Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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BACKGROUND OF T~E INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a fish processing machine
having an endless loading conveyor adapted to convey fish
lying on their sides in fish troughs transversely to their
longitudinal axis, a feed section having opposed walls for-
ming a V-shape and adapted to advance the fish in the direc-
tion of their longitudinal axis, and a filleting section
provided with belly filleting knives, rib knives and a pair
of endless conveyors.
2. Description of Prior Art
Such machines are used to process mass fish having a
predominantly flat eliptical or oval section across their
plane of sy~metry. They permit an uninterrupted operation
with a high hourly output but are inadequate when the cross
section of the fish becomes more nearly circular, parti-
cularly when the fish also has a soft consistency. In par-
ticular difficulties arise when the fish are delivered from
- the loading conveyor to the feed section, when the fish
are conveyed from the feed section and when the ~ish are
processed in the filleting section.
3. Object of Invention
The main object of the invention is to improve the
known type of machine so that fish with a nearly circular
cross section, such as mackerel, blue whiting or the li~e,
may be reliably and satisfactorily processed even when
they are soft.
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38120
' SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention the feed section is posi-
tioned between the upper and lower runs of the loading
conveyor, each fish trough has a tipping trough mounted
so as to tilt about an axis substantially transverse to
its direction of movement and adapted to deliver fish
turned thrQuOh 90 to the feed section, the tipping trough
being as~ociated with means to tilt it when it reaches the
the feed ection.
The-advantages achieved reside in particular in the fact
that the-fish can be turned through exactly 90 from the
position i-n which they were laid by hand in the fish troughs,
without any danger of their turning or rolling, are brought
into the feed section with the smallest possible drop, and
are transferred from the feed section with their planes of
symmetry~-all -in the same orientation.
In o~er to enable the head and/or tail to be cut off
and the body of the fish to be turned through 90 in a pre-
- ferred manner each tipping trough may be pivotally mounted
- between a-~ead trough and a slider element rigidly secured
-to the la~ter and the head trough and the slider element
may each b,e-secured to a respective endless chain and con-
veyed al~ng the length of the upper run of the loading con-
veyor on a-respective ~uide track.
According to another embodiment of the invention the
opposed walls of the feed section forming a V comprise two
paralle~ en~less conveyor belts rotating in synchronism and
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passing around two drive rollers mounted about axes inclined
towards one another at their upstream ends, and around two
idler rollers mounted about substantially parallel axes at
their downstream ends, the idler rollers being mounted so
as to yield against the restoring force of a spring. This
embodiment both enables and ensures the reliable reception
and rapid transfer of the fish from the feed section in
their fed-in position.
Advantageously the conveyor belts together with a pivot
arm carrying their drive rollers and idler rollers may be
arranged so as to yield about a horizontal axis situated near
to the drive rollers against the restoring force of a spring.
This permits the fish together with the conveyor belts of the
feed section holding them to be set at the correct height for
the filleting section, without the risk that the fish will turn
or tilt about their longitudinal axes should there be a va-
riation in heights between the conveyor belts.
In another preferred embodiment constructed in accordance
with the invention the idler rollers are carried by a pair of
rocking levers pivotally mounted about axes lying perpendicular
to the pivot arm, the bos~es of which rocking levers are con-
nected to a back guide which is pivotally mounted about a ho-
rizontal spindle secured to the machine and which extends be-
tween the idler rollers said connection being such that a
particular height of the end of the back guide corresponds
to a predetermined clearance between the idler rollers. This
structure allows the conveyor belts Or the feed section to-
gether with any fish in the space between them automatically
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to be set to the correct height for the processing of the
respective fish.
According to yet another embodiment according to the
invention there is provided a fish processing machine having
a filleting section with a pair of belly filleting knives,
a pair of rib knives and a pair of bone knives wherein a
grinding element for the inner walls of the belly cavity
of the fish is mounted between the rib knives and the bone
knives. Such a machine enables the belly cavity of such fish
to be freed of the black skin inside the belly. In order to
even improve this effect and to enable this inner belly skin
to be removed from the fish which are conveyed with their
head ends leading the grinding elements together with their
grinding surfaces engaging the fish may rotate in the direc-
tion of travel of the fish but at a higher speed than theconveying speed of the fish.
In a further embodiment constructed in accordance with
the invention a pair of rib guides inclined towards one
another are arranged between the rib knives and the bone
knives while a pair of vertebral guides are arranged below
said rib guides. This enables fish with a nearly circular
cross section ~o be guided merely by gripping their bone
structure after the belly fillet cuts and back cuts have
been made.
In order to enable the belly flaps to be reliably cut
away, even from very soft fish the invention preferably
provides for an embodiment in which a pair of belly flap
knives lying in nearly parallel planes are arranged between
the belly filleting knives and the rib knives.
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~38120
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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 illustration show preferred embodiments of the present
invention and the principles thereof and what now are
considered to be the best modes contemplated for applying
these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying
the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural
changes may be made aæ desired by those skilled in the art
without departing from the present invention and the scope
of the appended claims.
In the drawings show:
Fig. 1 is a cut away axonometric view of a fish pro-
cessing machine constructed in accordance with the invention.
Fig. 2 is a cut away view of part of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a cut away cross sectional view of the feedsection and a few loading troughs.
Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the filleting
section in the region of the grinding elements.
Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the filleting section
behind the rib knives.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The fish processing machine 3hown in Figure 1 without
its frame, housing, and drive system comprises a loading
conveyor 1, a feed-in section 3 and a filleting section 4.
The loading conveyor 1 comprises two endless chains 13 and 14
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engaging a pair of drive wheels 16, a pair of tensioning
wheels 17 and/or at least one pair of idler wheels 15, fish
troughs 2 carried by the chains and guide tracks or rails 181
and 182. Each fish trough 2 is built up from a head trough 21,
a slider element 22, a pivot pin 23 rigidly connecting them
together and a tipping trough 24 pivotally mounted on the
pivot pin 23 between the head trough 21 and the slider ele-
ment 22.
Each tipping trough 24 is provided with a downwardly
projecting operating lever 25. L-shaped guide tracks 181 and 182
of metal or plastics material are provided in the upper run 11
of the loading conveyor parallel to the chains 13 and 14 so
as to guide the fish troughs 2 in a straight path. Guide
track 181 guides the head trough 21, and guide track 182
guides slider element 22.
The feed section 3 is arranged between the upper run 11
and the lower run 12 of the loading conveyor 1 in front of
the idler rollers and has a transfer chute or channel 397
for receiving the fish. The transfer chute 397 i8 formed
by two endless conveyor belts 391 and 392. Above the left
hand conveyor belt 392 there is a tiltable guide plate 3~3,
and a back guide 36 is arranged between the ends of the
pair of belts.
The filleting section 4 extending in the extension of
the transfer chute 397 comprises a guide path for the fish,
a pair of endless conveyors 6 shown in chain dotted lines,
and cutting tools. These comprise a pair of vertically
mounted belly filleting knives 41, a pair of approximately
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horizontally mounted belly flap knives 42, a pair of rib
knives 43 inclined towards one another, a pair of grinding
elements 44 rotating about a horizontal axis, and a pair
of bone knives 46. For guiding the fish a bone guide 51
5 is mounted behind the belly filleting knives 41 ~o as to be
tiltable about a horizontal axis and is held against an
abutment 54 by a spring 53. Rib guides 55 lying in the planes
of the rib knives 43 extend behind the rib knives 43 as far
as the bone knives 46 and are provided with window like
apertures 56 in the region of the grinding elements. In
addition vertebra guides 57 extend from the rib knives 43
to the bone knives 46.
As æhown in Fig. 2 the right hand ends of the conveyor
belts 391 and 392 of the feed-in section 3 pass around two
drive rollers 393 and 394 rotating about two axes 326 and 327
inclined towards one another, and the left hand ends pass
around two idler rollers 395 and 396 rotating about nearly
parallel axes 332 and 342. The conveyor beltæ 391 and 392,
together with the transfer chute 397 formed by them, are
constructed ~o as to yield downwardly against the force of
a spring. For this purpo~e a pivot arm 32 carrying the
axe8 326 and 327 is mounted to pivot about a horizontal
shaft at the right hand end of the conveyor belts 391 and 392,
and is held in a raised position against a stop 323 secured
to the machine by a spring 322 acting on projection 321. The
pivot arm 32 ha8 bores 324 and 325 at its left hand end
in which vertically projecting pivot pins 334 and 346 are
secured on which the bos~es 331 and 341 respectively of
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rocking levers 33 and 34 are mounted. The rocking levers 33
and 34 are tensioned together by means of a æpring 344 against
an adjustable stop 345 thus rendering the gap or distance be-
tween the conveyor belts 391 and 392 adjustable. The rocking
levers 33 and 34 carry the idler rollers 395 and 396 at their
free ends and are provided with leveræ 333 and 343 at their
bosses 331 and 341 respectively. On the left of the bosses 331
and 341 is situated a horizontal spindle 361 secured to the
machine about which a back guide 36 is pivotally mounted, the
end of which extends to a point in between the idler rollers 395
and 396. A lever 364 extending downwardly from a boss 362 of
the spindle 361 is flexibly connected at its right hand side to
the end of the lever 333 by a first jointed coupling rod 37
and at its left hand side to the end of the lever 343 by a
second jointed coupling rod 372. Thus the two rocking levers 33
and 34 are coupled to each other so as to move synchronously
and to the back guide 36 so that any particular vertical
position of the end 363 of the back guide 36 corresponds to a
predetermined respective distance between the idler rollers 395
and 396.
In Fig. 3 the upper run 11 and the lower run 12 of the
chains 13 and 14, the drive wheels 16, the idler wheels 15
and the tensioning wheels 17 may be seen. Between these are
situated the two conveyor belts 391 and 392 of the feed
25 section 3; the right hand conveyor belt 391 being supported
by a slide plate 381 and the left hand conveyor belt 392 by
a slide plate 382. A tiltable guide plate 383 is pivoted on
the left slide plate 382 about a pivot pin 3~5. This guide
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plate 3~3 is carried by brackets 3~4 and held in its position
against a stop 3~6 by a helical spring 3~7. or the tipping
troughs 24 the one on the right is in the loading position
and the one on the left in the delivery position. The latter
is moved into the delivery position by engagement Or its ope-
rating lever 25 against a cam 183 secured to the left hand
guide track 181, while the rormer is held against the
stop 2~ by a restoring spring 26 wound around the pivot
Pin 23.
Fig. 4 shows a fish 8 with its belly cavity over the
grinding elements 44, its backbone 81 being supported from
above between the two rib guides 55 and from below by the
two vertebra guide~ 57.
Fig. 5 shows a rish 8 with its belly cavity adjacent
the bone knives 47 which have separated the ribs 82 from
the back bone 81 while it is supported rrom above by the rib
guides 55 and rrom below by the spine or vertebra guides 57.
The operation Or the rish processing machine is as rOllows:
A rish is so laid into a loading trough 2 on the loading
conveyor 1 that it lies in the tipping trough 24 on its right
~ide and its head lies in the head trough 21. By the loading
conveyor 1 it is conveyed under a head knire (not shown) which
decapitates the fish by means Or a cut between the head trough 21
and the tipping trough 24. The body Or the fish without its
head and ir necessary without its tail rin is transrerred to
the feed section 3 in the tipping trough 24. Berore reaching
the feed section 3 the operating lever 25 Or the tipping
tray 24 enga~es the cam 1~3 which is secured to the ~achine !
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as is shwon in Fig. 2 thus causing the tipping trough 24 to-
gether with the body of the fish to tilt trough 90. There-
upon the body of the fish 8 slides downwardly under the
action of gravity between the conveyor belts 391 and 392
5 which are inclined to one another so as to form a V and
which move in the direction of the arrow 7. Due to the fact
that the upper edges of the conveyor belts 391 and 392 are
arranged directly underneath the lower edge of the tilted
tipping trough 24, the fish falls such a small way only
that it does not turn about its longitudinal axis and may
be conveyed to the left by the conveyor belts 391 and 392
with its plane of symmetry lying in the central plane of the
transfer chute 397. When the fish, which moves with its head
end forwards, leaves the region in which the conveyor belts 391
and 392 are supported by the slide plates 381 and 382 and
reaches the idler rollers 395 and 396, the latter are forced
apart by a distance equal to the breadth or thickness of the
fish and thus set the back guide 36 at a height corresponding
to the breadth of the fish. The back guide 36, which is held
at this correct height, together with the conveyor belts 391
and 392 biasses the fish downwards so that the fish 8 is direc-
ted towards the belly filleting knives 42 with its backbone
or vertebral column at the desired height and is engaged by
the conveyors 6 in the correct position. When passing on
25 by means of these conveyors the fillets on the belly side of
the backbone vertebral column ~1 are cut away from the belly
spokes ~3 by the belly filleting knives, the lowers strips
Or the belly flaps are cut away by the belly flap knives 42,
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and the ribs ~2 are cut out Or the fillets by the rib knives 43.
The black skin situated on the inner sides Or the belly flaps
is peeled away by the grinding surfaces 45 Or the grinding
elements ~4 which extend through the apertures 56 in the rib
guides 55, and the fish is cut into a bone-free double fillet
by the bone knives 46, which fillet may ir required be se-
parated into two individual fillets by a pair of back or
separating knives mounted behind the bone knives.
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