Patent ID: 11937610
Assignee: MIDWAY MACHINE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 10:
11. A poultry processing system comprising:
a receiving module for receiving and unloading a poultry transport vehicle;
a poultry stunning system for irreversibly stunning poultry;
a stunned poultry hanging station configured for retrieval and processing of stunned poultry for transfer to a slaughter facility; and
a conveyor system configured to convey poultry from said receiving module to said poultry stunning system, and from said poultry stunning system to said poultry hanging station;
wherein said receiving module defines a transport vehicle drive path and comprises:
a plurality of poultry cage pushing apparatuses disposed on one side of said drive path; and
a plurality of shuttle conveyors disposed on an opposite side of said drive path;
wherein said shuttle conveyors are configured to receive poultry cages pushed by said poultry cage pushing apparatuses and to convey the received poultry cages from said receiving module toward said poultry stunning system; and

wherein said stunned poultry hanging station comprises a hanging area for retrieving stunned poultry animals from the poultry cages and transferring the stunned poultry animals to a slaughter facility for further processing.