apparatus
includes a transfer portion which transfers a crab mounted with a dorsal shell
facing a
bottom, a shell stripping portion which removes the dorsal shell of the crab
transferred
by the transfer portion, and a jet nozzle portion which is located on both
sides of a rear
of the shell stripping portion and removes gills of the crab, which are
exposed by the
dorsal shell being removed, by jetting high-pressure water thereto.
The crab shell stripping apparatus may further include a shielding plate which
separates and divides both sides of the jet nozzle portion to prevent high-
pressure water
jet from both of the sides by the jet nozzle portion from interfering with
each other.
The shielding plate may include an upper plate which is installed in an open
area at a
central part of the transfer portion along a longitudinal direction and is
disposed in a
horizontal plane shape along the longitudinal direction and a lower plate
disposed
therebelow along a central line in the longitudinal direction of the upper
plate to be
perpendicular thereto.
The jet nozzle portion may include a plurality of jet nozzles which jet the
high-
pressure water to an attachment part of the gills, a transfer pipe which is
connected to the
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plurality of jet nozzles and supplies water thereto, a water storage tank with
a certain
accommodation space formed therein, and a high-pressure pump which receives
water
from the water storage tank and transfers the water to the transfer pipe.
The crab shell stripping apparatus may further include a collecting hopper
which
guides the high-pressure water jet by the jet nozzles to fall downward. Here,
the
collecting hopper may include an open top and bottom such that the jet high-
pressure
water flows in through the top and flows out through the bottom to the water
storage
tank therebelow such that the jet high-pressure water is circulated. The water
storage
tank may further include a filter plate for collecting foreign substances
including the
gills included in the high-pressure water supplied from the collecting hopper.
In the transfer portion, a first conveyer and a second conveyer driven by a
motor
may be installed in parallel with a certain interval therebetween to be driven
at the same
speed in the same direction, and a third conveyer and a fourth conveyer driven
by a
motor may be installed at one side end and the other side end of a space part
formed
between the first conveyer and the second conveyer to be driven at the same
speed in the
same direction as the first conveyer and the second conveyer. The crab shell
stripping
apparatus may further include a pair of blotter conveyers installed above the
first
conveyer and the second conveyer and driven by the motor at the same speed in
the
same direction as the first conveyer and the second conveyer.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TIIE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing
exemplary
embodiments thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:
FIG. I is a perspective view of a crab shell stripping apparatus according to
one
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the crab shell stripping apparatus according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the crab shell stripping apparatus according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG 4 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in FIG I;
FIG 5 is a cross-sectional view along line B-B in FIG I;
FIG 6 is a bottom perspective view illustrating a jet nozzle portion side
according to one embodiment of the present invention when viewed from below;
FIG 7 is a view simply illustrating an arrangement relationship among a jet
nozzle portion, a shell stripping portion, and a shielding plate according to
one
embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG 8 is a view illustrating components of a jet nozzle portion according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described
in detail with reference to the attached drawings. For reference, sizes of
components,
thicknesses of lines, and the like shown in the drawings referred to for
describing the
present invention may be slightly exaggerated for convenience of
understanding. Also,
the terms used when describing the present invention are defined in
consideration of
functions in the present invention and may vary according to users, intentions
of
operators, practices, and the like. Accordingly, the terms should be defined
on the basis
of content throughout the specification.
FIGS. Ito 7 are views illustrating a crab shell stripping apparatus according
to
one embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to the drawings, a crab shell stripping apparatus 100 according to
one
embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a transfer portion 10, a
shell
stripping portion 20, a jet nozzle portion 30, and a shielding plate 40.
Here, the transfer portion 10 is provided to transfer crabs while the crabs
are
mounted thereon such that dorsal shells face the bottom, and allows shell
stripping and
gill removing to be performed on the crabs while they pass through the shell
stripping
portion 20 and the jet nozzle portion 30 in a process in which the crabs are
mounted on a
foremost end and then transferred to a rear end.
In the above transfer portion 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a first conveyer
II
and a second conveyer 12 driven by a motor M are installed at a certain
interval to be
driven at the same speed in the same direction. The first conveyer 11 and the
second
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conveyer 12 are places at which legs of a crab on both sides are disposed, and
are
configured to connect the foremost end to the rear end of the transfer portion
10.
In addition, a third conveyer 13 and a fourth conveyer 14 driven by a motor
are
installed at one end and the other end of a space portion formed between the
first
conveyer II and the second conveyer 12. The third conveyer 13 is a place at
which a
body part of the crab disposed on the foremost part is disposed and transfers
the body of
the crab to a fore end of the shell stripping portion 20.
In addition, the fourth conveyer 14 guides a crab moved with both its leg
parts
separated, to the rear end. The third conveyer 13 and the fourth conveyer 14
may
receive a rotating force of a driving shaft which drives the first conveyer 11
and the
second conveyer 12 to be driven and moved at the same speed as that of the
first
conveyer 11 and the second conveyer 12.
Meanwhile, a blotter conveyer 15 is installed above each of the first conveyer
11
and the second conveyer 12. The blotter conveyer 15 is provided to pressurize
leg
portions of both sides of a crab so that they do not move during a shell
stripping process
or a gill removing process.
In addition, above the blotter conveyer 15, a plurality of tension rollers 16
for
maintaining tension thereof are provided to be spaced certain intervals apart.
Since the blotter conveyers 15 should move at the same speed as the first
conveyer 11 and the second conveyer 12, the blotter conveyers 15 arc also
configured to
receive the rotating force of the driving shaft which drives the first
conveyer II.
Meanwhile, the shell stripping portion 20 is disposed on a movement path of
crabs transferred over the transfer portion 10 to remove dorsal shells and
abdominal
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shells of the crabs. Ile shell stripping
portion 20 includes an abdominal shell
removing cutter 21 for removing an abdominal part of a crab moved while upside-
down
and installed at a central position on the movement path of the crabs and a
dorsal shell
removing cutter 22 for removing a dorsal shell of a crab and spaced a certain
interval
.. apart from a bottom of the abdominal shell removing cutter 21.
The abdominal shell removing cutter 21 and the dorsal shell removing cutter 22
are installed with a gap smaller than a thickness of a body of a crab such
that a dorsal
shell of the crab is easily removed by the dorsal shell removing cutter 22
while the
abdominal shell removing cutter 21 pressurizes an abdominal part of the crab.
Meanwhile, the jet nozzle portion 30 is provided on both sides behind the
shell
stripping portion 20 to remove gills of a crab, which are exposed by a dorsal
shell
thereof being removed, by jetting high-pressure water thereto. The jet nozzle
portion
30 includes a plurality of jet nozzles 31 which jet high-pressure water to a
gill-attached
part and a transfer pipe 32 connected to the plurality of jet nozzles 31 to
supply water
thereto.
Here, the plurality of jet nozzles 31 are arranged at certain intervals on
both
sides of a bottom behind the shell stripping portion 20 and separate gills
attached to a
body part of an upside-down crab by jetting high-pressure water.
For a preferable high-pressure water jet direction, the jet nozzles 31 are
installed
to face each other at a bottom side behind the shell stripping portion 20
while being
installed to be inclined upward to jet water upward at an angle of about 20
to 50 .
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This is to most efficiently hit a gill-attached part of a crab with high-
pressure
water and to prevent crab meat of a body from being lost due to the high-
pressure water.
In addition, the shielding plate 40 is installed to separate and divide the
jet
nozzle portion 30 on both sides to prevent high-pressure water jet from both
of the sides
by the jet nozzle portion 30 from interfering each other. The shielding plate
40 is
installed in an open area between the third conveyer 13 and the fourth
conveyer 14
behind the abdominal shell removing cutter 21 along a longitudinal direction.
Also, the shielding plate 40 includes an upper plate 41 disposed in a
horizontal
plane shape along the longitudinal direction and a lower plate 42 disposed to
be
perpendicular to a lower side along a central line in a longitudinal direction
of the upper
plate 41 such that jet high-pressure water is deflected by the upper and lower
plates 41
and 42 to fall downward.
When the shielding plate 40 is not provided, high-pressure water jet by the
jet
nozzles 31 on one side interferes with high-pressure water of the other side
such that
efficiency of jetting high-pressure water is decreased and crab meat of a body
of a crab
on the other side is hit and lost.
Accordingly, to reduce a loss of crab meat of a body, it is necessary to use
the
shielding plate 40 to shield the jet nozzles 31 on both sides from each other.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper plate 41 of the shielding plate 40
is
located above a crab body B of a crab to prevent a position of the crab from
being
changed according to upward movement of the crab body B caused by the crab
body B
being hit by jet high-pressure water.
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Accordingly, it is necessary to form a height of the upper plate 41 to be
adequate
in consideration of a thickness of the crab body B.
Also, the jet nozzles 31 receive high-pressure water to be jet through the
transfer
pipe 32, and a high-pressure pump is disposed on one side of the transfer pipe
32 to
perform high-pressure jetting.
FIG 8 is a view illustrating components of a jet nozzle portion according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to the drawing, the jet nozzle portion 30 according to the
embodiment
includes a circulation structure in tvhich jet high-pressure water is
collected and jet again.
For this, the jet nozzle portion 30 according to the embodiment includes the
plurality of jet nozzles 31 which jet high-pressure water and the transfer
pipe 32
connected to the plurality of jet nozzles 31 to supply water thereto, like the
above-
described embodiment, and further includes a water storage tank 33 with a
certain
accommodation space formed therein and a high-pressure pump 34 which receives
water
from the water storage tank 33 and transfers the water to the transfer pipe
32.
In addition, a collecting hopper 35 is installed to guide high-pressure water
jet
by the jet nozzles 3110 fall downward, and includes a top and a bottom formed
to be
open such that jet high-pressure water which flows in through the top and
falls down
through the bottom is transferred to the water storage tank 33 disposed
therebelow.
Meanwhile, a filter plate 33a for collecting foreign substances including
gills,
which are included in high-pressure water supplied from the collecting hopper
35, may
be installed at the water storage tank 33.
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According to the embodiments of the present invention, there are provided
effects of fundamentally preventing a gill removal failure rate by using jet
nozzles which
jet high-pressure water and sharply reducing a loss of crab meat caused
thereby.
In addition, since it is possible to replace an additional washing process
performed as a following process with a gill removing process, there is an
effect of
reducing additional installation costs and working time.
Also, as gills are automatically removed and a subsequent additional gill
sorting
process is omitted, the number of necessary operations is reduced such that
there are
effects of reducing a difficulty in securing manpower and reducing production
costs.
Although the detailed embodiments of the present invention have been
described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments
disclosed in the
specification and the attached drawings and may be diversely modified by one
of
ordinary skill in the art without departing from the technical concept of the
present
invention.
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