Incision making apparatus and incision making method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9826747-B2
Application number	US-201515322729-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2015
Priority date	Jun 30, 2014
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

A shoulder incision-making apparatus for a poultry carcass according to the present invention is for cutting a shoulder joint section of a poultry carcass, and includes: a fixing jig on which a poultry carcass which is eviscerated and which has leg parts removed is to be placed and fixed; a conveyer forming a conveyance path of the fixing jig and configured to convey the fixing jig along the conveyance path; a first cutter disposed in the conveyance path; and a second cutter disposed in the conveyance path at a downstream side of the first cutter in a conveying direction. The first cutter is configured to make an incision on the shoulder joint section of the poultry carcass, and the second cutter is configured to be inserted into the incision to cut the shoulder joint section.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A shoulder incision-making apparatus for a poultry carcass for cutting a shoulder joint section of a poultry carcass, comprising:
a fixing jig on which a poultry carcass which is eviscerated and which has leg parts removed is to be placed and fixed;
a conveyer forming a conveyance path of the fixing jig and configured to convey the fixing jig along the conveyance path;
a group of cutters disposed in the conveyance path, including a cutter to make an incision on the shoulder joint section of the poultry carcass and a cutter to be inserted into the incision to cut the shoulder joint section,
wherein the fixing jig is mounted to the conveyer rotatably about a base portion of the fixing jig within a plane extending along a conveying direction, and includes an inclination-angle defining part for defining an angle of the fixing jig with respect to a horizontal direction in accordance with a position in the conveying direction so that a cutter incision position is selectable and a cutter incision amount is adjustable for the poultry carcass with the inclination-angle defining part, and
wherein the cutter to make an incision is configured to make an incision at the cutter incision position selected on the shoulder joint section, and the cutter to cut the shoulder joint section is configured to be inserted into the incision to cut the shoulder joint section by using the incision as a target.

2. The shoulder incision-making apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the inclination-angle defining part is configured to tilt the fixing jig toward the horizontal direction immediately after the cutter to cut the shoulder joint section cuts the shoulder joint section.

3. The shoulder incision-making apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
each of the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to be inserted into the incision to cut the shoulder joint section comprises a pair of blades disposed at symmetric positions in a direction intersecting with the conveying direction with respect to a center line passing through a center of the fixing jig along the conveying direction.

4. The shoulder incision-making apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
each of the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to be inserted into the incision to cut the shoulder joint section is disposed above the fixing jig and configured to be capable of moving downward toward the fixing jig, and
wherein the shoulder incision-making apparatus further includes:
a first driving part for moving downward the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to be inserted into the incision to cut the shoulder joint section;
a conveyance-position sensor for detecting a position of the fixing jig in the conveying direction; and
a controller for determining a timing to move downward the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to cut the shoulder joint section from a detection value detected by the conveyance-position sensor and operating the first driving part to move downward the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to cut the shoulder joint section.

5. The shoulder incision-making apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein
a pair of blades constituting each of the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to cut the shoulder joint section is configured such that a distance between the pair of blades is adjustable, and is disposed at symmetric positions with respect to a center line in a direction intersecting with the conveying direction,
wherein the shoulder incision-making apparatus further includes:
a second driving part for moving the pair of blades in the direction intersecting with the conveying direction; and
a contour measurement part for measuring a contour shape of the poultry carcass, disposed in the conveyance path at an upstream side of the cutter to make an incision in the conveying direction, and

wherein the controller is configured to determine the distance between the pair of blades on a basis of a measurement value measured by the contour measurement part and to determine the timing to move downward the cutter to make an incision and the cutter to cut the shoulder joint section on a basis of the detection value detected by the conveyance-position sensor and the measurement value measured by the contour measurement part.

6. The shoulder incision-making apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the base portion of the fixing jig is rotatably mounted to the conveyer via a support shaft, and
wherein the inclination-angle defining part includes a cam roller disposed on the fixing jig and a cam rail disposed on the conveyer and extending along the conveying direction, the cam roller being configured to run on the cam rail in engagement with the cam rail.

7. The shoulder incision-making apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein
the contour measurement part includes:
an image capturing part for capturing an image of the poultry carcass, disposed upstream of the cutter to make an incision in the conveying direction; and
an image processing part for obtaining the contour shape of the poultry carcass from the image captured by the image capturing part.

8. A method of making an incision on a shoulder of a poultry carcass for cutting a shoulder joint section of a poultry carcass, the method comprising:
a workpiece positioning step of placing a poultry carcass which is eviscerated and which has leg parts removed on a plurality of fixing jigs mounted to a conveyer forming a conveyance path of the poultry carcass along a conveying direction so that a breast section of the poultry carcass faces forward or backward in the conveying direction;
a workpiece conveying step of conveying the plurality of fixing jigs along the conveyance path set in advance;
an incision-making step of making an incision on a shoulder joint section of the poultry carcass with a cutter to make an incision disposed in the conveyance path, while conveying the plurality of fixing jigs along the conveyance path; and
a cutting step of cutting the shoulder joint section of the poultry carcass by inserting a cutter at a downstream side of the cutter to make an incision in the conveying direction into the incision,
wherein, while conveying the plurality of fixing jigs along the conveyance path, the plurality of fixing jigs are tilted toward a horizontal direction with an inclination-angle defining part defining an angle of the fixing jig with respect to the horizontal direction in accordance with a position in the conveying direction immediately after cutting the shoulder joint section to avoid cutting a meat portion disposed downstream of the shoulder joint section.

Assignees

• Maekawa Seisakusho Kk

Inventors

• Inoue Noriyuki
• Hane Shinji
• Oka Kenichi
• Takanashi Koji
• Toyoda Naoki
• Sakurayama Hiroyuki
• Takahashi Noriyuki

Classifications

• B26D5/20

  with interrelated action between the cutting member and work feed · CPC title

• A22C21/0069

  Deboning poultry or parts of poultry · CPC title

• A22C21/0046

  Support devices · CPC title

• B26D3/24

  to obtain segments other than slices, e.g. cutting pies · CPC title

• G06T2207/10004

  Still image; Photographic image · CPC title